🎨 *NEW* Cotman Palettes: Going Down the Watercolor Rabbit Hole 🎨Â
Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolor sets are now available in the TPK Supplies Shop! In today's newsletter, I'll explain why I chose to stock Cotman sets, specifically. We'll also talk about some fantastic watercolor tutorials to hone your skills.
Cotman watercolors provide a fabulous entry into the world of watercolors. I'm proud to offer sets of 12 and sets of 24.
Why Cotman? 🎨
TPK is best known for calligraphy, but look a little closer, and you'll notice a plethora of watercolor projects. Watercolors are among my favorite supplies, so I've wanted to stock good palettes in the TPK Supplies Shop for a long time.
Last year, I brainstormed with watercolor guru Jess of Greenleaf & Blueberry about what brand of watercolors would be a good fit for the shop. She highly recommended Winsor & Newton Cotman as a great beginner set. I loved that suggestion because I started TPK with a set of 12 Cotman watercolors! For three years, I used my little Cotman set to make illustrated wedding map designs, mail art, and wedding place cards.
I have used my Cotman set to make many an illustrated map.
If you're a beginner looking to dive into the watercolor rabbit hole, or you simply want a budget-friendly set of watercolors, I highly recommend the Cotman sets!
Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolor palettes are student grade. To create student grade paints, the manufacturer opts to use synthetic pigments instead of "the real deal" for several colors to make the palettes more affordable. The use of those synthetic pigments mean that student grade watercolors often lack the depth of artist grade palettes.
The top chart showcases the Cotman (student grade) watercolors, and the bottom chart showcases a mix of Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton (artist grade) watercolors. The colors on the bottom are much more expensive than those on the top.
In comparing my Cotman color chart to those of my artist grade sets, I notice a slight different in subtlety. For lack of a better adjective, artist grade sets tend to look more organic. When compared to student grade sets, the colors more closely resemble those that you would see in nature. This takes a discerning eye to notice, however.
The Winsor & Newton Cotman sets are a wonderful introduction to the world of watercolor. I happily used them for years while creating content for TPK, and I still have my Cotman set! They're extremely cost-effective, so you won't feel bad about experimenting with them. While the pigments may not quite have the depth of artist grade pigments, these aren't subpar paints. They blend well, apply smoothly onto paper, and won't hamper your ability to make eye-catching watercolor projects.
I use watercolors freely in tutorials because I think they're such a wonderful medium. After giving it some thought, I've listed my top three favorite TPK watercolor tutorials here:
For this tutorial, you'll make turquoise by mixing a blue value with a bit of green. You can write the recipient's name with walnut ink, or just use brown watercolor calligraphy.
Whether you're new to watercolors or you already have a beloved set, I encourage you to get out your brush and start creating. If you're not sure where to start, stay tuned for Wednesday, when I'll release a fresh update of the Painting with Watercolors for Beginners article! Thanks very much for reading, and I'm wishing you a wonderfully creative week.
