What's the difference - Altenew watercolor sets comparison

 Hello my fabulous friends, 

and welcome to all who are new!

I was recently asked on Instagram what the differences are between the Altenew 36 set watercolors and the 24 set watercolors... So I bought the 36 set (I already had the 24 set), and started painting...

Please note: I am not an expert in paint making, or pigments. I'm not deep diving into the binders, pigments, and other things that matter to some artists... I'm trying to look at this from the target audience of these paint sets  (stampers- artists who are using these to make cards, scrapbooks, art journals, etc), and these are just MY OPINIONS. If you are serious about watercolor, and want to paint pieces that will be sold and hung on a wall, I suggest you look at brands that have established reputations for quality pigment and lightfastness (like: Schmincke, Winsor and Newton,  and Daniel Smith, to name a few)

ALSO: I bought both paint sets with my own money, and am not being compensated by anyone for writing this. This was simply to answer a question I was asked. Although if anyone wants to send me free watercolors to try, I won't complain. LOL!

Ok, Let's get started with a few basics before getting into performance....

This is the Altenew 36 set watercolor set.  It comes in a plastic case and includes a water brush. The price listed on Altenew is $35.99 and since there are 36 colors, that comes down to about $1 per half pan.

Altenew is a bit confusing when it comes to how they describe this set... on the packaging, and in the description, they say it is "artist grade"  (which SHOULD mean high quality binder, pigments, and little to no filler- suitable for professional artists' work). HOWEVER, if you scroll farther down the page on the website to a spec comparison between all their watercolor sets, they say it is "student grade" which is a lower quality paint. 

The paints are easy to rewet and are considered non-toxic (according to Altenew)

Color names are printed on the bottom of each pan. These colors are designed to match the colors in Altenew's ink line. Pigment info can be found on the website by clicking on the 'description' tab.

My opinions: I would not call it artist grade... I'm not even sure if I would call it student grade or not... It reminds me more of the cheap 'craft grade' sets you can pick up at craft stores that tend to have a lot of filler that leave the paint feeling a bit chalky.  There are some large mixing areas in the lid, but since it is plastic the paint just beads up. (I prefer a ceramic plate to mix on). The plastic palette is sturdy, but the pans are pretty loose in their slots, and will fall out if bumped or if the palette isn't sitting flat when you open it. It also rattles a lot when you move the closed palette around. (I'm sensitive to noises, so I notice those kinds of things)

Because the colors are premixed to match their ink colors, it is a bit of an odd set of colors (compared to more traditional sets). The colors are very bright and pretty though! I haven't done an in depth mixing study of them, so I don't know how well they will mix or if they turn get muddy... I can do that testing if you are interested... just let me know.

The website says the lightfastness is 4-5... but I'm not sure I would trust that.. Do your own testing if lightfastness matters to you.

Sidenote: I don't really like using water brushes, so I didn't even fill  this one up... so I can't speak to the quality of the included brush. If you are interested, I used a Silver Black Velvet brush for most of the testing I did... It's a bit pricy but I've found that good brushes can make a HUGE difference!

A quick note on MY OPININONS of light fastness for all those who will be upset if it isn't properly addressed:

Light fastness matters if:

1- You are planning on hanging/displaying your work in the sunlight

2- You are planning on selling your original work

Light fastness is less important if:

1-You are making scrapbooks that will be stored closed

2- You are working in a sketchbook that will be stored closed

3-You are working in an art journal that will be stored closed (you get the idea)

4- You are intending to scan in your work and sell/display prints only

5- You are making cards (let's face it, most people don't keep cards for 100 years, and if they do, they are probably safely tucked away in a box, scrapbook, etc to keep it safe)

Since Altenew is primarily a stamp/papercraft company, I'm going to assume that the target customer base  for these sets are artists who fall into the card making, scrapbooking, art journaling genres.

Keep in mind Copic markers aren't light fast, yet are considered excellent alcohol markers. Lightfastness is important to be aware of, but isn't the end-all, be-all of everything.

This is the Altenew 24 Artist Watercolor set. This set comes in a traditional style metal tin with fold out mixing tray. This set costs $49.99 which means a little over $2 per half pan.

Altenew lists these as artist grade with high transparency and little-no granulation. The pans come individually wrapped with the color name printed on the side of each pan. The pans are held securely in place with the traditional metal insert for this style tin, but can easily be removed by slightly bending the metal tab behind each pan back a little.

These colors also coordinate with Altenew's ink line, though are a bit more traditional as far as what you would see in a traditional mixing set. They rewet easily. Pigment information can be found on the website by clicking on the 'description' tab. 

My Opinion: These surprised me. I was expecting less, but the colors are vibrant and fun to paint with. The colors are a bit more traditional  and mix really well.

I have no idea how light fast these are.. do your own testing if you plan to display your work. (refer to my lightfastness opinions above)

Just to put things in perspective, a set of 24 half pans in a metal tin from Daniel Smith will run somewhere in the ballpark of $117 ( around $4.87 per pan). Schmincke 24 tin is around $153 (or $6.37 per pan).  I love my expensive paints... but they are expensive!

It's hard to tell in the photo, but when you open the 36 set, the paints look more like chalk. That makes me wonder about the amount of filler used. The 24 set looks a bit shiny when freshly opened- similar to any of my Daniel Smith paints.

Both pans look like they are extruded rather than poured (not a problem, just an observation). The block of paint in the 36 pans is bigger than the block of paint in the 24 pan.

Ok... now let's take a look at how they actually perform...

I tried to use comparable colors across both Altenew sets, and my Daniel Smith paints to keep things as fair as possible. 

You can see from these swatches, the 36 set struggles with flat washes... it is very granular and the color doesn't melt into the water,  instead it leaves streaks.

The 24 set preformed very well... it felt very similar to paining with the Daniel Smith paints. Smooth, and easy to move without streaks

Here is a zoomed in view of the granulation on the 36 set vs, the smooth wash of the 24 set.

Now, there is nothing wrong with granulation. Some people like it, some don't. It depends on what look you are going for. Some of my favorite Daniel Smith watercolors are very granulating... that said, the granulation in the Altenew set did not feel the same. I'm not sure how to describe it...Perhaps the particle size was too big rather than just a heavier particle?

This is an opacity test... I drew some thick black lines on my paper using a sharpie, then I painted over the line. If the paint is transparent, you won't see any color over the line.  The Altenew 24 set (middle row) was very transparent (as one would expect since they specifically say this set is high in transparency). The 36 set (top row) had a fair amount of color deposit on the line. 

What does that mean for you? Well, it isn't necessarily a good or bad thing (depends on what look you want). Here are a couple things to consider:

1-Transparent colors generally mix better. The more opacity, the easier it is to get muddied colors when mixing.

2- If you are painting in a stamped image, do you want color deposits on your black lines or do you want clean black lines?

This is a flow test... it lets you see how much the colors move in water. This can be greatly affected by the binder that is used. 

Basically, I painted in the full rectangle with clean water so it was shiny but not puddling, then added just a line of paint down the left side (one brush stroke) and left it alone to do what it wanted. 

The 36 set hardly moved at all. This explains why I had such a hard time getting a smooth wash earlier... It just wants to sit where the brush left it instead of melting into the water. This can make it hard to blend, and leaves hard edges.

The 24 had a fair amount of spread! The edges of are soft and feathered, and it faded itself to white where there was more water. I like this quality in a paint, but that's my personal opinion.

The Daniel Smith paint also spread and feathered the edges. (If you want color that shoots across the water and spreads like crazy, check out QoR paints... they are FUN!)

Both sets are designed to coordinate with the Altenew line of ink colors... and every one I tested matched well. This is a great feature if you are looking to quickly color match without having to mix your own colors.

Out of curiosity, I decided to do another test... this one was a paper test. 

On the left is Canson watercolor paper. This is a relatively cheap student grade paper. 

The one on the right is Arches Cold Press 100% cotton paper.... expensive and good.

You can see how much of a difference that made! If you want to get the lower quality paints, I suggest using it with higher quality paper!

Ok... Now on to practical application...

I'm not a robot, so I can't paint two flowers exactly the same, but I tried. 

This is on Canson paper. The one one the top is the 36 set, the one on the bottom is the 24 set.

Both look good. I struggled more with the 36 set to get the blends and shades, but it works.

Note: the center of the 24 set is more blurred... that is due to me, not the paint.. I didn't wait quite long enough between layers.

Same flowers and colors on Arches Cold press.. 

The colors from both sets are more vibrant, and the blending was easier.

Flower is from Altenew Poppy Garden stamp set

So... what do I think? 

If I had to chose between the two Altenew sets, I would recommend the 24 Artist Watercolor set. The colors just went down smoother, it was easier to get the effects I wanted, and the colors were 'cleaner' (more traditional mixing colors). I don't care for the chalky grainy feel/look of the 36 set.

If you do prefer to having more color options over smoother paint, I recommend investing in good paper. 

Ok, I recommend investing in good paper no matter what paint you use! It changed my painting when I switched over!

Do you have other questions? Let me know! You can leave a comment here or over on my Instagram!

 I'll be back with more soon... see you then! 

~Kassi

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