Art-n-Fly 72 Ultimate Watercolor Set Review

  Hello friends and welcome back to my first blog of 2020. l love this one and l hope you will too.
On this blog l will be reviewing the Art-n-Fly 72 Ultimate Watercolour half pan set. I would like to mention that I am not being sponsored and these are my personal opinions.
Although l use and review a lot of different art supplies, l was super excited to try these watercolours.  I first saw them with great reviews on Amazon.ca and purchased the 72 colour set at a super affordable price. l have to admit that l was a bit reluctant to purchase and try them, as some great valued watercolours and products that l have experimented with seem to rate low on my list, but keep reading and you will see that this was not the case with this brand. Upon reading about Art-n-Fly, they sell directly to the consumer and thus not having a huge store front or overhead, are able to offer high end art supplies and tools at a great budget. I am totally on board with this concept as l love using great products  for a great value.

Link to product on Amazon.ca

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  When l opened my package, l was so excited to see that all 72 half pan watercolours were neatly stored in a beautiful metal case, offering 2 sponges and 2 watercolour brushes. I was pleasantly surprised to see a copy of all the colours and codes.   I found this palette chart useful as the colours were pretty true to the actual colours when using them. Colours that included metallics, earth tones, skins tones, and  many vibrant colours. WOW! Total eye candy, and the dry pans were glossy and smooth to the touch. What was l going to create with such a variety of colours? Still skeptical, l decided to paint a subject that l could try the medium in different ways, and use many of the colours offered in this pallet.  The “Mad Hatter” seemed like a perfect choice.

Pros:

• You do not need a lot of effort to activate the cake pans with water.
• Colours are vibrant and highly pigmented.
• Although these are highly pigmented, they maintain transparency if desired and you can build your layers.
• Sponges are great to clean extra paint or water off your brushes.
• Brushes worked well, they didn’t leak and with a soft squeeze l was able to add water to the cake pans.
• Non-toxic and safe to use with children and pets.
• Super affordable to purchase.
• Metal tin is light weight and thin for art on the go.
• You can use the inside lid as a mixing area.

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Let’s talk about how l used these watercolours and what l was most impressed with. I also want to note that l used my own synthetic squirrel brushes when working with these watercolours. I wanted to create a vintage look to the Mad Hatters jacket, and used a variety of browns and a few other colours and l noticed right away that they mixed beautifully together on the paper. I was impressed how they bloomed wet on wet to the hot pressed smooth 140 lb watercolour paper. I added salt to the background to create texture and granulation and they worked extremely well using this technique. Now how do they lift? Fantastic!, on his tie and shirt l laid down black watercolour then lightly sprinkled water and the colour bloomed amazingly. I was also surprised to see how well they lifted using a clean wet brush.  I found no issues and was surprised at how opaque and yet how transparent these colours could get, there were no issues with controlling colour saturation. On the tie and shirt, look how dark the black is, yet how light it could get. The application of paint was really smooth, they mixed well together wet on wet and when dry they didn’t feel chalky to the touch. What l loved most about these watercolours, was their vibrancy, look at the orange and red in the hair, they do pack a punch. I have tried some less expensive watercolours that have such a strong odor to them that l get an instant headache, but these did not smell at all and this meant that l could use them for hours and get super creative. 

Cons:

• I was not able to find any information on the light-fast rating, or the materials used in these watercolours, only that they are long lasting.
  
• The pans are not sold individually that l could see on the website, but this isn’t a total con, as the sets are so affordable that you can purchase them again without breaking the bank.
  

I will try to contact the company at some point and see if these watercolours are light-fast. I am not sure how they are rated, professional or student grade? If you are worried about selling your artwork, l would suggest creating your art and sell high quality prints which is a win, win in my opinion.
 How do the colours mix together to create other colours? I honestly don’t know, as this set offered such a variety of colours that l didn’t have to mix any, which was such a treat.
 
Art-n-Fly offer a variety of art supplies and tools that cater to artists of all levels and they specialize in illustration products such as markers. I am so impressed with these watercolours that I have since purchased the 24 watercolour paint brush pens and the 48 oil based coloured pencils,  l am excited to try them out. So make sure to pop back for more future reviews on Art-n-Fly products.
 
If you love using watercolours, are a beginner or professional artist like myself, are on a budget but don’t want to sacrifice quality then l do recommend giving these a try. Overall l am giving the
Art-n-Fly Ultimate half pan watercolour set a TWO THUMBS UP! I am thrilled that l purchased the whole 72 colour set, as who would not want all these rich colours?  For more information on this product and other Art-n-Fly products visit their website, l have included the link below.

Link to Art-n-fly website

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Make sure to follow Art-n-Fly on Instagram and tag them so they can see your Art-n-Fly creations.
 
Until next time my friends, Happy Creating!
Have a beautiful day.
 
Alice Melo

Author

Realistic Artist in Kingston, Ontario