Watercolor tubes vs. pans?

[Natalie29]

I prefer to use Tubes of paint and when doing so with Talens paint the pigment is pure and the colours are juicy! Just my way of working! I do however, agree that when painting outdoors a box set of pans are far easier to work with then as there’s no messing around! I don’t have a box set atm with pans in it

Natalie

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[Flopka]

I have a dumb question (watercolor newbie here): What do you do with pan blocks that you buy separately? Can you buy the trays to put them in? I never see trays in the art catalogs… just sets of pan paints which of course already come with trays.

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[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

You can buy empty palettes for watercolour pans, but the best idea is to buy a ready filled pan palette and replace the few you don’t use much with ones you do.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[Marcio C]

Flopka, hi. If you mean the metal tray that holds the pans inside the palette box, the tray is actually heavy and takes a lot of space, you could instead use sticky tack (that sticky gum) to stick the pan in the box in the order you want, and replace them easily. If you mean the box itself, Daniel Smith (danielsmith.com) sells empty boxes, and empty pans.

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[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Here’s a link to a supplier of empty boxes suitable for pans.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[karenlee]

Good source, Yorky, thank you!
Finally I got a reply from The Netherlands: Talens says their tube watercolors are formulated with the same concentration of glycerine as the pan paints, so it is ok to refull the pans with tube paint. Hooray!

[Sweet725]

I took the quest to Tom Lynch he said it’s more of a preference – after all they only big difference is that tube have an additive to keep them wet. Most artist I’ve yet to see some one totally clear their palette and not use dry paints. I even make my own pans from the tube paint as it’s easier for transporting. I do mist the pans prior to use to let it moisten the pans up and makes for easier reactivation. And like mentioned above some don’t really ever dry out due to what they use like M. graham. Holbein WCs reconstitute really well an a reason some artist love them

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[HarvestMoon]

I spent about 5 years traveling for a living, a lot of the time in northern Europe. When I had some time and the shops were open, I went to art stores. I discovered half-pan sets and watercolor pencils….and took both of those with me everywhere. They are both great for creating ‘hotel art’ at night in your PJ’s or out in the park.

I still much prefer half-pans, and pans, and recently got some giant pans. I like the 48-half-pan Schmicke set the most, followed by the 48-pan Old Holland paints. For travel, the Winsor and Newton Artist compact set. I am not traveling anymore, but I like to always have the pan sets out. Because I have 48 colors right in front of me, ready to go. Often, I just need a bit of this or that color….but hate to try to mix the same color exactly if I run out of something…so I like a lot of colors. And I don’t like having to hunt through a bunch of tubes to find what I want.

I can generally fit at least 2 additional half-pans in any set….

I do have a large plastic palette-for tube paint- I took a class and the instructor had us buy an empty palette and bring tubes of certain colors. She had us squeeze all of the paint into the palette and use it – just rewetting it each week.

I also just spray whatever dry paint I am using several minutes before painting.

I have made my own half-pan paints by squeezing paint from a tube into an empty half-pan, but once dried they tend to crack and just do not seem to be as ‘juicy’ when re-wet.

I admit, I have a serious love for half-pan sets, and pan sets, and would rather give up every tube than any of my pan sets!

I only wish Daniel Smith produced their paints in pans, especially their primatek line, since they are so unique.

Harvest Moon 🐐

[AniProf]

This is a fabulous discussion. I too re-wet dried tube paint constantly, as I agree, it’s too expensive to waste.

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[HarvestMoon]

If you are interested in Schmincke pan paints, Jerry’s Artarama seems to be closing them out- which is sad, but also means they have them at a very good price for those who want to try them. They are whole pans, I must have missed the half-pans and sets closing out darn it!

they are HERE

Harvest Moon 🐐

[karenlee]

Thanks, Linda!
I prefer pan paints because they are convenient for painting outdoors, and because I like to paint in many thin layers, so I don’t really want the saturated chroma of tube paint anyway.
What I have learned so far is that some tube paints are formulated with glycerine to assist rewetting, others are not (e.g., Winsor Newton). After cleaning dried paint out of six plastic palettes, I saw empirical evidence that some dried tube paints are not rewettable, and are best removed with a jackhammer. From now on, I will stick with pan paints, and my bottle of glycerine for saving Winsor Newton tube paints in a palette or empty pan. I will try glycerine with my Daniel Smith Primatek colors too, as those are great colors for landscape painting.

[CJMonty]

AS has already been said here, I don’t even want to know how expensive painting would be if we had to discard all the paint we have squeezed out of a tube and not used before it has set.

I am always horrified when there are new students in our class and at the end of a session they diligently was off every last bit of paint from their pallette, I see to be constantly explaining to newbies what a terrible waste of paint this is.

I use the M.Graham brand of watercolour paint as do quite a number of people on WC and it is so very easy to reconstitute as it doesn’t dry totally solid like most of the others, as far as vibrancy goes, I personally don’t think it is any less vibrant after it has dried than it is fresh out of the tube.

Take Care, and enjoy whatever you choose to use. If you are choosing to do a Large painting you will find it easier to make up large amounts of a wash with tube paints rather than pans though.

Love Carolynn :thumbsup::thumbsup::):):wave::wave:

[HarvestMoon]

Daniel Smith Primatek colors too, as those are [U]great[/U] colors for landscape painting.

oh yeah, I am seriously in love those….everyone should own a tube of their Minnesota Pipestone, Serpentine, oh, and the Turquoises at least!!

jackhammers are also required for gouache….I am starting to appreciate using paper plates for a palette!

Harvest Moon 🐐

[FridayJones]

great thread…

I have found that the Graham paints don’t work very well here in the swamps of the Gulf coast, as someone earlier mentioned we just end up cultivating molds. But, as someone else mentioned, a drop or two of glycerin might be worth a try… but WHERE do you find just straight glycerin?

Also, don’t know if anyone else has tried this, but I am told that if you know it is going to be a few days between using your pallette, it is a good idea to stick it in the freezer. It preserves the pigment, they say.

[DebSpinks]

There are a lot of uses for glycerine, so it can be found in a lot of places. You can get it in cake decorating stores, soap making supply stores, drugstores. You can even get it at Amazon.com. I’ve been using it in my palette for a couple of years with great success. It keeps my tube colors in a semisolid, not runny, condition that rewets beautifully.

Debra
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