Artist Review: Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Box Set
Winsor & Newton Watercolor Gift Set
If you are looking for a watercolor gift set for a serious watercolor painter, hobbyist or professional, the best choice is the 
The Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Box Set includes the following items:
- 20 x 14ml. tubes of Artists' Water Colors
- 1 x Bijou Box
- 1 x 75ml bottle of Colorless Art Masking Fluid
- 1 x 75ml bottle of Ox-Gall
- 1 x 14ml bottle of Black Drawing Ink
- A Mixing Well
- Artists' Sponge
- Kneaded eraser
- 3 assorted drawing pencils
- 3 Series 7 Sable Brushes
- 1 Series 14A Large Wash Brush
- 4 large drawing board clips
- 7 assorted drawing pen nibs and pen holder
- Slant Well Tile
- Leaflet
- Hand painted color chart
High Quality Watercolor Paint
Winsor & Newton is a very well established high quality paint manufacturer for artists. They make several types of paint including watercolors in tubes and in pans. The watercolor paints that Winsor & Newton makes come in two categories. The first watercolor category--Cotman Watercolors--is a lower quality line that is meant for beginners and watercolor painting students. The Cotman line is less pure in color, and less concentrated than their other line--Artists Watercolors.
The Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor paint line is meant for serious watercolor artists. The Artists Watercolor paints are highly concentrated, and extremely pure in color, so that a watercolor artist will get the best quality color every time the paint is used. According to Winsor & Newton, "Each color within this wide and balanced spectrum of 96 colors, has been selected and formulated to offer the greatest choice so that artists can use a unique palette that best suits their work."
Bijou Box
Included in the Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Box Set is the Bijou Box. The Bijou Box is a terrific carry along box of watercolors for artists who like to paint plein air or who travel and like to take their paints with them.
The Bijou Box, measuring only 79 x 60 x 16mm, contains 8 assorted Artists Watercolor
Half Pans and a Pocket Brush. The pans of watercolors are easier to travel with, and the miniature size makes the Bijou Box perfect to carry along just about anywhere. The box is metal and can be used as a palette to mix colors while you are traveling. Many hours of outdoor painting can be accomplished with the Bijou Box and paper.
Taking a Watercolor Artist from Start to Finish
The Westminster Set has everything that a watercolor artist needs to take them from start to finish for any watercolor painting.
Many watercolor artists sketch out a study of their painting before they start painting. This kit contains artists pencils for endless sketching to do their studies, and practice paintings before they start on the actual watercolor painting.
For interesting touches after painting, the Westminster Set contains both black drawing ink, and pens. Ink outlines over watercolor paintings create interest and added dimension to watercolor paintings similar to the artist Raoul Dufy.
20 Artists Watercolor paints are plenty of paint for any artist to create numerous watercolor paintings. Watercolor artists can create whatever colors they need by mixing the paints according to the watercolor color chart, also provided.
Masking fluid is used to keep parts of the watercolor paper white, and is used often by many watercolor artists to protect parts of their paintings from accidental spills or over painting.
Ox-gall is a wetting agent used to improve flow when mixed directly with watercolor paints. It can also be used on very hard sized papers to reduce surface tension.
Westminster Watercolor Storage Box
The mahogany box that the Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Watercolor Box Set comes in is a treasure in itself. The box can be used for keeping an artist's watercolor supplies or it can be used to organize other artist supplies once the original supplies are used up. Most artists will continue to replenish the watercolor paints and other art supplies contained in the box long after the originals supplies are used up.
There is a lot of room for paints to be kept in a very orderly fashion, and the center paint tray can be removed and set aside to allow more access to all of the watercolor painting supplies in the set. In addition, there is room to add additional paint supplies that the artist already has.
Hand Painted Watercolor Color Chart
One of my personal favorite additions to this particular Westminster Set by Winsor & Newton is the hand painted watercolor color chart. Artists know that a printed color chart is never as good as a hand painted color chart. Printed color charts are made with print ink that is a completely different chemical balance and consistency than paint. Therefore the print colors are never exactly the same as the paint colors.
With a hand painted watercolor chart, the artist can see the exact nature and color of the paints he wants to use, and doesn't have to guess what the differences are. The color chart is a real guide to the color, showing the artist what the colors actually look like on paper.
Westminster Set Drawbacks
If you want to give an artist you know a Christmas gift, birthday gift, or graduation gift, the Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Box Set is an excellent choice. The only drawbacks that I see with this set is that I would have preferred it to come with more brushes. However, that is a fault that can easily be remedied by buying extra brushes, while you go to purchase the watercolor paper of your choice.
The Westminster Set will give any artist hours of enjoyment, and an excellent start to a new artist. In addition, you can feel assured that the high quality of Winsor & Newton is present in every item in the set, including the box it comes in.
Click here to buy a Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolor Westminster Box Set.
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