Watercolour boxes

Edit in Oct.2017: Sadly most of those boxes don't seem to be available anymore. Many companies seem to sell mostly generic light metal boxes that all look the same, or they only seem to offer their student grade pans in plastic boxes.

Yes, I'll readily admit that watercolour boxes and paints are my big weakness. I've been collecting them for a number of years now and they're still my favourite objects.

It all started with my mother's Schmincke watercolour box that I was only allowed to touch under supervision. My mother is a trained artist and when she was young those boxes were rare, expensive and extremely coveted.

At age 17 I did lots of baby sitting and finally got my own handful of 1/2 pans and my first box. I remember exactly what colours I purchased then: Gamboge Yellow, Vermilion, Madder Lake, Ultramarine and Viridian. A couple of months later I took part in an art competition organised by de Beukelaer's www.griesson-debeukelaer.de/en… and, to my great surprise, won a watercolour set complete with a watercolour block, sable brush and, best of all, the Schmincke 24 whole pans box. Wow!!! Had it not been for that gift, I might not even have embarked on the watercolour adventure because I used to be a graphite girl. Even as a child I'd rather draw with a pencil than use colours. I loved my children's gouache boxes and my coloured pencils but I still preferred plain drawing.

Years had to pass before I discovered the joys of working with colours. There were attempts at painting with oil colours, acrylics, pastels, gouache and what-not. And finally watercolours! Yes, albeit a late love, it's still my biggest.

Since I've always been very interested in art materials in general, I started my research on watercolours. It wasn't easy at first to get hold of other brands than Schmincke. When I went to the UK, the first thing I did was to go to an art store and buy some W&N colours. Now, at the age of internet and of online companies, I'm in art material heaven.  

Now to the boxes in my last submission: 

#1 Schmincke 24 whole pans set: Yes, that's the infamous de Beukelaer prize box! My most treasured and often replenished 24 whole pans Schmincke box. I've added a few colours to the original set and I keep replacing half empty pans by new ones.
No, nobody needs that many colours to paint a beautiful picture. In fact, you only need about 6-7, but it's a pleasure to try out combinations between different shades of the primaries. There are some colours I hardly ever touch (purples, most greens, some reds, oranges and some browns), whereas others like Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna have to be replaced at least once a year.

#2 The Michael Wilcox School of Colour set: It was purchased online here:www.michaelwilcoxschoolofcolor…
They claim to manufacture the most lightfast colours. They only offer a limited range of hues, but the colours are beautiful. However the tube paints don't rewet well and I'm sorry I've squeezed them into pans because they grew all hard and crumbly.
According to my reasearch I came to believe that those paints are the same as the American da Vinci brand.

#3 Schmincke's limited edition watercolour box: www.cornelissen.com/schmincke-…
That box was on sale two years ago before Christmas. I'm sorry I don't know whether they still sell them.
The box is quite handy, and I use it as my collecting tin for pans I've chucked out of other boxes. It's my all-purpose box that I take with me when I want to paint on the go because it's small and can hold quite a lot of pans. It also offers a decent amount of space for mixing.

#4 Winsor&Newton bijou box - I've bought the empty box ages ago in the UK. It's usually offered with 8 half pans. My box mostly contains Schmincke pans with the hues I use most. It's very handy to carry in your pocket and to have watercolours available anywhere you go.

#5 A no-name palette box with 15 Lukas whole pans. The guy on Handprint www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water… seems to hate that brand. (He also hates Schmincke, but I cannot take that seriously - Schmincke definitely are among the top quality watercolours)
Anyway, I had got a voucher for Greatart and I decided to try them out for once. I've been pleasantly surprised. They are brilliant with a heavy load of pigment. They look a bit garish compared to Schmincke, but they handle and mix well. Regular sets available here (They're NOT offered in that palette box I used! That one was purchase in a Boesner store. Unfortunately I don't know anything about the manufacturer.): www.jerrysartarama.com/discoun…

#6 White Nights 12 pans set - They're Russian watercolours and often used by Eastern artists. They have lovely hues and I've used them in most of the fanarts I used to paint a couple of years ago. I wouldn't paint commissioned art with them because I'm never sure of their lightfastness and reliability, but they're nice for quick colouring, sketching and playing around. Available here: www.greatart.co.uk/Watercolour…

#7 Cotman's Blue Box - I've purchased it because I simply loved the box and its colour. It contains mostly discontinued hues by Schmincke, so some of the colours might not be as lightfast as their today's standards. Available here: www.greatart.co.uk/Winsor-Newt…

#8 The heavyweight enamelled box by Winsor&Newton: My absolute favourite when it comes to boxes. It's made of the same sturdy metal as the bijou box. I honestly prefer the W&N tube colours, so I don't use their pans that much because they don't rewet as well as Schmincke's. It takes some scrubbing to get the colour off the W&N pans. (But I do LOVE the box ) Available here: www.winsornewton.com/uk/shop/w…

#9 The Rowney Artists Watercolour sketch box (originally for 24 half pans) - discontinued - It's basically the same box as #8, but with 24 compartments. As I hardly ever use half pans, I've reduced the number of compartments by breaking off some of the little metal dividers to create space for whole pans. That box was on sale by a retailer who was chucking out all old or discontinued items in his shop, and I couldn't resist buying it although it still wasn't very cheap. To my knowledge W&N still offer the same box with 24 half pans. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0…

Thank you so much for your patience!