The Best Watercolors Paints + Pallets :: Beginers to pros

The best watercolors paints you can use, be it on a budget or looking for  professional-artist grade watercolor paints & pallets- today, I'm sharing with you my favorites! 

 You know, acrylic paints will always have my heart and be my numero uno!  But I am the type of person/artist that likes to dabble in a little bit of everything (enneagram 7). Watercolor paints are another one of my favorite mediums (obviously, by the amount that I have). They are similar to acrylics in how forgiving they can be, if you mess up, you can probably save it. Watercolors are approachable to everyone. Unlike acrylics, these paints are safe for the youngest of children (yes, even tots) and super affordable if you are making art on a tight budget.

As you can tell, these pallets are well loved. They are truly what I use and have been using for years. I'm sharing with you a wide range of the best watercolors out there, from cheap beginner pallets, to tubes and pallets that will be something you'll save up for and gain experience before you'll need/want to upgrade.  

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​Affordable + Beginner Watercolor Pallets 

The artist loft pallets are honestly one of my favorite pallets ever and they are SUPER affordable. These are GREAT paints for beginners or even kids. But, as you can see, I've used mine ALOT. There are a wide selection of colors in the artist loft pallet and they have pretty good pigment for the price. It is a good 'bang for your buck' deal in my opinon. If you don't have alot of money to invest in paints and want to make sure you get a wide selection of colors without having to by multiple pallets, this is the pallet to go with. 

ThePrang andCrayola pallets are great and affordable options for the kiddos, but I still find myself using them too. You can always get a good deal on these pallets, especially if you look out for sales. 

​Sakura Travel Watercolor Pallets + Pearlescent & metallic pallet 

The Sakura pallet is a travel pallet but I use it regularly and LOVE it so much, that I just bought myself the other pallet with glitter/metallic colors. Each of the pallets come with water brushes (as seen in the *new pallet bellow), a little tray for mixing colors and two sponges on the side for blotting the water brush in between colors. You can find these anywhere from $20-$30ish dollars depending on sales. Amazon has the best price I've seen. My original Sakura pallet I have had for 4+ years and it's traveled all over the world with me, can't wait to love one the new one just as much! 

Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Paints Pocket Box

The Winsor & Newton pallet is another travel pallet that I have had for YEARS. It was actually my first. I have replaced some of the watercolor squares over time when I ran out and it's just been the best little thing. It's super small, will fit in the palm of your hand and comes with a cute little extendable paint brush. 

Mission Watercolors Tube Paints with a Pallet

The Mission watercolors are tube paints that come with a pallet for you to squirt each color into with lots of space for mixing up your own colors too. Y'all, these colors are so rich + vibrant and are just the most beautiful shades. These colors get used so much. The blues and greens are my favorites. The pigments are so strong that you only need to squirt a little bit of paint out at a time. These are more pricy, but in my opion worth it and will last you forever. 

Kuretake Watercolor Pallet

The Kurtake is another really awesome, semi-pricey (cake) pallet, but again- totally worth it. I use this thang so dang much. I love the colors that come with the pallet (you can see some are very worn down), the blues, yellows and golds are my favorites/most used on this pallet. 

Metallic Watercolors and Neon Watercolors Pallet 

It can be really hard to find good metallics and neons in watercolors. The metallics are often muddy and the neons too watery and see through. The MozArt Supplies Metallic and neon pallets do just what you want them too and for a GREAT price! 

Liquid Watercolors

I LOVE liquid watercolors and inks but they are a totally differnt ball game from regular cake and tube paints. They are obviously more 'fluid' so you really have to get used to how much water you need to use and how wet you can let your paper get before it rips. Keep in mind the ink watercolors are permanent​, so be careful blowing, splattering and slinging them around. 

I don't have a set any more, but in my classroom I used to use ​The Sargent Watercolor Magic set for our lquid watercolors. Perfect for childern and will last you FOREVER. 

My personal favorite liquid watercolors and inks are from the Dr. Ph Martin's line. 

“This is NOT a sponsored post from the brands + products mentioned but does include affiliate links to the products on Amazon. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”