When and if you decide to work with watercolors, you are faced with many confusing decisions. What brand of watercolor should I select? How are these watercolor paints priced? Is there a difference between watercolor tubes and pans? Fear not, for we are here to dismantle these burgeoning questions. This guide will inform you about the best ways to use watercolor.
What are Watercolor Paint Tubes?
As the name suggests, watercolor paint tubes are watercolor tubes filled with paint. You would find several products in the market, such as watercolor pencils, pans, and tubes. Out of them all, watercolor tubes provide the most vibrant and vivid colors due to their concentrated pigment. Artists often use them for a larger canvas. The paint is sealed in metal tubes.
Characteristics of Watercolor Paint Tubes
As opposed to the pans, your watercolor tube drawing will be more opulent. This is because watercolor paint tubes offer some advantages that the pans simply cannot. A few of them are listed below.
- As the paint in the watercolor tubes is soft and wet, you can easily pick it up with a brush and mix it. Even if it is dried, you may reactivate it using a little water.
- You can avoid cross-contamination of color with watercolor tubes. Use it directly on the surface or put it in a palette.
- The color is highly pigmented and saturated due to the meagre binding and filler agents. Thus even a small droplet gives your watercolor tube drawing a vibrant look.
- You can create different shades and save them in a pan if you desire, on more than one occasion.
Using Watercolor Paint Tubes
Using watercolor tubes is easy. Grab your palette and squeeze out a little paint in globulets. Pour water into your palette; the paint won’t automatically mix. This gives you autonomy over the hue. You may start by doing lighter washes. When appropriate, mix the glob with the water giving you a darker shade.
Alternatively, you may use watercolor paint tubes directly on the wet canvas. Beware as they are extremely pigmented and hence, rather difficult to maneuver. Remember to screw on the lid after every use as the paint is at the risk of drying out. If it’s dry, it is nearly impossible to squeeze the paint out.
Watercolor Paint Tubes: Our Top Picks
Artist watercolor tubes are also sold in sizes ranging from 7 ml to 37 ml. Hence, you must be aware of the best products for your buck. Having said that, we have curated our top 3 picks for watercolor paint tubes brands, which will leave you satisfied and your watercolor tube drawing beautiful.
Camel Watercolor Tube
You can purchase the Camel Watercolor tubes individually or in a set. Any one of its 24 different shades gives your watercolor tube drawing appeal. These colors have an ASTM-AP certification, meaning they are non-toxic and safe. The product’s formula gives the highest levels of purity, transparency, and clear tones. Camel watercolor tubes are distinguished by their consistent tone, the richness of hue, and color texture.
Faber Castell Watercolor Tubes
Twenty-Four unique, highly transparent, brilliant colors are available in the Faber Castell watercolor tubes. Once dry, they can be mixed again, as they are easily dilutable. These watercolor tubes are ideal for blending light and dark hues. Just squeeze them and see them flow smoothly.
Schmincke Watercolor Tubes
Schmincke watercolor tubes are a line of premium watercolors with 145 vibrant colors. They are one of the best artist watercolor tubes because of their superior pigment quality and lightfastness. To provide artists complete control over the flow and distribution of color, the ideal quantity of ox-gall is added to each color. Every color in the Schmincke watercolor tube set has a unique, optimized formula of its own.
Image Courtesy – Art News
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