Winsor Newton Cotman reviews
Main advantage:
We are facing one of the most complete watercolors in its category, since it has a wide range of 40 unique colors and 5 repeated colors; It also includes the color white, so you can express all your ingenuity and creativity.
Main disadvantage:
Apparently the colored pills tend to come out of the casing easily when painting. However, this detail does not detract from the high quality and presentation of this product.
Verdict: 9.9/10
With a large number of positive reviews and an excellent reputation on the net, these watercolors are positioned as one of the best of the moment.
Main Features Explained
Brand and utility
Winsor & Newton in a company that manufactures a wide range of products designed for artists who practice fine art. Its extensive catalog of products includes canvases, papers, artists’ brushes, acrylics, pastels, alkyd oil, oils and watercolors. The company is based in London, UK and was founded in 1832 by two young art lovers: William Winsor and Henry C. Newton.
William Winsor was a chemist specializing in the manufacture of color, who also liked to paint. While Henry Newton was an artistically more talented painter than William; however, his valuable contribution to the company was his scientific knowledge. Between the two young people they created one of the most prestigious brands of artistic materials, recognized worldwide and designed not only for professional artists, but also for all those amateurs and art students.
W & N has remained in force over time and today it is a brand recognized for the high quality of its products, among which watercolors stand out. In this sense, Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolors are a product manufactured and designed especially to be used by beginners and students of fine arts.
Pigmentation and colors
They are watercolors with excellent coloring power; for this, the manufacturer uses high-quality pigments derived from different sources. Some of these sources are minerals, such as the range of colors obtained from the distillation of petroleum. Others are natural, such as the earth color tones that include the ocher range and even traditional sources are also used through which colors of great beauty are achieved, such as ultramarine.
The vast majority of colors in these watercolors use organic pigments. For this reason, unlike the professional water color range, this product offers a more uniform consistency; which favors learning in students and beginners.
Likewise, it is a set of watercolors that has tones that are only present in the professional range (such as the Toasted Sienna), which allows artists to use both ranges without affecting the final result of the work..
On the other hand, the set includes two tablets of Chinese white, which favors students of fine arts, learning the technique of light and shadow, which includes the touches of light that a landscape or portrait should have and also to minimize the excess glare that some color combinations might generate.
Cotman range and portability
This watercolor model belongs to the Cotman range. The name of this range was adopted in honor of the talented English artist John Sell Cotman. It is a series of watercolors manufactured with high quality standards, but its price remains within the economic range; in order to facilitate its access to all public. That’s because Winsor & Newton have replaced some of their more expensive pigments with more affordable alternatives, while maintaining tint resistance and good transparency. For this reason, according to the opinions of many, it is one of the best Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolors in terms of value for money on the market.
The watercolor is presented in an exclusive and original case. It is a box made of rigid plastic and designed with two lids, one of them offers a concave format and is ideal for putting water and the other offers a flat surface to easily mix colors. It is a portable case designed to offer comfortable transportation, given its lightness and compact size; which favors its use outdoors. Therefore, you can carry it comfortably in your backpack without taking up extra space.