Superior Collapsible Watercolor Cup- It Came From AliExpress!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 ноя 2020
- Hey Artnerds! I'm always on the lookout for unusual art supplies that make the art experience better. This finds me in some pretty unusual places- Walmart, Goodwill, and even AliExpress looking for things I can repurpose or may have been overlooked. This time, I was in my own Discord server, the Paintbox, when Maddy mentioned purchasing this unusual and interesting travel watercolor palette. I just had to try it for myself- but is this Superior Foldable Watercolor Pot ACTUALLY superior to what's on the market? You'll have to watch to find out!
Superior Foldable Watercolor Pot
12 full wells, 4 half wells
Ningbo Superior Art Material Co
Purchased through DINGYI on AliExpress
Superior Website: www.superior-art.cn/
Get Your Own: www.aliexpress.com/item/40011...
I’ve reviewed a few different Superior products before, and I’m generally satisfied with the products I receive. I like seeing innovation in art supplies, and Superior offers interesting watercolor palettes that are often copied. I purchased this collapsable watercolor cup and palette after Maddy shared the listing in The Paintbox.
While I don’t travel for pleasure as often as I’d like, I love going to botanical gardens and doing plein air painting. This is a great opportunity to test out travel watercolor palettes
Mentioned In this Video:
Superior Fan Palette: tinyurl.com/yxoz7oeh
Superior Watercolor Watch: tinyurl.com/y5yzeyt4
Portable Painter Micro (coming soon!)
Shownotes:
Bigger than expected
Better build quality than expected
Where's the lanyard? Not a big deal- I have lanyards
Could put a paint puck in the bottom
Not really a full travel kit, but very compact and the first kit I've seen to include a sizeable wash bucket
Limited to no mixing area- could maybe use top of paint container?
Generally, I've been impressed with the quality of Superior products, if not always the ergonomics of design
Filling with tube watercolor:
Colors Used:
Neutral Tint (Holbein)
Bismuth Yellow (MGrahams)
Quin Gold (Daniel Smith, old version)
Scarlet Lake (Winsor and Newton)
Perm. Aliz Crimson (M Grahams)
Cerulean Blue (Winsor and Newton)
Ultramarine Deep (Sennelier)
Marine Blue (Mijello)
Undersea Green (Daniel Smith)
Green Gold (Winsor and Newton)
Burnt Sienna (M Grahams)
Sepia (PWC)
Chinese Orange (Sennelier)
Mineral Violet (Holbein)
Quin Violet (Daniel Smith)
Opera (Holbein)
Pros:
Generous wash bucket
Sturdy construction- feels and handles like a quality product- not janky, no unfinished edges
Paints stay damp in the palette- allows for fast reactivation, helps prevent chunks of w/c from falling out
Silicon gasket keeps paints fresh and also keeps them from running into other pans
Pan size is generous- you can add a lot or a little, up to you
Room for 16!! colors allow you to create a functional and versatile personal palette to suit your preferred travel style
Cons:
Bigger than I expected, but this isn't really a con
White mixing surface prone to staining
Nowhere really to keep a swatch sheet - I tried fitting one in, and it makes it way harder to open, so I guess I'll tape it to the front
Difficult to remove paints you don't need/changed your mind about
No deep wells for large mixes- just one mixing surface
Can't attach palette to paint bucket
If you lose the silicone gasket, you're probably SOL
Stains don't come off with a melamine sponge (like Mr Clean, great for cleaning gunky palettes)
The verdict:
Small nitpicky complaints aside, I really like this thing! I like collapsable watercups (I use the Faber Castell ones all the time) and like how this one isn't fussy. For a travel palette, it is both compact AND holds a lot of paint AND a lot of colors and could easily be a compact solution for students and people with limited space.
For watercolor, there's no perfect palette solution that will suit every artist- you have to figure out what works best for you, personally. This set doesn't come with travel or waterbrushes, doesn't have a million mixing surfaces, doesn't really fit in a (women's) pocket, doesn't come with included paints, and won't do your painting for you. But travel sets often come with crappy brushes, so you usually want to bring your own favs. And too many mixing surfaces may overcomplicate things. And you may not like the paints that came with the travel palette. I particularly like that I can customize my palette- this one has been curated for botanical studies. Opera rose (Holbein). Undersea green (Daniel Smith). Green Gold (Winsor & Newton). Marine Blue (Mijello)- this travel palette lets me include the best of all brands, so I get to customize my painting experience to my preference.
Music:
Kevin MacLeod:
Clean Soul
Dream Culture
Meditation Impromptu 02
Silver Blue Light
Windswept
Meditation Impromptu 01
Angevin 70
Blue Feather
#travelwatercolorpalette #weirdwatercolor #SuperiorCollapsableWatercolorcup
This is such a neat travel watercolor palette well suited to those who prefer to pick a spot, hunker down, and paint. A generous water pot means you're not fighting muddy water, and a silicone gasket keeps your paint fresh. This is one of my favorite travel palettes!
I saw this at my local art shop and picked it up thinking I could use it as a travel gouache kit.
Very thorough review-- I love that you included a field test. :) Thank you!
Herman miller chair yeah, best purchase for artists !
Superior does seem to come up with some really interesting palettes - I love that! They have one that looks like a bit like a Filofax clipbook, it's like a little binder that holds your paper, a built in paint palette (including paint), and it somehow turns into a mini easel too. I've been tempted to get it ever since I first saw it on AliExpress a couple of months ago...
Now that is nifty-lookin'. I already have one of the many _(many)_ types of W&N watercolour travel sets, but that sees little enough use as it is, even without pandemics and dusk at 4pm. (New Orleans? You're practically on the equator way down there!) But that silicon seal... I wonder how fresh it keeps gouache.
Ditto on water brushes and the brushes that come with travel sets. Not fond of them myself. And wearing this cup on a lanyard? Heh! Good thing I carry a satchel, or at least have coats with big pockets.
Nice work with it there, too. :) I like the effect of water. That's something I've always had trouble with, when using watercolours.
NGL, I wouldn't wear it on a lanyard myself either- too clunky! I'm probably already bringing a bag for my sketchbook and brushes, so it's not too much of an additional inconvenience to just pop this thing in. And yeah- it's November, and it was like 90 out today! I'm not a winter person, so this suits me juuust fine.
What I been using for stained palettes is the brush cleaner puck that is very popular. I put a bit of it on a sponge and then clean my white palettes that way! I really like this one, since I always forget how much water you need for watercolours and this one helps remind me "Hey, you need a lot more water than you think" I would like the cup to be maybe a brighter colour though, or even in clear. But that's a personal choice. Amazing review Becca!
I'm a sucker for clear anything, so I'll second you on the clear cup! I think it's a muted color to help hide staining (I bought one of the brighter colors), but maybe as it gains popularity, we'll get more colors.
Please never dump your dirty water into the ground. Professional paints can contain heavy metals and can be toxic to the environment. Take it home in a bottle and pour it into the sink so the water cleaning system can deal with it.