Pans, Tubes, or Liquid Watercolor Paint: Finding the Right Option for Your Style

I often get asked about watercolor supplies and what paints I’d recommend. Over the years I’ve found some favorites and also developed a travel palette which we’re now offering in our online shop. I adore talking about paint supplies so I’m really excited to dive into this subject.

The Magic of Pigment

There is no other medium quite like watercolor. This type of paint allows for a transparent and luminsious quality to paintings but it can also look rich and layered.

There’s nothing like the feeling of opening a new set of paints, whether it is tubes or pans, and I always love to swatch them out and play with mixing new colors.

The goal of this post is to give you an unbiased look at watercolor paint options. All watercolor is made of pigment and binder. Binder is usually gum arabic.

This post is for the curious beginner to the seasoned artist looking to add or streamline their supplies.

This post also contains affiliate links, if you purchase a product via the link I may receive a percentage of the sale. You can read my full disclosure policy here. Thank you for supporting my blog in this way.

Watercolor Pans (Cakes)

• What They Are: Dried blocks of paint that are “activated” with a wet brush.
• Pros:
  • Portability: Ideal for travel or painting en plein air.
  • Longevity: They last a long time and don’t “dry out” (since they’re already dry).
  • Affordability: These are often the most affordable options
• Cons
  • Control: Harder to pick up lots of paint at once.
• Best For: Illustrators, sketchers, and artists on the move.

Pan Sets I Recommend

Finding Silver Pennies Pan Set – We just launched these travel pan sets in our online shop. They are perfect for beginner and intermediate painters, and the metal tins make it easy to take paints with you anywhere you go!

There is a warm and a cool hue of each paint. These are artist quality paints, highly pigmented with good transparency at a reasonable price point. There are twelve colors in this set.

Daniel Smith Pan Set – I have this set and use it for travel. It includes 24 colors and some of the colors are granulating which means they separate to create fun effects (for example adding a textured look for fur or rocks). The price point is quite high. I would recommend this for the intermediate or advanced painter if you want to invest more money in watercolor.

Kuratake Gansai Tambi Pan Sets – I have two Kuratake sets. These are Japanese watercolors and they come in beautiful seaweed green boxes and offer a more opaque, saturated watercolor. They dry a bit more shiny and instead of a gum arabic binder they use animal glue. Many illustrators like them for quick illustrations because they’re more saturated and opaque.

Watercolor Tubes

• What They Are: Creamy, concentrated paint in a metal or plastic tube.
• Pros:
  • Vibrancy: Easy to get a rich, saturated color quickly.
  • Large Washes: Better for covering large areas or mixing big puddles of paint.
  • Customization: You can squeeze them into your own empty pans to dry and can put them in a lidded container so they can be rewetted and used again and again.
• Cons:
  • More Expensive.
  • Can Dry Out if you don’t have a sealed palette, but can reactivate.
  • Travel: Can be hard to travel with these so I usually bring pan sets.
• Best For: Large-scale studio work and artists who love intense, bold colors.

From the beginning of my watercolor journey I’ve used tubes of paint. They are difficult to travel with so usually travel with pans.

Tubes last a very long time. The brand I use the most is Daniel Smith but also use Winsor Newton.

Liquid Watercolors

• What They Are: Highly concentrated, fluid pigment usually sold in glass bottles with droppers.
• Pros:
  • Brilliance: Often the most “glowing” and vibrant of all types.
  • Consistency: Perfect for calligraphy, airbrushing, or smooth gradients.
• Cons:
  • Unique: These work very differently to pans and tubes. I’m actually still trying to get the hang of it.
  • Travel: Very messy to travel with.
• Best For: Mixed media, lettering, and high-contrast illustrations.

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors – These come in glass bottles with a dropper. You can drop them on the paper or use a brush to apply from a welled palette. These are very saturated.

I created a series of cards with liquid watercolors – the Just Saying Collection.

Professional vs. Student Grade

• The Main Difference: in professional and student grade is the ratio of pigment to binder. Professional grade paints have more pigment, whilst student grade has more binder or fillers.
• The Investment: If you want to grow as an artist it’s better to invest in professional grade because they will last longer, won’t dry out and become chalky, and they won’t fade in your finished paintings.
• Granulation: Professional paints often have beautiful, natural textures and granulation that is missing from student grade paints.

Curating Your Unique Palette

• There is no “right” answer—only what feels right for your current project or budget. Over time you’ll find paints and products that work for you and your art.
• I suggest starting with a small, high-quality set of pans and adding tubes of your most-used colors later or potentially getting the Daniel Smith small tube starter set if you want to try those out.
• I’d love to hear which paints you’ve enjoyed the most in your painting.

Inside My Studio

I work from my sunroom studio here in Scituate and over the years I’ve grown to enjoy certain products and brands more than others.

I use pan sets for travel and for my classes. Our pan set is what all my students use in classes at Noted.

For most of my watercolor paintings and my illustrations I use tubes of paint and Daniel Smith paints are my first choice.

Some of my favorite colors include:

• Pyrrol Scarlet – great for shells, crabs and lobsters, and sunsets.
• Indigo – A favorite color! I love it for ocean waves, stormy night skies, mountains.
• Sap Green – Stems and leaves (I love adding indigo to make a deeper blue green)
• Payne’s Gray – love this color for monochrome paintings, rocks, shadows etc. It can look gray, blue, and black depending on the painting.
• Yellow Ochre – for sandy beaches and fur.
• Cobalt Blue – Sunny Skies and oceans.
• French Ultramarine – granulating color makes lovely ocean waves.

I always have a tube of white gouache to create highlights and water ripples, too.

If buying watercolor tubes I’d recommend either a ceramic palette or a plastic platte with a cover. I prefer the plastic covered one because I can take this with me. I place a damp Trader Joe’s sponge inside to keep the paints from drying out. If you don’t want to buy anything you can also use a plate.

More Resources

I’ve written a few other posts about supplies and resources. You can read more below:

• Watercolor Brushes
• Watercolor Paper
• Must Have Supplies
• My Favorite Creative Tools

I’ve curated a whole selection of watercolor products in my online shop too.

I hope this post was helpful as you start or continue your watercolor journey.

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