For Christmas my sister gave me the Tobio’s Watercolor Set and I’ve used it several times, so I thought I would write a quick review about what I thought.

This little set includes:

• 12 tubes of watercolor – 6 ml each
• Water brush
• Mini Palette
• wrist spong
• 3×3 hard cover Journal
• Binder Clip

The first time I used this set I painted just while watching TV. I filled the little palette with the 8 of the colors from the set and let them dry a bit before I started to paint. I painted in a different little sketch book that my sister also gave me that had some preprinted pictures in half the book and blank pages for the other half.

The first thing I noticed was the paints were definitely student grade paints. When they dried, there was almost nothing left in the palette wells. But, the colors were fine when painted with. I’m sure they aren’t colorfast, but I hadn’t planned on using them in a large painting anyway. I also didn’t use the water brush at this time.

I next used this little set while chaperoning a Church dance. I was able to fit a 3×3 etcher journal, the mini palette, the binder clip, and the water brush in my coat pocket, which was actually really nice. The water brush had plenty of water for the entire time I painted, and I did some practice fur texture paintings.

Then most recently I took this little setup, along with the journal that came with the kit, down to Kasilof with me. I will say though, I added my higher grade paint to the palette before we left. I wasn’t driving so I was able to paint, or at least attempt, 10 paintings. The roads being bumpy prevented any detail work, so some of those paintings never got finished. I did have to refill the water brush, but that was to be expected.

So, here is my review, I’ll start with the cons because I only have one:

Cons:

• The watercolor paints – They are really cheap paints. Probably good for a very basic beginner kit, but even then, I don’t really think they’re all that great. I now fill the little wells with good quality paint.

Pros:

• Palette size – This is meant to be a travel kit, and it works perfectly. Like I said above, it fits in my pocket with everything else. The wells for are surprisingly deep, and with my higher quality paint, there’s plenty of paint for many small pictures. I like the little mixing spot, perfect for the mini travel paintings I would do with the kit. The palette is magnetic, both when it’s folded shut as well as opened and flat, and the magnets hold well.
• Water Brush – I previously hated water brushes, but for traveling and using the minimum amount of water possible, this one worked pretty well. I think it’s just a learning curve though, because by the time I finished my last painting on our drive to Kasilof I was figuring it out a little better. I like the compact size and that I don’t have to have an open cup of water sitting somewhere.
• Binder Clip – When I saw that this palette was magnetic, I initially didn’t see a need for the binder clip, but it is perfect for attaching the palette to the journal. This keeps everything from sliding around as well as keeps the pages on one side flat so all I had to worry about was the side I was painting on. It’s also a cute clip.
• Sponge Wristband – I didn’t use this the first two time I took the kit, but on our drive I used it to clean my brush extensively. It worked well to dry the bristles and clean the paint off between colors. I didn’t use it on my wrist, but it worked better than a paper towel, except when cleaning the palette mixing area, then I used a napkin. I washed the wristband when I got home and it came surprisingly clean.
• Journal – This was the biggest surprise of all. I don’t normally like the journals that come in kits because they’re cheap paper. This is not cotton watercolor paper, but it was a really nice paper to paint on. The colors painted on vibrant and were easy to control. There wasn’t much lifting as I layered paint, and it dried pretty flat and pretty quickly. If it was a larger piece I don’t think it would be great, but for the travel size and small paintings I was doing it was fantastic.

Final thoughts:

I would never have bought this kit for myself, but I am so glad my sister got it for me. I would definitely recommend with the one caution about the paint itself. Get better paints and you will love this little kit. I also love that the journal is small enough that the paintings only take me just a few minutes. This makes painting and hiking, or painting and driving/flying really easy. No excuses for not “logging my brush miles” as Emily Olson would say.

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