Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour set: tubes or full pans

Paint landscape studies, illustrations and colour trials with Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolours. Choose the format that suits your working method: twelve 8 ml tubes or twelve full pans in a metal box with a brush. Both sets have twelve colours, but their colour selection and how you pick up paint differ.

Choosing tubes or full pans

The introduction set contains 12 tubes of 8 ml, totalling 96 ml of paint. Squeeze a small amount onto a separate mixing palette and add water. This is useful when you want to prepare enough of one mixture for a sky or background. This version has no brush; choose a palette and watercolour paper separately too.

The pan set contains 12 full pans, a brush and a metal box with mixing areas in the lid. Wet a pan with a damp brush and pick up colour for sketches and smaller studies. These are full pans, not half pans. Both versions include yellows, reds, blues, a green, earth colours, black and Chinese white, but they do not have exactly the same colours.

Compare water, colour and edges

1. Use watercolour paper, clean water and a mixing surface. For an even wash, prepare enough diluted paint before starting. Try the colour on a scrap of the same paper.
2. Make two small patches with the same mixture: paint one on dry paper for a sharper edge and one on damp paper for softer transitions. Note the paper, colours used and approximate amount of water.
3. Let the trial dry before judging its colour or adding another layer. Use a light brush touch; repeated rubbing can lift paint underneath. Dilute with water for light areas and reserve bare paper where you want bright white.

Aquafine watercolours can also be mixed with Aquafine ink and gouache. Try a small mixture on your own paper: gouache or white changes how much of the surface shows through. Transparency and lightfastness vary by colour.

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