Phoenix watercolour sets: 12 tubes or 24 half pans

Do you prefer squeezing watercolour from tubes or picking up colour from a pan? These Phoenix sets offer two ways to paint studies and illustrations on watercolour paper. Thin the paint with water. Both sets contain yellows, reds, blues, greens and earth colours, with different selections.

Twelve tubes or a box of 24 half pans

• 12 x 8 ml tubes: twelve colours in individual 8 ml tubes, totalling 96 ml of paint. Squeeze a small amount onto your own palette to prepare a wash. The selection also includes pink, violet, ochre and brown. Useful if you already have brushes, a palette and paper.
• 24-pan metal box: twenty-four watercolour half pans in a metal box with fold-out mixing surfaces. Pick up small amounts with a clean, damp brush. The wider colour choice suits sketches and studies where you want different starting colours to hand.

You need a brush, watercolour paper and clean water separately. The tube set also needs a separate mixing palette. Use the white of the paper for the palest passages: add water gradually and leave the brightest areas unpainted.

Practise hard and soft edges

1. Paint two small shapes with the same diluted colour on a scrap of watercolour paper. Leave the first area dry and lightly dampen the second. Compare how the paint spreads at the edge.
2. Choose dry paper for a shape with a clear outline, or try damp paper for a softer transition. Note paper, colour and how much moisture you used; let the trial dry before judging the result.
3. Then work from light to dark. Let a layer dry before carefully adding details over it. Rinse the brush between colours to keep your starting colours clean.

Explore watercolour paints