Background
I grew up painting with my grandmother in Mexico City — she was a Sunday painter who kept a battered Pelikan tin on her kitchen table. I didn't realize until much later that the reason her skies always glowed was because she'd been using the same three tubes of artist-grade Schmincke for twenty years. That early lesson — that paint quality matters in ways that aren't obvious at first — has shaped how I think about watercolor supplies ever since.
I earned my BFA in Fine Arts from Portland State University in 2008, with a focus on painting and printmaking. After graduating, I spent four years as a senior art supply buyer for a Pacific Northwest craft retail chain — a job that gave me an unusual education in what manufacturers actually put in their products versus what they claim on the label. I sat through more factory presentations and read more MSDS sheets than I care to count. What I learned is that the gap between the marketing copy and the actual formulation can be enormous, especially in the student-grade market.
I left retail in 2012 to paint full-time and teach. I've been running workshops in the Portland area since 2013 — primarily for intermediate painters who want to improve their wet-on-wet technique and color mixing. The watercolor supply questions I got from students are what eventually led me to start writing publicly about this stuff.
Exhibitions & Recognition
My work has been shown at the Archer Gallery at Clark College, the Blackfish Gallery in Portland, and in group exhibitions with the Northwest Watercolor Society, of which I've been a member since 2014. I was awarded the NWS Award of Merit in 2019 for a series of large-format botanical studies painted on Fabriano Artistico. The work sold as a complete set to a private collector in Seattle.
I also contributed a technical chapter on pigment selection and lightfastness testing to the 2021 edition of Pacific Northwest Watercolor Practices, a regional resource published annually for Northwest Watercolor Society members. That chapter is where I first published my testing methodology for rating student-grade pan sets — the same framework that informs the rankings on this site.
Why I Started This Site
The short answer: I was tired of watching students waste money on sets that actively work against learning good technique.
Most watercolor reviews online fall into one of two categories: unboxing videos from people who have never painted seriously, or buying guides written by content teams who have clearly never opened a pan set. The former are fun but not reliable. The latter are useless. Neither category tells you what actually matters — how the paint behaves when it's dry and you try to re-wet it, how it layers on sized paper, whether the lightfastness claims on the label hold up under real conditions.
I started BestWatercolorSets.com in 2023 to fill that gap. Every set reviewed on this site was purchased at retail price — no free samples, no sponsored placements. I test each set across multiple sessions on at least two paper types, and I revisit products I've reviewed as new versions come to market.
Testing Methodology
How every product on this site is evaluated
Every product reviewed on this site is purchased at retail price through Amazon or directly from the manufacturer. I don't accept free samples. Affiliate commissions are disclosed on every page where links appear.
I test each set across a minimum of four painting sessions before writing a review. Sessions include initial unboxing, dry re-wet behavior, wet-on-wet technique, layered washes, and a final session after leaving the palette unused for at least a week.
All sets are tested on at least two paper types — typically Arches 140lb cold press (the professional standard) and a budget paper such as Canson XL. Differences in behavior between paper types are noted in the review.
Where pigment codes are printed on labels, I verify them against published pigment databases. Where codes aren't listed, I note this as a transparency issue. I check lightfastness ratings against ASTM standards, not manufacturer claims.
All sets in a price range are tested side-by-side where possible. Rankings reflect performance relative to the full category, not against a fixed absolute standard.
No brand has ever paid to be featured on this site, and no placement is for sale. Rankings are updated when I identify a better product at a price point. Negative reviews are published when warranted.
Areas of Expertise
Recent Reviews
Every set purchased at retail price and tested across multiple sessions.
Transparency & Contact
This site participates in the Amazon Associates program. When you click a "Check Price" link and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is how the site stays independent — it funds the retail product purchases used for testing. All commissions are disclosed on every page.
If you've found an error in a review, want to suggest a product for testing, or have a question about watercolor supplies, you can reach me at maria@bestwatercolorsets.com.