Avec - Watercolour Art Set

Pencils





Pencils + water





Markers





The manual says...





Water stays on the "paint", no change

It's been a while since I wrote about painting by numbers. I think it was about four months ago. I bought a cheap set back then, which I suspect was meant for children. I didn't know what kind of paint it came with; it certainly wasn't oil paint, and the brush was in shocking condition. Furthermore, the canvas on cardboard was warped. I found it incredibly frustrating, and indeed, I haven't finished painting the cat to this day.

This time, I bought a watercolor set. I decided to get the cheapest one because I was actually looking for a case with different types of paint that wasn't available in stores.

What's in this package?

Watercolor pencils, a 4h pencil (this is a pencil no one will use for sketching because it's far too hard), several double-ended markers (one side has a fine point, the other a thick point), a fineliner (two different thicknesses; the difference between 0.8 mm and 0.5 mm is quite significant), a waterbrush (soft plastic. To open it and fill it with water, you have to turn it clockwise. If you turn it clockwise, you could tear the plastic, it's that soft).

What can I do with the pencils and what can I do with the markers? The pencils have several different colors, which is certainly an advantage, but regardless of whether I use them on watercolor paper or regular paper, I see little effect. Only on the watercolor paper does it seem to be slightly smudgeable with water, but that's all there is to it.
The markers are even worse; they are barely smudgeable with water. On the watercolor paper, minimally, and on regular paper, not at all. No brushes are included, so the water brush has to do the work. It does work, but you have to be very careful. An annoying side effect is that when you squeeze it, the water sometimes literally drips or flows out.

Can you use watercolor on regular paper?

Yes, you can use this paint on regular paper, but you'll have to be very careful with it, and you might skip certain steps. What's not possible is applying extra paint and then removing it with a dry brush; what's applied on regular paper simply soaks in. Wet-on-wet is also difficult on regular paper. It might work on some types of paper, but she has to be very fast. I spent a day trying all sorts of things, all sorts of tricks, trying to achieve undefined effects, but some things just don't work because regular paper soaks up. I see this with the watercolor paper too, even though I don't even use many layers. I just use one layer and then blend it or let it flow into each other.

What I've noticed is that even when I paint with watercolors at the same time, just wet on dry, the 300-gram watercolor paper always warps, while regular paper never does. This surprises me, and it definitely depends on the type of watercolor paper, which in my case isn't 100% cotton. I don't want to buy this paper for the time being; I find it expensive, and I don't think it's worth it, since I'm not a watercolor fanatic, not yet. A hobby should remain enjoyable and, above all, affordable.

Anyone who watches a lot of videos about watercolors and the different techniques will quickly realize that many of the painting methods and tricks used aren't much different from working with acrylics. If you don't want to watercolor the old-fashioned way, or mix different media, regular paper can be just as good, or perhaps even better, than special watercolor paper, and the same goes for canvas. If you're wondering, yes, it is possible to paint with watercolors on canvas. This requires a special technique, and special primers are available for this. Watercolor is also used very liberally, and some artists apply it directly from the tube to paper. Right now, I have no idea what I'm going to paint with watercolor, so I'll stick to the exercises of learning to hold the brush loosely and think about what I'll do in class next week. Preferably no flowers or leaves.

Watercolor

In my experience, beautiful results can be achieved with even the cheapest boxes intended for children. The brush you use and the type of paper are much more important with watercolors.

Is the 22-piece Avec set recommended?

No. The graphite pencil is useless, the markers are worthless and do not respond on water, and one has no color.
So you're paying for a set of inferior pencils (they give more colour if you wet them into water), a fineliner, and a cheap version of a water brush that might last longer if you handle it very carefully. For children, this 21-piece set (the 22nd part is the instructions) will only be a source of frustration, which isn't different for me.

P.s. pencils and markers don't work on a wet paper!

The winner

The over ten-years-old kid watercolour box meant for school.

_{Avec - watercolour set - 22 PCs - Price >2 euro (Action)
24-1-2026}