Akademie Watercolors, Full-Pan Travel Set of 9

Akademie Full-Pan Travel Set of 9

Schmincke Akademie watercolors offer excellent quality at a lower price than the premium Schmincke Horadam line. This special box (produced only for the last few months of 2024) includes nine classic Akademie colors in a metal travel tin. Inside, there's plenty of enameled mixing space, and outside, there's a finger loop for holding your palette while painting in plein air.

The colors in this set are bright, easily reactivated with water, and capable of very saturated or very pale tones, depending on the dilution. As you would expect from Schmincke, the Akademie watercolor medium is very well-behaved and easy to use. The colors are strongly pigmented and readily mixable. Toxic and expensive pigments have been omitted, but Schmincke's manufacturing quality has not been compromised.

The colors included are 224 Cadmium Yellow Hue, 332 Cadmium Red Hue, 336 Magenta,  443 Ultramarine Blue, 448 Cyan, 551 Brilliant Green, 660 Yellow Ochre, 664 Burnt Umber, and 770 Payne's Grey.

Made in Germany.

About Schmincke Akademie Watercolors:

For its entire 140-year history, the Schmincke brand has meant the finest colors for artists, made to professional standards and used by the most demanding painters. On each package, the blue Schmincke owl holds a banner that reads "I strive for the best" in Latin. So you won't be surprised to hear that the company was hesitant to produce a more affordable watercolor for art students and beginners. It would have to appeal to artists on a budget but still adhere to the basic standards of the historic German color house.

Akademie Aquarell is Schmincke's answer to this challenge, and we recommend it strongly to any watercolorist who isn't ready to invest in a set of Horadam paints. It is the best student-grade watercolor we have ever carried; frankly, it outperforms many paints that call themselves artist grade. The colors are clear and vibrant, and it's easy to make mixed colors that are just as beautiful. A majority of Akademie colors are single-pigment, and the multi-pigment colors are carefully chosen to allow further mixing without muddiness. Intense, high-chroma colors are included alongside rich, organic earth colors, so you can make paintings in any style with Akademie.