Chalkola 36 Set Of 12ml Watercolor Tubes
Chalkola 36 Set Of 12ml Watercolor Tubes
In this review we are going to take a look at the 36 set of Chalkola 12ml Watercolor Tubes, I thought with it being January, Christmas and New Year just behind us, I would was us in to the new year with a nice budget friendly art supply.
Before we get into the review, I would just like to apologise from the bottom of my heart regarding the serious lake of content or communication over the Christmas and New Year period, I had so much planned but unfortunately nothing panned out. About two days before Christmas Eve, I could feel myself getting really sick, I thought it would pass and Christmas would be fine, Unfortunately on Christmas Day by afternoon I was in bed really not in a good shape. My wife done a COVID test and it came back positive, but I really didn’t think much of it. A few days later, in fact I think it was Boxing Day I was in hospital not breathing very well. I got back out just after New Years Day but I am good now, it has taken me a long time, eating my body weight in oranges, bananas, apples and drinking as much water as I could get into my body, but I am on the mend. I have been struck by a tiredness and weakness that has been almost impossible to shake and I wanted to get back to reviews so much but just found it impossible to sit at my desk and do anything without falling asleep half way through.
Chalkola 12ml Watercolor Tube Characteristics
There is a lot of debate as to whether or not tube watercolors or better than pan watercolors, this is something I would like to delve deeper into, in a different article, but it is something I tried to take into consideration during this review and when testing the quality of the Chalkola Watercolor paints against other brands.
As I have mentioned, this is the 36 set of 12ml Chalkola Watercolor tubes, the tubes themselves a quite different from a lot of the higher grade watercolor companies on the market, but similar to other budget grades. I know the actual tubes and the material they are made from is not the most important factor, but it is worth mentioning that the budget grade watercolor tubes are made from soft plastic and the higher grade tubes tend to be almost metal in appearance and feel.
Removing the lids from the tubes is effortless on the Chalkola Watercolors and I know this can be an issue for those with arthritis in the hands or wrist and whilst I can’t fully attest to removal of the lids with such an infliction, I can only say how easy they are to remove.
The tubes are predominantly white with an arched band depicting the pigment of the paint, along the pigment identifier the pigment name is also printed. Below the pigment name is a list of pigments actually included in the mix, below this there is a lightfast chart which I will talk more about in a second and beside that there is a legend indicating the opacity of that particular tube.
Under the pigment identifier and the lightfast information, sits the Chalkola logo which is a simple black circle with Chalkola in white print, simple yet effective. Below the logo is printed “Watercolor Paint’ and finally the tube size, which in this case is 12ml.
Chalkola 36 Set Watercolor Palette
With regards to the tubes, there really isn’t Thant much to talk about, but you know me, I like to be as thorough as possible. With also every product I review, I complete a swatch first, this allows me to see what colors I have and what I can draw or paint and the Chalkola Watercolor Tubes are no exception. Considering these are watercolors and with a little bit of color theory knowledge, 36 watercolor tubes can create a lot of additional colors and tones.
I created the swatch on Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Paper, so not as high grade paper as the artwork I completed which was done on Derwent Inktense Paper, but I like to test as many papers as possible to showcase the product on as many surfaces as possible.
As you can see from the swatch provided, in my opinion, Chalkola have provided a pretty balanced and comprehensive palette. My only nit pick and it is a totally personal thing because I know a lot of people love this, but I am not a fan of the Metallic Gold and Metallic Silver paints, in fact any Metallic paints and so perhaps swap the gold and silver for maybe a darker green and something else, however, going back to what I previously said, mixing some of the other colors will provide a darker green.
Chalkola Lightfast Information
According to the Chalkola website, the 36 set Watercolor Packaging and the actual Tubes, the Chalkola watercolor paints are lightfast. It is important to remember that the Chalkola watercolors are budget quality paints or perhaps a better term would be Student grade paints, that being said the price of the paint reflects this but what the price does not reflect, is a product lightfast tested under either the ASTM or Blue Wool Scale. Taking this into consideration it has to be considered that Chalkola have tested the watercolor in house.
I have spoke about the type of lightfast standards, the differences between them both, what it takes to accomplish such a prestigious hallmark of types and of course the difference between ASMT, Blue Wool and in house lightfast testing. Whilst the ASTM and Blue Wool standards hold seriously significant weight behind them regarding authenticating your work, it is still good when a company provides their own in house lightfast testing, many other companies don’t go the extra mile .
There is a slight discrepancy I have with the scale Chalkola are using however and this can be a simple case of a mistake, and if not then it is just confusing. According to the Chalkola Website, their scale works as so, + + + are equivalent to excellent lightfast rating and + + is equivalent to good lightfast rating. The issue however lies in the actual Tubes, of the 36 tubes, 13 have sport + + + rating and the remainder, that is 26 tubes sport + + + +. In conclusion there are no tubes with + + rating only 4 and 3, so something is amiss and I am not too sure which it is.
All of that aside, when we discuss the price for 36, 12ml watercolor tubes as well as the performance of the paints, I think you will agree with me in concluding that you absolutely get value for money and that Chalkola have done an excellent job in providing a wonderfully affordable and desirable set of watercolor paints. I try my best to avoid using the word afford, I am so well aware that one persons affordability is another persons weekly shopping allowance for food, however, comparatively speaking against other watercolor tube sets, Chalkola really are competitively priced.
Opacity Legend
Inclusive of the lightfast rating on the Chalkola Watercolor Tubes, there is also an opacity legend of sorts. As you can see from the image provided, Chalkola have marked each watercolor tube with a circle, indicating three different states for the paint. The first is a filled in circle, depending on whether or not the tube of paint is a light or dark color, the filled in circle will either be black or white, but it is a filled in solid circle, this indicates that the paint is opaque.
The next circle is a half filled circle and this lets you know that the paint is translucent and the third circle is empty, this displays as simply a circular outline and this lets you know that the paint is transparent. Before I put this legend to the test, on my YouTube video review of the Chalkola Watercolor Paints, I was of the opinion that all watercolors could potentially be translucent or transparent by simply adding more water to the mix and they would always be opaque if you used the paint in it’s purest form. Needless to say, when you watch the video, you can hear the surprise in my voice at the results.
Just to clarify to anyone new to art or watercolors, the term “Opaque” refers to the product, watercolor in this case, being strong in color when applied. For example if you applied a single black line of paint as I did in this test and you them applied a color on top of the black, you would not be able to see the black under the paint just applied. The next term is “Translucent” and please do not think I am being patronising, I am sure a lot of you know the terms and the differences but I had to double check the difference between translucent and transparent, so I am adding this information just to help others out who may not know. Translucent is a bit like a bathroom window, it lets the light through but you can’t really see any detail, with this in mind, after applying a translucent color over the black, you would see the black through the color a little bit.
Finally is the term “Transparent” this means you can see right through it so just like a plain glass window, however in the case of the paint, if you applied a transparent paint over the black, all you would really see is the black. The colors I used in this test were the
Chalkola 36 Set of Watercolor Tubes Pricing
As I write this blog, a lot of the Chalkola Watercolor sets are out of stock, but it is January 2022, just after Christmas and I am guessing given how incredibly competitively priced the Chalkola Watercolor Paints are, them being out of stock is a positive sign, showing a lot have been sold. However, I have provided links to purchase the paints on Amazon and directly from the Chalkola website.
Here in the UK Amazon, this wonderful set of Chalkola 36 Watercolor Tubes will cost you £16.95. At the time of composing this review the US and EU Amazon stores were out of stock.
If you go to the Chalkola Website you will also pay £16.95 for 36 Watercolor Tubes and once you have watched or read all parts of this review, I hope you can see just how amazing the price is for these Chalkola Watercolor Tubes.
As always and the entire reason I never mention pricing on my YouTube review and only the written review, as and when the prices become available on other Amazon Stores I will absolutely update the review accordingly.
Chalkola Watercolor Tube Performance
As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, it is said that watercolor tubes and watercolor pans are different in a few different ways, but I will tackle that topic in a different review. As always when I review a product I try my best to test it on different paper qualities and I have done that for this product as well.
I completed the swatch on Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor paper, I love my Strathmore paper, but their 400 Series watercolor paper is not top quality, it is a really nice paper but not up there with some the other papers. When applying the colors to the swatch, in the video review you can clearly see how well the paint covered and the vibrancy of the colors was a real pleasant surprise.
The artwork on the other hand was completed on high quality watercolor paper in the form of the Derwent Inktense Watercolor Paper, this paper is 100% cotton and absorbs the paint well. I am absolutely no watercolor expert, but over the past two or three years I have been learning a lot about the various grades of paint and learning from some of the best watercolor artists I know.
I also wanted to leave the paints to dry over a 24 - 48 hour period just so I could see how well they reactivated once wet and they performed excellent on this test. Whether the paints were directly from the tube or in a dry form, their application to paper was really nice.
Blending and mixing, dry on the paper, wet on wet and many other watercolor techniques, the Chalkola paints performed beautifully. I keep coming back to the cost of the 36 set, each tube of paint equates to about 0.45 pence, there really isn’t many things in like you can buy for 0.45 pence and get so much out of it.
Chalkola Watercolor Paints Conclusion
As I have already said, the past two or three years I have tried to learn and use Waterolors so much, I want to learn as much about this medium as I have about colored pencils, markers and pastels, but it has taken me about five or six years for me to reach the level I have with colored pencils etc, I know I have so much more to learn about watercolors.
I have to be honest, the only way I know that I can repay all of you for your generosity and support and being honest is the only thing I have, but when I first got the Chalkola watercolors I really was not expecting much. I couldn't have been more wrong with my assumption, I was so impressed with the Chalkola Watercolor paints, in relation to their cost, their performance was excellent.
Half way through the painting with the Chalkola Watercolors I almost binned it a few times, however, I was really happy with the final piece and the want to bin the artwork was more to do with my lack of watercolor experience and less to do with the paints.
The Chalkola Watercolors are obviously not for artists wishing to sell their artwork, although the paints have a lightfast rating, this rating is in house tested and given what I discussed about the lightfast chart on the Chalkola website in comparison to the ratings on the actual tubes, you have to take the lightfast in house test with a pinch of salt. That is not to say these paints don’t have a place with artists, because they absolutely do.
I would say the Chalkola Watercolor paints are perfect for someone who has never tried the watercolor medium and really wants to try out the medium without spending a lot of money on high grade paints, only to discover they don’t like watercolors. I would say they are also perfect for dropping a few tubes into a bag and doing a bit of outside painting on the land, in nature.
I know this is a long review and with all the other parts to the review, it seems a lot, however, just because the product is inexpensive, doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve or warrant a thorough review. Regardless of the products cost, I always want to give you guys the very best account that I can deliver. I really enjoyed the Chalkola paints, so much more than I thought and for their price they really are a fantastic find and perfect for the artist on a budget, no longer does budget product equals terrible art supplies.
