Watercolour Paint

Watercolour Paint: Compare Prices Across UK Retailers

Watercolour is one of the oldest and most loved ways of painting, and it’s also one of the most approachable. A few good colours, a decent brush and a sheet of paper are enough to start, and the way pigment moves through water gives every painting something you couldn’t plan. It’s transparent, so light comes from the white of the paper rather than from the paint, which is what gives watercolour its glow. That’s also why the quality of your materials matters more than people expect, and why it pays to know what you’re buying before you spend.

I’m Paul Worrall, and I spent nearly a decade running digital marketing for ARTdiscount, one of the UK’s largest online art retailers, before starting Discount Art Supplies. After sixteen years in this industry I’ve seen how much watercolour prices move between retailers. The same set of pans or tubes can be noticably cheaper at one shop than another, and sales come and go every week. This page exists to take the guesswork out of it. We bring together prices from Cass Art, Jackson’s, Amazon and other UK retailers, so you can see who’s cheapest today without opening ten tabs.

Watercolour comes in two main forms, and the choice shapes how you paint. Pans are small dried blocks of colour that sit in a tin or palette. They’re compact, tidy and good for travel or sketching outdoors, and a full pan set will last a long time. Tubes hold the paint wet and creamy, so they suit larger washes and studio work, and you squeeze out only what you need. Plenty of artists use both, with tubes in the studio and a small pan set in the bag. Sets are usually the best value, especially for beginners, and a well-chosen set of twelve or twenty-four colours covers most of what you’ll want to mix. They’re also where retailers tend to run the biggest discounts.

The biggest decision most people face is student or artist grade. Student ranges, such as Winsor and Newton’s Cotman, use less pigment and are priced to match, which makes them a sensible choice for learning, practising and big experimental washes where you don’t want to worry about waste. Artist-grade paint carries more pigment, mixes cleaner and generally has better lightfastness, so colours stay brighter for longer, and that matters for work you plan to sell or keep. The premium names include Winsor and Newton’s Professional range, Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam and Sennelier, each with its own character. Daniel Smith is known for its wide range of unusual mineral colours, Schmincke for rich, smooth handling, and Sennelier for its honey-based binder and vivid colour. Daler-Rowney’s Aquafine range sits in between and is popular with hobby painters.

Paper deserves as much attention as paint. Watercolour needs a surface that can cope with water, and the usual advice is to choose a paper of around 300gsm, which resists buckling when you lay down a wash. Cotton paper holds water and colour better than cheaper wood-pulp paper, and it’s more forgiving if you need to lift out or rework an area. Cold press, sometimes called NOT, has a slight texture that suits most subjects, hot press is smooth and good for fine detail, and rough has a pronounced tooth for expressive work. Brushes matter too, but a couple of good round brushes will take you much further than a large cheap set, and it’s worth spending a bit more on those.

A few habits help you get the best price. First, check the price comparison on each product before you buy, because the cheapest retailer is often not the one you’d guess. Second, watch for sales. Retailers discount watercolour during seasonal promotions and brand-specific events, and I post them as they land, so joining the newsletter gets them straight to your inbox. Third, always look at the total price including delivery, because a cheap set can stop being cheap once postage is added. And lastly, think about what you’ll actually use. A big set looks like a bargain, but if you only use five colours, buying those as individual tubes can accomodate your habits better and cost less.

Gouache, the opaque cousin of watercolour, has its own seperate page within this category if you want strong, flat colour. And whether you’re buying your first set of pans, topping up a favourite tube or moving up to artist-grade paint, the prices here are there to make sure you don’t pay more than you need to. We update them regularly and keep adding new products and brands.

What’s the difference between student and artist grade watercolour? Artist grade has a higher pigment load and better lightfastness, so colours are stronger and last longer. Student grade is cheaper and perfectly good for learning and practice.

Are pans or tubes better? Neither is better. Pans are compact and tidy, while tubes are better for mixing large washes. Many artists use both.

What paper should I use with watercolour? A paper of around 300gsm is the usual starting point, and cotton paper gives the best results because it holds water and colour well.

How do I find the cheapest watercolour paint? Use the price comparison on each product, which shows every UK retailer we track side by side, and check the sales and discounts section for current offers.

Browse the products above to compare watercolour paint prices today, or join our newsletter and our Facebook group of artists to hear about price drops and sales as soon as they appear.