Testing watercolor “White Nights” in cuvettes. What do I draw with?

The other day I purchased a long-awaited box of professional watercolors “WHITE NIGHTS” in a set of 24 colors. Why long-awaited? Because I couldn't find her at the local Leonardo's store. The sellers constantly promised that they would deliver this watercolor, but they never did. So now I can finally fully test and evaluate this set in cuvettes.

I’ll say right away that there is another similar set - St. Petersburg, from the same manufacturer “Nevskaya Palitra”, but the choice fell on the watercolor “WHITE NIGHTS” due to the larger size of the box and therefore the included palette.

The packaging contains a fairly durable plastic box that opens onto two sides, providing plenty of space for the palette.

I will immediately note that the surface of the palette has better properties than a regular separate plastic palette. It’s somehow better to mix and dilute colors on it, and the paint doesn’t bunch up into droplets, as happens on smooth palettes. Overall, it was a pleasure to work with such a palette!

Also included is a template for painting watercolors. Be sure to do the coloring. This will serve as an excellent cheat sheet in the future.

Each cuvette is packed in foil and a wrapper with the name of the color. I didn’t throw away the wrappers, but put them in a separate box, because... they may be useful later for coloring.

The advantage of a box of 24 colors is that after placing all the cuvettes, there are still 12 free spaces in which you can place your colors, additionally purchasing them in the store. It is very comfortable.

After placing all the ditches, I started painting. First, I applied a bold, bright paint, and then washed it out with a damp brush to get a tonal stretch with a smooth transition. Previously, I signed the names of the colors in pencil in the order in which I arranged the paints in the box.

And in this way I painted all the colors in the box.

I could have done a few more tests for blurring, blending, etc., but due to lack of time I decided to immediately try to draw something, so to speak, straight into battle :-). As an example, I used a lesson from a book I recently purchased.

Here are some steps that took at most 15 minutes. First, I sketched the outlines of the flower with a simple pencil using very thin lines:

Then I painted the flower petals with the first layer of ultramarine and a mixture of violet:

Then I covered the leaves and stems in the same way with different shades of green and brown. During this time, the flower dried out and I added the yellow-orange core of the flower, as well as a second, brighter layer on the petals:

Well, with the last layer I added details with a thin brush tip:

The conclusion is that painting with this watercolor is a pleasure. The colors are very convenient to mix on the palette that comes with the packaging; they are very bright and fluid, leaving less streaks. For example, watercolors from the "Luch" brand (which I usually used) do not mix in the drawing as well as this watercolor, but flow into each other completely unpredictably (sometimes they do not flow at all :-)).

For a very long time I have been planning to write in detail about the materials that I use for watercolor painting. And here’s a good reason: they sent me a box of my favorite materials from the Rosa store to try. So I can thank them for finally starting this process)) I decided to make several reviews describing different materials, I hope this will be useful to beginners who want to get acquainted with watercolors.

So, I’ll start with a detailed description of the “White Nights” watercolors. These are the ones I use most often, one might say that they are paints for daily use)) Below is a list of everything I used in this review with links for convenience:
- watercolor paints “White Nights”, 24 colors;
- glue for watercolors A4, Rosa, “Gosznak” paper;
- brushes “Squirrel”, Rosa Start, No. 6 and No. 2.


“White Nights” paints, as the manufacturer tells us, are made from finely dispersed (finely grated) pigments and a binder, with the addition of gum arabic. The colors mix well, blur and spread well. The color fades a little as it dries, like all watercolors. But there is no need to complain about fading))

That's probably all. I’ll try to tell you soon about the combination of these colors with the “White Nights” medium, otherwise many have asked)) Happy drawing everyone!

“White Nights” are popular paints created taking into account the oldest traditions and current technological solutions. They are made of grated pigments mixed with a binder and gum arabic, they are distinguished by their rich color, mix and blur well. The stability of the shades upon drying allows the use of watercolor paints in cuvettes for important painting works. The series was created specifically for professional artists.

Watercolor paints individually: create your own unique palette

The manufacturer produces a wide range of shades (57 colors). And our online store offers you to buy “White Nights” paints in the desired colors separately and without extra expenses. This way you can assemble the optimal set of shades for a specific job. In addition, this allows you to replenish the supply of materials in an existing set. Placing an order for watercolors in cuvettes will only take a couple of minutes. We will quickly process the application, and the courier will deliver the selected goods as soon as possible.

Any artist will confirm: to create a real masterpiece, it is extremely important not only to have talent, but also to be able to select the appropriate tools and consumables. In this case, it is necessary to take into account a variety of nuances. Good paints are already half the success, because the brightness of colors and shades, the accuracy of color rendering and the play of light and shadow depend on them. If the artist is aiming for the latter, it is better to choose watercolor paints, but they are not always of sufficient quality.

Professionals in Russia are often forced to use imported products, however, domestic manufacturers also offer good options - the “White Nights” watercolor set can be a source of pride.

Who releases?

Watercolors for beginners and experienced artists under this brand are products of the Nevskaya Palitra artistic paints factory. This plant, located in St. Petersburg, traces its history back to 1900. However, in its current form (oriented towards artists), the company was founded only in 1934.

Success came quickly to the products of this plant. It turned out that in a large country, deprived of access to the world's best examples of art products, no one else produces paints of similar quality. In this regard, “Nevskaya Palitra” has been perceived by several generations of people close to art as a professional watercolor. However, not everything is so simple: Some series of this manufacturer are designed for students and young artists.

At the same time, the statement that there are no higher quality domestic paints still remains true - such materials are highly appreciated by both beginners and professionals.

About the series: features and benefits

Since Nevskaya Palitra does not target only professionals, each of its series has its own characteristics. If we talk about watercolors (this manufacturer also produces other paints), then professionals should definitely pay attention to “White Nights”. The company itself recommends just such a product for creating timeless pieces of art.

The composition of the paints is selected in such a way as to fully convey the artist’s intention - many people prefer such materials for this reason. The manufacturer uses exclusively finely dispersed pigments, which makes it possible to achieve significant color saturation even when the paint is diluted with a large amount of water. The binder is natural gum arabic, which makes paints more expensive, but easier to apply.

The White Nights recipe does not require any fillers - there is nothing superfluous, only pigments and a binder. The list of advantages of the composition will not be complete without recalling the high light resistance characteristic of most colors. It should be noted that the manufacturer labels all tubes and cuvettes so that the consumer immediately knows how good the result will be from using this particular shade.

Light fastness is indicated by the number of stars on the tube or cuvette, where three stars are high light fastness, two are medium, and one is low.

The variety of available shades is quite large - professional artists are offered 66 colors to choose from. At the same time, the plant is equipped with a workshop for the production of its own pigments.

The manufacturer based 46 shades from the entire palette on one pigment, and only 20 are produced by mixing two or more coloring substances.

Range

“White Nights” is divided into several smaller brands, including, for example, “Leningrad” and “St. Petersburg”. However, such marking no longer concerns the paints themselves, but sets made up of 12, 16, 24 or 36 colors. You can also purchase a gift set (up to 48 colors), which additionally includes brushes. A special feature of this product is the packaging made of natural wood. Each cuvette in the set is 2.5 ml.

Some boxes are larger than necessary for the corresponding number of shades. This is very practical, since the plant also produces individual cuvettes in shades that are not the most popular. This configuration allows you to purchase a certain standard set of shades, which can later be supplemented by the artist at his discretion - without compromising the ease of transportation.

However, the review of bonuses provided by the White Nights company does not end there. Often, sets are also equipped with a palette, and reviews indicate that such a solution in practice shows itself even better than many inexpensive palettes purchased separately.

The manufacturer also puts in the packaging a template for coloring, divided into sectors, allowing the master to immediately see what a particular shade applied to the paper will look like. Experienced artists claim that such painting before starting work with a new, unfamiliar set of paint is mandatory to become familiar with the properties of the composition. Considering the specifics of the watercolor technique, when painting a template, it is recommended not only to apply strokes, but also to blur them on one side.

The more colors there are in the set, the more logical it would be to also sign the name of each shade on the template.

The main part of the “White Nights” watercolors is produced in cuvettes, but the manufacturer also produces such paints in 10 ml tubes. Finding a set made up of tubes is almost impossible, but you can assemble it yourself.

The Nevskaya Palitra plant offers lovers of watercolor techniques another product that will greatly help in creating truly bright and unique masterpieces. We are talking about the so-called medium, an aqueous solution of gum arabic, designed specifically for diluting watercolor paints of this series. Since it contains the original binder used in the watercolor itself, with the help of such a medium you can increase the brightness of the shades and the average spread of the watercolor.

You can also speed up drying, which is very important for working in the “alla prima” technique, when the picture is painted in one session. This substance is also often used to give dried paintings a more noticeable shine.

How to choose?

It may seem that different sets differ from each other only in the number of colors - there is only one series. However, it was not for nothing that the manufacturer made several sets with the same number of shades; there is still a difference between them. Many consumers who consciously choose White Nights can consider themselves professionals. Most often, masters clearly understand why this particular series and not any other - experienced artists always notice important nuances.

If we talk about the number of colors, then the choice here is not so obvious. It may seem that all you have to do is select a large set of 36 or even 48 colors and you're done. However, it is better to consider the following: if you have not had experience using watercolors in this series before, it is quite possible that you should not immediately purchase such a large package. The fact is that in terms of cost it will be quite expensive, and many of the shades present in the set are simply not useful (or they can be prepared manually by mixing primary colors).

If you are choosing between sets that contain a palette and a template, and those sets that do not, then it is better to make a choice in favor of the complete set. Although the “additions” to paint sets cause only a sarcastic grin among most artists, the series’ orientation towards professional needs allows us to assert that such a palette is very useful for masters.

Even if you already have your own palette, you should not definitely refuse to buy the second one in the set, unless the first, main one is a high-quality copy made of natural wood.

You can make the template yourself, from an ordinary piece of paper or cardboard, but as a bonus, this option is very attractive. It is especially needed in cases where there are quite a lot of colors in the set (or if the artist additionally purchased shades that were not originally included in the set).

This template is also good because it allows you not to confuse the shades if there are many of them.

As for the brushes included in some sets, it should be noted that they are only found in gift sets. Many people consider such bonuses unnecessary, believing that any artist already has everything they need, and in any case they only put something very standard into the set. This is true, but the additional bonus will be useful to any master. We should not forget that even outstanding artists paint not only with some special brushes, but also with quite ordinary ones, just of good quality.

It is not for nothing that the Nevskaya Palitra plant has gained fame as one of the best in the post-Soviet space. They put far from the worst brushes into their sets. The argument that a professional already has everything is not entirely appropriate. A real artist, constantly doing what he loves, probably regularly faces the problem of abrasion of brush bristles. An additional tool is unlikely to be a disappointment for him.