I get suggestions to review ShinHan watercolour occasionally so here I am with four tubes that I bought. I didn't want to buy too many colours because I have too many other brands and tubes I have yet to finish using.
ShinHan is a Korean company that makes various types of artist paints and the TOUCH markers. I'm not sure if they are well known in the west but in Asia, their products can be found quite easily.
PWC Extra Fine Artists' Watercolor (84 colours) is one of three watercolour products from Shinhan. PWC is their highest grade watercolour product. The P stands for Premium. The next grade is called ShinHan Professional Water Color (30 colours). Please do not mistake PWC with their Professional line.. The student grade paint is SHAMI.
The pricing of ShinHan's PWC is very competitive. It's surprisingly affordable when you consider the quality.
These are the prices on Amazon USA at the time of these review:
- 24x 15ml tube for US $90.52, or US $3.77 per tube.
- 32x 15ml tube for US $119.35, or US $3.72 per tube.
The colours that I bought are Peacock Blue, Cerulean Blue, Permanent Yellow Light and Permanent Red.
Peacock Blue (PB15:3): Some companies call their Phthalo Blue Peacock Blue and ShinHan is one of those companies. This is a vibrant colour with strong tinting strength. The quality is similar to other brands I've used.
Cerulean Blue (PB35): Cerulean Blue looks quite close to Peacock Blue in terms of hue so there's probably no need to get both colours unless you want the granulation of Cerulean Blue. This tube that I have has been with me for months and I'm surprised that the gum arabic has not separated from the pigment like most other brands, or maybe it's just Daniel Smith's Cerulean Blue Chromium that has that problem.
Permanent Yellow Light (PY1): Label says that it's transparent but it looks semi-transparent to me. It also looks like neutral or slightly warm yellow that can mix with warm reds to get a nice orange.
Permanent Red (PR209): Strong intense warm red. Mixes with Peacock Blue to produce dull purples and dark shades.
The overall quality of the paint is high. These are vibrant intense colours. They mix well and easily with one another.
Conclusion
The quality is comparable to other brands such as Daniel Smith or Schmincke. When you consider the attractive pricing — each Daniel Smith tube is US $10 or more usually — you get terrific bang for the buck with ShinHan's PWC.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to test for the lightfastness so I can't say anything about that. If you want to use the paints for permanent archival work, do test for lightfastness before painting with them.
Overall, for the price, it's highly recommended.
Availability
ShinHan products may not be easily found in the west, but you can visit these links below to see their availability:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.es | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp | Jackson's Art (UK)
