Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set
Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set
In this review we take a look at this whopping 52 pan watercolour set from Mei Liang, for those of you that may not know, Mei Liang is a brand under the Paul Rubens banner, so immediately you know we are talking about quality.
The set we are going to look at today is not just simply a huge 52 pan set of quality watercolors, there is so much more to this set. for artists looking to try the medium of watercolor for the first time, or perhaps a young student artist looking to purchase a watercolor set that is going to allow them to create rich, vibrant pieces of art, the crafters and hobbyists and even the more serious watercolor artists among you, this is a set you really need to know about.
I am no watercolor expert by any stretch of the imagination, however, I have spent many years testing, analysing, demonstrating and reviewing watercolors ranging from the most expensive to the least expensive, the highest quality to the lowest quality; to know what watercolor artists are looking for.
That being said, when I review products I am not simply just looking at the quality of the materials used, although this is clearly an important aspect, I am also looking for so many other aspects to the product. One thing in particular that I love to see from certain art products, is the ability for someone completely new to the medium or even perhaps art, to have the ability of buying the set and not needing to purchase a single extra item to help them get started. This 52 set of watercolors from Mei Liang completely ticks that huge box and we will talk more about this further into the review.
Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set Characteristics
In true Paul Rubens quality style, the first thing you will notice about the packaging of the Mei Liang Watercolor box is, the gorgeous two tone, or perhaps seamless gradient might be a better description, all over the box. This gorgeous gradation from lavender to a cobalt blue, I think, perfectly depicts the seamless blends and gradients we achieve with watercolors. On the bottom right of the box, there is proudly displayed the Mei Liang logo, a beautiful parrot, with Mei Liang printed below.
On the rear of the box there is a swatch, this is to simply give you an idea of the colors inside the box, however it is worth always remembering, whilst companies try their best to match swatches printed on packaging with that of the actual medium, it is impossible to 100% accurately match the colors.
On opening the box, you are presented with a watercolor tin, in the same gorgeous blue that is displayed on the packaging, a pamphlet with information including another swatch, a small swatch made from hot pressed watercolor paper, already labeled with the color names and information, for you to create your own swatch. Finally there was additional strips of cold pressed watercolor paper for the buyer to get started immediately, this really impressed me so much.
On opening the tin, using the sturdy latch on the front, you are presented with what at first appears like 52 gem stones, but alas it is only 52 beautiful watercolor pans. The tin obviously opens in two, displaying the lower compartment filled with the pans and the upper compartment or lid of the tin, we are presented with even more items.
The inside of the lid is fitted with a white plastic tray, in which holds a traditional B grade graphite pencil, a 0.5 Pigment Liner, a watercolor brush and a small sponge. This all goes back to the beginning of the review where I mentioned about buyers being able to use the medium they have purchased without the need to buy additional items. In this beautiful set from Mei Liang, the artist has everything they need right out of the box, right down to quality watercolor paper. I can’t tell you how much this impressed me and still does impress me.
On removing the white plastic tray, the inside of the lid displays five, excellently sized mixing wells, the largest is half the size of the lid, the other half is split into two smaller wells and a medium size well, all divided. Obviously with this set containing 52 watercolor pans, it is slightly bigger than the traditional 24 pan tins so many people are used to, I have added an image just for comparisons sake of the Mei Liang 52 pan set next to my Paul Rubens 24 pan watercolor set.
The 0.5 Pigment Liner sports a slick white barrel, with clear, contrasting black print along the body. On one side of the barrel we see the print “IERS, Pigment Liner”, followed by the nib size. On the opposite side we see clearly printed “Water Resistant : Water Based” closely followed by a barcode and “Made in China”.
The graphite pencil included is a traditional B grade of graphite, the barrel is a dark green and gold colouration, very similar to the Faber Castell 9000 graphite pencils. Printed in gold print along the pencil barrel we see “Paint Pencils, Aowenhuacai, AB1000” and then the graphite grade B.
I have to say, I was most impressed with the watercolor brush included, traditionally, sets similar to the Mei Liang would have come with a water brush, the type of brush were the water is housed inside the plastic body, allowing for the water to seep into the nylon brush. However, on this occasion, Mei Liang have opted for a three quarter length traditional watercolor brush. The handle is a clear perspex material, sporting a number 5 round, super soft, synthetic brush. All in all I was and am so impressed with the brush and if you would like to see me demonstrate the brush, you can do so by heading over to the YouTube video review by simply clicking the link and you will be automatically transported to the video.
There is also a small sponge in the set, now this is traditionally used to help the artist soak up any excess water, but with it being a small sponge, it can also be used to help create texture within your paintings. Not the most important aspect of the Mei Liang set, but still a wonderful little touch for it to be included.
My only issue and it is a small issue, one I had to dig deep and search for, is the lack of holding apparatus under the actual tin. On almost all 24 pan watercolor sets, as depicted above with the pink Paul Rubens set, there is a simple drop down ring which allows the artist to place their finger through it whilst holding the tin and painting. Unfortunately, there is nothing on the bottom of the Mei Liang 52 pan watercolor set, in the way of stability for the artist holding and using the tin, outside the studio setting.
Each individual pan is wrapped in a piece of paper which is colored the same color as the watercolor. On the front part of the paper, you can see the Mei Liang logo, below which is some Chinese writing; under the Chinese writing the name of the color is printed in English and below that is the lightfast rating in stars.
On one side of the pan paper, there is a lot of Chinese writing and on the other side of the pan paper, the same information is printed in English. First it reads Color Carrier : Arabic Gum. Below this we are given the pigment numbers used to create the color in the pan. Next we are given the lightfast information for that individual pan, again this is displayed in a star system and finally we are given the Transparency information.
You can now see from the image provided all 52 pans with the wrappers removed and before they have been used. You can see that they are all cracked inside the pans, but this could be due to any number of reasons, including transit conditions, time on a shelf before delivery and so much more. Regardless, none of it affects the ability of the paint when activated by misting water over the pans to rejuvenate them all.
Mei Liang Watercolor Set Performance
As always, the first thing I do when starting to review any art supply, is to create a swatch and the Mei Liang watercolor set was no exception. Given the large capacity of 52 gorgeous colors, rather than create a tiny swatch, I used an A3 size, hot pressed, Derwent Watercolor pad. This provided me with the room to apply decent swatches of color, as well as all of the information pertaining to each color, which you can see from the image provided.
Within the set, there are 52 traditional colors and then two metallic colors, although I used hot pressed watercolor paper for the swatch, I did also create artwork using the set and used a different quality and grade watercolor paper for that, helping to provide variation throughout the review. You will also be able to click on the swatch image, enlarge it and see all the information relevant to every color, information such as lightfast ratings, transparency information, pigments used etc. Nevertheless, I have also provided the information in written format ensuring clarity for everyone.
The legend used regarding transparency or opaqueness is as follows, a Single square fully shaded indicates that the color is Opaque, a square with only half shaded in a diagonal format, indicates that the color is Semi-Opaque. A square with only the outline visible, in other words, a square with no shading at all, indicates that the color is Transparent and finally; an unshaded square with a diagonal line through it, indicates that the color is Semi-Transparent. Each color on the swatch as you can see, has a small square in one of the aforementioned descriptions, displaying the color state once used.
Each color also has a lightfast rating, which you can find out more about in the Lightfast sub-heading, but the rating is graded out of five stars, with five stars being the most lightfast and one star the least. It is important to note one thing, many art supply companies provide their own lightfast rating system which is absolutely fine, however, there are two lightfast standards that come with certain assurances, the Blue-Wool system and the ASTM system. Unless you know with 100% certainty that the product is Blue-Wool or ASTM tested, take it that it is in-house tested. In this particular case from all the research I have done, I can’t say with 100% certainty that the paints are blue-wool or ASTM, so whilst the lightfast ratings are impressive, understand what I have mentioned above.
As you can clearly see from the swatch, every single color in the Mei Liang 52 set is rich and vibrant, full of gorgeous saturation and for the most part, behave exactly how the transparency legend equates them. You can see from the swatch provided, that applied a thick black marker line through each swatch space, before applying the watercolor covering, this black marker line helps to visually display if a color is opaque or transparent. Each color provided beautiful and consistent coverage during the swatching process, making the swatching process an absolute dream.
As I mentioned earlier, I also created a simple piece of art to help demonstrate the Mei Liang Watercolors, I discovered a few years after I started reviewing art supplies, that the best way to not only understand the product but to also demonstrate the product, was to use it in the way it was intended. Creating artwork, regardless of how good or bad the final result is, helps me as a reviewer, fully understand the product in its natural state, as well as perhaps find flaws or other elements of the product that may be missed from a simple swatch application.
For my artwork I used a much higher grade of watercolor paper, this time I used the St Cuthberts Mill, Saunders Waterford Cold Pressed, 100% cotton, watercolor paper. This provided a simply gorgeous surface to apply the watercolor. As you can see I created this simple little Tree Frog, which I feel helps demonstrate the Mei Liang’s gorgeous rich and vibrant color range, as well as the watercolors ability for blending and lifting ability if and when mistakes were made by me.
Occasionally, when using cheaper watercolor sets, similar to this set in terms of pricing and accessories included, the paints are chalky and the indiudal items cheap and low quality. None of this is the case with the Mei Liang 52 watercolor set.
If you would like to see this simple piece of artwork come to life you can click the link, which will take you to The Art Gear Guide YouTube speed drawing video. Here you can sit back and relax and watch a short, sped up video of the artwork coming to life, from start to finish. Alternatively you can click this link to view a series of still images I had taken and added to The Art Gear Guide website, from start to finish, allowing you the viewer to click and enlarge the image, permitting you to inspect the art in detail. Here you can take your time and inspect how the Mei Liang paint behaved on the watercolor paper.
Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set Lightfast & Pigment Information
White PW5 / PW6 5 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Lemon Yellow PY3. 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
New Gamboge. PY74 / PY151. 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Cadmium Yellow Med. PY65 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Opaque
Permanent Dk Yellow. PY83. 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Nickel Yellow PY51 4 Star Lightfast. Transparent
Orange PY3 / PO13 3 Star Lightfast. Semi-Transparent
Permanent Orange PO62. 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Transparent
Perm Orange Red. PO73 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Lt Cadmium Red PO73 / PR11. 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Opaque
Vermillion PR4 3 Star Lightfast. Opaque
Scarlet PR48 / PR207 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Chinese Red PR112 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Permanent Red PR170 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Carmine PR176 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Purple Red PR112 / PR177. 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Quinacridone Rose PV19 4 Star Lightfast Transparent
Purple Lake PV19 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Violet PV19 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Magenta PR112 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Transparent
Bright Purple PV3 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Deep Purple PV3 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Violet Oxide PV23 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Cobalt Blue PB29 / PB15 / PW5. 4 Star Lightfast Opaque
Ultramarine PB29 5 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Manganese Blue Nova. PB15 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Sky Blue PB17 / PW5 3 Star Lightfast Opaque
Prussian Blue. PB27 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Opaque
Indigo PBK7 / PB29 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Paynes Grey PB29 / PBK7 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Sea Blue PB17 / PG7 3 Star Lightfast. Semi-Opaque
Light Turquoise PG7 / PB15 4 Star Lightfast Opaque
Deep Cobalt Turquoise PB15 / PG7 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Light Cobalt Turquoise PB15 / PG7 3 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Yellow Green PY3 / PG7 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Lime Green PG36 / PY3 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Permanent Green PG7 / PY3 4 Star Lightfast. Semi-Transparent
Deep Emerald PG7 4 Star Lightfast Transparent
Dark Hooker Green. PG7 / PY3 / PR101 4 Star Lightfast Opaque
Olive Green 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Pthalo Green Blue PG7 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Bright Hooker Green PG7 / PY83 / PR101 4 Star Lightfast Opaque
Natural Yellow PY42 5 Star Lightfast Opaque
Light Brown PBR7 5 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Fired Gold Ochre PBR25 4 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Indian Red PR101. 5 Star Lightfast Semi-Opaque
Burnt Umber PRB7 5 Star Lightfast Semi-Transparent
Sepia PRB7 5 Star Lightfast. Semi-Transparent
Ivory Black PBK9 5 Star Lightfast Transparent
Coal Black PBK7 5 Star Information Semi-Opaque
Gold
Silver
Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set Pricing
To purchase this amazing, all in one, ready to create straight out of the box, 52 pan set of rich, vibrant watercolors from Mei Liang, here in the UK you will pay £29. I know money and value is relevant to each and every one of us, but considering what is included in this set and the quality of the product, no matter who you are, £29 is amazing value for such a wonderful product.
For artists in the US, you will pay approximately $35 for the same set.
If this is a set of watercolors you would like to buy, if you click the links provided, they will take you to Amazon where you can buy the set. As with every single link on this website, every single Sunday I will sit and check through my links, making sure that the links I have provided take you to the cheapest set available. Prices change all the time and by using the links provided on The Art Gear Guide, you can know with confidence that I have done the searching, ensuring that my links direct you to the cheapest set available on Amazon. I do personally make a small commission if you buy the product, but this cost absolutely nothing extra for you.
Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor Set Conclusion
I know, for the most part, when we see a set of watercolors, as part of a set and advertising at a low price point, we automatically turn away thinking, “Low price tag, low quality”. However, on this occasion I can hand on heart tell you that this is absolutely not the case with the Mei Liang 52 pan Watercolor set.
I was incredibly impressed when it came to the quality of the additional items, the pigment liner, watercolor brush and even the graphite pencil. There are plenty of sets like this on the market, but a lot of the time, the additional items are worse than useless and are only included to make the set appear professional. With the Mei Liang Watercolor 52 pan set, the additional items are not just eye candy, aimed at enticing you to buy, they work well and are made from quality materials.
The actual Mei Liang watercolors are excellent quality, rich and vibrant colors, allowing for beautiful mixing or simple color selection straight out of the set. Of course, knowing the Paul Rubens name is there in the background, should obviously set minds at rest in knowing that the product is from quality manufacturing.
This is a truly wonderful watercolor set for artists just starting out, completely brand new to art, or students who require that excellent quality material that is not going to break the bank but get the job done and to a high standard. Even the more seasoned watercolor artist would appreciate and make excellent use from this set.
Professional watercolor artists tend to use between eight to ten colors in their palette, creating more colors from the main colors in their palette. However, starting out with a larger palette, will allow the artist to home in on their preferred mixing colors, allowing them the time to perfect color theory without breaking the bank.
As previously mentioned, the lightfast ratings are pretty good throughout the entire 52 pans, just remember what I said about blue wool and ASTM standards and in house lightfast testing. So long as you are mindful of these elements, you won’t have any issues whatsoever.
I personally love the Mei Liang 52 Pan Watercolor set and think for all the reasons highlighted above, the quality, the price, the lightfast ratings, the additional items and the provided strips of watercolor paper to get started, this is most definitely a set to consider.
Don’t forget, if you would like to watch my YouTube Video review of the Mei Liang 52 pan Watercolor set, click the link to watch. If you would like to watch a quick, sped up YouTube video of the artwork come to life, click the link and watch the fun. Alternatively, if YouTube is not your thing, as well as this written review, I have also added still images of the artwork, taken with my Nikon D7100 camera, by simply clicking the link you can view them in your own time. The page of still images, allows you to click on any of the 8 to 10 images included, from start to finish and in-between, providing you the opportunity to closely inspect how the paint reacts to the paper and mixes etc.
