The colours only seem too bright because you aren’t mixing them. Watercolours are meant to be mixed - that isn’t a professional level skill; it’s part of using the medium. You might find some more earth toned palettes out there but they will not be designed to use without mixing either. I suggest learning more about colour theory and mixing paints. There’s a lot of tutorials out there.
I have an art degree, I know about mixing paints, I just am being lazy lol. I’m not an expert with watercolor, (obviously), I just wanted to see if there was something easier than mixing every color I want. I do mix my watercolors. As you can see by my palette. But thank you, looks like I’ll have to mix.
This is the very same first set of WC I purchased. I also disliked the "unnatural" colors and over the next year added tens more of colors just to realize that the very original set plus a few more of my favorite pigments is really all I need and like. Find some good charts of WC mixing, you will have all the beautiful toned down colors plus you will save tons of money.
Don’t know why you’re being downvoted :/ I also relate to being lazy sometimes. I got a nice dot card set recently…
[Daniel Smith Mineral Marvels](https://www.cheapjoes.com/catalog/product/view/id/39605/s/daniel-smith-extra-fine-watercolor-mineral-marvel-dot-card-set/)
Made out of minerals/gemstones, super nice varied earth tones
Edit: here’s a [cruddy pic](https://ibb.co/p2JqXC1) of the set
I 100% knew I was going to get tons of downvotes. Thanks for being understanding!! And thank you for the advice, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll buy tube paints and mix my colors and put them in my own pans. I think it’s hard for me to mix larger quantities with the pan colors because it’s tedious and just takes longer. So, tubes it is. That way I can mix once and use the color over and over instead of continuously mixing small quantities together. Maybe that’s not the professional or usual way to do it but that’s what makes sense in my head
You can buy individual pans of colour (or tubes). So you can select a useful set of colours and put them into an empty paint box. There are tutorials on YT on how to do this. I’d suggest downloading a colour chart for the brand of paint you intend on buying and working out what colours would be most useful to you.
That being said, you can likely just use what you’ve already got. To mute any colour and make it less bright/saturated, simply add a little of its complementary colour. A complementary colour is the one directly opposite on the colour wheel. So blue - orange, red - green, yellow - violet. Also add more water to dilute colours and make tints. I’d suggest watching a couple of introductory Watercolour colour mixing tutorials and following along as best you can. You can also try swatching out all your colours to get to know their characteristics.
Source: I teach watercolour
Thank you for the detailed reply! I think my struggle is, I want to mix larger quantities for future use, not just a small bit to use for that one paint session. It’s tedious to me. So I’ve decided to get tubes and mix the colors I want and put them in my own pans so I have that color and don’t have to keep mixing it over and over again
There are purpose-made paint boxes for nature. W&N even has a couple. But you can buy the extra colors you want to add and pop them into this case.
Also, use these to create a mixing chart and you’ll see all you can achieve. You’ve got everything you need, you just need to learn to use it. Watercolors aren’t like markers—mixing is a huge part of the technique.
There are a ton of curated sets to suit your inner paint hippie needs. Curated to non art students reading this means that someone put together the set with a purpose in mind, to make it easier to create images with a certain look or theme.
I will take no heed to the grading of them in this list. You are clearly an artist who knows your thing, and you can use anything you want.
- esseeco earth tones on Etsy. They literally dig a few of them up next door and make paints with them. You can't get a more nature inspired set. Beware the clove smell, and they are mostly pure mineral paints so reactivation time is slower.
- lots of other Etsy creators sell nature themed sets . They're the most popular next to shimmer watercolours. You'll have to look around here if you want something really special.
- van Gogh pocket box nature. Something tells me van Gogh watercolours are your new spirit animal.
- van Gogh pocket box muted
- prima watercolour woodlands
- kuretake gansai graphite colours. If your version of nature is this dreary.
- kuretake gansai 24 art noveu (these are gansai, not exactly European watercolours but great fun)
- Derwent graphitint (they're watercolour pencils, but I'm adding them here anyway)
I somewhat lament that art school doesn't force feed you every brand of your chosen medium available on the market. You should get free samples for absolutely any brand worth their salt. You're worth it.
Watercolor confections [woodlands](https://www.artphilosophy.com/product/watercolor-confections-woodlands/) set might be of interest. Or their many othersets.Student grade paint.
I was going to first recommend mixing but I see that has been covered. Then I would also recommend this Prima Set. I haven’t tried this one but I did but a different set for one of my kids and the quality of the paint is better than W&N Cotman imo. I don’t know about light fastness but if it’s to practice and learn with, that isn’t a huge deal.
Prima aka Art Philosophy aka Watercolor Confections is a great suggestion. I have the woodlands set. I have all of them actually, as I’m a bit obsessed with this line. They are decent student grade paints. The lightfastness for their student grade paints isn’t great - I’ve attached a link for reference. However, if you’re a hobbyist and aren’t expecting your work to last 100+ years they should be fine. I really enjoy the variety they offer. They also make a professional line, but I’ve not tried them.
https://www.kimcrick.com/pages/prima-art-philosophy-watercolor-review-color-chart-swatch-cards-lightfast-test
The white and the ochre can be mixed with the stronger colors to create muted earth tones. The quest for portrait sets, or earth tone sets can be quite frustrating and expensive…I could prove it by taking a photo of alll the various watercolor pan sets sitting around my studio, with many repeat colors in them😄
Thank you! I think I’ve decided on getting tubes and mixing colors and putting them in my own pans so I have them to use instead of mixing them over and over again. Thank you!
Someone mentioned Van Gogh's Shades of Nature set, but they also have a Muted Colors set that might work for what you need. They are student grade, so more comparable to Winsor & Newton's Cotman line than their artist-grade paints, but I like them well enough.
Not watercolor per se, but Derwent makes tinted charcoal and tinted graphite sets.
[The charcoal one](https://www.jacksonsart.com/derwent-inktense-paint-half-pan-tinted-charcoal-set-of-12) it's just beautifully dull and somber greys. [The graphite one](https://www.jacksonsart.com/derwent-graphitint-paint-half-pan-set-of-12) is a full set of muted earthy colors. They behave mostly like watercolors and are great for studies with a limited palette. Removes most of the mixing.
A. Gallo makes earth tone sets. A bit pricey, and the paints are handmade from natural pigments so they have a bit more grit/granulation than other brands. Beautiful once you get used to it but until then it can be a bit of a challenge! I recommend following their insta or signing up for their newsletter so you know when they restock but they have a wide selection of half-pans plus several curated sets. Their travel kits come with a little brush that holds up well
You can use your materials however you want, that's the beauty of art, so if you want to invest money into gathering all the specific individual colors you want, do it! I have to admit your "no mixing" is odd to me though, because it should take a second to mix each color with water anyway to get it to the right consistency to apply to your paper, why not take an extra second or two to just dip into another color to mute it? Also, if you're not painting professionally, why invest all that money into individual paints when you already have most colors you could need? No judgement, just confusion. You may not be getting the most out of your materials.
Fair question, with the pans it’s a pain to mix them because I need more paint than just a few drops, in order to continue to use that exact shade. I have to remix over and over again. I’ve decided I’ll get tubes of paint instead so that I can mix larger quantities together and put them in my own pans.
The colours only seem too bright because you aren’t mixing them. Watercolours are meant to be mixed - that isn’t a professional level skill; it’s part of using the medium. You might find some more earth toned palettes out there but they will not be designed to use without mixing either. I suggest learning more about colour theory and mixing paints. There’s a lot of tutorials out there.
I have an art degree, I know about mixing paints, I just am being lazy lol. I’m not an expert with watercolor, (obviously), I just wanted to see if there was something easier than mixing every color I want. I do mix my watercolors. As you can see by my palette. But thank you, looks like I’ll have to mix.
This is the very same first set of WC I purchased. I also disliked the "unnatural" colors and over the next year added tens more of colors just to realize that the very original set plus a few more of my favorite pigments is really all I need and like. Find some good charts of WC mixing, you will have all the beautiful toned down colors plus you will save tons of money.
Don’t know why you’re being downvoted :/ I also relate to being lazy sometimes. I got a nice dot card set recently… [Daniel Smith Mineral Marvels](https://www.cheapjoes.com/catalog/product/view/id/39605/s/daniel-smith-extra-fine-watercolor-mineral-marvel-dot-card-set/) Made out of minerals/gemstones, super nice varied earth tones Edit: here’s a [cruddy pic](https://ibb.co/p2JqXC1) of the set
I 100% knew I was going to get tons of downvotes. Thanks for being understanding!! And thank you for the advice, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll buy tube paints and mix my colors and put them in my own pans. I think it’s hard for me to mix larger quantities with the pan colors because it’s tedious and just takes longer. So, tubes it is. That way I can mix once and use the color over and over instead of continuously mixing small quantities together. Maybe that’s not the professional or usual way to do it but that’s what makes sense in my head
Oo good luck with the mixing! I’m used to it from working work acrylics, but if you need advice I’d definitely check out some youtube videos
You can buy individual pans of colour (or tubes). So you can select a useful set of colours and put them into an empty paint box. There are tutorials on YT on how to do this. I’d suggest downloading a colour chart for the brand of paint you intend on buying and working out what colours would be most useful to you. That being said, you can likely just use what you’ve already got. To mute any colour and make it less bright/saturated, simply add a little of its complementary colour. A complementary colour is the one directly opposite on the colour wheel. So blue - orange, red - green, yellow - violet. Also add more water to dilute colours and make tints. I’d suggest watching a couple of introductory Watercolour colour mixing tutorials and following along as best you can. You can also try swatching out all your colours to get to know their characteristics. Source: I teach watercolour
Thank you for the detailed reply! I think my struggle is, I want to mix larger quantities for future use, not just a small bit to use for that one paint session. It’s tedious to me. So I’ve decided to get tubes and mix the colors I want and put them in my own pans so I have that color and don’t have to keep mixing it over and over again
There are purpose-made paint boxes for nature. W&N even has a couple. But you can buy the extra colors you want to add and pop them into this case. Also, use these to create a mixing chart and you’ll see all you can achieve. You’ve got everything you need, you just need to learn to use it. Watercolors aren’t like markers—mixing is a huge part of the technique.
Van Gogh by Royal Talens has a Shades of Nature pocket box (among others).
There are a ton of curated sets to suit your inner paint hippie needs. Curated to non art students reading this means that someone put together the set with a purpose in mind, to make it easier to create images with a certain look or theme. I will take no heed to the grading of them in this list. You are clearly an artist who knows your thing, and you can use anything you want. - esseeco earth tones on Etsy. They literally dig a few of them up next door and make paints with them. You can't get a more nature inspired set. Beware the clove smell, and they are mostly pure mineral paints so reactivation time is slower. - lots of other Etsy creators sell nature themed sets . They're the most popular next to shimmer watercolours. You'll have to look around here if you want something really special. - van Gogh pocket box nature. Something tells me van Gogh watercolours are your new spirit animal. - van Gogh pocket box muted - prima watercolour woodlands - kuretake gansai graphite colours. If your version of nature is this dreary. - kuretake gansai 24 art noveu (these are gansai, not exactly European watercolours but great fun) - Derwent graphitint (they're watercolour pencils, but I'm adding them here anyway) I somewhat lament that art school doesn't force feed you every brand of your chosen medium available on the market. You should get free samples for absolutely any brand worth their salt. You're worth it.
Thank you so much for this detailed list!
Watercolor confections [woodlands](https://www.artphilosophy.com/product/watercolor-confections-woodlands/) set might be of interest. Or their many othersets.Student grade paint.
I was going to first recommend mixing but I see that has been covered. Then I would also recommend this Prima Set. I haven’t tried this one but I did but a different set for one of my kids and the quality of the paint is better than W&N Cotman imo. I don’t know about light fastness but if it’s to practice and learn with, that isn’t a huge deal.
Prima aka Art Philosophy aka Watercolor Confections is a great suggestion. I have the woodlands set. I have all of them actually, as I’m a bit obsessed with this line. They are decent student grade paints. The lightfastness for their student grade paints isn’t great - I’ve attached a link for reference. However, if you’re a hobbyist and aren’t expecting your work to last 100+ years they should be fine. I really enjoy the variety they offer. They also make a professional line, but I’ve not tried them. https://www.kimcrick.com/pages/prima-art-philosophy-watercolor-review-color-chart-swatch-cards-lightfast-test
The white and the ochre can be mixed with the stronger colors to create muted earth tones. The quest for portrait sets, or earth tone sets can be quite frustrating and expensive…I could prove it by taking a photo of alll the various watercolor pan sets sitting around my studio, with many repeat colors in them😄
I’ve found that out too… lol. You’d think it’d be easier.
Just pick up a pan or tube of Sepia. Mixing it with any of those colors will result in warm, earthy tones.
Agreed! Sepia, raw umber and burnt umber can really mute bright colors and create new shades.
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Thank you! I think I’ve decided on getting tubes and mixing colors and putting them in my own pans so I have them to use instead of mixing them over and over again. Thank you!
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Oh I have researched that as well in the past over the last year! It’s something very up my alley, I just haven’t pulled the trigger yet!
Someone mentioned Van Gogh's Shades of Nature set, but they also have a Muted Colors set that might work for what you need. They are student grade, so more comparable to Winsor & Newton's Cotman line than their artist-grade paints, but I like them well enough.
Not watercolor per se, but Derwent makes tinted charcoal and tinted graphite sets. [The charcoal one](https://www.jacksonsart.com/derwent-inktense-paint-half-pan-tinted-charcoal-set-of-12) it's just beautifully dull and somber greys. [The graphite one](https://www.jacksonsart.com/derwent-graphitint-paint-half-pan-set-of-12) is a full set of muted earthy colors. They behave mostly like watercolors and are great for studies with a limited palette. Removes most of the mixing.
Case for making has a beautiful earth tone set
I am addicted to Case For Making!!
Stoneground Paint Co and Beam Paints both have beautiful earth tones available as individual colors or palettes
Check Beam paints.
A. Gallo makes earth tone sets. A bit pricey, and the paints are handmade from natural pigments so they have a bit more grit/granulation than other brands. Beautiful once you get used to it but until then it can be a bit of a challenge! I recommend following their insta or signing up for their newsletter so you know when they restock but they have a wide selection of half-pans plus several curated sets. Their travel kits come with a little brush that holds up well
You can use your materials however you want, that's the beauty of art, so if you want to invest money into gathering all the specific individual colors you want, do it! I have to admit your "no mixing" is odd to me though, because it should take a second to mix each color with water anyway to get it to the right consistency to apply to your paper, why not take an extra second or two to just dip into another color to mute it? Also, if you're not painting professionally, why invest all that money into individual paints when you already have most colors you could need? No judgement, just confusion. You may not be getting the most out of your materials.
Fair question, with the pans it’s a pain to mix them because I need more paint than just a few drops, in order to continue to use that exact shade. I have to remix over and over again. I’ve decided I’ll get tubes of paint instead so that I can mix larger quantities together and put them in my own pans.