Author: Miranda Balogh
View the original article from Miranda Balogh's blog
MeiLiang is a sub-brand of Paul Rubens that focuses on producing student grade art supplies.
In the past, they launched a 36-colour and a 48-colour watercolour palette that were both well-received by artists.
Then, in 2023, MeiLiang launched a new and ambitious watercolour palette that includes 52 pigments as well as multiple art accessories.
So what makes this new watercolour set so special?
Well, it should be noted that this new palette has been upgraded from the two previous versions.
Highlights of the MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52 include 40 premium pigments plus 10 macaron pigments and 2 metallic pigments. As well, several basic art supplies have been included in the set such as a graphite pencil, a black pen, a round brush, 10 pieces of watercolour paper, and a sponge.
Best of all, this set of MeiLiang watercolours prides itself as being an affordable student grade palette with high-quality pigments that are vibrant and transparent.
But does this watercolour set really live up to the hype?
Let’s find out!
DISCLOSURE: This blog post contains affiliate links.
MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52: Features
MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52: Features
The Case
Let’s start by unboxing this watercolour set.
The palette comes in a standard cardboard box that includes the names of the paints on the back of the box.
As you can see in the image below, I received a blue case. When purchasing this set, you can choose between a blue or purple case. Pick whichever colour appeals to you the most!
The case is made of metal, it has rounded edges, and it’s compact. A sturdy metal clasp prevents the top lid from opening. And when you open the lid, the hinges feel secure.
Lightweight and small, this watercolour palette seems like an excellent choice for artists who enjoy plein air painting or travelling.
The case is portable and can fit into a backpack or bag without taking up too much space. That way, you can easily take these watercolours with you to paint in a café, at the park, in your backyard, etc.
Now let’s have a closer look at the accessories
The Accessories
First of all, the set comes with an H graphite pencil. It’s already pre-sharpened, so you can sketch and draw with it right away.
It’s a standard pencil that should meet all your basic drawing needs, but it doesn’t have an eraser on the end of the pencil. No eraser is included in this set, so keep that in mind.
As well, the set comes with a 0.5 pigment liner pen. It’s water-based and water resistant, but it’s not waterproof.
That means the ink might smudge when you paint on top of it. So when you create watercolour and ink art, it’s best to add the ink over dry watercolour pigment as I have demonstrated in the paintings below.
Next, the set includes a size 5 round brush. It’s a fairly standard synthetic brush with somewhat stiff bristles and a fine tip. It’s nothing special, but it’s pretty decent to paint with.
Keep in mind that the handle is short. So if you have big hands, you might find it difficult to hold this brush while you’re painting.
In addition, this set comes with 10 pieces of watercolour paper. The dimensions of the paper are 7.5mm x 21mm (3in by 8.75in).
However, the paper isn’t high-quality because it’s not very water-absorbent. The box doesn’t explicitly say what it’s made of, but I suspect it’s made of cellulose or wood pulp.
For the price of the set, this lower-quality paper is to be expected. Nevertheless, the fact that the MeiLiang Watercolor Set of 52 comes with paper is a big bonus because most watercolour sets don’t come with paper.
Lastly, the set comes with a standard sponge that you can use to create textures. I rarely use sponges in my watercolour art, so for me the sponge is redundant.
The Layout
All of the accessories are attached to a plastic insert that sits on the underside of the top lid.
This insert can be removed, so you don’t have to keep the accessories in the box if you don’t want to.
Underneath the plastic insert is a metal mixing palette where you can mix your pigments. This makes it very convenient for colour mixing. So once again, plein air painters and travellers will definitely love this feature due to its convenience.
As for the colours, all 52 pigments are sorted into 4 rows. Each row contains 13 pigments.
The pans are removeable, although I don’t see the point of removing them. Fortunately, the pans look sturdy, so they shouldn’t fall out of the encasing.
Lastly, this watercolour palette comes with a detailed chart that displays the pigment information. The pigment names, the lightfastness rating, and the opacity are included.
Having this information organized into a reference chart is a pleasant surprise considering this is a student grade palette. But I appreciate having all that information labelled in such a concise manner!
The Pros
Great Student Quality Paints
Honestly, these watercolours performed much better than I expected. Student grade paints have a reputation for drying with a chalky and opaque appearance because they aren’t as high-quality as artist or professional grade paints.
However, I felt that the MeiLiang watercolours held up pretty well!
The pigments in the MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52 are made of high-quality gum arabic. This way, the paints look more transparent and they retain their vibrancy more easily.
I noticed that most of the pigments dried vibrantly. The pigments were easy to dilute and apply onto the paper, so the colours appeared luminous and transparent.
The only pigments that performed less adequately were the two metallic paints—the gold and the silver—which aren’t as vibrant as the other paints. That was a let down, but it’s not the end of the world.
Check out the paintings below to see how I used these paints to create two floral watercolour bookmarks. I think they both turned out quite nicely!
Watercolours Worth the Money
The set is very affordable and performs much better than other student grade watercolours that are often chalky and too opaque.
When student grade watercolours contain chalky and opaque pigments, they can be difficult to paint with.
This can be discouraging, so beginners might believe that watercolour is hard and give up too soon without realizing there are many strategies to make the learning process easier.
One of the best strategies for beginners is to invest in a good-quality watercolour palette from the start of your watercolour journey.
For this reason, I believe this MeiLiang Watercolor Set of 52 offers good-quality student grade paints with great workability at an affordable price.
That means this watercolour set could be a great way for beginners to enter into the world of watercolours without investing too much money into the medium.
The paints are easy to layer, the colour palette is extensive and provides ample opportunity for diverse colour mixing.
As such, I believe this set would make an excellent gift for any artist who wants to learn how to paint with watercolours. It’s also good for novice artists who want to expand their watercolour collection.
Perfect for Plein Air Painting and Travelling
As I’ve already mentioned, this watercolour set is perfect for any artist who enjoys painting outside or on the go.
Because the case is small and lightweight, it doesn’t take up much space in your backpack or bag. This provides lots of convenience for artists who don’t want to hull around heavy art supplies.
What’s more, the metal case is sturdy. It can be taken to a café, the countryside, the beach, a local garden, or pretty much any other place without being damaged.
The Cons
Colour Swatch Chart Doesn’t Match the Pigments
The biggest con I noticed with this watercolour palette is that the empty watercolour swatch chart doesn’t match the order of the paints in the palette.
As a result, the reference chart looks confusing because it doesn’t line up with the paints properly.
If you look at the image below, you can observe that the colour swatch chart looks like a mirrored reflection of the paints in the actual palette.
To fix this problem, sometime in the near future I plan to make my own colour swatch chart with the rows matching the paints correctly.
Odd Colour Arrangement
Something that I found a little bit strange about this palette is the way the paints are organized.
There are 40 premium paints in this set plus ten macaron (pastel) paints and two metallic paints.
However, instead of putting all the pastel paints together in a row, they’re spread out amongst the regular paints.
As a result, these lighter pigments stand out like a sore thumb beside the darker pigments.
It looks aesthetically awkward, and I’m not sure why this design choice was made.
Personally, I would have preferred the pastels to be organized together in one row so that they would be easy to find.
It’s not a big deal, though. If the order of pigments bothers you, you can take out the pans and rearrange them in an order that makes more sense to you.
Conclusion: Who is this Palette Suited For?
Unlike many student grade watercolour sets that contain chalky and opaque pigments, the pigments in the MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52 are vibrant, smooth, and perform well for their affordable price.
As such, I believe the MeiLiang Watercolors Set of 52 is best suited for beginners, hobbyists, and casual artists because it’s an affordable student grade palette with good-quality pigments.
In addition, I highly recommend this set for plein air painters and for travellers because the lightweight case and portable design make it very convenient for painting on the go.
If you’d like to learn more about this MeiLiang watercolour set or you’d like to purchase one, then click the link below that corresponds to your region:
