Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Super Granulation Set 5x15ml (Forest)

good consistency, requires some experimentation, but top shelf stuff

I was excited about my several orders of Schminke paints as I've been a fan for many years now. First, the good thing is that the package arrived quickly. Second, the shades are really pretty and easy to work with. My disappointment is with one of the tubes, namely the most precious "deep sea blue" color that just won't squeeze any paint out. It does not look used, and there is no hermetic closure on any of the tubes. I tried applying pressure and inserting a sharp object inside the opening of the tube to break the film / crust that may have been formed out of paint in storage, but nothing helped. Amazon was of no help either, there are no replacements, only returns with no guarantee that this product will be in stock for a re-order. At this price, and from this brand, I expected that all tubes would be sufficiently fresh and functioning at the very least.

Two colors seem to be the granularity I was looking (desert green and desert grey). The others, while granular, are not as fun.

Overall disappointed in the amount of granulation and the effort it takes to get it, as others have said. You need considerable water and very textured paper in order to really see it. If this is not how you normally paint, you probably won't like these. One tube was defective, containing mostly vehicle in the form of frothy fluid, and very little pigment (in the photo you can see how much I had to squeeze out of the tube of yellow, and what came out). Another set had two tubes that were underfilled, lots of air. At this price point, there should at least be better quality control by Schmincke. I thought these would be a sure bet based on their reputation, but really disappointing. I gave two stars because out of these ten colors, two or three were pretty great. Others, not at all worth the price. These are not expensive pigments, and you can make your own mixtures that will look at least as good. If you use tube paints to fill pans and rely on them to re-wet, these colors are okay but nothing special.

I expected vibrant granulating color but got tubes full of air and a clear liquid. The color was so diluted it was unusable. Very disappointed.