Grumbacher Finest Artists’ Watercolors

Grumbacher’s Finest Artists’ Watercolor is a product that is geared towards the professional watercolor artists. This product is formulated with high-quality materials and premium coloring pigments that are uniformly combined and distributed into the 14 ml tubes. As is the case with all Grumbacher products, this product is made in the USA, and it is available in 63 colors. The pigment load of these watercolors combined with their viscosity promise fluid and even washes on watercolor papers. Finally, the Finest Artists’ Watercolor conform to the ASTM D 4236 which indicates low toxicity in the paint contents.

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Product Pros & Cons

Artist Likes

  • As good as it always used to be
  • Professional level quality for lower budgets
  • Great lightfastness properties
  • Vibrant colors and good saturation
  • Great for realistic skin tones
  • Colors that last and remain similarly alive after decades
  • Easy to dilute, yet very strong

Artist Dislikes

  • Some report that the paints are too smudgy to work with
  • Some find the cheaper “Academy” series of the same company to be better
  • Not recommended for washes of glazing

Judging from the various comments about this product, the artist satisfaction depends on the choice of the color. In overall though, these watercolors perform very well, and people who have created something with them many years ago report that the colors still are equally vibrant as in day one. One thing to note is that the Finest Watercolors aren’t suitable for washes or glazing. Some claim that the cheaper “Academy” watercolor product series which is also made by Grumbacher performs better in certain use case scenarios.

Final Considerations

In general, and compared to other watercolors, the Finest Artists’ Watercolors by Grumbacher are more opaque. That said, if you’re looking for transparent watercolors you’d better look elsewhere. Now as far as the “professional grade” is concerned, I can say that the lightfast properties ensure that your work will remain as good and as vibrant as it was the day you painted it. If that isn’t enough, this product also offers a good range of colors, easy mixing, good saturation, and easy diluting. This means that if you’re working many hours a day with them, you will do so comfortably as it should be the case for all pros.