The paints I wasn’t planning to buy — and why I’ve switched to Kremer watercolours
A chance encounter at the USK Toulouse art market turned into a complete change of watercolour palette. Here’s what won me over to Kremer.
MATERIALS & GEAR
8/10/20264 min read
I first came across Kremer watercolours at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Toulouse in 2026.
I had heard of Kremer through Aparajitaa—@appupaints on Instagram—who raves about them. Whilst she is fairly new to watercolour, she has already amassed an amazing knowledge of different watercolour companies and their paint ranges. I had never tried the paints myself, so while I was waiting for her at the symposium art market, I wandered over to the Kremer stand and started playing with some of the colours.
The first two I tried were Gubbio Red and Permanent Red. I was amazed by how saturated they were and how little paint I needed to pick up to produce a strong wash.
Over the next day, I returned to the stand several times with “just one more question”. Yeah, right! Rebecca, the Kremer representative, remained remarkably patient while I tried colours, compared sets and generally made it impossible for her to forget me.
By this point, my resistance had become largely theoretical.
I bought Kremer Watercolour Set I, helped along by the rather tempting 17.5% symposium discount.
What I bought:
Kremer Watercolour Set I contains 14 full pans:
Permanent Yellow Medium
Pyramid Yellow Medium
Titanium Orange
Red DPP BO, PR254
Ruby DPP TR, PR264
Venetian Red
Dark Burnt Sienna
Cobalt Blue Dark
Cobalt Blue Light
Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light
Phthalo Green Dark, PG7
Chrome Oxide Green
Raw Sienna, Italian
Burnt Umber, Dark Brown
It is an interesting selection, but perfect for urban sketching and travel sketching. There is no Ultramarine, which initially surprised me because it had always been one of the standard colours in my palette. However, Cobalt Blue Dark fills a similar role for me, and I haven’t found myself missing Ultramarine at all.
What I like about them
I’m normally very cautious about reviewing art materials after only a short time. It usually takes quite a few paintings before I feel I know how a paint behaves. But within just a couple of paintings with the Kremer set, I knew I loved it.
The first thing I noticed was the saturation. I can achieve strong colour without repeatedly scrubbing at the pan or loading my brush with far more paint than I really want.
They also mix beautifully. I have been able to create clear, lively mixtures rather than colours that quickly become dull or muddy.
The paints move well on the paper, which is especially important for the way I work. I tend to let the paints mix a lot on the paper and want the pigment to travel, mingle and create interesting variations without having to push it around endlessly.
I have also noticed very little lightening as the paint dries. The colour I put down remains close to the colour I thought I was putting down—which is rather useful.
Then there is the binder. Kremer’s watercolour medium is based on gum arabic with honey and glycerine. The paints rewet very easily, but they don’t become sticky or runny in the pans. To me, they seem to contain just the right amount of honey and glycerine.
What I’ve added
I genuinely love the colours in the set as they are. Of course, this has not stopped me adding three more.
I have ordered and am waiting for the following colours to arrive:
Indigo
Gubbio Red
Phthalo Blue
Gubbio Red deserved a spot in my palette after being one of the first colours I tried at the stand, and it is a super-rich, deep colour. Indigo gives me another useful option for darks and shadows, while Phthalo Blue expands the range of greens and blue mixtures I can make.
So who are Kremer?
Kremer Pigmente is a family-run German company specialising in rare, historical and modern pigments, as well as materials for artists and art conservation.
The company was founded by Dr Georg Kremer in 1977 and is based in Aichstetten, in the Allgäu region of southern Germany. Kremer is probably best known for its enormous range of pigments, including natural earth colours, historical pigments, mineral pigments and modern synthetic colours.
Its ready-made watercolour range includes more than 130 colours, sold as individual pans and in a variety of curated sets. At the time of writing, Kremer produces its ready-made watercolours in full and half pans rather than tubes.
Kremer also sells dry pigments and watercolour medium for artists who want to make their own paints—something I had never previously been interested in.
At the time of writing, the ready-made watercolours are not available through an Australian retailer. Rebecca told me that Kremer has been trying to arrange Australian distribution, so I’m hoping that may change. In the meantime, they can be ordered directly from Kremer in Germany.
And then I bought the pigments…
Before visiting the Kremer stand, I had never been particularly interested in making my own watercolours.
That changed rather quickly.
Kremer had its 25th Anniversary pigment set available at a very good symposium price. Then, on the final day, it was reduced by a further 40%, which made the decision something of a no-brainer.
The set contains a selection of dry pigments that can be combined with watercolour medium to make your own paints.
There was no way I could carry it around in my suitcase without maxing out my airline baggage allowance, so it is being shipped to Australia instead. Kremer has a good arrangement with FedEx, which made that possible. Even enthusiasm has its weight limits.
I’m especially looking forward to experimenting with my own shadow colours and greens—two mixtures I use constantly and would love to fine-tune.
Once the set arrives and I’ve had time to make a mess, learn what I’m doing and hopefully produce some actual paint, I’ll write a separate article about it.
Disclosure: This article is not sponsored and I am not affiliated with Kremer pigments in any way. All paints were purchased but myself.
