Reviewing a Classic: Winsor & Newton Designer Gouache

thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

May 2

Hi friends! I have another gouache to review this week. I mentioned last year that I wanted to purchase the smaller mixing sets from different gouache brands to see how they were. Today we look at the tried and true classic, Winsor & Newton mixing set of 6 Designer's Gouache. Please note that Winsor & Newton has recently released a budget student gouache but I have not tried that, the box on Amazon says "made in France" so maybe they are the same but I don't know, I have not used it nor do I know anyone who as so if you have tried that cheaper set please let us know what you thought of it in the comments.

The colors in the set are Zinc White, Ivory Black, Primary Red, Primary Blue, Primary Yellow, and Permanent green middle. the tubes are 14ml and a simple mixing brochure with info on the colors in the range is included. You can find this set on Blick and Amazon for roughly the same price. Blick also carries open-stock tubes which might be a better choice for you.

Pros:

Price
Colors mix well
Pigment and lightfastness info is provided
Easy to work with
Rewets fine so the dry paint on your palette can be reused

Cons:

The colors are fairly transparent for a gouache
The red is not lightfast
There was some binder separation on a few of the colors *Note many viewers on YouTube also mentioned binder separation with the majority of their W&N gouache
In my opinion, the green is a waste in this set, and a brown would have been much more useful.

Here is a look at the full gouache range. You can see how opaque the colors are and the lightfast rating so you can make the best choice. These are professional paints but created for artists working for reproduction, such as graphic designers. Hence the name Designers Gouache.

Bottom line: I think these paints are nice and well-priced. The opacity was good enough that I did not struggle to layer colors or paint on toned paper. I enjoyed the color selection (except the green) and liked the zinc white for mixing. I think this would be a good mixing set but the lack of a brown might be unnecessarily frustrating for a beginner. What do you think? Have you used this gouache of their new student set? Let me know what you think in the comments below and til next time happy crafting!