Qor Watercolors Review
Ooh new and shiny!
GOLDEN paints are well known for their acrylics but have recently released a new line of watercolors dubbed Qor Modern Watercolors. They claim that these watercolors use a unique binder called Aquazol which could hold greater amounts of pigment than the traditional watercolors using Gum Arabic as a binder.
Obviously, I couldn't help being the curious cat and decided to request samples from their website for review/comparison. Disclaimer: I was NOT sponsored for reviewing this line of paint. All samples were provided freely and publicly from the website at QorColors.com/Sample
Photo of the sample cards from QorColors.com
A few marketing points that really captured my attention was that these paints supposedly dried they way they looked when wet and that they are the brightest and "offers artists color strength, range, versatility unmatched in the history of watercolors"
I immediantely signed up for a dot sample card of the "Introductory Colors Card" and "High Chroma Colors Card"
A few weeks later, they arrived in my mailbox!
Super excited!
Introductory Card Samples - Featuring: Indian Yellow, Cerulean Blue Chromium, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Pyrrole Red Light, Ultramarine Blue
Introductory set - I love the Pyrrole Red Light!
The introductory sample card came with the basics and I loved the Ultramarine Blue and Pyrrole Red Light the best out of the mix. I decided to compare them to my Winsor & Newton paints.
The first row are Qor watercolors, second row is W&N and the third are all M.Graham paints.
When compared to the W&N line for similar paints, Qor came in near quality if not better for some pigments. The Ultramarine blue was just as vivid as the W&N French Ultramarine blue. Out of the Permanent Alizarin Crimson paints, Qor leaned more on the pink-ish side for color intensity than the darker Winsor Red Deep and Graham's Perm. Alizarin Crimson. However, Winsor & Newton's Burnt Sienna is still the most saturated and lovely by far. Qor's Burnt Sienna is more of a sand brown in comparison but still beautiful for anyone who have not invested in a watercolor brand yet. My second set came a few days later!
High Chroma Color Card - Featuring: Cobalt Teal, Green Gold, Dioxazine Purple, Quinacridone Magenta, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Pyrrole Orange
The High Chroma set was the one that made my heart flip flop when I opened it up in the mail. All of the colors are immensely pigmented and bright. Qor ranked #1 for the Cobalt Teal and Quin Magenta compared to the other brands I had. The Dioxazine Purple was extremely similar to the W&N's version.
Overall chart comparison of all 3 brands. Only similar types of paint colors were used for comparison with equal parts water to paint ratio for a fair review.
Summary: Overall, I did enjoy some of the colors that Qor offers but was not entirely impressed with the new line. They are immensely saturated and bright. However, they are just as good as W&N if you have already invested in this brand. Qor does handle a bit differently than my other watercolor brands with the paint drying true-to-color as it would look when wet.
The only downfall is the pricing to mL which deters me from buying them. In NYC, they are currently $12 for a series one 11mL tube (series2-3 are upwards of $14+) and they do not come in larger tubes. I assume that because you use less amount of paint and more water to dilute the intensity - this would be a decent price. Maybe I'll go out and buy a few tubes when I run out of Winsor and Newton or M. Graham watercolors but I do not see the need to completely switch over when my current palette holds very same/similar paint colors.