Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So, I was expecting this this gouache to be on the same level as many of the other student grades that I've tried (withholding brand names), and I've actually been blown away by the performance of Arteza's quality. I bought the first set of 24 tubes from Amazon (I use Amazon a LOT for all things), and after seeing the level of quality, I purchased a second set to refill my palette from the Arteza website. The packing and shipping care from the Arteza site was much higher than what I saw from Amazon. I think for the more fragile items such as pencils, ordering directly from the Arteza site would result in safer transit. When working with gouache, I normally use my "artists' grade" stuff (Da Vinci, M. Graham, Holbein, etc.), and have been happy with them, they perform very well. I was shocked at how well the Arteza gouache performed in comparison to my "professional" level paint. Virtually streak-free (streaks are VERY common in other low-cost brands), very creamy and most important for me, highly consistent across all of the different colors/tubes. I experienced NO separation of pigments/vehicles across the entire set of 24 colors, which is something that I've noticed as an issue in EVERY brand of "artists' grade" gouache that I've used to date. I highly commend Arteza for including the pigments used for each color. As a professional artist, it is important to me that I know the level of quality that I'm putting into my work. With that being said...a note on gouache: Gouache is historically NOT a medium that has been widely-considered long-life. Most "professional level" gouache brands don't waste a lot of time worrying about pigments. Gouache is traditionally a "Designers''" medium and is intended to be used for quick laydown of ideas, and then photographed or duplicated, without worrying about lightfastness of the pigments. Holbein gouache, which is highly regarded, has a LOT of questionable, if not downright fugitive, pigments in their line. All of that said, again, I'm VERY impressed with the quality and performance of Arteza gouache! Not only has it become my first recommendation for my students based on performance, it could easily displace my much more expensive "artists' grade" collection for everyday use in sketchbooks and studies. Of note, like all gouache, I think you'll find that if you would like to reuse squeezed-out paints again, keeping them moist is important. I'm including a picture of the cheap 24-well palette that I bought on eBay, and how I've rearranged the 24-color set to fit. While I'm using it with the lid off, I keep the wells hydrated by dropping water into them. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't fill the wells so close to the top; it is easier when they aren't spilling over the edges. Of note, like all of my more expensive gouache, if allowed to dry, Arteza will crack and crumble at the extremes. Not a big deal, any gouache artist will tell you that this is normal. I'm including some pictures of a few small projects that I've done (all around 5x7) using this Arteza 24-color gouache set. Sorry for the chicken-centric theme! I've been documenting our little backyard flock in my sketchbook. The portraits of the roosters are "The Little Guy" and "Big Ernie". The egg and apples are standard still life, and the BBQ sign is something that we drove by in Fort Worth, TX a couple of weeks ago, and I had to capture it! Without hesitation, I've been filling my cart with other Arteza products so I can compare them to more of my "artists' grade" mediums! I'm looking forward to when I can afford to explore more the Arteza lines. So far, I've been very impressed! Please keep up the great work, Arteza!