Lukas watercolours now stocked by Jacksons

I am pleased to report that Lukas watercolours are now stocked by Jacksons. I like Lukas as an excellent range combining good quality with very keen prices. I'm rapidly coming round to the view that watercolourists are getting a raw deal with the pricing structure of many leading artist quality paints. Lukas have  70 colours which is enough for anyone.. Yes, there may be colours in other lines that you must, must have but you could easily fill 75% of your palette from the Lukas range. The cost per ml is super competitive. See the full review of Lukas JANUARY 2013. If amateurs are concerned about buying such a large tube they shouldn't be. According to Daler Rowney (and others) paints are good for at least ten years. The only reservation I have with that would be with those paints containing white, like many of the Naples Yellows offered. My experience is that they go very hard after a while and are unusable. See also problems I've experienced with Mineral Violet from Graham and  Cobalt Magenta from Rowney.

See the size difference between the 24ml tube and a Winsor & Newton 14ml.

I approached Jacksons several weeks ago and asked if they would consider stocking Lukas and they were very receptive. I'm not claiming it was solely due to me but they now have them so go on the new Jacksons website and put `Lukas Watercolours' in the search box and you'll find them.

Prices are very competitive. They have only two series, as compared from 3 to 6 with most of the other leading makes,  Compare the prices with the others, mostly 15ml or 14ml for Winsor & Newton.

I will be buying more but at present only have experience with four paints, Permanent Orange (PO71), Turquoise (PB16), Cadmium Lemon (PY35) and Cadmium Yellow (PY35) - all excellent..

We now came to the really good bit  - prices! Series 1 are being sold at £7.30p and Series 2, which includes genuine Cadmiums and Cobalts, Cerulean etc are only £8.10p and this for a 24ml tube.. Compare this with other makes! I know personal preference plays a big part in choice, and some may say we prefer this or that make. That's fair enough but at the moment these are  the best prices by far for an artist quality paint, excluding Korean, Russian, own brands and other makes claiming to be artist quality.. I will continue to buy the odd paint I like from some of the others but Lukas will fulfill most of my needs. Try them and see.

Artists outside the EU do not pay VAT, so even with carriage charges - at cost - this is a very good deal.