My thoughts on some Lilian May watercolour pans I bought on a recent visit to The National Gallery.

I was visiting The National Gallery yesterday with a friend when something new in the shop caught my eye.

They are individual watercolours from Lilian May. These particular ones are exclusive to The National Gallery, with stamped branding on the sides of the pans. I am a member of The National Gallery and visit quite regularly, going once, perhaps twice a month. I always go in the shop, but I have not seen these before.

I am familiar with the Lilian May brand though. I follow them on Instagram and have particularly enjoyed watching the owner, Will, do his paint-along demos.

Even though they’re not artists’ quality, I couldn’t resist these cute little matchbox-sized packages, with their individual ceramic pans of paint. There are five watercolours for sale in The National Gallery: Vermillion, Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Earth Green.

I bought three, choosing just the single pigment colours, Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. They were £7.00 each, but as a member I get 10% off, so got them a little cheaper at £6.30.

They are described as “high-quality watercolour pigments” and have a lightfastness of AAA.

The paints are hand mulled and hand poured by Lilian May, which is a family-run business based in Somerset. The ceramic pans are made in Stoke-on-Trent and are standard half-pan sizes, so they fit nicely in my existing palettes. I love things of quality like this. In fact, I’ve long hankered after some ceramic pans that I could use instead of plastic ones. But I’ve not been able to find any in the UK. Whoever makes these for Lilian May are missing a trick not selling them more widely.

I did a quick swatch test and found the paints to be quite easily workable from dry. They share the same pigment numbers as those from my favoured brand – Daniel Smith.

And the hues for the ultramarine and burnt sienna are almost identical to my Daniel Smith watercolours.

The yellow ochre, however, is quite different – it is more yellow, whereas the Daniel Smith has more red in it.

Comparing it with a few other yellow ochres I have – Winsor & Newton Cotman, SAA and Daler Rowney Artists’ – it is still probably the most yellow, and also the most pale. I like it. I think it will be great in a light wash for buildings and can see it could come in handy when I’m out sketching. Although maybe the ceramic pan is not such a boon here due to the weight in a travel palette.

I’m tempted to get the other two colours next time I’m at the gallery and perhaps make a small, limited colour palette with all five of them.

EDIT: I visited The National Gallery on 9th May for its special members’ day to see the new rehang … and of course I bought the other two colours, Vermilion and Green Earth.