Royal Talens – Page 2 – Paper Life Painting

Royal Talen was nice enough to send me equipment to try out (no strings attached). This is the next round of things I tried.

Rembrandt half pan set. The Rembrandt line is professional grade. The pigments are triple ground and suspended in gum arabic. The colors really pop and appear even with every brush stroke.

This set is twelve half pans. They come in a hinged black metal palette box with the logo on the lower left corner. It is compact enough to fit in a coat pocket and has a sturdy build. Two long struts cradle the half pans. Individual metal clamps hold each half pan in place. The entire strut is made to pop out, ease of doing so facilitated by two small handles at either end. This is so that you can replace the cradle once crimps are too loose.

(all pics by me)

Some painters have specific configurations for various subjects and places that they work. They have multiple cradles which they leave loaded up in work specific arrangements. One is popped out or in easily as needed.

There is a hinged metal cover that goes over the half pans when the box is closed. When the palette box is open it lays at an angle. This is a mini paint palette to mix or wet brush. The lid of the palette box can also be used as a larger three section palette or to hold water.

On the underside is a finger loop to hold the box while working plein air. In Paris, on Rue Mouffetard I have seen an aquarellist run a thick elastic through the loop, attaching it to her drawing board.

Some people intentionally want to work from a limited color palette. Others have travel in mind where luggage is often a factor. The size of this kit is perfect to suit either motive. This kit practically demands that one get out there, be it someplace in nature or an out of the way spot on the street, or perhaps a café table and get to work.

I do mostly portraits/ casual faces so some of included colors I would infrequently reached for. I did try all of the colors, they were all noticeably vibrant, easy to darken or lighten using an eye dropper and water (in a porcelain palette).

The kit comes with a travel brush/ A Rembrandt 110 Red Sable. This is a better-quality brush than is often included even with the bigger names in paint companies. It has a cap to protect it when not in use. It cleans up easily with water and watercolor brush soap.

There are water brushes which are a brush with fatter barrels into which you add water. Anyone who does street or café painting could use the kit as is in conjunction with a waterproof pen to create street scenes.

Draw the scene and use one or two colors to stand for in light and shadow (i.e. light blue for the front of a building, dark blue for the side in shadow).

The exciting thing about this kit is the possibilities. Two water brushes, a pocket pad, pencil and the palette box all could easily fit into two jacket pockets or the small section of a backpack.

The thing I have always liked about half pan sets is their portability. It is easy to swap out colors for ones preferred or as they run out, to replace them. Even though not all the colors included in this box were to my preference, I had already been using Rembrandt in my permanent studio set up. All the colors share the same properties and quality.

This set did get me enthused again about doing still life’s which in my body of work had sort of fallen by the wayside.

“Brown Eyes” 9×12 Rembrandt watercolor paper 140 lb cold pressed

“Fig” Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

July 11, 2025 by Wayne Wolfson

I was lucky enough to be sent, with no strings attached, new equipment to try by Royal Talens. Over the next month or so I will be using and writing about what I was sent.

First up: Van Gough half pan watercolor set (24x half pans). These are artists’ grade. Artist’s grade is not necessarily “lesser” than professional, once you are past student grade it becomes much more matter of what you are going to do with them and your technique.

The half pans come in a white plastic case. Despite being 100% plastic, it feels substantial. Some artists prefer plastic palette cases as they do not dent and are easier to clean.

The half pans fit into slots instead of there being one long metal slot or rut with metal crimps which bend over the edge of the half pans to hold them in place. These always loosen over time even if you do not remove the half pans often. It also has two slots which included a narrow natural sponge and a #6 Van Gough selected filament brush.

Crimp style

slot style

The lid is attached on an integrated hinge and opens to lay flat. The inside of the lid divides into six sections which can be used as palette.

Each half pan has easy to see/read info on the color located both on its side and top, the latter which pulls off like a snack pudding.

The color selection is several hues of red, yellow, blue, brown, green, orange, a gray and one white.

Usually, I eschew using gray regardless of the company. I find that they lean too towards blue or the truer gray has a murky/cloudy look. This gray has a light blueish undertone but is perfect, especially if depicting hair.

The paper I was givn is Rembrandt watercolor 9×12 140lb. It is an artist’s quality. 10x sheet, cold pressed.

The paper is secured via a glued top in pad stye. It has a soft cover and hard cardboard back. Only the top is secured, as I worked on a painting at end of each session there occurred minor curling. Once the paper was dry, I weighed it down overnight and next day it was fairly flat. I also tried using small clips in each corner and just leaving it. Both ways allowed me to get to work again easily. Once the painting was completely done and I cut it off the pad there was some minor curling. I let it dry and at the end of day put a few heavy books on it over night and next morning it was flat.

This is a heavy paper and would be great for anyone who does the wet-on-wet technique. It is a clean natural white which doesn’t distort the nature of the paints. I do pencil outlines of what I am going to paint and when applying the eraser it didn’t tear nor drag, there was zero pilling of the paper as can sometimes occur with other brands.

My technique is to fill the slots of white porcelain palettes with water. Then using a damp brush mix in the paints.

These paints mix in smoothly. It is very easy to darken the hue via dipping the brush back into the half pan or to lighten the hue by diluting the palette section with water.

On the paper it gives true color representation right away as opposed to having to wait for it to dry a little. The paper allows for blending to achieve volume and mass, for example when portraying flesh. I found it behaves very similar to the 100% French cotton paper I sometimes use. It is a little more forgiving if one is quick enough, to fix any minor mistake.

With my style of painting, I found that when working on a face, I must give time in between brush strokes for them to mostly dry as to keep it from running. Once one has timing down, which doesn’t take too long, it is far from a hinderance.

I have always incorporated several brands into my palette. I will definitely be adding some of this set into my palette. The ones which are not making the cut, it is not about the quality but rather they are just colors I do not use and I only have so many available slots.

“Blue Eye” 9×12