Review of Sakura Koi Field Sketch Box

Right now, my go to Watercolor painting kit is the Field Sketch Box from Sakura.  The colors are really vibrant, and the detachable palette and portable nature make it really easy to paint anywhere.  Because of the portability and easy of use, it is much handier to get out, than my tube paints.

Below you can see a picture of my Koi 24 Color kit, along with one of my watercolor paintings.

Amazon Link
Sakura Koi Products on Amazon
These kits come in a variety of sizes, from 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 & 48 pans.

Some of the features of my particular kit (24 Pan) include:

• 24 Half Pan watercolor paints
• A refillable watercolor brush
• 2 dabbing sponges
• A detachable, pegged palette
• Small size, easy portability, 6.25" x 4.5" x 1.125"
• A base pull-down ring for holding

My Ratings of the Set:
Value: 5 (assuming $20 purchase price)
Vibrancy: 5
Quality of Pans: 4
Quality of Accessories: 4.5
Portability / Ease of Use: 5
Overall Rating: 4.5

As for the Cost, the set retails for around $40, but you can pick one up at your local craft store typically for around $25, or on Amazon for about $21.  This is a great value for the $20-25 range, average value if you are paying $40.

As for the overall quality of the set, the majority of the pans have held up well, however 1 or two of them have quite a bit of cracking, especially my Prussian Blue.  It hasn't affected the vibrancy of the colors, or anything else, but for that reason alone it's why I rated the Quality of Pans below at a 4, not a 5.

One thing I did when I purchased the set was to create a palette of the colors, which really helps when choosing what colors to select.  Here is a picture of the palette I created.  I suggest doing this when you get a new kit like this to not only see what the colors actually produce, but to get a sense of how well the paint works from the pans to the paper.

For any other details on the set, visit Sakura's website, which I have listed below.
Sakura Website