Stockmar Paint Review

     Recently we completely ran out of water color paint, so I decided to splurge a little and get some Stockmar liquid water colors, that are designed for wet-on-wet paintings. 
     Since these paints have so much hype around them, and they are the paints used by most Waldorf school,  I guess I expected them to be really fabulous.  They're nice, but not fabulous.  In quality they really don't seem any different than Windsor & Newton or other similar water color brands.  Tube water colors are cheaper than liquid, but Stockmar paints really aren't liquid.  They're a little more runny than tube paints, but not enough to easily get out of the jar.  When you have three little ones eagerly waiting on you to get them set up to paint, this can be annoying. 
      There are some things I really like about them.  They retain their color well when dry, and the dried painting has a slight sheen to it.  They are very good for wet-on-wet.  The colors run together so well and it keeps wet longer than other paints; so much so, that I think they might have a drying retardant in it. 

      I played around with them some after the kids were finished painting.  I had fun, but boy!  It's hard to paint anything other than blobby shapes, the way the paints want to run together.  However, I think that if I had used paint that hadn't already been diluted by the twins over zealous water usage, it might have been a little easier. 

     All in all, Stockmar paints are fun and pretty, but really not worth the price.  I think transparent tube water colors are a better value.  A cheap and fun liquid water color substitute is food coloring.  Being a dye, the painting will fade over time, but for kids art they're great.