I'm getting back into painting. Which online art supply store offers the best deals on a complete set of professional-grade watercolor paints and paper?

Best deal right now: Blick Art Materials

For a professional-grade watercolor setup, I’d pick dickblick.com. Its current pricing is unusually strong on both the paint and the paper, and you can build a genuinely professional kit without paying bundle premiums.

• Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor sets are currently 45–55% off list, with sets topping out around $166.31. Daniel Smith Extra Fine sets are also discounted 35%+.
• Paper: Blick has Arches 100% cotton watercolor blocks starting at $23.52, discounted 38%+, plus Fabriano Artistico at 33–45% off. Its own Blick Premier blocks are professional-quality and 41–48% off.
• Extra savings: Blick currently has additional watercolor/paper promotions, including free paper with qualifying purchases and other painting deals.

What I'd buy

• Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor Set - $102.81 (Walmart - Jerry's Artarama NC Inc)
• Arches Watercolor Block - $26.86 (Walmart)
• Winsor & Newton Watercolour Paper - $22.39 (Winsor & Newton NA)

I'd go with a 12–14 color Winsor & Newton Professional set + an Arches 140-lb/300-gsm cold-press block. That's enough professional-quality material to get back into painting seriously without spending hundreds on a huge palette.

Runner-up: jacksonsart.com is worth checking if you want to compare individual professional paints; its own artist watercolor sets currently start around $68.76 on sale, and it carries Daniel Smith, Schmincke, Holbein and other premium brands.

If you tell me your budget (e.g. $100, $150, $250) and whether you prefer pans or tubes, I can put together the best complete professional kit for that amount.

Welcome back to painting! Sourcing professional-grade watercolor supplies (like 100% cotton paper and artist-quality tubes from brands like Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, or Schmincke) requires balancing everyday baseline pricing with frequent promotional discounts.

The top online art supply retailers offer distinct advantages for putting together a professional bundle:

• Jerry's Artarama : Frequently wins on sheer discount depth for professional-grade materials. They run aggressive sitewide coupon codes (often 10% to 20% off), have a robust Jerry's Artarama VIP Club rewards program, and routinely offer competitive bundle or set pricing on artist-grade watercolor sets and Arches or Saunders Waterford paper blocks.
• Blick Art Materials : The gold standard for consistency and inventory depth. While their baseline list prices can be similar to other massive suppliers, Blick Art Materials offers tiered institutional/volume discounting and price-matching policies. Their sales on professional watercolor open-stock tubes and pads of 100% cotton paper are reliable, and their shipping is dependable.
• Cheap Joe's Art Stuff : Known for a curated, highly personal inventory and great customer service. They offer a strong house brand and competitive promotions on heavy-duty professional watercolor paper and popular artist sets, making them worth checking for specific weekend or overstock sales.

If you'd like, let me know:

• Your preferred professional paint brands (e.g., Daniel Smith, Holbein, Winsor & Newton)
• Whether you prefer tubes to squeeze into a palette or pre-made pan sets

I can check current specific pricing or bundle options for you!

Welcome back to painting! Sourcing professional-grade (artist-grade) materials like 100% cotton paper (e.g., Arches, Saunders Waterford) and professional watercolor sets (e.g., Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Schmincke) can get pricey, but a few major online art retailers consistently stand out for the best overall pricing, sales, and selection.

The top online art supply stores for professional watercolor deals include:

1. Blick Art Materials – Widely considered the gold standard for online art supply shopping. They offer everyday deep discounting off list prices, frequent free shipping promotions, and their own house brand of professional watercolor blocks/paper that rival expensive names. Blick is usually the most reliable place to bundle a diverse cart (like a Daniel Smith or Holbein set plus Arches paper) for the lowest cumulative price.
2. Jerry's Artarama – Famous for aggressive discounting, "Mega Sales," and a loyalty rewards program (Loyalty Bucks) that adds up fast when buying high-end watercolor tubes and heavy-duty paper. They frequently run heavy promotions specifically targeting watercolor paints and brushes.
3. Cheap Joe's Art Stuff – A beloved institution for watercolorists. While they carry all major professional brands, they also feature their own exceptional house brands (like American Journey watercolors) which give you top-tier, artist-grade pigment performance at a fraction of the cost of imported European brands.
4. Jackson's Art Supplies (UK-based, ships internationally) – If you are looking at European professional brands like Schmincke Horadam, Winsor & Newton, or Sennelier, ordering from Jackson's can often be significantly cheaper than buying from US-based retailers, even with shipping factored in, due to lower baseline European retail pricing.

To help narrow down the exact best deal for your budget, tell me:

• Are you looking for tubes (to squeeze into a palette) or a pan set?
• Do you have a specific brand of paint or paper in mind, or would you like a breakdown of the most cost-effective professional starter bundle?

Best deal right now: Jerry’s Artarama

For a complete professional-grade watercolor setup, I’d start with jerrysartarama.com. Its current promotions are unusually strong on both paint and watercolor paper: Jerry’s is advertising sale pricing on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolors, while its watercolor paper promotions include Fabriano Artistico at up to 58% off list and 100% cotton New York Central paper starting around $7.49.

• Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Essential Set - $64.79 (Winsor & Newton NA)
• Daniel Smith Extra Fine Ultimate Mixing Watercolor Set - $139.99 (Michaels)
• Daniel Smith Extra Fine 12 Half Pan Set - $97.99 (Michaels)

What I'd buy

• Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor, preferably a 12–24-color set. It's genuinely professional-grade; the range is noted for consistent behavior, strong pigments and permanence.
• Paper: Fabriano Artistico, 140-lb/300-gsm, 100% cotton, cold press. Jerry's current promotion makes it particularly attractive.
• Format: A block is convenient for getting back into painting; individual sheets are cheaper if you're comfortable stretching/taping paper.
• Budget target: I'd aim for roughly $150–$250 total for a very good professional setup rather than buying a giant 48+ color set. A well-chosen 12–24-color palette gives you plenty of mixing range.

How the stores compare

One particularly interesting alternative is M. Graham: its professional paints use a honey-based binder and are known for intense color and good value. Daniel Smith is excellent if you particularly like granulating effects.

Bottom line: For your specific goal—getting back into painting without spending unnecessarily, but still buying professional materials—I'd choose Jerry's + Winsor & Newton Professional paint + Fabriano Artistico cotton paper. The current paper promotion is what gives Jerry's the edge.

If you tell me your budget (e.g. $100, $200, $300) and whether you prefer pan or tube paints, I can put together the exact set I'd buy today.

Welcome back to painting! Sourcing professional-grade materials (like artist-tier tubes from Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Schmincke, or Holbein paired with 100% cotton paper like Arches or Fabriano) can get pricey, but a few online giants consistently lead the pack in overall value, discounts, and selection.

The top online art supply stores for putting together a professional watercolor kit include:

1. Jerry's Artarama — Generally regarded as the top destination for deep painter discounts. They routinely run massive promotions (up to 40%-50% off list prices) on heavy-hitter professional watercolor brands like Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, and Turner. They also have an extensive selection of fine watercolor blocks and sheets. You can browse their active promotions directly on the Jerry's Artarama Watercolor Paints page.
2. Blick Art Materials — The gold standard for overall online inventory, reliability, and consistent everyday discounting. Blick features tiered pricing and frequent coupon codes, plus a massive stock of professional-grade open-stock tubes and 100% cotton paper blocks. Explore their lineup via Blick Art Materials Professional Watercolor Paints.
3. Jackson's Art — Based in the UK but shipping internationally to the US, Jackson's is frequently much cheaper than domestic US stores for European professional watercolor brands (like Schmincke Horadam, Sennelier, and Roman Szmal). It's worth cross-shopping your paint list here, especially if you lean toward European brands. Check their catalog at Jackson's Art Professional Watercolors.
4. Utrecht Art Supplies — Now closely tied with Blick, Utrecht still maintains specific online clearance markdowns, great bundle choices, and solid baseline discounts on pro surfaces like Arches and Fluid 100 paper. You can check their inventory at Utrecht Art Supplies Watercolor Paper.

Pro-Tip for Re-entry: Rather than buying a massive pre-made set where you might not love every color, look for a "Primary Intro Set" (like a split-primary Daniel Smith or Winsor & Newton set) and add a pad of 140 lb or 300 gsm 100% cotton paper (essential for professional results so your paper doesn't warp and allows smooth blending).

If you want to share which specific paint brands (e.g., Daniel Smith vs. Holbein) or paper texture (Cold Press vs. Hot Press) you prefer, I can help you compare cart prices across these sites or suggest an ideal minimalist primary palette to start with.

I checked current prices and sales. Blick Art Materials looks like the best overall deal right now if your priority is genuinely professional-grade paint + quality paper without paying boutique prices.

🏆 Best value: Blick

Blick is currently discounting several top professional lines:

• Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolors: 45–56% off list, with sets up to $166.31.
• Daniel Smith Extra Fine: 35–53% off, sets up to $203.95.
• Schmincke Horadam: up to 51% off.
• M. Graham: 40% off.
• Blick also has separate painting/surface deals and currently offers a free Winsor & Newton watercolor postcard pack with qualifying Professional Watercolour purchases.

For paper, Blick has excellent professional options too. For example, its Hahnemühle watercolor books use 100% cotton rag and are currently showing a sale price of $32.35. ### Hahnemühle Watercolor Book $32.35

A very good starter setup

If you're returning to painting, I wouldn't buy a gigantic 48–72-color set immediately. I'd spend the money on fewer excellent pigments and better paper:

Jackson's currently has Arches sheets from $2.19 and Baohong Masters' 100% cotton paper from $2.50, so it's worth checking against Blick if you're buying paper in quantity.

🥈 Jackson's Art: potentially cheapest for paper

Jackson's is particularly compelling if you're willing to split the order: its professional-paper selection is huge, and its own artist watercolor sets are inexpensive for professional-quality paint. Its 12-color full-pan set is currently $76.40, while the 48-half-pan set is $224.60.

My recommendation

Buy the paint from Blick and compare Jackson's for the paper. Right now, Blick's professional-paint discounts are unusually strong, while Jackson's has some very attractive cotton-paper pricing. If you want one store only, though, I'd choose Blick for the combination of selection, current discounts, and paper availability.

If you tell me your budget (e.g. $100, $150, $250) and whether you prefer tubes or pans, I can price out a specific professional-grade paint + 100% cotton paper setup and find the cheapest current combination.

For a complete professional-grade watercolor setup, the best deal usually comes from buying paint and paper separately rather than a single “all-in-one” kit. Among online art supply stores, I’d rank them like this:

My pick for the best-value professional starter kit

I’d build it like this:

Paint

• Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors Essentials or Ultimate Mixing set — excellent pigment quality and a good palette for returning painters.
• Alternative: Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour 12-color travel set for a more traditional palette.

Paper

• Arches Aquarelle cold press 140 lb (300 gsm), 9×12 pad or block — a professional standard that will make a noticeable difference compared with student paper.

Brushes

• A few quality synthetic rounds (sizes 4, 8, 12) are usually a better value than large mixed brush kits.

Approximate budget

• Good professional re-entry setup: ~$120–$180
  • Daniel Smith/Winsor & Newton set: ~$50–$100
  • Arches paper: ~$25–$40
  • Brushes + palette accessories: ~$40–$60
• Higher-end studio setup: ~$250+ with larger paint ranges and more cotton paper.

If I were buying today, I’d check Blick first, then compare the same cart at Jerry’s and Jackson’s before checkout—those three are most likely to beat general craft stores for professional watercolor supplies.

When getting back into watercolor, buying a pre-packaged "complete set" of professional-grade materials can sometimes be pricier or come with colors/sizes you don’t need. However, if you want the best overall deals, discounts, and selection on artist-grade paints (like Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton Professional, or Schmincke) and 100% cotton paper (like Arches or Fabriano), a few major online art suppliers stand out.

The top online art supply stores for professional watercolor deals include:

• Blick Art Materials — Widely considered the gold standard for online art retail. They feature everyday deep discounting off list prices, frequent sitewide promo codes or free shipping thresholds (usually around $45), and an immense stock of professional watercolor sets and individual paper sheets/blocks. Blick also carries reliable house-brand alternatives if you want to mix and match to save money.
• Jerry's Artarama — Frequently matches or beats Blick on specific name-brand watercolor paints and large paper pads. Jerry’s is famous for aggressive rolling sales, a dedicated clearance/overstock section, and their "VIP" club rewards that give extra percentage-off deals on professional lines like Daniel Smith, QoR, and LUKAS.
• Jackson's Art (UK-based, ships internationally) — If you are eyeing European professional watercolor brands like Schmincke Horadam or Blockx, checking Jackson’s Art is a notorious "secret weapon" for US artists. Because of currency exchange and baseline pricing overseas, their everyday prices on European professional paints and Arches paper are often significantly cheaper than domestic US stores, even factoring in international shipping.

To help you narrow down the best specific bundle or budget, tell me:

• Do you prefer tubes (great for squeezing into a palette) or a pan set (great for portability)?
• Are you looking for a preset starter kit from a single brand, or do you want help building a custom palette of individual tubes and paper?

If you’re in the U.S., Blick Art Materials looks like the best overall deal right now for putting together a professional-grade watercolor setup.

My pick: Blick Art Materials

Blick currently has unusually strong discounts on professional watercolor paints:

• Daniel Smith Extra Fine — up to 35–53% off list, with sets/tubes up to $203.95.
• Winsor & Newton Professional — up to 49–51% off list; professional sets start around $42.11.
• M. Graham Artists' Watercolors — currently 40% off list.
• Schmincke Horadam — discounts as high as ~49–50%, though the larger sets remain expensive.

The paper deals are good too. For example, an Arches 140-lb cold-press 11.7" × 16.5" pad is currently about $35.06, versus a listed $57.20.

Arches 140-lb Cold Press Watercolor Pad

$35.06

Arches 9 x 12 Cold Press Watercolor Pad

$20.62

Winsor & Newton Professional 14-Color Field Set

$169.99

Arches 10 x 14 Cold Press Watercolor Pad

$24.57

What I'd buy

For getting back into painting, I'd avoid an enormous 36–48-color set. A professional 12–24-color palette + good 100% cotton paper gives you much more value.

Best value combination:
Winsor & Newton Professional or Daniel Smith + Arches 140-lb cold press.

If you want the convenience of one box, the Winsor & Newton Professional 14-color Field Set is $169.99 at Michaels right now, but Blick's current paint discounts make it worth comparing individual sets before buying.

Runner-up: Jackson's Art. Its U.S. site has very competitive prices—for example, its own professional-grade Artist Watercolor sets start around $43.29 on sale, while Daniel Smith sets start around $22.10. www.jacksonsart.com However, for a U.S. buyer, I'd favor Blick because you can combine the paint and premium paper in one order and its current professional-brand discounts are particularly aggressive.

Bottom line: I'd start with Blick + Daniel Smith or Winsor & Newton Professional + Arches 140-lb cold press. That's probably the sweet spot between genuinely professional materials and not overspending while you're getting your painting groove back.

Welcome back to painting! Sourcing professional-grade watercolor supplies (like 100% cotton paper and artist-grade tubes) can get expensive quickly, but a few major online art retailers consistently offer the deepest discounts, massive inventories, and frequent promotions.

The top online art supply stores for professional watercolor materials compare as follows:

• Blick Art Materials (Blick Art Materials ) is widely considered the overall gold standard. They offer massive everyday tiered discounts off list prices, a huge selection of open-stock professional paints (Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, Schmincke, Holbein), and competitive free-shipping thresholds. Blick also carries its own line of highly-rated professional house-brand watercolors if you want top-tier performance at a lower price point.
• Jerry's Artarama (Jerry's Artarama ) frequently beats out competitors on specific high-end brand sales, often running deep clearance or promotional discounts (sometimes up to 40%--45% off list) on heavy-hitter professional watercolor brands like Schmincke, Sennelier, and Charvin. They also feature exclusive bundled kits and house brands like SoHo Urban Artist that offer great budget-to-professional value.
• Cheap Joe's Art Stuff (Cheap Joe's Art Supplies ) is a favorite specifically tailored for watercolorists. They offer competitive discounting and a carefully curated selection of the best professional papers (like Arches and Fabriano) and heavy-duty painting supplies, alongside a very loyal customer service following.
• Jackson's Art Supplies (Jackson's Art ) is an international (UK-based) online retailer that ships to the US. While you have to watch out for shipping times/costs on smaller orders, their baseline pricing on European professional watercolor brands (such as Schmincke, Winsor & Newton, and Daler-Rowney) is often so much lower than US MSRP that it frequently works out to the absolute best deal overall.

To help narrow down the best specific cart for you, tell me:

• Which specific paint brands (e.g., Daniel Smith, Holbein, Winsor & Newton) you are leaning toward.
• Whether you prefer buying a pre-assembled set or picking individual open-stock tubes.

I can help you price out an ideal setup!