Meeden just launched their own line of gouache. It falls into the ‘hobbyist’ (student grade) category. Here is my first impression review of the “MEEDEN Gouache Paint Set 24.” If you’d like to see more gouache brand reviews, check out my Gouache Rankings page.
Basic Information
Tube size is 0.4oz/12ml which is in the middle between Arteza’s smaller tubes and the professional brands who mostly offer upwards of 15ml tubes.
It comes in a set of 24 colors, and the cost of each tube is about £0.58 ($0.72) making it cost-comparable to most student-grade gouache.
Meeden told me their paint contains no animal byproducts, so they are considered vegan friendly.
Meeden provides pigment names, numbers, opacity levels and lightfast ratings, which is a LOT of information for a student grade paint (which often ignore these features). Thanks Meeden!
On their website, they state the gouache is “ground round by round to make a single pigment diameter down to 40um” which is oddly specific and useless information to most people. So how does it actually perform and feel on the paper? Let’s take a look.
Swatches
Performance
Immediately before doing this test, I used the Arteza set to be able to fairly compare it to another student grade brand. I was pleasantly surprised by the Meeden gouache performance. Unlike Arteza, it didn’t dry out instantly on the palette. I was able to paint slower and not worry about it crumbling. Meeden’s gouache was highly opaque compared to other student grade brands I tried, even the reds and yellows.
Pros
- Didn’t dry out quickly on the palette
- I was able to spray it and rewet to use longer
- Nice flow
- High opacity
- Layered easily
Cons
- Some of the colors, like lemon yellow, felt a little ‘gummy’ after it started to dry. I was able to make it work by adding a tiny bit of water, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re mixing large amounts.
- The white was runny out of the tube and had a lot of binder separation. I had to mix it up on the palette before I could use it properly. To supplement this, I recommend buying a tube of Winsor & Newton Titanium White which is one of my favorites. Plus you always need more white!
- “Pink” clearly has some fluorescents added, because in person it is insanely neon pink. It barely showed up in the scan, I had to take a photo of it. The reason this is a negative attribute is because fluorescents are notorious for fading quickly, so avoid that color if you plan on hanging the art on the wall near sunlight or selling it. In fact, I’d wait until I confirm the lightfast test results before using this in art you plan on selling. For sketching or scanning your art it’s perfectly fine!
Conclusion
After my swatches and a couple of small landscape tests (mostly observing flow/layering) I can say this is a fine student grade gouache. For hobbyists or anyone wanting to try gouache without spending a ton of money, I recommend this set. It’s too bad you can’t buy individual colors, which is common among student grade brands, but at least it’s cheap and they give you all the pigment names/numbers so you can learn about your favorites.
Thank you for the very detailed review. I’ve been looking up the review for this specific product yet there weren’t many on the web. As for a first time gouache paint tryer, I might use Meedens
Thanks so much for all this research and information. I was given a limited grant to buy supplies for a beginner’s plein air class and – based on your review – decided to buy every student a set of these and some decent brushes. Again, thanks for all the hard work that went into these reviews and tests!
Interesting because at first glance I loved the pinks and the yellows.