I actually got this because I wanted a very small travel box for watercolor pans. I figured I could always toss the paint and replace with my own, but figured I should at least give it a try. They actually aren't at all bad. Much more pigmented than the Sakura Koi. I did a color chart to test out mixing and they did OK, but not great on mixing nice purples and greens. Really only one purple is possible and it's a bit muddy in tone. If getting these for the paints, I would suggest the larger set with 16 colors if you want a purple. It has one in the set that you don't have to mix. But this is a fantastic small box. I've read some state the pans fall out, but if you use it a couple times and get the pans nice an wet so paint seeps down the sides they will stick down. The problem then is really getting them back out! I used a push pin to lever them out when I decided to rearrange the palette. I also did replace the white with a payne's grey which I found to be more useful for creating shadow tones. When the paints are used up I can simply replace with my own tubes or even try out some W&N professional paints perhaps. I can say that if you want a really nice set of paints that mix beautiful purples and greens, try Daniel Smith. I turned my tubes into pans by letting them dry out and they work wonderfully. Very clear color mixes!