Are Winsor & Newton Watercolor Tubes Worth It? Payne's Gray Review
Worth it, for painters who need a reliable cool neutral
around $15price at time of review — check Amazon for current
- Worth it ifYou paint skies, water or shadow-heavy landscapes and want a reliable neutral
- Skip it ifYou're a beginner still building a basic primary palette
Amazon shoppers rate it 4.8 out of 5 across 3,012 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
By Maya Bennett, kitchen & home · updated 2026-07-29
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Picture this: you're building a storm sky in watery layers and you reach for black to deepen a cloud, and what comes up isn't stormy at all, it's flat and dead, like a bruise instead of weather. Every painter who's tried mixing their own neutral gray from a full palette knows this frustration, the color turns muddy instead of moody. That's the exact problem this particular shade of Winsor & Newton watercolor was built to dodge.
Payne's Gray isn't a straightforward black diluted down, it's a working mix of blue, black and violet pigments (the color index lists PB15, PBk6 and PV19) blended into one tube so you don't have to eyeball that ratio yourself every time you sit down to paint. That matters because true black flattens a wash the moment it touches paper, while this three-pigment blend stays cool and slightly granulating, closer to what shadows and storm clouds actually look like. Because it carries a permanence A rating and comes through Winsor & Newton's pigment dispersion process, thin washes stay transparent rather than chalky, so the white of the paper still glows through even when you're laying the color on heavy for a dark sky or the shadow under a tree. The practical effect is speed: instead of premixing three tubes and testing swatches before committing, you squeeze one dab, cut it with water, and you get a consistent, repeatable neutral every session, which matters most on a wash you can't easily redo once it's dry.
You're not really buying gray, you're buying a shortcut past the muddy, over-mixed neutral that ruins more skies and shadows than any other color choice. One tube does the job three tubes used to fumble, and it does it the same way every time you reach for it.
Worth it if
- You paint skies, water or shadow-heavy landscapes and want a reliable neutral
- You're tired of mixing a fresh gray from scratch every session
- You want a single-pigment-feeling mix with professional permanence
Skip it if
- You're a beginner still building a basic primary palette
- You already own this shade in a set
- You rarely need cool neutrals in your work
Not for painters who prefer mixing every neutral from primaries by hand, or who already own a gray they're loyal to.
If you paint landscapes, skies, or anything with real shadow, this is a quiet yes, it earns a permanent spot in the palette. If you're just starting out with a small student set, or you already own this neutral in a set you like, save the money for a color you don't already have.
Check price on Amazon · around $15 or Add it to your Amazon cart to sit on it
Before you go
Are Winsor and Newton watercolours any good?
Yes, they're widely regarded as a professional-grade line known for strong pigment concentration and reliable permanence ratings.
Are Winsor and Newton watercolors professional grade?
Yes, this is their Professional range, using single or limited-pigment mixes rated for lightfastness rather than the simplified formulas found in student lines.
Are watercolor pans or tubes better?
Tubes like this one give you more pigment per stroke and finer control over how much water you mix in, which pans struggle to match for large washes.
Full spec sheet
| Brand Name | Winsor & Newton |
|---|---|
| Paint Type | Watercolor |
| Specific Uses For Product | Interior |
| Surface Recommendation | Paper |
| Indoor Outdoor Usage | Indoor, Outdoor |
| Item Form | Liquid |
| Included Components | Palette |
| Model Name | Professional |