Cotman Water Colours are a range of water colours that are made to our normal high quality standards but costs are kept to an economical level by replacing some of the more costly pigments with less expensive alternatives. The range consists of 40 colours in tubes and pans which possess good transparency, excellent tinting strength and good working properties. Costs are kept to an economical level by replacing some of the more costly pigments with less expensive alternatives. Pigments derive from a number of sources: Some are natural products, notably the earths, eg. umbers, ochres; others come from metal compounds and are sometimes termed 'traditional' or 'genuine', eg. ultramarine. The distillation of petroleum yields an ever widening range of organic pigments which are often termed as 'modern'. Many of the pigments used in Cotman are organic. The Cotman Water Colour range has a more uniform consistency than the Professional Water Colour range and this benefits beginners as there is less to learn about each individual pigment. The Cotman Water Colour range also relates to the Winsor & Newton Professional Water Colour range, e.g. Burnt Sienna in both ranges has the same hue. This enables artists to use colours from both ranges with minimal adjustment to their technique. Traditionally the white of the paper provides the brilliance to water colour and can be used as highlights. However, some artists utilise Chinese White for highlights at the end of their painting or in dulling some colour mixtures down.