Since before there was hair, watercolors have been a combination of pigment and gum arabic. Worked great all this time. Well, something wonderful has happened! Mijello, a division of Weber Art (great American art supplier for a long, long time), has come up with something divine. Instead of using gum arabic as a binder, they use silica. Yup, same sand that is used to make computer chips; like glass. So what do you get?? Fabulous, clear rich colors that just sing! The tubes are small but mighty. I've been using the same ones for months now, and it looks like I've hardly used them. That's how potent the pigments are. My favorite is Peacock Blue; fabulous, fabulous color; rich, deep. But all the colors are as promised. The sets come with a clear and easy explanation of the difference they provide. I