I heard about the obscure Mijello Mission White Class in a watercolor product review group and was so intrigued that I immediately purchased a set. They are advertised as a hybrid of gouache and watercolor. The details provided in the product insert explain what this means:

The set comes with 34 colors in 15ml tubes. The color range is well-balanced, but I was disappointed that black and white paints were not included in the set. If you don’t have white and black gouache on hand, I’d recommend that you purchase them.

The box it comes in is beautiful. I’m a sucker for anything holographic.

The inside cover provides a list of colors included in the set which is a helpful quick-reference tool.

Here is the complete set of tubes:

Mijello packs a lot of important information on the individual tubes, which is very helpful when choosing colors. The front of the tube includes the paint’s name, the manufacturer’s number, and the price group. The back of the tube lists the pigments, the lightfastness rating, and the transparency.

The consistency straight out of the tube is like watercolor, not gouache. I expected the paint to be a bit thicker  but most of the paints are the same consistency as their Mission Gold counterparts.

So, how are these different than traditional watercolors? The answer is…I’m not sure. There’s scant information online and it’s not explained well.

The main difference I’ve observed is that they use bright – sometimes fugitive – pigments so they are less lightfast than other watercolors. If lightfastness is a concern of yours, then you shouldn’t purchase this set. However if you do much of your work in journals, which I do, the lightfastness ratings are not a deal breaker.

Another thing I noticed is that the pigments aren’t consistent with colors of the same name by Mission Gold. For example, here’s a swatch comparing the Mission Gold and Mission White versions of Bright Opera. MG uses BV10 and PR 122 while MW uses only BV 10. I only see a very subtle difference between the two. Mission White is slightly more vibrant.

Here’s another example of Cerulean Blue —which isn’t technically cerulean. (PB15:3 is phthalo blue, while PB35/PB36 are true cerulean pigments.) In any case, Mission White adds a pigment – PB17:1 – which is also a phthalo blue. It adds a bit more depth and vibrance, but the difference between the two is not overwhelming.

The Verdict: I’m still trying to figure these paints out. I’m confused as to why they are advertised as a hybrid of gouache and traditional watercolors because only a few of the colors are listed as even semi-opaque. You even have to supply your own black & white gouache. They preform nearly – if not exactly – the same as their Mission Gold counterparts.

My guess is that they want to sell a more vibrant, less lightfast product marketed to people who work primarily in journals or digitize their work.

For this reason, I’m going to add a buyer beware: if you need watercolors that will withstand the test of time, you should avoid these. There are other options for vibrant watercolors, including the regular Mijello Mission Gold paints.