Himi GOUACHE - Does it live up to the hype? (why I won't be using it for my professional work)

If you want to learn more about gouache come and join my 8 week online gouache class starting July 30!
justindonaldson.mykajabi.com/...

[@valasafantastic1055]

I love HimI gouache! I personally have no trouble using it, I love the consistency, price and vibrancy. A few colours are more lightfast but overall and most are Not lightfast so I use them for personal work, scanned art and sketchbook art. But much where I live in Canada it’s 11 times cheaper than Holbein and I only like Holbein 1.5 times as much so basic math! I also paint WAY more now as HimI is so reasonably priced. Also I mix custom colours in empty half/full pans and rewet them. I also increase the colour quality with dr. Ph martens Hydrus and tube watercolours. As well as just mixing HimI together with each other. I keep labels and notes. Here are a few custom mixed recommendations Neutral blue = acid blue +cobalt blue (about 50/50) Golden joy= 50% earth yellow 20% ochre 30% medium yellow Vibrant black mix = 50% umber 50% ultramarine Also consider drying and resetting with an eye dropper (and wait ) this changes the consistency. I use it wet from the cups and dried out and rewet. I also use watercolour under and mixed in with HimI gouache! You can mix a bit of HimI in with regular watercolour btw. I advise mixed media. If using more like other traditional gouache I advise resetting from dry!

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Oooh great ideas! I’ll have to try and dry and reset it that’s a great idea - I can imagine that might give it a little more opacity in that dryer form

[@AnnieNoodle]

I'm one of those people who don't like Himi gouache. I'm trying to use it up, still, while sketchbooking, but it's not easy!! I have a lot of professional gouache now, and for sketchbook work, if I'm trying to keep costs down, I would recommend Arteza gouache over Himi, hands down. But hey, for everyone out there who loves it, great!! Use the supplies you like. Your tools aren't supposed to make you suffer. 😁

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Haha I agree 100% with that sentiment - your tools aren’t supposed to make you suffer

[@Pin_Tura]

Himi gouache was one of the first gouaches I ever used and I like it better than those more expensive brands it really is the perfect starting set for people who want to start to get into gouache ❤❤❤

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Yeah it’s convenience is super helpful! What do you like about it over regular gouache? I’m super interested

[@Pin_Tura]

@@JustinDonaldsonArt it’s more vibrant in color and I like the consistency better with himi it just works for me ❤️

[@BirdwithaBrush]

Thank you for going into so much detail on how it differs from traditional gouache. Understanding the differences is important when trying to understand what other artists are able to accomplish with a particular medium.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Oh absolutely 😊 you’re more than welcome

[@JaredCullum]

Excellent demo. Thanks for making it so informative too. They just sent me a set too. I was posting my demo with it today haha Loved seeing yours. Always excited to see you post.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Haha that’s hilarious timing!! Can’t wait to watch yours and see how you felt about it

[@GarmanyRachel]

I had such a visceral reaction the first time I worked with himi, the consistency made me angry and I’ve never had that happen with any art supply before. Kudos to those who enjoy it though, the palette is great at least!

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

How was the consistency limiting you? (Presuming it limiting you was what made you angry?)

[@GarmanyRachel]

@@JustinDonaldsonArt its been a while but if I remember correctly I hated how it blended , if you don’t want patchy brush strokes you have to thin it to the point it’s transparent…I like working the most with a medium thickness and opacity and that seems to be where himi is the worst consistency, it’s so streaky and patchy and unblendable

[@feshgogulululu]

I had no idea you had a KZbin channel! I’m so happy >:D

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Haha I’m so glad that makes you happy - lots of old stuff here, and now some new ☺️

[@chelsea-ig7ie]

Excellent video! I’ve always wanted to see a gouache landscape artist such as yourself review this! I remember really liking himi gouache when I first tried them. I think my only issue really was with the white paint and how strange they made the other colors look when mixed. But this was in the early days when himi was first released so maybe they’ve changed the formula since. Anyway I really liked hearing your thoughts on this product!

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@mesolithicman164]

I remember buying books on gouache painting and always being disappointed by the amateurish quality of art and the general chalkiness of the paint. What I didn't realise was that the authors had no idea how to use gouache, to save the white for overpainting highlights, instead of mixing it all over the place. And their portraits were terrible. Most of the great American magazine and industrial illustrators of the 40s through to the 60s used it to brilliant effect. But hobbyist painters had no clue because there were no books on how to use the medium properly.

[@Vey_T.V.]

Thank you for the deep dive! And your approach to not be afraid of unwonted aspects of familiar media and try to roll with it - is so refreshing :)

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

It’s always fun to try new things 😊

[@ritawilbur6128]

I second that! What I found frustrating about Sarah Burns' gouache comparison video is that she was judging everything by her preferred gouache and her style of painting. And no shade to her! She was very comprehensive in discussing the qualities of all the different brands. But she ended up saying the Himi and the Caran d'ache cakes are really inferior, which I don't think is really fair. They are different, and need to be used in a different way - and it's totally fine to prefer one to another. But I appreciate reviews like Justin's that point out the differences and how you should adjust accordingly. I feel like that's more balanced.

[@cheesecube420]

I started painting with Himi gouache before switching over to WN/Holbein. I’m not sure if it’s because I was a beginner at the time, but I hated how transparent it was and how unnatural the colors looked. There was just no opacity even when adding the white. It’s probably a mix of my inexperience and the quality, but It’s a good set for beginners especially with the price, and I’m glad I tried it out before realizing I loved the medium and spending more on quality paints.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Yeah, I would take w+n/Holbein over Himi any day of the week

[@mesolithicman164]

How do you compare Winsor and Newton vs Holbein, quality-wise?

[@cheesecube420]

​@@mesolithicman164 they’re very similar. I’ve found that WN can feel a littttttle less pigmented and more flowy, while Holbein feels like you need to add more water to it, but the pigment is more concentrated. They’re similar prices where I live, in the US, so i usually just grab whatever’s available.

[@mesolithicman164]

@@cheesecube420 Thanks. That's very interesting. Perhaps when you get to the top tier brands there are all good but with slight variations in useability.👍👍🎅

[@kayleenwest]

I use HIMI gouache in my sketchbook and haven’t had any issues with it. I am used to casein so I think that helps maybe.

[@mesolithicman164]

That was a very nice intelligent review of Himi. A very diplomatic approach to the limitations of this media. I'm going to say that really this is for beginners, to get them started, because if you want to really exploit gouache you need very good quality paint. And I say that as someone who has tried to cut corners costwise and ended up paying more for my frugality! That is my mea culpa. Bottom line, buy artists quality, just a few key colours and expand your palette if you enjoy them and want to pursue the medium.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

I had the same experience of ending up paying more for cheap supplies that didn’t work well

[@gouachelog]

great demo! really enjoyed your more technical explanations of how the thicker body affects dry time and difficulty in placing detail, which can lead to muddiness. a lot of people just end by saying the consistency is icky or goopy thus bad hahaha

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Yeah, it can be really hard to put some of these qualities into words 😊

[@alyssachavez3745]

Hi Justin, thank you for this video! I started out on himi after coming from watercolor and it was revolutionary for me with the opaqueness to the iridescent, so much freedom. However I’d recently bit the bullet and bought Nicker poster color and I will never go back to himi! While I appreciate himi, Nicker I noticed gives smoother blends, less streakiness and is almost easier to use or get it what I want to do. It has given me more confidence since switching from himi. I’d be curious to know your opinion compared to Nicker poster color too. Thank you!!

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Oh that direct comparison is a good idea! yeah, nicker wins hands down =) it really doesnt get much better than that!

[@alyssachavez3745]

@@JustinDonaldsonArt You saying nicker wins hands down is so validating haha. I researched so much on it in comparison to himi but there wasn’t really anything out there talking about it. I just had to take the plunge and it was the most pleasant surprise! Lol. Thanks so much

[@vikillustrations]

I have this exact set and I love it, even tho I´m not yet very good at using it. I´t s a lot of fun to just paint and experiment with it. It helped me to loosen up and just embrace stuff with brush strokes and more artistic style than my usual highly realistic, fully rendered art. It´s funny that you are saying it dries slowly... my complaint is that it dries so damn FAST, even on the palette. That being said, I don´t have experience with regular guache and am only experimenting for this for a week, did 5 paintings in total. I´m a digital artist who occassionally works with oils, so that´s why the drying time is too fast for me, but overall a great experience, and the very much needed change of pace

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Haha that’s interesting - do you live somewhere dry and hot? It’s amazing how much the environment moisture changes the experience of painting with gouache

[@tlembro]

I have this set…..tried it first…..but not again! Too messy….gooey and difficult to work with for me! thanks for your honest and thorough review!

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Yeah, it’s that added difficulty getting detail that really kills it for me.

[@TouchedbyCastiel]

I am constantly having to spray water on these paints as I'm using them. They dry to fast here in Arizona since we have low humidity and sometimes I feel like I am painting with colored tacky glue. I would like a cloud tutorial with these though. I've studied your art and lessons and I really want to see how you would tackle the challenges Himi Gouache has.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Oooh that tacky glue texture sounds so amazingly unappealing!! Yeah, I have had a few students in that geographical area and they have a real hard time. If you haven’t tried yet, it might be worth exploring putting down a wet towel/wet surface underneath so that it constantly feed water up and allows you to paint for a little longer.

[@Hh-bs5px]

Do you have a preferred brand of gouache? You mentioned that the HIMI paint was lacking in opacity, but from what I understand, many of the artist grade gouaches, eg M Graham and Holbein, are also slightly transparent because they don’t add opacifiers

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

They are all slightly transparent + will always turn more transparent with extra water - I suppose the question is how much paint is needed for it to be opaque and at what level of extra water will it become transparent. Different pigments are different too- lemon yellow is notoriously transparent in all paint types 😅. I really like Windsor and newton, m. Graham + nicker postercolour.

[@_catmeister_]

JUSTIN, MY DUDE, you could paint beautifully with colored mud, I am not sure I buy an endorsement from you of any particular brand of paint... but nice work. My experience with Himi is that it is not as enjoyable to work with as a higher quality brand 🤷‍♂

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

haha thank you! yeah, I would totally agree with that assessment of it

[@devanshi2193]

I just started gouache, i bought W&N, and then himi for more practice. But I find it so difficult to use! I like WN, cause I have been painting with watercolours for a while, so i still use the same techniques for gouache.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

Yeah if you’re coming from water colour - Windsor and newton is going to be the way to go for sure

[@devanshi2193]

@@JustinDonaldsonArt Agreed, thank you! Still learning and exploring. Your artwork is amazing!

[@K.ART_vlog]

wow

[@amberforbes3151]

I hated it. I thought maybe it was gouache as a medium that I hated, but when I purchased some student grade Caran D'Ache, the difference was astounding. The consistency is terrible and dries so streaky and chalky. Caran D'Ache is much more flexible and forgiving and so much easier to use. I ended up giving the set to my toddler niece because I knew she'd have fun with it no matter what.

[@JustinDonaldsonArt]

I’m so glad you were able to push past the Himi gouache -it would be a shame to have that experience and write off gouache for it

[@vikillustrations]

I have this exact set and I love it, even tho I´m not yet very good at using it. I´t s a lot of fun to just paint and experiment with it. It helped me to loosen up and just embrace stuff with brush strokes and more artistic style than my usual highly realistic, fully rendered art. It´s funny that you are saying it dries slowly... my complaint is that it dries so damn FAST, even on the palette. That being said, I don´t have experience with regular guache and am only experimenting for this for a week, did 5 paintings in total. I´m a digital artist who occassionally works with oils, so that´s why the drying time is too fast for me, but overall a great experience, and the very much needed change of pace