Kuretake Gansai Tambi 48 Japanese Watercolours Full Set Review! Swatching and Painting

[@michelleramsey4302]

This is the first pallet I have seen that took my breath away..it wasn't cheap but I needed it..thanks for the review

[@BeckyTregear]

It really is a beauty with all of those lovely colours arranged so nicely!

[@larysacherner312]

Thank you very much, Becky! You and your reviews are lovely and very helpful🌷

[@BeckyTregear]

I'm so glad! 😄❤

[@heatherlundquist-buffalo]

Just bought the 48 set today on amazon ❤

[@BeckyTregear]

Oooh lovely, I hope you enjoy it! There are so many pretty colours in the set. 😊

[@Mkdd-p5x]

I also bought the 48 set today on Amazon with a $6.40 discount! Can't wait till tomorrow! Thanks for your reviews Becky. Much needed.

[@BeckyTregear]

Oh that's great, I love it when there are bargains to be had! I hope you love your new set. 😊

[@miriammoriarty8588]

What a gorgeous looking set.

[@Mobirin]

Planning to buy this set. Thank you for this review. Lovely koi painting.❤

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you - I hope you enjoy the colours if you end up buying the set! I think they've also put together a box set of 100, which includes all of the metallics, pearlescents and the newest art nouveau set in there too. Cost-wise I imagine it is a lot more than the 48 set though!

[@dianaromig732]

I really like this Japanese paint. I have their Art Nouveau set which are lovely. I’ve been seeing this 48 color set being used on other demos so I just received it. Wonderful colors🎉I like the larger wells of paint for bigger paint brushes. I always enjoy your demos. Good energy ❤

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I love all of their sets....the 48 is an awesome one though. So many colours....and paired with Art Nouveau it just makes an amazing colour palette!

[@SourabhArt]

Great technique at work awesome Really so great idea and tutorial for me and also all of you so again I repeated thank you so much

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, I'm glad it is helpful to you! 😊

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Oh my goodness, those metallic/shimmery colors are so beautiful! I love the white touches you put over your Koi fish, and I actually really love your pink piece. It's peaceful and pretty.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! One of those pictures I wasn't really planning on but it turned out ok as an abstract sketch, lol. I love their metallic paints; they're so shiny! 😁

[@bethmegansmith4642]

I am going to get this paint set and no Panpastels I do not like pastels at all and they are just too much and I am not an Artist . Had to watch this again. I am getting the 48 set after xmas really love your painting and happy swatching xxxx

[@BeckyTregear]

Fair enough, I think you'll love these Kuretake paints - the colours are wonderful!

[@bethmegansmith4642]

​@@BeckyTregear wow you replied fast hahahah year I am getting the gem and pearl Colors and the Kuretake24 New Pallet. What is the beat white paint you recommend ?

[@BeckyTregear]

@@bethmegansmith4642 Probably a white gouache if you want bright highlights. Or Dr Ph Martin's bleedproof white ink.

[@bethmegansmith4642]

@@BeckyTregear Thanks hon xxxx

[@jngbialek]

I haven't swatched mine out in my swatch book, and there were so many... but this is inspiring me!

[@carolyndaughton3373]

I'm happy I found your channel. I've liked and subscribed. I learned about these only a week ago from an artist I follow on KZbin (Diane Antone Studio) and was very impressed! They are just so brilliant and so forgiving, very easy to lift paint off of if I mess up :) I like that you really don't have to mix colors because they are just so perfect the way they are. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos. Thank you so much!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, and welcome to my channel! 🙂 I really like these paints and as you say, they don't really need mixing as there are so many colours. Happy painting! 😊

[@vhacker71]

Great video 🎉. The yellow koi does look a little skinny. I just went to my local Japanese Friendship Garden so they are fresh in my memory The water elements on top of the fish looks great.

[@BeckyTregear]

That one didn't have enough to eat.....lol.

[@StudioKeturah]

I really enjoy watching your reviews and videos! And many of your watercolour supplies are just beautiful!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, I've been very fortunate to have these lovely supplies,and I cherish them all!

[@elaineg60]

As I said in a previous comment, I primarily do Chinese brush painting; known also as Sumi-e in Japan. CBP is primarily differentiated not only for the use of permanent ink (I use both 101 ink sticks to grind thicker ink; which I then add a few drops of thinner YiDeGe ink); but also for the paper and brushes (which are all regarded in China as intangible cultural arts and are made humanely (no critters are harmed and it’s been a reciprocal practice between farmer, ranchers and other animal handlers for over 1000 years. My late Son actually spent a few days with a brush maker). The paper, Xuan, or “rice paper”; isn’t actually made from rice these days, but rather mostly bamboo and mulberry, both renewable resources. It comes in 3 types (and THIS is why certain paints, binders or Chinese chips are used) raw or unsized, which is extremely absorbent, you need incredible moisture control to do details on this paper. Semi-ripe or semi sized; only one side of the paper is sized, this is what most beginners start with. (Unless you have my tutors who insist on calligraphy and painting on raw paper..I’ve made more than my share of Rorschach ink blots!😂. Inked black cats on the other hand are fun to make on raw paper-which “paints” the hairs for you!) and finally there’s ripe, or fully sized paper most used for very detailed, Gongbi painting and is similar to a very thin hot press paper. All Xuan is much thinner than Western papers and the paint and ink not only soaks through sometimes; that’s actually a feature in some Xieyi or “freehand” painting where the artist will flip over the paper, and do some painting on the opposite side! Although I mostly still use either Marie’s or Chinese chips; Japanese paints are used by some Chinese artists, especially metallic inks like Kuratake gold and silver-which mixes with western paints VERY well (just use a tiny touch! There’s a LOT of gold & silver micro-mica pigments in that ink), the Gansai Tambi paints and Sakura White poster paint is used as an opaque white by most artists I know or follow. As I said before, you can see examples of some stunning work in this medium by one of my laoshi’s (tutor/teacher) Fiona from ink different studios. She just finished painting characters from the Monkey King and it blew me away watching her last week paint these VERY detailed characters on RAW Xuan. She streams live every other day on twitch and Becky, it’s MUCH closer to your time zone than mine. I’m currently in the hospital and had my iPad taken away at 3am trying to see if she was streaming. 😂. Going home today, so I’ll take a nap and hopefully catch her tonight IF she’s on. As I also said, I’m currently learning western style while teaching my friend Eastern. I WILL say though, after over 7 years of using these brushes; I’m afraid most of my expensive Western brushes are going to my daughter and my friend..I just CAN’t get used to them!

[@elaineg60]

PS I swatched this set on both Western & raw Xuan paper (which my friends in Japan often use); but I had someone suggest I do swatches on ripe/sized…working on it!

[@BeckyTregear]

Wow that's a lot of info to process, haha! I hope you are ok and are out of hospital now.

[@jennw6809]

Wow thank you so much for this info, you've answered so many of my questions!

[@nattyw495]

Enjoyed watching this video saving money to purchase the biggestset they have thanks for review& swatching again..i definitely like the fish painting it is my favorite of tour three beautiful paintings ....👩‍🎨✍🎨🎃mikelle art mom

[@BeckyTregear]

I think it's better value to get the biggest set....unlike me who has the 36 set AND the 48 set because I wanted them all in one box....so many paints! 😱

[@fuzzydragons]

the fish look great swimming in the water 😀 havent tried these yet, one day hopefully *crossing fingers*

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I think you'll really like them if one day you find them for a good price (or are gifted them which is even better!😂)

[@MrFabriciusalmeida]

Fish are one of my favorite objects to paint. 🐠 I love my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors! ❤️ I have a 36 colors set and another set of 6 Starry Colors, which were actually my first watercolors ever. I started out with the metallic ones, totally unconventional. ✨✨✨ The two reasons why I chose the 36 color set instead of the 42 was that I thought the 42 was too big and would take too much space on the table and I was also afraid of getting lost when looking for each color, since the 42 color set has the references just under each pan, while the 36 color set shows the numbers without the need to take the pans out to see. The only problem with the 36 color set in my opinion is that it doesn't come with a separate swatch sheet like the 42 does, and so far I haven't been able to properly photograph the inside of the box lid and print the chart on any watercolor paper to have a reasonably decent chart as a reference. 😢 It really has been bothering me 😩😩😩

[@BeckyTregear]

They're both good sets, I just wanted the pink, lol.The starry colours are fun too. I love unconventional! In the end I just ruled up a swatch sheet but it does take some time to do. I forgot to show that I'd also painted both charts that were in the box, oops!.

[@MrFabriciusalmeida]

@@BeckyTregear , after this video, you got me wanting the pink too kkkk. But this time I am not surrendering to my shopaholic tendencies kkk (well, at least for now 🤷🏼‍♂️)

[@dorothyeileen]

I use these paints once in awhile, typically on rice paper. I like them as a way to play with color and to build brush control, as I tend to draw with them instead of doing washes. The pans are a perfect size for larger brushes. Sadie Saves the Day has a great tutorial about Gansai Tambi if you're interested in learning more Https://kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipjKc2p_drh1gNU

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I must try them out in a more traditional style. 😊

[@greyleva]

i would love to have this thanks for the vid.

[@INCWorks]

Beautiful! I don't blame you for wanting the entire set together - it makes sense. I'd want to frame that painting. 🤩

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I am happy with how it turned out. I have mostly run out of walls to hang pictures! 🤣

[@NaomiCoutureArt]

The Kuretake watercolors look gorgeous. I was waiting for this review! It's so funny because I have seen a couple other reviews and state it feels more like gouache but you feel they are more transparent. I think I have to agree with you after seeing the swatches.

[@BeckyTregear]

Having said that I am not exactly an expert on gouache, lol! But they feel like regular watercolours to me, if a bit glossier.

[@patriciatolliver4057]

Patty- I have the 48, 24 Art Nouveau, Starry Colors, graphitint, Pearl Colors, Gem Colors and the Opal Colors. I've used some of them in one of my Hanna Karlzon books and they worked out quite well. I really like them.

[@BeckyTregear]

I really like their smaller sets, especially the shiny ones!

[@artbydrbee]

Becky, thank-you for this video! I've never used these before but they look SO BEAUTIFUL don't they? So satisfying to watch 😍😍😍

[@BeckyTregear]

They're really nice paints if you ever happen to see a set. These are a fairly common brand, usually best priced at The Art Shop, but occasionally Amazon has them on special. 😊

[@artbydrbee]

@@BeckyTregear Thanks Becky, that's good to know! 🤗👍

[@stealthflower]

I got the 36 set; it arrived this week. So far, I've just swatched them out, but I'm looking forward to pulling out my Japanese paper and trying them out.

[@BeckyTregear]

The 36 set is nice too, with a nice variety of colours. Plus the metallics! 😁

[@師太滅絕]

Kuretake also have two 6- color set for pastel colors, and metallic colors. Please do a swatch for these. please also demonstrate the color mixing possibilities. Thanks

[@pennybordelon707]

I love just looking at my Kiritaki G colors as they are both beautiful to look at as well as use! I have the 24 set and really do love them. Wish more paint was in the pans.😎🤟🏼

[@BeckyTregear]

Ah yes, it would be awesome if they were completely filled!

[@RumoHasIt]

I am on a "Becky Binge" right now and doing a marathon of all your watercolor videos 😂 So glad I found your channel! ❤❤❤

[@BeckyTregear]

Aww thank you, I hope you're enjoying my videos and I appreciate you watching them. 😊

[@marlenaamalfitano1558]

I love these and have for a while

[@BeckyTregear]

Me too! ❤️

[@candidcrafter]

I'm a big fan of these paints. I use them for filling in pen illustrations as I've found they don't layer the best. The colors are all so pretty but lilac is my favorite 🤗

[@BeckyTregear]

The lilac is a wonderful colour! I am sure these paints would look great with ink drawings ☺️

[@Elvraie]

These look great and I would use them in traditional Chinese or Japanese paintings. Your sketches were both lovely. Have a nice weekend. V

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I need to try some traditional style paintings with these.

[@AlexisCassandraArt]

I’ve been waiting for this one😀 The paints are so beautiful together in that set😍 okay, now I want that lilac and cherry blossom color. I get what you were saying earlier about cherry blossom and what a funny coincidence😂 the flowers are gorgeous, I liked the coy fish too especially once you added the sheen over the top!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, I really love the pastel colours they added to this set. What is it with pastels lately? 😂

[@bapaathachannel5755]

thanks for sharing, it's very useful 👍🙏

[@robertweinblatt2018]

I’ve got all the sets! Choosing Keeping has the entire line and hoarder me bought them all😘❤️‍🔥🥰

[@BeckyTregear]

I've seen some of those retro sets they have....kind of prohibitively expensive to get them to Australia I think!

[@robertweinblatt2018]

@@BeckyTregear when it comes to art supplies I can ALWAYS justify my getting it so when I order, I get through the $ part as fast as possible and then concentrate on getting what I ordered and it doesn’t ever hurt sooooo bad that I change my mind😋Well maybe once or twice I have🤣

[@CazkiwiNZ]

I keep umming and ahhhing over these... ofc, I don’t NEED them... but I don’t let that stop me usually.... just price (over $110+ ouch) lol. I do have the Starry set tho cos I wanted the light/gold metallics. (Hmmm... musta watched this before cos I’ve seen your koi painting, I’m sure... still love it tho! 🤘😍🤘 I need to stop researching the same things over and over when I want them.... but I can’t, it’s half the fun for me... pining over things ‘til I break down and just buy them, haha)

[@BeckyTregear]

Haha I hear that! My studio has reached critical mass and I need to go through and jettison some items. Mainly things from my photography days to begin with; I am not quite ready to part with art supplies, lol.

[@1Letter23Numbers.]

Hi Becky! I have the shadow black set and I love them. I keep eyeing the regular colors in the 48 set but am still unsure if I need them, and how I'll use and store them. I'm pretty limited on desk space. At least with the two other sets you have refills when you run out of a color, and you can refill the empties with regular watercolors. I don't know that I've ever seen the gansi colors in a tube, but Ive also never looked. Thanks for the video, have a lovely weekend 🙂

[@BeckyTregear]

I don't think I've seen them in tubes either! Yeah the box is rather large but at least individual colours can be taken out with ease for a smaller palette selection. And yes now I have spares, so I'll never run out! 🤣

[@jennw6809]

Thank you for the swatches. I just bought this set, but it's sat unopened for a few days, with me undecided as to whether to keep it or not. I peeked in your more recent video and see that you have seen that by now, the pigment info is available. I bought it before I checked, and as you know the reds, pinks and purples are not good lightfastness. The blues and greens are ok. Yellows are mixed, one of them is PY1! Terrible!

[@BeckyTregear]

I think the pigment info came out within the last year or so? I know I checked around the time of making this video and there wasn't anything. Oh well, such is life! I still happily paint with them, and they're good for sketchbooks and artworks that aren't going to be exposed to lots of light. I really want to set up a home lightfast test though to see if they do actually fade at all. It's on my list of many things to do that I haven't done yet! 😂

[@jennw6809]

@@BeckyTregear LOL me too, always meaning to do lightfast tests but never have! Although I think where you are, you should have much more relevant results. You get much better sun. I have checked some others' tests on YT, some people have definitely experienced fading.

[@borispugmomdelyth6244]

i use water color and gouche always fun xx

[@BeckyTregear]

They certainly are! 😄

[@Judith-H7]

I never use the gambsei colours.... but I'd love to. I think I'll save some money to giftv it to myself at Christmas. In Germany it's nearly Fall and the leafs will turn soon slowly from green to yellow, red and brown. Thank you for this great video. Can you make a directly comparison to some usually watercolor paints and tell more about the differences? Best wishes from Germany by Judith

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! Yes I will need to plan a comparison video with these and other watercolours 😊

[@Judith-H7]

@@BeckyTregear thank you I appreciate that

[@annemorgan2928]

Your voice with your commentary is very nice to listen to you. I go to you first. And, I bought these kuretake paints as some of your comments fit what I need. 🇨🇦

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, that's so sweet! ❤️ I hope you enjoy your paints! 😊

[@vilvile]

According to the channel Becky Tregrear Art, while kuretake’s are indeed gansai, they are vegan because of the binders they use (vs. other gansai that do use the bone glue).

[@CazkiwiNZ]

This IS Becky Tregear’s channel .... 😜 Did you mean someone else? Also the great Kim Crick says the black is the only one that is supposedly not vegan, but the others are, according to the manufacturer 🤗🤗🤗 However, the email actually says: “Kuretake - e-mail received 2/9/2018: ‘Regarding the Gansai Tambi watercolor, we can confirm that during the manufacturing process at Kuretake the products are vegan. However, it is not possible to accurately confirm back to the supplier of ingredients at a raw material level.’”

[@vilvile]

@@CazkiwiNZ yes. My bad. Thank you. Getting old…

[@prithelamithilaofficial5734]

wonderful 🥰

[@sues7227]

I like these paints. As a beginner I found the size of the box too big. I realised that each painting uses a particular palette of colours, so I bought one of the metal tins, took out the metal insert for pans and bought a very thin one sided magnetic tape. I cut a 2cm stip and add to the bottom of the pan. The pans still fit back in the box and they don't move around in the metal palette. Works well for me.

[@BeckyTregear]

That sounds like a great setup for using a smaller selection of colours at a time. I like it!

[@Bonnie10au]

I love how the koy fish turned out. I never tried the Gansai paints and to be honest I can't see any difference to western paint when looking at your swatches and painting. I don't like that there is no colour information and lightfastness. I have so many other brands, I don't need more, lol. One of my new favourites is the Roman Szmal. They are very affordable but can compete with bigger brands in my opinion.

[@BeckyTregear]

I have been keeping an eye out for that new Roman Szmal palette they're releasing in a metal tin. I'd very much like to get that one. 🙂

[@Bonnie10au]

@@BeckyTregear you won't regret it. I found that the European paints and supplies are a lot cheaper at Artemiranda than Jacksons. I think they have this palette too.

[@hotsauron8541]

@@BeckyTregear it's already out on Jackson's! I got mine within two weeks to Sydney

[@BeckyTregear]

@@hotsauron8541 oh I missed that, lol! Thank you for the heads up 😊

[@sueallen952]

@@hotsauron8541 is that jacksons UK? I've just checked but they only have singles or in cardboard box's no metal palette. I'm dying to try them but want the metal palatte not the boxs

[@dpashaian8272]

Thx for this informative video, I just purchased 36 set & already had 12 new colors -BUT I really want the 48 also BUT I don’t have a husband- hmmm 🤔 I think I’ll be just fine though 😂🤣😆

[@BeckyTregear]

Haha! the 36 set is great too; I ended up with the 48 purely because it was bothering me having two boxes out and it is such a ridiculous reason but here we are. 😂

[@MaoRatto]

Becky, the names are in Kanji, but... As 赤色 ( Red color ), but the Red 紅 is miscontexted.... It's Lipstick Red. Most of the English is just saying EQUALIVENT NAMES to western colors.

[@Katubes]

They now have 100 sets.

[@BeckyTregear]

I think I have them all now, in smaller individual sets and not that lovely looking chest of drawers that they have released.

[@Discofoxx1]

🤩🤩🤩

[@robertweinblatt2018]

I dropped the entire box and they went everywhere and what a mess😱

[@BeckyTregear]

Oh nooooo!!! I am very glad they label their pans for that reason. 😂

[@EugeniaLoli]

I have the set, but they feel soapy. In fact, when I mix colors, there are bubbles in there as if i was mixing soap. Also, it's difficult to get muted colors with that set, there is only 1 brown too (raw sienna) while it has more greens than it needs to have.

[@BeckyTregear]

That's really strange...I don't think I have had that issue, as I am not remembering bubbles appearing. 🤔 Yeah it is a very bright palette and could do with another brown or two!