It has come to my attention that the kuretake paints are NOT vegan, they use glycerin derived from beef tallow. I didn't know, and i have no idea if kuretake knew the whole time. Apologies to anyone who is vegan who bought the paints on my recommendation Edit: quite frankly i don't know anymore, but google is your friend! i'll look into it in more depth at some point and try to get a more definitive answer
YAY! THANK you! I do Chinese brush painting/Japanese Sumi-e and I am tired of all these YT artists saying they don't like gansai because they aren't like "real" watercolors, etc etc. They are meant to be put down in one layer on very thin rice paper. Interestingly, China actually brought the art form to Japan so the paints are originally Chinese! I don't speak Japanese, but I do speak Chinese (not fluently, but enough that when I am in China people assume I'm fluent) so I guess it's easier for me to get info on gansai: because I know different Chinese art supply shops in the US and I follow Chinese brush painting channels here on YT. I also follow a lot of the Japanese ones too! I love Nihonga as well! I love making my own paints fresh for each painting, the fact that there like 50 diff variations of the same pigment with slight differences based on how large or small the particles are, the cool brass spoon I get to use after I dissolve the glue..............
There's not much about Gansai paints out there, you did a great job with this instructional video. I love Gansai paints for abstract paintings, the large pans are perfect for large brushes. The graphite set is one of my favorites. Your art is so soft and cute! Thank you for the lightfast test in special, it's a first!
@@madden.r.grimesThanks for sharing..can you recommend any brush or paint types for someone starting off but wants to be professional? Sounds like ga sai mightbe easier than watercolor or is ot subjective to some extent? And easier or ablit the same as acrylic I'd guess? And maybe somewhat subjective..Thanks for sharing
I thoroughly enjoyed using gansai for a time, as they act as a happy medium between gouache and watercolor for me. I agree they are completely different from either medium, and find that one might enjoy using them if they have an illustrative style or would like to do something gouache-like but want the luminosity of oils. The shiny finish of thickly applied gansai on a smooth paper? Gorgeous.
As a sort of noob when it comes to watercolors, i wanted to try the Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints for a while, but after watching this video im beginning to think they aren't a good fit for the artwork i do. I love mixing my colors myself with my small set of watercolors i have and i like working really small and detailed when i paint. Thank you for making this video, it makes the difference between watercolor and gansai paints so much more clear to me. I may still try these paints in the future, but for now and after watching this video that will be much later on. Btw i absolutely loved your painting, its adorable :)
I've only been painting with watercolors for about 2 months now and early on I saw a professional artist paint with gansai paints and I loved it and thought I would try it, and they basically inferred that they were the same thing as watercolor. I found out quickly that they were not the same. I was discouraged because I thought that I was doing something wrong. Thank you so much for this video and I would love to see you make more videos about different types of art supplies and paints
I love how comprehensive this was, most people on here that I've seen usually end up bashing Gansai paints cuz they're not like western watercolours which I think is dumb. Love the painting btw!
Thank you, I have so little experience with watercolor of any kind, collage having been my entry point. Now, retired, and with a general loss of strength, I am eager to learn about art and watercolor. Planting 5 shrubs a day is no longer an option for me, having slowed; I greatly appreciate your video helping me to understand how I might proceed, and experiment. Best to you. Regards, Suzanna
Thank you. I was trying to use it like watercolor. Then stopped using it at all. Now, you’ve demystified it all and my mind is newly open to try it as it’s intended !
I really like the creaminess of the Kuretake paints and just went to the Dick Blick site to find the other set of paints you were using, the Art Nouveau, and all the descriptions of their paint sets say they are vegan. I love your little horse painting! This is the first light fastness test I have seen, thank you for that!
Oh my...,Thank you very much for making this video🙏 Your explanation was eaisly, and clearly understandable. I did buy the Kuretake Gansi paints under the impression they were a watercolor. I wasn't entirely fond of them due to the opaque nature, this wasn't something I was expecting. I found your video very informative and helpful, thanks again❤🥰
FINALLY ! An explanation of these paints. Your right on that they are not like watercolors. They are paints in their own right. Water based paint. I’m a long time painter, my favorite is traditional watercolor. I’ve worked with all kinds of mediums, each are unique . The techniques for each are different. Thanks for ‘ clearing the air’ on Gansai. 🌴from Florida 🌴
Great video. I’ve purchased or been given most of the Kuretake paint set and enjoy fiddling with them when I’m not beating my head against my W&N palette. Your description of them was interesting. I’ve done a little research but your talk was far better than I could do.
I began using these wonderful paints in the beginning of my watercolor journey. I did not understand how to use them properly and the information you supply today reaffirmed the fact that I should not have been using them in the beginning of my watercolor journey. That being said I absolutely use and love these paints. I would be extremely interested in learning about other mediums. Please seriously consider providing the information to those of us who are eager to learn more. Besides those of us from the Northwest need to stick together😊
Thank you for this wonderful video. It was soothing and informative. I am retired and finally have time to pursue learning how to paint. I’ve always loved the delicate almost ethereal transparency of water colors. These Japanese water based paints are so intriguing.
Thank you for this video! Very helpful and having used the gansai for the last several months I can attest to everything you have explained and you have helped me understand some of my frustrations with these. I'm a total beginner. I was led to believe that Kuretake gansai was great for beginners. I bought the main, art nouveau, graphite, sumi, starry colors, and granulating sets! 😂 I have enjoyed them, but have learned very quickly after watching other artists using Western watercolors that they are not the same thing. Not inferior, not superior, just different. I have since bought a teensy weensy split complimentary set of Daniel Smith. I'm teaching myself how to use both types of paints. They are both beautiful in their own right. Thanks again!
These paints have been in my shopping cart for a year, and I just wasn’t sure what they would bring to the table, so thank you for showing them so thoroughly! I look forward to more of your videos!❤
Thank you. Great information. Your painting is lovely. Your voice with the soft background music is perfect. I’m looking for a medium to use for painting on fabric in a “watercolour - like effect” so very interested in these paint sets. I’m hoping the different characteristics will enable me to use them on an uncommon surface like fabric. Your information on how they don’t bleed and repel actually was super beneficial to me as fabric absorbs water and paint spreads differently than on quality artist paper…like it runs along the threads or puddles into a muddy mess! I really appreciated the information on colour fastness. The best video I’ve seen on that. Thank you for sharing your observations, opinions and art. Enjoy your art time. Hello from 🇨🇦
Really great video and well needed! 😊 I absolutely love my Gansai paints. So it was nice to learn more about them. I use them all the time lately, especially when playing with colour palettes as they are so easy to match with the colours on the palette! I love the painting you did too. Looking forward to watching your other videos ☺️
This video was so cool to watch, I didn’t realise it but i actually have a set of Gansai paints and now I feel like I can utilise them a lot more effectively! Thankyou!
Thank you for this explanation and thoughtfully put together video! I was gifted this exact set about four years ago and was so confused as to why they were seemingly like watercolour but was meant to be applied differently and whatnot :) excited to give these another go
I just picked up watercolors for the first time since high school art class. This was really fascinating. Thanks for saving me from an uninformed purchase!
Ive had these paints sitting on a shelf for two years and used them once , i love how pigmented they are and just when i decided to paint with them your video popped up! Thank you for sharing your knowledge 😊
Thank you for making this, I've been trying to find basically this exact video for months. I was under the impression that gansai didnt lift at all, but I think that's because there's two kinds of Japanese "watercolour" - one that does and one that doesn't lift. I recently learned that only the one that lifts is made into gansai, which makes sense now that I think about it, since the pans have to be reactivated.... Thank you for helping me clear up some misunderstandings!
Wow, I had no idea. Here I was using them as watercolors! I think I've only used my set a handful of times, so I'll have to try them out again with this new knowledge and see for myself how they differ from watercolors. Thank you for the video!
I stumbled here cause YT suggested this and since I knew nothing of Gansai paints (or any japanese type paints), I clicked. I did not expect pony art! Hello fellow ponyartist! This was very informative, thank you!
Thank you for the explanation. That helped so much. Loved watching you paint the horse. ❤️🥰 Yes, if you are able to compare other mediums, that would be so helpful. Still a newbie with watercolor, but sure love the Gansai paint and colors. Excited to use them.
Thank you for you lovely, gentle video. I've been working with watercolours for a couple of years and have enjoyed them but during that time I was drawn to the Gansai paints. I love them for their vibrancy, I've yet to try gouache, that's next on my list. I'm an artist that wants to learn the traditional plus alternative ways of using them.
I am primarily a watercolour artist, but enjoy various other mediums, including gouache and gansai tambi ( I own all the available sets) all three mediums are very different, which is why I love using all three. I really enjoyed your informative and well thought out video. You have a new subscriber from Australia. Thankyou and happy painting! 😊❤🌻
So pleased you did this video on Gansia Kuretake. Hopefully it will reach newbies to watercolour who do their research. I purchased Gansia as I heard many times it was a good beginners w/c paint and the price point was good. Initially Gansia was great to use it was so easy as I was totally new to painting of any sort. As I got better with brush work and sketching I found I couldn't achieve Western techniques with them. Before I could conclude I was no good at painting I stumbled on some comments in an art chat. There was a whole discussion about how Gansia could not be used like Western w/c. So I stopped trying to to do Western style w/c with them and just used them straight and I got watercolour paints to do watercolour techniques. I love the vividness of kuratake Gansia and I think I will always have some to play with.
this was the first “fancy” set of paints i ever got myself in early high school, and at the time I thought they were watercolors. which explains my frustration with watercolor sets i purchased afterwards! thanks for the info on these amazing paints
Thank you for all the information on Gansai paints. I've been wondering about them for a while. I had the graphite set, but gave it away because I wasn't sure of the lightfastness. You worked so hard to test all your colors; I really appreciate it. Now, I'm not unhappy that I gave the colors away! I think I'll stick to my watercolors! I thought your comments were very wise. And thank you for mentioning Nihonga. I enjoyed watching that video too. Now I have something else to look into 🙂.
I've been using Gansai paints for a while but treated them more like watercolours so that video was very interesting and educational, thank you! :) I will look at them differently now (I love them)
Subscribed. Yes I'd love to learn more about other mediums. I thought gansai paints were watercolors so thank you for the info. Also, I hope that adorable painting went to an ecstatic child. 😊
Thank you for this. I've experimented a bit with gansai paints in etegami, and the information you provided is helpful in understanding the medium. As for sauces, green curry!
@@madden.r.grimes I've also been thinking that gansai paints remind me more of poster paints than watercolor, with the glossiness, the muddy mixability, and the cartoon-ish applications. Do try them on washi paper if you haven't.
I love the pony you painted! It takes me back to the pleasantly colorful MLP ponies of my childhood. The colors you chose complement each other beautifully.
I haven’t even heard of these before and I have realised since seeing yours and learning about them from you 🥰 that I bought about 6-8 of them a couple of years ago and didn’t know because I bought them off a shop selling single pans on eBay and they had them listed as watercolours, they do work kind of like watercolours but they weren’t quite the same and I didn’t understand why and it’s because they weren’t 😂 the shop selling them was Chinese and not Japanese though I think, so I thought they were just selling single pans of more varied colours and now I see they just mislabelled them or maybe thought they would be more easily found by calling them watercolours but either way they build up to quite a strong pigment and they’re lovely colours! I’ll have to dig them back out now I know more about them! You look like a beautiful elf ! I love your hair! 🥰❤️ I love the adorable my little pony that you painted! So cute! ❤
So thankful you have put so much info out about gansai paints. I am about to buy kuretake sets for sure. I appreciate your little pony painting demo with the features added after the base painting as this is sometimes the direction I like to go in. Love your works. Thank you for being so generous with your time and advices. 😊😊😊😊
Thanks for this informative video. I started looking into Japanese paints because I had been using acrylic paints and inks as "watercolours" and read (on Wikipedia!) that Japanese nihonga paints dried tough enough not to need protection behind varnish or glass. Plus I love the muted Japanese colour palette. Turns out the protective element in the paints is animal glue and they have to be mixed up from scratch, so not what I'm looking for at this stage. The reason I paint acrylic as watercolour has to do with me not knowing where to start, I knew that acrylic was water-soluble and versatile so that's what I went for. Also watercolour to me (before I started painting) meant the super washy misty looking pictures, but the style I paint in is closer to traditional gouache, but I really didn't want something that reactivates when wet, hence acrylic. 5 months really isn't long for a lightfastness test. I put some blobs of paint in a southfacing window and forgot about them till 14 months later. By then the yellow had half disappeared and leaf green had darkened (presumably as the yellow component disappeared) leaving an austere bluey-green. No pigments were listed on the paints box (hence the test) but research suggests the disappearing yellow is PY1. Fun fact: the Japanese word for western type art is yōga 洋画, pronounced exactly the same in Japanese as yōga ヨウガ the Indian spiritual exercise practice with the god postures 😂
Love the fun fact I have put the strips back in the window, and i will check in on them in a few months/a year so i can get even more info. I do think this was enough to tell what colors to avoid like the plague though 😅
i got this set of gansai paints because i thought it was watercolor. everything on the website told be it was normal watercolor. no wonder it didn't work the was i was wanting :D thank you for this information! i cant wait to try them in the right way
Thank you for this video. First, I’m no pro. With that said, I have used DS and others and I was frustrated with some aspects of this paint that had me thinking I was just using them wrong. I tried diff papers…more water….tossed them in the drawer. I now understand they are what they are. A water media. Not watercolors. Got it! 🎉
YES!! Those Talenti tubs are GREAT f or being impromptu water cups. Also for storing brushes, tools, pencils, etc... Also, thank you for the informative video about Gansai paints! It truly seems like a remarkable medium to experiment with.
I have a couple of the Gansai paint sets and I was very interested to hear your views and the background of this paint. I enjoy it and like you have found that it is a little misrepresenting calling them watercolors as to me they respond more like gouache than watercolor. That being said, I would enjoy hearing the history of some of the paints. Thank you for this video. I have subscribed and look forward to your future videos.
This is so great to see the lightfast tests. I have the 52 and 48 sets and absolutely love them and use in conjuction with my artist grade watercolours. I love seeing all the colours in one box and will continue to buy them when they run out.
I use Gansai paints very sparingly. Usually they are used when I need to ‘cover up’ a mistake when I paint with the usual watercolours. Thank you for your test.🤗
Thank you for the information. I just purchased the Art Nouveau palette a couple months ago and I have been working with watercolors successfully for several years. Your perspective is informative and I would love to see you explore these paints more. I just subscribed to your channel. I look forward to subsequent tutorials and informative videos from you. A question - I see one comment suggests using rice paper with this paint. Do you have any thoughts on that? Thanks again.
Your video was sthg long overdue! Thank You! Gansai paints and Sumi paints (the dark ones, they are darkened/muted by using black Sumi Ink) have a long tradition of more than 1,000 years in Japan. Comparing them to western paints and bashing them for not being like western paints is almost sacreligious. A very good way of seeing how Gansai paints are used in Japan is by watching videos of Japanese artists, even if you don't understand what is being said. Just by watching the techniques and the painting process we can learn a lot.❤
Another thing I have learned from Japanese artists is that they never spray Gansai paints before using them. An Asian artist, I believe she is from Thailand, who often reviews Asian "watercolors" once said that Gansai are immediately re-activated when a wet brush touches them. And I find that ist true. Apparently pre-wetting the paints causes too much paint being lifted from the pans, which then easily leads to them looking awkwardly shiny after drying.
i think i got a couple pans of these a few years back in a monthly art supply box and assumed they were watercolor, and I found them very weird and didn't like them. however that's because I didn't know they weren't actually watercolor and didnt know how to use em
In a way you're right but even we refer to Gansai as "Watercolor". Your pronunciations are fine, thank you for teaching people about the supplies from my kinsmen :) Beautiful artwork and calming easy to understand commentary.
I have a pan of these! I bought them during college from the college store and have been referring to them as “fancy/japanese watercolours” because there was ZERO info on what they were, I just got them bc they were… a really nice pallet of hard paints that I could take with me places and had very vibrant colouring. I always loved how fast they dried and the rich colours they came in, much more hearty than the western watercolour pallets I could acquire. I don’t paint a lot anymore, but I always pull out that little green box when cleaning and feel nostalgia for those college days again
![[Eng sub] What are these? 48 Japanese Colors Watercolor Set / Kuretake / gansaitambi](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qoR_OO6jb2w/mqdefault.jpg)
It has come to my attention that the kuretake paints are NOT vegan, they use glycerin derived from beef tallow. I didn't know, and i have no idea if kuretake knew the whole time.
Apologies to anyone who is vegan who bought the paints on my recommendation
Edit: quite frankly i don't know anymore, but google is your friend! i'll look into it in more depth at some point and try to get a more definitive answer
They reckon they didn’t know. I’d like to believe they didn’t!
It used to be an issue, but they changed the recipe a while back.
Only a few colours aren't vegan friendly and are listed on their website.
doesn't matter , DNA & RNA are same for plants and animals just arranged differently
No wonder they tasted so good
Thank you So Much! Your video is a treasure for my learning process. So thoroughly covered! Thank you, again.
YAY! THANK you! I do Chinese brush painting/Japanese Sumi-e and I am tired of all these YT artists saying they don't like gansai because they aren't like "real" watercolors, etc etc. They are meant to be put down in one layer on very thin rice paper. Interestingly, China actually brought the art form to Japan so the paints are originally Chinese! I don't speak Japanese, but I do speak Chinese (not fluently, but enough that when I am in China people assume I'm fluent) so I guess it's easier for me to get info on gansai: because I know different Chinese art supply shops in the US and I follow Chinese brush painting channels here on YT. I also follow a lot of the Japanese ones too! I love Nihonga as well! I love making my own paints fresh for each painting, the fact that there like 50 diff variations of the same pigment with slight differences based on how large or small the particles are, the cool brass spoon I get to use after I dissolve the glue..............
Yesss, all the supplies look so tempting and beautiful! Someday when i have a proper studio i will have to tackle Nihonga
There's not much about Gansai paints out there, you did a great job with this instructional video. I love Gansai paints for abstract paintings, the large pans are perfect for large brushes. The graphite set is one of my favorites. Your art is so soft and cute! Thank you for the lightfast test in special, it's a first!
Thank you so much! The graphite set is a special favorite of mine too, even though i don't use it in finished work
@@madden.r.grimesThanks for sharing..can you recommend any brush or paint types for someone starting off but wants to be professional? Sounds like ga sai mightbe easier than watercolor or is ot subjective to some extent? And easier or ablit the same as acrylic I'd guess? And maybe somewhat subjective..Thanks for sharing
This is such great information. I had no idea Gansai was that different from watercolors!!! Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed using gansai for a time, as they act as a happy medium between gouache and watercolor for me. I agree they are completely different from either medium, and find that one might enjoy using them if they have an illustrative style or would like to do something gouache-like but want the luminosity of oils. The shiny finish of thickly applied gansai on a smooth paper? Gorgeous.
I have yet to experiment with applying them thick and shiny, but you're making it sound tempting!
As a sort of noob when it comes to watercolors, i wanted to try the Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints for a while, but after watching this video im beginning to think they aren't a good fit for the artwork i do. I love mixing my colors myself with my small set of watercolors i have and i like working really small and detailed when i paint. Thank you for making this video, it makes the difference between watercolor and gansai paints so much more clear to me. I may still try these paints in the future, but for now and after watching this video that will be much later on.
Btw i absolutely loved your painting, its adorable :)
Thank you!
I'm so glad you found this helpful!
I've only been painting with watercolors for about 2 months now and early on I saw a professional artist paint with gansai paints and I loved it and thought I would try it, and they basically inferred that they were the same thing as watercolor. I found out quickly that they were not the same. I was discouraged because I thought that I was doing something wrong.
Thank you so much for this video and I would love to see you make more videos about different types of art supplies and paints
Glad you enjoyed it! I'm definitely hoping to make more videos like this in the future
I've been treating these like they were watercolors, this was very informative!
I learned a lot! I'm going to play with gansai paints today. It feels like they're more like transparent gouache than watercolor.
Thank you so much for this video! It has been extremely helpful. I just purchased these paints and am so excited to use them. Keep up the great work!
Good luck and have fun!
I love how comprehensive this was, most people on here that I've seen usually end up bashing Gansai paints cuz they're not like western watercolours which I think is dumb. Love the painting btw!
Thats a big part of why i wanted to make this video
Thank you, I have so little experience with watercolor of any kind, collage having been my entry point.
Now, retired, and with a general loss of strength, I am eager to learn about art and watercolor. Planting
5 shrubs a day is no longer an option for me, having slowed; I greatly appreciate your video helping
me to understand how I might proceed, and experiment. Best to you.
Regards,
Suzanna
Thank you for the lovely comment! I'm glad this was helpful
Thank you for the informative video. I love my kuretake set. They’re in their own category between watercolor and gouache, and I love the texture.
Thank you for this video! I love my Kuretake paints and I wanted to know more about them and you’re thoughtful video helped greatly.
Glad it was helpful!
This was so mesmerising to watch! Thank you for this detailed intro :)
You're welcome ^w^
Thank you. I was trying to use it like watercolor.
Then stopped using it at all. Now, you’ve demystified it all and my mind is newly open to try it as it’s intended !
I really like the creaminess of the Kuretake paints and just went to the Dick Blick site to find the other set of paints you were using, the Art Nouveau, and all the descriptions of their paint sets say they are vegan. I love your little horse painting! This is the first light fastness test I have seen, thank you for that!
it’s the hair and eyes. Mesmerizing
You mean his, right? Agree.
Oh my...,Thank you very much for making this video🙏 Your explanation was eaisly, and clearly understandable.
I did buy the Kuretake Gansi paints under the impression they were a watercolor. I wasn't entirely fond of them due to the opaque nature, this wasn't something I was expecting. I found your video very informative and helpful, thanks again❤🥰
You're welcome ^w^
FINALLY ! An explanation of these paints. Your right on that they are not like watercolors. They are paints in their own right. Water based paint. I’m a long time painter, my favorite is traditional watercolor. I’ve worked with all kinds of mediums, each are unique . The techniques for each are different. Thanks for ‘ clearing the air’ on Gansai. 🌴from Florida 🌴
Great video. I’ve purchased or been given most of the Kuretake paint set and enjoy fiddling with them when I’m not beating my head against my W&N palette. Your description of them was interesting. I’ve done a little research but your talk was far better than I could do.
Thank you!
I began using these wonderful paints in the beginning of my watercolor journey. I did not understand how to use them properly and the information you supply today reaffirmed the fact that I should not have been using them in the beginning of my watercolor journey. That being said I absolutely use and love these paints. I would be extremely interested in learning about other mediums. Please seriously consider providing the information to those of us who are eager to learn more. Besides those of us from the Northwest need to stick together😊
I am really thinking about it, the only problem is deciding what to cover next!
I bought these, tried them a few times, and now they sit on a shelf. I so appreviate this video.
The art nouveau palette is one of my favorite of all my types of paint
It's a really lovely selection of colors
Thank you for this wonderful video. It was soothing and informative. I am retired and finally have time to pursue learning how to paint. I’ve always loved the delicate almost ethereal transparency of water colors. These Japanese water based paints are so intriguing.
Congratulations on finally getting to paint!
Thank you for this video! Very helpful and having used the gansai for the last several months I can attest to everything you have explained and you have helped me understand some of my frustrations with these. I'm a total beginner. I was led to believe that Kuretake gansai was great for beginners. I bought the main, art nouveau, graphite, sumi, starry colors, and granulating sets! 😂 I have enjoyed them, but have learned very quickly after watching other artists using Western watercolors that they are not the same thing. Not inferior, not superior, just different. I have since bought a teensy weensy split complimentary set of Daniel Smith. I'm teaching myself how to use both types of paints. They are both beautiful in their own right. Thanks again!
These paints have been in my shopping cart for a year, and I just wasn’t sure what they would bring to the table, so thank you for showing them so thoroughly! I look forward to more of your videos!❤
Glad I could help!
Other than Holbein, Gansai are always my second favourite. I love your art 💜
Holbein are a fantastic brand, really excellent stuff
Thank you. Great information. Your painting is lovely. Your voice with the soft background music is perfect. I’m looking for a medium to use for painting on fabric in a “watercolour - like effect” so very interested in these paint sets. I’m hoping the different characteristics will enable me to use them on an uncommon surface like fabric. Your information on how they don’t bleed and repel actually was super beneficial to me as fabric absorbs water and paint spreads differently than on quality artist paper…like it runs along the threads or puddles into a muddy mess! I really appreciated the information on colour fastness. The best video I’ve seen on that. Thank you for sharing your observations, opinions and art. Enjoy your art time. Hello from 🇨🇦
Thank you so much!
Good luck with your experiments!
I would love to see you do a whole series on all things paint
Really great video and well needed! 😊 I absolutely love my Gansai paints. So it was nice to learn more about them. I use them all the time lately, especially when playing with colour palettes as they are so easy to match with the colours on the palette! I love the painting you did too. Looking forward to watching your other videos ☺️
Thank you!!
This video was so cool to watch, I didn’t realise it but i actually have a set of Gansai paints and now I feel like I can utilise them a lot more effectively! Thankyou!
Thats awesome to hear!
Thank you for this explanation and thoughtfully put together video! I was gifted this exact set about four years ago and was so confused as to why they were seemingly like watercolour but was meant to be applied differently and whatnot :) excited to give these another go
Glad it was helpful!
I just picked up watercolors for the first time since high school art class. This was really fascinating. Thanks for saving me from an uninformed purchase!
Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate and admire your dedication, talent and patience!
I’m so glad I stumbled on this video. Thank you so much.
Love the music, your whole look there looks like a watercolor palette
You are a beautiful person!!
Thank you for this introduction!
Thanks for the gansai run through, very helpful.
Thank you! As someone new to water soluble media and especially watercolor, I really appreciate your video. ❤️
You're welcome! ^w^
Super informative, thank you! I just got the gem set and was looking for more info on the other sets
Yes please, explain all mediums, that was interesting 😊 great 👍🏻 video.
Ive had these paints sitting on a shelf for two years and used them once , i love how pigmented they are and just when i decided to paint with them your video popped up! Thank you for sharing your knowledge 😊
Thank you for making this, I've been trying to find basically this exact video for months. I was under the impression that gansai didnt lift at all, but I think that's because there's two kinds of Japanese "watercolour" - one that does and one that doesn't lift. I recently learned that only the one that lifts is made into gansai, which makes sense now that I think about it, since the pans have to be reactivated.... Thank you for helping me clear up some misunderstandings!
Thank you I found your video informative as a new watercolorist. I don’t own any Kuratake palettes as of yet but grateful of your honest opinion.
thank you for the video. I had no idea, really good series! I hope to see more in the future
Definitely planning more of these videos!
Thank you!
Wow, I had no idea. Here I was using them as watercolors! I think I've only used my set a handful of times, so I'll have to try them out again with this new knowledge and see for myself how they differ from watercolors. Thank you for the video!
Very Useful video thanks for sharing. there is such a lack of information on Gansai paints. great video!
I stumbled here cause YT suggested this and since I knew nothing of Gansai paints (or any japanese type paints), I clicked. I did not expect pony art! Hello fellow ponyartist! This was very informative, thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank you for the explanation. That helped so much. Loved watching you paint the horse. ❤️🥰 Yes, if you are able to compare other mediums, that would be so helpful. Still a newbie with watercolor, but sure love the Gansai paint and colors. Excited to use them.
Super interesting. Thank you! Learn something new every day ….
Thank you for you lovely, gentle video. I've been working with watercolours for a couple of years and have enjoyed them but during that time I was drawn to the Gansai paints. I love them for their vibrancy, I've yet to try gouache, that's next on my list. I'm an artist that wants to learn the traditional plus alternative ways of using them.
I am primarily a watercolour artist, but enjoy various other mediums, including gouache and gansai tambi ( I own all the available sets) all three mediums are very different, which is why I love using all three. I really enjoyed your informative and well thought out video. You have a new subscriber from Australia. Thankyou and happy painting! 😊❤🌻
Wow! Thats crazy to think i have people watching that far away!
So pleased you did this video on Gansia Kuretake. Hopefully it will reach newbies to watercolour who do their research. I purchased Gansia as I heard many times it was a good beginners w/c paint and the price point was good. Initially Gansia was great to use it was so easy as I was totally new to painting of any sort. As I got better with brush work and sketching I found I couldn't achieve Western techniques with them. Before I could conclude I was no good at painting I stumbled on some comments in an art chat. There was a whole discussion about how Gansia could not be used like Western w/c. So I stopped trying to to do Western style w/c with them and just used them straight and I got watercolour paints to do watercolour techniques. I love the vividness of kuratake Gansia and I think I will always have some to play with.
this was the first “fancy” set of paints i ever got myself in early high school, and at the time I thought they were watercolors. which explains my frustration with watercolor sets i purchased afterwards! thanks for the info on these amazing paints
Thank you for all the information on Gansai paints. I've been wondering about them for a while. I had the graphite set, but gave it away because I wasn't sure of the lightfastness. You worked so hard to test all your colors; I really appreciate it. Now, I'm not unhappy that I gave the colors away! I think I'll stick to my watercolors!
I thought your comments were very wise. And thank you for mentioning Nihonga. I enjoyed watching that video too. Now I have something else to look into 🙂.
Thanks, I have some of these paints. Thank you. You have a new subscriber.
These are my FAVORITE of all my paints. I love them
I was gifted some of these from my brother. I LOVE them. Thank you for the education on them.
I've been using Gansai paints for a while but treated them more like watercolours so that video was very interesting and educational, thank you! :) I will look at them differently now (I love them)
Subscribed. Yes I'd love to learn more about other mediums. I thought gansai paints were watercolors so thank you for the info. Also, I hope that adorable painting went to an ecstatic child. 😊
Thank you for this. I've experimented a bit with gansai paints in etegami, and the information you provided is helpful in understanding the medium. As for sauces, green curry!
Ha! I cannot believe nobody has made that joke yet, i love it!
@@madden.r.grimes I've also been thinking that gansai paints remind me more of poster paints than watercolor, with the glossiness, the muddy mixability, and the cartoon-ish applications. Do try them on washi paper if you haven't.
Wow... color fastness matters so much! This was quite a surprise! Thank you. I just bought some Gansai. 🎉
Thanks for your video! I love learning something new. Do more! 🐝
I love the pony you painted! It takes me back to the pleasantly colorful MLP ponies of my childhood. The colors you chose complement each other beautifully.
The my little pony brand has always been great at picking color palettes!
This was super helpful, thank you!
Very helpful vid, thank you ☺️
I love the Gansai Paint and I completely agree with the students grade products.
I haven’t even heard of these before and I have realised since seeing yours and learning about them from you 🥰 that I bought about 6-8 of them a couple of years ago and didn’t know because I bought them off a shop selling single pans on eBay and they had them listed as watercolours, they do work kind of like watercolours but they weren’t quite the same and I didn’t understand why and it’s because they weren’t 😂 the shop selling them was Chinese and not Japanese though I think, so I thought they were just selling single pans of more varied colours and now I see they just mislabelled them or maybe thought they would be more easily found by calling them watercolours but either way they build up to quite a strong pigment and they’re lovely colours! I’ll have to dig them back out now I know more about them! You look like a beautiful elf ! I love your hair! 🥰❤️ I love the adorable my little pony that you painted! So cute! ❤
I get that elf comment so often, i really need to get around to reading lord of the rings at some point
Thank you for the information on Gansai paints! This is very helpful
Beautiful paints!
So thankful you have put so much info out about gansai paints. I am about to buy kuretake sets for sure. I appreciate your little pony painting demo with the features added after the base painting as this is sometimes the direction I like to go in. Love your works. Thank you for being so generous with your time and advices. 😊😊😊😊
My pleasure ^w^
What a clever way to test the paint :-) I must try this myself although we are aproaching fall and winter, so it will have to wait til next spring.
Thanks for this informative video. I started looking into Japanese paints because I had been using acrylic paints and inks as "watercolours" and read (on Wikipedia!) that Japanese nihonga paints dried tough enough not to need protection behind varnish or glass. Plus I love the muted Japanese colour palette. Turns out the protective element in the paints is animal glue and they have to be mixed up from scratch, so not what I'm looking for at this stage. The reason I paint acrylic as watercolour has to do with me not knowing where to start, I knew that acrylic was water-soluble and versatile so that's what I went for. Also watercolour to me (before I started painting) meant the super washy misty looking pictures, but the style I paint in is closer to traditional gouache, but I really didn't want something that reactivates when wet, hence acrylic.
5 months really isn't long for a lightfastness test. I put some blobs of paint in a southfacing window and forgot about them till 14 months later. By then the yellow had half disappeared and leaf green had darkened (presumably as the yellow component disappeared) leaving an austere bluey-green. No pigments were listed on the paints box (hence the test) but research suggests the disappearing yellow is PY1.
Fun fact: the Japanese word for western type art is yōga 洋画, pronounced exactly the same in Japanese as yōga ヨウガ the Indian spiritual exercise practice with the god postures 😂
Love the fun fact
I have put the strips back in the window, and i will check in on them in a few months/a year so i can get even more info. I do think this was enough to tell what colors to avoid like the plague though 😅
@ZadenZane kuratake change their recipe for most of their paints years ago so that most colours are vegan friendly. Their website has more info.
Thanks, that was very informative.
i got this set of gansai paints because i thought it was watercolor. everything on the website told be it was normal watercolor. no wonder it didn't work the was i was wanting :D thank you for this information! i cant wait to try them in the right way
Très interessant ! Merci pour le partage
Great blog Madden, I really enjoyed it. New subscriber today ❤❤❤❤
Thank you for this video. First, I’m no pro. With that said, I have used DS and others and I was frustrated with some aspects of this paint that had me thinking I was just using them wrong. I tried diff papers…more water….tossed them in the drawer. I now understand they are what they are. A water media. Not watercolors. Got it! 🎉
Very helpful. Thank you!!
I’m impressed with the pink and purples lightfastness.
YES!! Those Talenti tubs are GREAT f or being impromptu water cups. Also for storing brushes, tools, pencils, etc...
Also, thank you for the informative video about Gansai paints! It truly seems like a remarkable medium to experiment with.
They are such a fun medium!
This was so interesting! I love gansai paints and need to use them more. I love the horsey too, beautiful! ❤
such an endearing story, may blu and dory have a long and happy friendship 🐾
Oh wow! I bought Gansai Paint under the impression that it was just water colour. I’m glad I saw your video before using them.
Those lighfast results are impressive!
Thank you for this nice “how-do” to a paint previously unknown to me.
I have a couple of the Gansai paint sets and I was very interested to hear your views and the background of this paint. I enjoy it and like you have found that it is a little misrepresenting calling them watercolors as to me they respond more like gouache than watercolor. That being said, I would enjoy hearing the history of some of the paints. Thank you for this video. I have subscribed and look forward to your future videos.
Thank you!
I subscribed to your channel a few weeks ago when you said you'll make this video ❤thank you
I always deliver... eventually
This is so great to see the lightfast tests. I have the 52 and 48 sets and absolutely love them and use in conjuction with my artist grade watercolours. I love seeing all the colours in one box and will continue to buy them when they run out.
Thank you SO MUCH! :)
I use Gansai paints very sparingly. Usually they are used when I need to ‘cover up’ a mistake when I paint with the usual watercolours. Thank you for your test.🤗
Thank you for the information. I just purchased the Art Nouveau palette a couple months ago and I have been working with watercolors successfully for several years. Your perspective is informative and I would love to see you explore these paints more. I just subscribed to your channel. I look forward to subsequent tutorials and informative videos from you. A question - I see one comment suggests using rice paper with this paint. Do you have any thoughts on that? Thanks again.
Thats definitely something to experiment with! It will definitely behave differently, but i can't say how as i have yet to try it
@@madden.r.grimes Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it when you do.
Love love these paints!
Your video was sthg long overdue! Thank You! Gansai paints and Sumi paints (the dark ones, they are darkened/muted by using black Sumi Ink) have a long tradition of more than 1,000 years in Japan. Comparing them to western paints and bashing them for not being like western paints is almost sacreligious.
A very good way of seeing how Gansai paints are used in Japan is by watching videos of Japanese artists, even if you don't understand what is being said. Just by watching the techniques and the painting process we can learn a lot.❤
Another thing I have learned from Japanese artists is that they never spray Gansai paints before using them. An Asian artist, I believe she is from Thailand, who often reviews Asian "watercolors" once said that Gansai are immediately re-activated when a wet brush touches them. And I find that ist true. Apparently pre-wetting the paints causes too much paint being lifted from the pans, which then easily leads to them looking awkwardly shiny after drying.
Oh definitely if you use them straight from the pan, i prefer to use them from a pallet, so this works best for me ^w^
Love this! So helpful ❤
Their paints are some of my favorites. I reach for my Kurtake more and more.
i think i got a couple pans of these a few years back in a monthly art supply box and assumed they were watercolor, and I found them very weird and didn't like them. however that's because I didn't know they weren't actually watercolor and didnt know how to use em
In a way you're right but even we refer to Gansai as "Watercolor". Your pronunciations are fine, thank you for teaching people about the supplies from my kinsmen :) Beautiful artwork and calming easy to understand commentary.
I have a pan of these! I bought them during college from the college store and have been referring to them as “fancy/japanese watercolours” because there was ZERO info on what they were, I just got them bc they were… a really nice pallet of hard paints that I could take with me places and had very vibrant colouring. I always loved how fast they dried and the rich colours they came in, much more hearty than the western watercolour pallets I could acquire. I don’t paint a lot anymore, but I always pull out that little green box when cleaning and feel nostalgia for those college days again