Review on 🎨 Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Set: Professional-Quality Paints for Artists and Crafters | AP-Certified | Ideal for Dark Papers | Made in Japan (36 Colors) by Jennifer Roberts

I'm really surprised by the quality of these colors. I've tried many major brand paints, from student paints (W&N Cotman) to some of the best tube paints (Daniel Smith, Mission Gold, etc) and they compare well to artists' paints. I've seen almost every YouTuber look at this set and exclaim how valuable it is, but I didn't really notice until I made an impromptu purchase. One thing to keep in mind when purchasing this set is that Japanese watercolors are slightly different from most Western European watercolors. Some colors are slightly opaque (most of which can be seen in the palette photos, when the paint is a pale shade in the pan it is quite opaque), while others have amazing translucency. I checked out a great review that explained the differences between the two in style and consistency. To sum up this review, this watercolor style is not meant for heavy blending. They are more transparent than gouache but less transparent than most watercolor paints available in the US. Many colors are already mixtures of pigments, so mixing more than two colors can result in cloudy colors. Finally, most watercolors in this style are said to use animal glue rather than gum arabic, so this may not be the best kit for vegans or those avoiding animal products (I have yet to confirm that this is the case for Kuretake). believe this set was originally intended for artisans in Japan and not for serious artists. For this reason I have put off buying this set until now. I tried some other relatively inexpensive watercolor paints (Sakura Koi) which were quite chalky and uncomfortable under my brush. These colors are not chalky at all and are perhaps more pigmented than any other watercolor I have used. They can feel glossy when applied very thickly, but I don't notice any shine in my work. There's a wide range of colors to choose from here, and gold and silver (well, pearly white) could be very handy without having to buy a special metal kit. Colors flow relatively well across the page, maybe not as much as straight out of the tube. , but good enough that they work fine for all the methods I've tried. They will flower if you use too much water like all watercolor brands and as flower lovers they do beautifully. Don't let the box and low price put you off buying this set. If I could do it again I would buy these instead of the expensive W&N Cotman palette I started with. The cells aren't filled to the brim (which makes it easier to work with), but they still contain a massive amount of color, more than a regular full pan in my opinion.