Gansai Tambi Watercolour Paint Set, 48 Colours, Made in Japan

There's a huge amount of hype around these paints, rave reviews and accolades on You Tube. I'm afraid I couldn't resist. They arrived promptly, a nice suprise as they came direct from Japan. The box is quite large 32x20cm ( approx) and a solid card box. In the lid is a chart to fill the paint colours in. It's all in Japenese, except for the numbers. This chart corresponds to the layout/ order of the paints. They are in white trays approximately 4.5x 2.5 cms, and are named in Japenese but numbered. I would definately urge you to fill this chart in, and I've also done a larger one on water colour paper, as it's hard to really see what the colours are, as many are similar in appearance or too dark to see. For example; there appear to be a great many similar reds, but in fact there is a great selection of a wide spectrum. I went for the 36 colours, as I wanted the gold. This box has a super array of colours, they are really good pigment, and a creamy consistency , more like a gouache than traditional watercolours. There is a very slight sheen in the colours, a bit like the sheen you get from coloured inks. The white is very slightly shiny, and the pearlescent white very shiny indeed. There is no silver, but a pewter type colour and a coppery gold. I've really enjoyed playing with these paints, and am glad I went for the larger set. I think they are good value for money, as they are high quality pigmented paints, that can be used as water colours with Lots of water, or a very creamy opaque paint. So a versatile addition to any artist, and a good starter set to someone who is perhaps nervous of watercolours.

They come on a sturdy box, and the paint colours are contained in larger pans. The colours themselves make a very lively combination, not jarring and each one is quite unusual. I tried them out on hot pressed and not paper. Some colours granulated nicely and that was a nice effect. Others push the underlying colour around, again, a pleasing effect. I've yet to find out how much paint is in each pan and which colours I use most. I wish these colours were available in tubes individually as buying a whole set when one runs out would be a very expensive proposition. So, will use for graphics so that I use most of them if not all before I purchase again.In all, a super fun buy.

On the evening of the day these paints were due to be delivered I received an email from Amazon to say they had been delivered successfully and that the package was accepted by a male resident of the household. None of this was true. No package was delivered to our home. No male resident accepted receipt of the package. We searched for the package in case it had been left in a safe place. It had not. There are many to choose from in our front garden, used successfully by other delivery personal. The following morning, our postman, Tom, discovered the package in my neighbour's porch. Knowing they were away in France, he checked for correct name and address. Realising it was addressed to me and not the residents of our neighbour's house, he passed the package to me. I would like to know who the mysterious male resident is that the Amazon delivery person passed my parcel to. This delivery person must have an amazingly long arm to reach all the way to France. So much for truthful and accurate tracking!I have searched a long time to find these Kuretaki paints in a set of 48, at a price I could just afford. Seeing them on Amazon at £50 and a few pence, with free delivery on prime, I jumped at a chance to buy them and deleted the equivalent set priced at £65 and then some for postage on my eBay site. Amazon represented great value. The box is a cool shade of olive green with a chop or cartouche of gold Japanese writing down the centre. Inside the paints are fixed in place by a neat see through plastic cover, below which is a glorious site of the most amazing range of watercolour/ gouache paints in kingsized pans. The box has the names of the colours charted out on the inside of the lid, on the base of the box and on a smaller free sheet of paper, both in Japanese characters and in English. Each pan has the Japanese colour symbols on it's base. This could be a great way to learn a little Japanese. This is a beautifully presented set of paints. I have already bought a few examples as single pans and have been impressed by the ease of wetting and release of paint from the pan. The large size allows the use of larger brushes when doing larger washes. Colour intensity is high, as is luminosity and coverage. They can be used as watercolour or gouache depending on the amount of water used with them. They are a joy to use. Really looking forward to preparing the colour swatches that have been included in the box for your convenience. I can't wait to get started.

I have to say that these paints have now taken pride of place over my other expensive water colour paint sets.They are rich and creamy, opaque and lay on my cotton watercolour paper beautifully.I have got a few Kuretake products and find them all of good quality and very competitively priced amongst the high end paints, they certainly hold their own when it comes to quality. they also sit well on paper and not just dissolve into the paper. I am definitely in love with these paints and have no qualms about recommending them for both armature and professional artists alike.

Bought these as I've seen them on loads of YouTube art tutorials so thought I have to try them. They didn't disappoint they are gorgeous to use and dry really quickly. Nice opacity too. Will be buying other sets in the future. Great value for money. What I like about these palettes is that you know that all the colours will work together so saves you having to think about colours and mixing them.

I made up a load of swatches using these, not sure about them, they are nice and creamy, just not sure. UPDATE, used them today, am going to buy more.I then bought the £53 set, it is nice paint, but in this instance I think the manufacturer needs to rethink the packing...

Brilliant set of quality colours at a sensible price, the tray and blocks are great for storage or going out lasts ages

I was'nt sure what to expect with these paints and was pleasantly suprised. They seem to be a cross between gouache and watercolour I've found them great for abstract painting and have created some lovely visual textures by letting colours blend into each other and splashing water on the wet paint, although colour run is not for everyone. The paint pans are quite large and the paint itself is very thick and creamy. The set I bought has more of the pastel shades and am looking foreward to buying more of the sets in the future as they are great quality paints.

Confío bastante en esta marca ya intento tener toda su variedad de color, y sin embargo apuesto mas por las normales, si no eres asiduo a usar papel oscuro o directamente negro ya que el colores metalizados se ven gravemente afectados en papel de acuarela tradicional

J’ai adoré cette palette d’aquarelle parce que les couleurs sont tellement vivantes, et elles ont une belle harmonie entre elles.

Estou apaixonada! É muito pigmentado e as tintas são enormes! Comprei apenas pelos reviews, e estava meio ressabiada, mas amei! Os aquarelistas podem comprar sem erro!

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