Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Paint Set, 36 Colors, Made in Japan

I finally decided to order this beautiful watercolor paint box and I am SO HAPPY that I did. I hesitated to spend as much as they were, but after opening them and using them, I realize they are just as creamy and pigmented as I hoped. When comparing prices on other paint sets, These are worth every penny and actually could sell for much more, so they are truly a great value. Things I love the most...There are 4 metallic paints at the bottom of the set including gold, silver and I believe rose gold, but What I appreciate the most is the pearly white. It is AWESOME for highlighting and really helps to bring your artwork to life. The other colors are beautiful too. They are rich, creamy and there is a great assortment, plus any color not in the set can be mixed to make hundreds of other colors. The green box that the paints come in is definitely a keeper, it is a lovely shade of green, almost like a silk Fabric. The whole set looks elegant and so pretty. This set is sized just perfectly and you can easily slide the slim box into your bag so you can take them with you anywhere on the go Lightning fast shipping and all of my paints where whole with no breaking in shipment. In summary, a great purchase and meets all my expectations. I highly recommend these with no hesitation. I consider these my new favorite watercolor paints.

This is a great set of watercolors. Lots of colors. Would buy again

I love the colors they're very pigmented. My only reason for 4 star is that when my set came in 13 of the 36 colors were cracked/severely cracked and two of the colors were chipped to where i had to delicately pair the chips with the correct color. Seeing that they are watercolors im not too worried about it, they will go back together with time. It is a little disheartening though, spending 50$ on a watercolor set and almost 1/2 the colors are cracked or chipped. If this was a gift i'm very sure i wouldn't have even tried to see the quality and would've given the product a much lower rating, seeing that if the colors are this delicate in shipping they would be packaged more carefully than in a thin bubbled package. I would recommend this product regardless of the chipping. The packaging is lovely and the amount of colors and the size of each pan is huge (about 1"x2" in size). The colors are very pigmented, and smooth to work with. Just be wary if you are giving it as a gift since chipping and cracking can occur. Edit: After i finished swatching all the colors, i couldn't give this set a 4 star regardless of the condition. I fell in love again. The white is opaque (from what i have tested, we'll see what happens when i use it in paintings), the black is the most opaque black i've gotten from a pan set, and the iridescent colors are amazing and very smooth and buttery. A must have, if you are buying this for a friend as a gift, and they can't get over a little cracked paint then they'll miss out on a wonderful set of watercolors. Edit [12.5.15]: Nearly a year later and i'm still loving this set. I have decided to post up some paintings I have done recently to show you the quality and opacity these paints can have. I will also post a "rough" translation of the color names, some of which I have no clue/couldn't find a translation that made sense on various translators. Edit [11/1/2016]: I found my translated list sorry for the wait!! Please note this is what I was able to come up with, with my minimal knowledge of basic japanese, if you have a more accurate translation please post! No. 32 : Beni べに・紅 [Crimson] No. 34 : Youbeni ようべに・洋紅 [Carmine] No. 35 : Koubai こうばい・紅梅 [Hongmei? Red Plum] No. 36 : Enji えんじ・臙脂 [Rouge] No. 30 : Akashu あかしゅ・赤朱 [Red Vermilion] No. 31 : Shu しゅ・朱 [Vermilion] No. 33 : Daidai だいだい・橙 [Orange] No. 44: Oudo おうど・黄土 [Ochre] No. 43 : Yamabuki やまぶき・山吹 [Bright Yellow] No. 42 : Touou とうおう・籐黄 [Cambogia/Gamboge?] No. 40 : Ki き・黄 [Yellow] No. 54 : Uguisuroku うぐいすろく・鶯緑 [Green Nightingale?] Looks like Olive Green No. 51 : Wakakusu わかくさ・若草 [Little Women?] Looks like a Yellow Green No. 53 : Kigusa きぐさ・黄草 [Kikusa/Yellow Grass] Looks like a Bright Olive Green No. 52 : Aokusa あおくさ・青草 [Grass] No. 58 : Yomogi よもぎ・蓬 [Wormwood] No. 55 : Rokusho ろくしょう・緑青 [Patina] No. 56 : Nouryoku のうりょく・濃緑 [Dark Green] No. 57 : Gunroku ぐんろく・群緑 [Gun Green?] Looks like a Phthalo green No. 50 : Byakuroku びゃくろく・百緑 [100 Green?] Looks like Turquoise? No. 61 : Byakugun びゃくぐん・百群 [100 Group?] Looks like a Sky Blue No. 64 : Gunjou ぐんじょう・群青 [Ultramarine] No. 63 : Mizu みず・水 [Water] Similar to a Cobalt Blue No. 62 : Asagi あさぎ・浅葱 [Asagi/LightOnion?] Similar to a Phthalo Blue? No. 66 : Biai びあい・美藍 [US Blue?] Like a Navy Blue No. 67 : Ai あい・藍 [Blue] No. 38 : Aomurasaki あおむらさき・青紫 [Bruising/ Blue Purple] No. 139 : Murasaki むらさき・紫 [Purple] No. 37 : Botan ぼたん・牡丹 [Peony] Looks like Magenta/Red Violet No. 46 : Taisha たいしゃ・岱謝 [Metabolism] Similar to a Raw Sienna No. 47 : Kogecha こげちゃ・焦茶 [Dark Brown] Similar to Raw Umber No. 20 : Kuro くろ・黒 [Black] No. 10 : Shiro しろ・白 [White] No. 95 : Gin ぎん・銀 [Silver] No. 91 : Aokin あおきん・青金 [Blue Gold] No. 90 : Kin きん・金 [Gold]

So I just received this package in the mail. My paints were not broken. While I am not a world reknowned artist I have used water color/pen ink/ pencil as my main mediums for over 20 years. Enough to be intuitive with the different feel of flows each medium offers. Pros: Great for painting things like anime/illustrations/stamping Richly pigmented I was so impressed. People Aren't lying when they said these are buttery. Review videos show colors that look very very very subtley the same. I describe this to be not true. When you get to using them and creating a WASH/test patches you will see some are cooler shades than others. I do enjoy that I do not have to do a a lot of mixing to get the value/range of for example greens that I might want for a vivid spring green valley painting. If I use my winsor water paints I get two greens...(pretty hue's then I have to mix to get a range... and never know if I will be able to remix... then you have to dab the brush.. move it to a palette...water it down test the color you just made... with tiny details this gets maddening with cake/pan water color sets. I do not have that problem with this Kuretake. Questionable: This *Japanese* watercolor set behaves more like a thick ink. I do like that a little dab of water will just saturate your brush in pigment. This also brings up the main point of people saying it looks chalking... I don't think it does look chalk when fully pigmented/applied. If you water it down it can look a little chalky. But again... this ink behaves I find this interesting: they look like transparent water colors... very fluid...but act like a thicker...INK. Its kinda like trying to classify Mercury : with gold silver plantinuunm... mercury just does its own thing... and you have to appreciate for those unique characteristics. These will not behave like the ones we get at Michael's or DickBlicks.

I have decided to switch from my Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch watercolors to these Gansai watercolors. I love both but the difference is definitely quite something. Probably won't be going back to my Sakura's anytime soon though- And I have a LOT of watercolor sets ranging from cheap $5 Korean tube sets, Crayola pans, and to a few Windsor and Newton. Each pan is stamped with a number and the color name in Japanese on the bottom so they're easy to remove and add back. I wish that they were translated though. I could only make out basic kanji characters like "crimson", "grass", "peony", etc. The best part about these watercolors is that they're so vibrant and smooth. With little water, they're almost like gouache paints. I was surprised to see three metallic paints as well and they're beautiful by themselves or to add accents. Swatching all the paints was fun and yet crucial because the colors do not look like the pans. A lot of the darker colors in blue or purples definitely surprised me with how light they really are. I do wish that there were actually "peach" or skin tone colors because I tend to paint a lot of people subjects and it's a pain to mix up new skin tones every time. I received mine in two days through Prime in 40 degrees weather and they came smooth and not cracked. But after a few hours after unwrapping them and letting them sit, barely visible cracks appeared on the cakes. I'm assuming it has to do something with the moisture content and temperature.

As always with Prime item came on time and in one piece. Colors are highly pigmented and can be as opaque as a guache or as transparent as a traditional water color wash. But on that note these are NOT traditional Western water colors like a White nights or Cottman. They are a traditional Gansai medium where colors are meant to be used direct and washed down to get desired hue and transparency and are not meant to be mixed. Layering will take some practice as bottom layers will reactivate and mix if not carefull but if there is a mistake they lift very easy. Also with some colors when used direct and bold may leave a light shine to the dried paint. This is due to the additives used. Where traditional water paints use a gum Arabic which dissolves almost entirely leaving just the pigment. Gansai are mix with a glue like gelatin which doesn't entirely dissolve. So if you were watching YouTube and seeing some of these amazing water color artist and decided to try out a new medium these are not for you but if you like water colors and like the more opaque look give them a try. But they will have a slight learning curve. That said the quality and colors are on point, highly pigmented and beautiful colors. A little pigment goes a long way. As for the size of the pans. They are as wide as they are so you can use a traditional Japanese caligraphy brush and not damage the hairs. Overall I really like these paints. like I said beautiful bold highly pigmented and buttery smoth. Also 36 high quality paints for around 30 us dollars can not be beat. Beautiful packaging but one down fall "if you're a noob like me" dose not come with a pallet. So have one handy or oder one with your paints. Overall I really love these paints. And highly recommend if you're willing to try something different.

I had some concerns after reading some of the reviews stating that their pans arrived with cracked watercolor and/or poor packaging. Now, broken pan watercolor is not too terrible and can be easily remedied. But if many were arriving this way, I tend to believe that such a company MAY not be concerned about quality either. However, I was rather surprised and delighted to see that the company had changed their packaging, and now they include a heavy plastic insert that covers the pans inside the box to prevent movement. What did this mean to me? It told me that the company listened to reviewers AND cared! So, they shot straight to the top before I even wet my paintbrush. Now, the watercolor. I purchased the 36-pan set and am fairly pleased with the colors included (not all my go-to's...but this wasn't a set of 60!). The quality: The colors vary in this category, but most lay down buttery smooth. I haven't had them for long and haven't performed my 'Translucency Test' on each color yet (drawing a black line with a waterproof marker, then painting over it with each color to see if I can see the line fairly clearly through the paint (translucent), or if it obscures the line (opaque). They also mix well with each other, to create more colors...which is as expected. I can reactivate them with a bit of water after they've dried on my palette without any problems (they aren't grainy)...which means less waste for me. Lightfastedness: I'm sorry to say that I can't recall what the box said (and I'm unable to go look at the moment)...but I can say that I probably wouldn't be able to read it, as nothing is in English. I'll have to Google that concern. And...that's it for me. I'm not a professional watercolor artist. I use these for crafting cards and painting whenever the mood strikes, as it's so calming. My photo shows a 'rainbow' background for a shaker card I'm currently making. Hope this review was helpful.

I love the color options. This set is the best one I have bought when it comes to value for money. I’m a beginner with watercolor so I didn’t want to spend crazy money on something that I would end up disliking. I didn’t need anything super fancy, I just wanted watercolor paint that actually stuck to the brush and not cheap to where you apply water and touch paint but nothing happens. This set was the first one I’ve had that wasn’t stubborn. It flowed the way you would want it to. Love the saturation capabilities, you can layer as you please. It even has boxes you can paint on, on the cover, where you can apply the colors for reference. Now I’m practicing to get better at watercolor with so much ease. It’s already a challenge to learn a new skill, and the past sets I’ve gotten made it impossible to actually learn the right techniques to watercolor because the paint was bad quality and I couldn’t work with it. So, it’s nice that this set is competent enough to make for a decent experience and an easier journey for a beginner. Really excited to finally progress!

I purchased this set after watching a comparison of it with other high end brands. I love it so much! The colours blend easily and the set really has everything you could want. Very high pigment, so I'm able to make deep or dark colours really pop. Great value!! The only thing I would change is that instead of being in a box, it would be a tin so I could use the lid as a mixing tray. But really, this set is fantastic. Big pans, too! Great if you use big brushes.

Really lovely paints and very vibrant colours. Would recommend them and I had them recommended to me.

Very nice

Muy feliz de haber tomado el riesgo a pesar de los comentarios en contra de este articulo, llegaron tiempo después del estimado pero por problemas en aduana al requerir cierta papelería básica de identificación del comprador y del producto (nada del otro mundo), solo en lo que se tardaron en resolver en aduana y liberar el producto fue el tiempo de retraso del paquete (al rededor de 4 días hábiles en este caso especifico). Excelente producto! Encantada con la textura de estas acuarelas, valió la pena la espera!, colores muy intensos y variados, las cantidades de pastilla es muy considerable cada una viene separada del estuche completo eso te permite escoger solo los tonos a usar ya que el tamaño del estuche si es muy grande, también el tamaño de cada pastilla es muy bueno porque puedes utilizar un pincel ancho dentro de la misma sin problema, recomiendo ver vídeos del producto para terminar de convencerte y comprarlas!

Great selection of colours and really nice quality paints. I would recommend this palette to anyone looking to start doing watercolour painting, especially since you get great value for the number of colours and amount of paint in the pans