Palette Series: Kuretake - Gansai Tambi

Shout out to my friend Jaz for sending me this palette around a year ago to try out - I appreciate you.

"Japanese traditional paint for professional artists and crafters. It can be used as a gouache, and watered down for use as a watercolor. Ideal for sketch, illustration and more!"

In Japanese there are two different words for water-soluble paints, differentiating between Western (水彩) and gansai (顔彩) paints. The difference between the two types of paints if the type of binder that is being used, while Western water-soluble paints contain gum arabic; gansai uses glue that is made from concentrated collagen and gelatin extracted from animal skins.

The binder used in gansai is weak compared to other water-soluble paints, therefore also lifting a lot easier, making layering much more difficult.

Most gansai palettes come with hues, ready to use in nature paintings; that being said, traditionally gansai paints aren't meant to be mixed and palettes do not come with mixing palettes.

"The large 48mm x 28mm pan makes it easy to use large, thick brushes and color large surface areas in artwork." Lends itself to be used freely with large brushes and ideal for large washes and surfaces.

When trying this type of paint for the first time, keep an open mind, and understand that they will work differently from paints we are more familiar with.

For more information about pallets, or if you would like to request a commissioned piece, please contact us directly, or view our blog posts on color theory or "Services" tab, respectively.

Happy painting,

Viktoria