I am a gouache artist, and I started out with the himi set in 2020. The lightfastness isn’t great with some of the colours, but they are really nice for practicing and gifts. I wouldn’t use them for commissions though, but they’ve lasted me a long time and I still have heaps of paint left. I haven’t had any issues with mould either, considering I haven’t used them in a little over a year
It's funny you mentioned mold on this gouache palette. A friend of mine bought it for the start of the school year, and there's already mold growing lol. I mean, she leaves the palette in her art classroom, and uses it in class, so maybe there was some cross contamination with another palette, but nobody leaves their paints next to a stranger's, so I'm not sure how it started growing.
@@clownsnail6837could be the water used tbh. Pre-boiled or distilled water seems to be the get go to keep these guys from moulding. And yep. As you said. If she left them in the classroom, someone could’ve used them and contaminated it with something.
I opened my set for the first time in maybe a year and a half to two. One of the cups had awwwful mold. Sadly I threw that one away and just rehydrated the palette this morning. I’m very excited to start up again :)
I love how your portrait came out, please keep doing LOTR paintings 😍This is a great review of these paints and answered all the questions I had about them. Thank you for sharing!
As a no-one, as far as I see it, these behave more on the watercolor part of the spectrum than the acrylic end of the spectrum. Which can be appealing to watercolor artists trying new mediums. Not that I count, I am looking for an oil paints replacement. Still, would consider.
I started with these and loved them...until I used a winsor and Newton tube. The difference in the opacity and how it looked dry were obvious enough for me to start phasing out the Himi. I haven't touched them in 2 years or more. They gave me confidence to just paint and paint but how they handle is frustrating. There was a real thing on YT with vlogs with HIMI sets and the lookbof them is very desirable. Your video is the 1st I've seen on them for a very long time. And they do drybout quite quickly and they can go mouldy. Hard to keep clean and bulky to store. I use one of the clear pallete boxes that u showed and I just keep it topped up. Wonderful portrait 👌 🎉🎉
Thank you Liza! Going from Himi to W&N must be a nicer transition than W&N to Himi 😂 The painting experience was pretty frustrating, I almost scrapped this video! They are better than I thought they would be though, I may still use them for little color studies! Have you ever tried adding Winsor and Newton watercolor blending medium to your paints in the clear palette box? I've found that adding a few drops keeps the paints wet and fresh ❤️🎨
I just got these paints not long ago. I really like them for practice only. I don't see them as something professional but as a way to practice the medium. I understand though with them not being super opaque. Also I just love your art, Emily! You really are awesome! I am really trying to start a UA-cam channel this year but I don't know anything about videos or editing. Thank you for just being you!
They are great for practicing! I can see myself using them in the planning stages of a piece, for quick color studies, before doing a full gouache or oil painting. Thank you so much for your support and kind words Alexia! 💖 I went into making videos knowing very little about filming and editing. It's been a major learning process, but it is one of those things that is best learned from doing! My best advice would be to just start, and learn as you go! Your first videos don't have to be good, just make and post them anyways, and you'll eventually find your rhythm! 😊
Thank you for your honest opinion! I’ve been using these for months on and off, and while they were fun at first, it’s such a hassle to come back to them. They do tend to dry out, and what has helped me is using distilled water (to prevent mold) to reactivate them and bring life back to them. They reactivate well, but that means spending like 30 minutes to an hour adding water and mixing the paint to bring them back to life. It can be a huge hassle especially when you don’t have the time, and then by the time you’re done, the motivation to paint has left lol. I’m going to take your advice and get some primary colors from Windsor and Newton. Thank you for doing this review! 😊
i know you’ve done a portrait tutorial before but you should do a more in depth face tutorial and how to capture a persons likeness . loved both of the guache studies, these paints are definitely one of my favorites
I forget how cheap winsor and newton paints are here (uk) compared to overseas. a tube of winsor gouache here is about £4, or the equivalent of $5. My absolute favourite gouache though has to be schminche, but it's so pricey im building my collection up slowly. totally worth it in my opinion just because its a joy to work with and makes me happy.
You lucky duck! It seems like everything is more expensive in Canada 😆 The way you feel about Schmincke is how I feel about my Holbein gouache! Building my collection super slowly haha
Just to share... I also bought these and OH MY they last forever!!! They do not get moldy and I left mine for 3 months without using them. They are thick but dilute easily. Totally opacque. I am really trying to use them up as I also ordered the big set of 56 (?) colours so ???? They do dry up but water brings them back. The negative is perhaps they are not the best quality but they are fine for painting and practicing and have so much paint around.
You know I bought these Himi gouache 18 but I was not impressed. I had never used gouache before this, and kept thinking it was me and my lack of skills. I was getting so frustrated and losing confidence. Then I bought mini tubes of primary Holbein gouache ( oh my 😍😍) and then realized it wasn’t me it was the Himi. 😛 My set gets super crack- dry but very easy to rewet, no issues. I live in the PNW in the US and I have not faced any mold issues.
I can definitely see these paints turning a lot of people off of gouache for this reason! I'm so glad you tried Holbein! 😆❤️ That's good to know about the mold! I don't think mold will be much of a problem for me here in Ontario either.
I got these paints about a year ago because I wanted to try doing some more traditional painting. I've been pretty much digital only for like 15 years now. I enjoyed using them, definitely knew they weren't high quality, but as you said, that's sort of a plus when you're just mucking around and practicing. Haven't really done nearly enough with them in that time, but they aren't really drying out yet. So you probably will get a few years out of them.
its always better to nuetraize colors with a complement opposed to a gray. the gray muds your color. the complement lowers the intensity without sacrificing the intended hue
If you put plastic wrap, press and seal or a silicone mat over the paint before the lid it helps keep them moist. I just try remembering to spay mine every couple weeks so the stay soft
@@emhuesartnot the original commenter, but in my experience, no. I’ve had my set for over two years now, still have some paint left but no mold at all!
I’m mostly coming from watercolors so hearing that these Jelly Gouache seem to behave a bit more similar to that- needs to be built up etc. It hopefully won’t pose as an off putting issue for me. I decided to buy a 24color set of these at a discount. So very cheap indeed. I’m intending to do mixed media, mostly in watercolor sketch books or pieces that aren’t intended to be sold. It is my first contact with Gouache as a medium, except for white gouache. I’m curious about the medium, and wanted something more opaque than my watercolors. Something which can be built up with more layers than what you realistically can with watercolors. You only have so many layers with watercolor before it gets overworked & dulled. I am definitely excited about getting my set, to be able to begin playing around with ❤ I do know you usually get what you pay for, with paints, papers and brushes, but I do find myself hesitant to use my expensive stuff for experimentation purposes. Not wanting to “waste” my pigments, for sketch books no one but me will see 😂 So I decided. Yep. You get the cheap stuff this time! So you’ll actually USE It without feeling remorse lmao 😅
I've been eyeing these for forever...! Opening them really does look like a struggle 😂 and now here I am, instead wanting the Turner gouaches because of that white swatch and your overall thoughts! Beautiful sketches, especially Aragorn with that warm light.
or for people who just like to paint. dont get focused on whether they are gouache or not, just get a feel for the medium and use it how they work for you. I like exploring new media and new products in the same media because I continue to learn new techniques to work with them.
I didn't realise they had a use by date, I will have to pull mine out again and start using them up. This is a great review, thank you for your honest and open opinion. ❤❤❤
I have had Himi gouache set for like close to 5 years, I think. So to comment about shelf-life, I have had no problem. I even had one color unopened for the whole time I have had this set. When I opened up, it had little bit of yellow binder on top, but I stirred it and it is good to go. Mine have dried fully to pans, and it took some time to rewet them, but they do work even if they dry up.
Got these for Christmas and had the hardest time opening them. Then I had to mix a bunch of them because of the separation. First time using gouache so I don’t have a comparison. They are fun to look at and easy to use. But I am not a professional.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had trouble opening them 😅 They are super pretty and fun to use. The quality isn't the best, but fair for the price!
Omygod this totally takes me back to when I took an art class in hs, and we were working with gouache and I was SO FRUSTRATED. It kept looking super thin and watery and what you said about how they can't layer and get them to look nice and opaque was EXACTLY like how it was looking like. I'm not a painter so I thought it was because of my skill but IT WAS THE PAINT. AGH. That lesson literally never made me want to try gouache ever again but now I know it wasn't my fault 😭 I have to buy those tuner paints now omg, I need to know what gouache is actually supposed to paint like!!
Yes!! It can be so hard to learn when our mediums are working against us 😅 I hope you can give gouache another try, it really is such a great medium! I can't recommend Turner enough for their quality+ affordability!
I understand that UA-camr Sarah Burns, who does a lot of gouache work and has become very popular for her gouache landscapes, recommends Arteza tube gouache for beginning gouache artists who want an affordable but better than Himi experience...plus I think Arteza lists pigments used in each color. This is still student grade, but better for those who want to get closer to how professional gouache performs but have a limited budget. Winsor and Newton has come out with a student grade of gouache and it's sold at Michael's stores (US) and other online sites at $19.99 for ten 12ml tubes. I have no experience with it, but love their artist grade Designer's gouache.
she also ranked meeden gouache over arteza! Meeden is like under 20CAD where as arteza is ~70CAD. I got himi gouache first but also just bought the 6 tube winsor newton designer gouache set when michaels has 40% discount sales. It's really night and day I can no longer use the himi now :( I got lazy mixing so just used some himi for layering, it did not go well the himi has almost no opacity
Emily I had a question for you 🦋 I am working on miniature heads. Like 17 heads a page kinda small so how would we gouache paint miniatures ? I know this is a weird question but I am so curious to see how you would gouache paint miniatures
oddly enough, I had the opposite experience. Compared to my oils and digital, I struggle to make these blend properly and make the high finish look, and I had to learn how to loosen up and let the brush strokes remain visible and lean on them that being said, that was exactly why I got these paints, so it is not a con in my eyes
I think jelly gouache is a great paint for fun, enrichment & learning. I wouldn't use it for anything I was selling, but digital prints can be made for pieces that you really like and want to sell. I recently bought the Himi pastel set...the colors are so soft and pretty.
I'm so excited for you! Holbein gouache is the absolute best I've tried. I'm sure you'll enjoy playing and experimenting with the Himi set as well! Happy painting! 💖
Daler Rowney do a good gouache, but Windsor & Newton are my favourite just because of the high pigment content. Not cheap here in the UK, but really good quality.
I have this exact set. I picked it up because a couple years ago many artists I followed on UA-cam were reviewing it and creating absolutely stunning pieces. I bought it to try Gouache and it was very affordable. I could not produce the same look in my art. The major downside is the paints got contaminated with each other and very messy. They also started drying up quickly because the lid isn't air tight. I feel like I wasted my money and have stuck with acrylics for now. I'm situated in Ontario so I've definitely been considering ordering from Above Ground to try Turners however!
I'm still trying to figure out this palette myself but as far as the packaging, i like to just put down an extra layer of plastic wrap before the lid so it stays more airtight!
These are really fun to use when they are fresh. However, in my experience, the lid does not provide a sufficient seal at all, and the paint will dry out. Reactivating it is possible, but it takes more elbow grease than what I felt it was worth.
I LOOOOVE the Aragorn painting and the way you captured the lighting is just perfect! I've actually been rereading the LOTR series and I'm planning on watching the movies again soon.
Thank you so much! I've been wanting to paint Aragorn for the longest time! I LOVE the book series, and I think I'm ready for another LOTR movie marathon too! 😆
The more I use them, the more I do think they are great for learning! I like to use them for quick paintings in my sketchbook 😄 It is good to keep in mind that they have differences from traditional gouache, which have real pigments and less binder. Thanks for watching!
The white in the Himi is a mixing white i think ( aka Chinese white) hence it doesn’t layer so opaquely. You did an awesome job but I do think conversely this is not beginner friendly when we are still trying to learn water control and might have the best brushes. I know I got lost. got back track and on the right learning curve with Holbein and WN.( and other artists/designer gouache)
😀I just ordered this brand of Gouache because I am new to the medium so it is nice to know how they differ from more traditional brands. I come from using water color so if they are more transparent then what is to be expected from Gouache then that's ok with me, I'm getting them to really experiment with and see. Though thanks so much for these awesome videos.
I have a Himi set 2 years ago. After 1 year it's not dried. After 2 years it dries. Put water in it and it activates again. It is cheap and is used by many Chinese students for practicing.
This brand is the only gouache locally available in my country and to get other brand would be either hard or expensive. I never used other brand but I understand your frustrations 😅 I learn to work with this brand's flaw, if I want to layer I usually try to make my paint higher in chroma and value to get the exact color I want. And I mist my gouache every other couple days or week, depends on the weather, to keep them moist. Make sure to mist it when it gets a little bit dry to avoid mold. Personally, I've never had an issue with mold yet even after I mist it quite heavily.
I struggle a lot with the traditional gouache, think i have to learn a little bit more… i love the holbein acryla, and i am thinking of getting this himi paints just to experiment and play, to take on travels.
I appreciate the sincerity in the video! Ive seen many reviews and many say how amazing they are as if they were payed to say only good things so I didnt know what to believe at this point(probably this ha00ens with every art supply tho) and im not gonna touch these :D
I'm the other way around. My first gouache was Daler Rowney Designer's Gouache then segued to Holbein. Both were wonderful but I really didn't want to use them for some of my light journaling which was why I got the Himi Miya set. Haven't really regretted that decision. It's a nice paint for what it is and I've heard some say it reminded them of poster paints but I haven't used those so I'm not sure about it. Let me sneak to a different brand now. Just wanted to ask if you've tried Shinhan Professional Gouache paints before? I personally love it. I opted on going for a limited palette and pretty happy with it so far. Please do try it as it does boast a good number of lightfast pigments and are honestly quite lovely.
I started off my first experience with gouache with the himi set back when it first started becoming popular before covid. (Maybe like 2019-2020) I still have the same set today but let me tell you after trying it it completely turned me off to gouache because I thought it would all be similar to the himi. I like watercolors for the mix ability and blends and I love acrylic for the layering ability so I thought this was a good first investment to gouache. I completely agree with you for recommending it - it’s not great as a “typical” gouache if that’s what you’re wanting. It’s like its own medium. I found it to be more confusing than anything and the layering is what made it terrible for me. Tried to pick it back up a few months back and I would just rather use a different medium (I’m aware it’s old though)
Ah yes, lotr. My favorite triglogy to this day, I remember going to the movies when they came out, having to wait between them. That portrait is stunning! I have been on the fence of getting the himi to fool around in sketchbooks, but so far, my rational brain has kept me from buying it.
I think my jaw would've dropped watching Lotr in theatres! I really want to reread the trilogy, even though I just read them last year 😂 It's been long enough, right? Thank you so much! This portrait felt like a fight from beginning to end haha. I don't know if I would have ever bought this set if I didn't want to try them out for a UA-cam video. I'm glad I did though! I think I'll have some fun with them in my sketchbook 💖
I tried these jelly gouache paints before trying any other gouache and I think they're pretty good. Probably wouldn't say the same if I tried them the other way round though 😂
beautiful portrait of Aragorn 🥰 I am trying to get back into painting and you truly inspire me! A few years ago i really enjoyed the Schmincke Akademie gouache. I am not sure about the availability, but they are quite big in Germany :)
the first set i tried was arteza, i thought it was nice so i bought a small set of winsor and newton with 6 colors. I used them together for a bit and ended up selling my arteza gouache. later bought a himi set! i like the palette, im thinking if i should get a palette to put some of my w&n paint in it, i like the painting experience the palette gives me :)
hiii, can you let me know whether you think the royal talens art creation sketchbook is good for gouache, im new to gouache soo i just would like more of a detailed opinion, and is the sketchbook nice for markers? if its not great for gouache do you have any other recommendations?? i love your videos so much, you're incredibly talented !!!
I was thinking about this paints from HIMI if they whether would be suitable for starting to learn gouache painting. I am very curious about this technique especially when I started watching your channel. So Thank you for your real opinion. I really like both of your pictures. And i completely understand this requirement to check the paints will be good for painting portraits. I have the same way when I want to buy new paints from different brand😅
I haven't tried the Talens gouache, but they seem to be great for the price! Also, the fact that they have lids means they won't dry out as fast as these! 💛
They will eventually dry out, but they can always be revived and made fully useable again. There are a lot of videos on UA-cam about how to revive dried out himi gouache. And there are some people, like the Frugal Crafter, who prefer to use them dried out with a wet brush, the way you would use paint pans.
the thing that made me go for himi as a beginner was the pre mixed paints i also have talens (not the student grade ones ) the 5 tubes in a paper box and i was struggeling with mixing ,i am not ready for that yet .
That makes sense! I could see this set being good for that, getting used to creating images with paint, without worrying about color mixing! If you want to learn color mixing, I suggest using your Talens set and doing some simple color wheels. You can start with the primaries straight from the tube (red, blue, and yellow) and then mix the secondary colors between them using a 50/50 mix. Happy painting! ❤️
Hi! Awesome video!! I don't know if you remember, but I once did a study of that cute dog you made using this exact type of gouache! It was a lot of fun, using these for the first time and I had a great result :) . The perfect gouache for beginners :D
@@emhuesart I have the Magicfly jelly gouache set and they say "self-life 6 months opened, 18 months unopened". Idk what HIMI says (I have them too but they're at the bottom of my storage pile) but yours looked stiffer/drier than usual. 🤔 (BTW, Magicfly lists pigments and lightfastness though how much to trust them is another thing altogether) (( and yes, my Magicflys are significantly older than either of those times 😅 ))
I totally love your style and learn so much from you! Tq! May I ask how you get your wash so wet with such good coverage? When I do a wash with a square 16 brush I run out of water multiple times and it gets streaky with varying shades.
Thank you so much! I've found that it really depends on the brush. I've used some flat wash brushes that just don't hold a lot of water and paint (I found the himi brushes were like this). If you can find a synthetic flat brush that carries paint nicely, treasure it and buy more of them! 😆 I have synthetic brushes from a Toronto art store called Above ground, that are fantastic for smooth washes (they have orange handles), I also enjoy Etchr's gouache brushes! Another thing I do to make sure the brush has enough water and paint is to brush it on my palette a few times before going on the paper. I usually flip my brush a few times to make sure it's even and full. Don't just dip the brush in the color and then go straight to the paper. I hope that helps!! ❤️
@@emhuesartthank you for responding! I’m enjoying your videos so much. I’ve learned a lot about gouache in a short time. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi there! My shop is currently closed as I've been working on other projects. The pins actually sold out and I don't think we'll have any more anytime soon, unfortunately 🥺 I am hoping to open the store soon with prints and stickers though! 💕 Thank you so much for your interest!
That's really interesting! I wonder why 🤔 I recently read that you can mix a bit of alcohol into the paints to keep them from getting moldy! Now I need to go check mine haha
I struggled with the Schmincke Akademie gouache for two years… then I saw Sarah burns didn’t even like them so I just bought the primaries recently in professional grade paint and I’m FINALLY not struggling anymore🙈 I really just spent the last two years thinking I was bad at gouache🤡 but I’m not upset about it because I did get some good practice in and I’m overjoyed now that I’m actually seeing improvement in my work🤩
Ohhhh 'binder' that's what it's called! I was calling it paint juice 🤣
Oh my god if I’d heard anyone call binder ‘paint juice’ I’d be so concerned! 😂 I’m definitely going to start calling it that though hahahahah
that's hilarious!!
I am a gouache artist, and I started out with the himi set in 2020. The lightfastness isn’t great with some of the colours, but they are really nice for practicing and gifts. I wouldn’t use them for commissions though, but they’ve lasted me a long time and I still have heaps of paint left. I haven’t had any issues with mould either, considering I haven’t used them in a little over a year
It's funny you mentioned mold on this gouache palette. A friend of mine bought it for the start of the school year, and there's already mold growing lol.
I mean, she leaves the palette in her art classroom, and uses it in class, so maybe there was some cross contamination with another palette, but nobody leaves their paints next to a stranger's, so I'm not sure how it started growing.
@@clownsnail6837could be the water used tbh. Pre-boiled or distilled water seems to be the get go to keep these guys from moulding. And yep. As you said. If she left them in the classroom, someone could’ve used them and contaminated it with something.
I opened my set for the first time in maybe a year and a half to two. One of the cups had awwwful mold. Sadly I threw that one away and just rehydrated the palette this morning. I’m very excited to start up again :)
I love how your portrait came out, please keep doing LOTR paintings 😍This is a great review of these paints and answered all the questions I had about them. Thank you for sharing!
As a no-one, as far as I see it, these behave more on the watercolor part of the spectrum than the acrylic end of the spectrum. Which can be appealing to watercolor artists trying new mediums. Not that I count, I am looking for an oil paints replacement. Still, would consider.
I started with these and loved them...until I used a winsor and Newton tube. The difference in the opacity and how it looked dry were obvious enough for me to start phasing out the Himi. I haven't touched them in 2 years or more. They gave me confidence to just paint and paint but how they handle is frustrating. There was a real thing on YT with vlogs with HIMI sets and the lookbof them is very desirable. Your video is the 1st I've seen on them for a very long time. And they do drybout quite quickly and they can go mouldy. Hard to keep clean and bulky to store.
I use one of the clear pallete boxes that u showed and I just keep it topped up.
Wonderful portrait 👌 🎉🎉
Thank you Liza! Going from Himi to W&N must be a nicer transition than W&N to Himi 😂 The painting experience was pretty frustrating, I almost scrapped this video! They are better than I thought they would be though, I may still use them for little color studies! Have you ever tried adding Winsor and Newton watercolor blending medium to your paints in the clear palette box? I've found that adding a few drops keeps the paints wet and fresh ❤️🎨
I just got these paints not long ago. I really like them for practice only. I don't see them as something professional but as a way to practice the medium. I understand though with them not being super opaque. Also I just love your art, Emily! You really are awesome! I am really trying to start a UA-cam channel this year but I don't know anything about videos or editing. Thank you for just being you!
They are great for practicing! I can see myself using them in the planning stages of a piece, for quick color studies, before doing a full gouache or oil painting. Thank you so much for your support and kind words Alexia! 💖 I went into making videos knowing very little about filming and editing. It's been a major learning process, but it is one of those things that is best learned from doing! My best advice would be to just start, and learn as you go! Your first videos don't have to be good, just make and post them anyways, and you'll eventually find your rhythm! 😊
Thank you for your honest opinion! I’ve been using these for months on and off, and while they were fun at first, it’s such a hassle to come back to them. They do tend to dry out, and what has helped me is using distilled water (to prevent mold) to reactivate them and bring life back to them. They reactivate well, but that means spending like 30 minutes to an hour adding water and mixing the paint to bring them back to life. It can be a huge hassle especially when you don’t have the time, and then by the time you’re done, the motivation to paint has left lol. I’m going to take your advice and get some primary colors from Windsor and Newton. Thank you for doing this review! 😊
i know you’ve done a portrait tutorial before but you should do a more in depth face tutorial and how to capture a persons likeness . loved both of the guache studies, these paints are definitely one of my favorites
Noted! That is great idea! Likeness isn't always the goal of my portraits, but I do think it's a great thing to learn how to do 😊
the chokehold that aragorn has had on me for decades… i clicked as soon as i saw the thumbnail
I'm right there with you! 😂
I forget how cheap winsor and newton paints are here (uk) compared to overseas. a tube of winsor gouache here is about £4, or the equivalent of $5. My absolute favourite gouache though has to be schminche, but it's so pricey im building my collection up slowly. totally worth it in my opinion just because its a joy to work with and makes me happy.
You lucky duck! It seems like everything is more expensive in Canada 😆 The way you feel about Schmincke is how I feel about my Holbein gouache! Building my collection super slowly haha
This is not that old but where I live winsor and newton is expensive especially the sets its crazy. (I'm a filipina living in qatar)
Oh gosh. I'm pretty sure my Himi's have been sitting on the self longer than the 36 months and i haven't opened them yet 😆
Perhaps it means 3 years after opening.
I’m Chinese and most art students there love Miya, I live abroad now but I always go for an art supply haul and fill up my suitcase when I visit.😂
Just to share... I also bought these and OH MY they last forever!!! They do not get moldy and I left mine for 3 months without using them. They are thick but dilute easily. Totally opacque. I am really trying to use them up as I also ordered the big set of 56 (?) colours so ???? They do dry up but water brings them back. The negative is perhaps they are not the best quality but they are fine for painting and practicing and have so much paint around.
You know I bought these Himi gouache 18 but I was not impressed. I had never used gouache before this, and kept thinking it was me and my lack of skills. I was getting so frustrated and losing confidence.
Then I bought mini tubes of primary Holbein gouache ( oh my 😍😍) and then realized it wasn’t me it was the Himi. 😛
My set gets super crack- dry but very easy to rewet, no issues. I live in the PNW in the US and I have not faced any mold issues.
I can definitely see these paints turning a lot of people off of gouache for this reason! I'm so glad you tried Holbein! 😆❤️ That's good to know about the mold! I don't think mold will be much of a problem for me here in Ontario either.
Can’t deny it, they are the cutest paints 🥹
They really are!
I got these paints about a year ago because I wanted to try doing some more traditional painting. I've been pretty much digital only for like 15 years now.
I enjoyed using them, definitely knew they weren't high quality, but as you said, that's sort of a plus when you're just mucking around and practicing. Haven't really done nearly enough with them in that time, but they aren't really drying out yet. So you probably will get a few years out of them.
its always better to nuetraize colors with a complement opposed to a gray. the gray muds your color. the complement lowers the intensity without sacrificing the intended hue
You're absolutely right! 🙌
If you put plastic wrap, press and seal or a silicone mat over the paint before the lid it helps keep them moist. I just try remembering to spay mine every couple weeks so the stay soft
This is a great tip! Have you ever had any issues with mold? That's a fear I have with these 😅
@@emhuesartnot the original commenter, but in my experience, no. I’ve had my set for over two years now, still have some paint left but no mold at all!
This is a great video review for HIMI and I totally agree with all her points. Thank you Emily Hughes for a wonderful delivery.
You are so welcome. Thanks for watching!
I’m mostly coming from watercolors so hearing that these Jelly Gouache seem to behave a bit more similar to that- needs to be built up etc. It hopefully won’t pose as an off putting issue for me. I decided to buy a 24color set of these at a discount. So very cheap indeed. I’m intending to do mixed media, mostly in watercolor sketch books or pieces that aren’t intended to be sold. It is my first contact with Gouache as a medium, except for white gouache. I’m curious about the medium, and wanted something more opaque than my watercolors. Something which can be built up with more layers than what you realistically can with watercolors. You only have so many layers with watercolor before it gets overworked & dulled.
I am definitely excited about getting my set, to be able to begin playing around with ❤ I do know you usually get what you pay for, with paints, papers and brushes, but I do find myself hesitant to use my expensive stuff for experimentation purposes. Not wanting to “waste” my pigments, for sketch books no one but me will see 😂 So I decided. Yep. You get the cheap stuff this time! So you’ll actually USE It without feeling remorse lmao 😅
I've been eyeing these for forever...! Opening them really does look like a struggle 😂 and now here I am, instead wanting the Turner gouaches because of that white swatch and your overall thoughts! Beautiful sketches, especially Aragorn with that warm light.
or for people who just like to paint. dont get focused on whether they are gouache or not, just get a feel for the medium and use it how they work for you. I like exploring new media and new products in the same media because I continue to learn new techniques to work with them.
I didn't realise they had a use by date, I will have to pull mine out again and start using them up. This is a great review, thank you for your honest and open opinion. ❤❤❤
I have had Himi gouache set for like close to 5 years, I think. So to comment about shelf-life, I have had no problem. I even had one color unopened for the whole time I have had this set. When I opened up, it had little bit of yellow binder on top, but I stirred it and it is good to go. Mine have dried fully to pans, and it took some time to rewet them, but they do work even if they dry up.
That is great to know! Thank you for sharing 😊
I'm obsessed with your Aragorn painting!! 😍
Thank you so much!! 💖
Got these for Christmas and had the hardest time opening them. Then I had to mix a bunch of them because of the separation. First time using gouache so I don’t have a comparison. They are fun to look at and easy to use. But I am not a professional.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had trouble opening them 😅 They are super pretty and fun to use. The quality isn't the best, but fair for the price!
Omygod this totally takes me back to when I took an art class in hs, and we were working with gouache and I was SO FRUSTRATED. It kept looking super thin and watery and what you said about how they can't layer and get them to look nice and opaque was EXACTLY like how it was looking like. I'm not a painter so I thought it was because of my skill but IT WAS THE PAINT. AGH. That lesson literally never made me want to try gouache ever again but now I know it wasn't my fault 😭 I have to buy those tuner paints now omg, I need to know what gouache is actually supposed to paint like!!
Yes!! It can be so hard to learn when our mediums are working against us 😅 I hope you can give gouache another try, it really is such a great medium! I can't recommend Turner enough for their quality+ affordability!
I understand that UA-camr Sarah Burns, who does a lot of gouache work and has become very popular for her gouache landscapes, recommends Arteza tube gouache for beginning gouache artists who want an affordable but better than Himi experience...plus I think Arteza lists pigments used in each color. This is still student grade, but better for those who want to get closer to how professional gouache performs but have a limited budget. Winsor and Newton has come out with a student grade of gouache and it's sold at Michael's stores (US) and other online sites at $19.99 for ten 12ml tubes. I have no experience with it, but love their artist grade Designer's gouache.
she also ranked meeden gouache over arteza! Meeden is like under 20CAD where as arteza is ~70CAD. I got himi gouache first but also just bought the 6 tube winsor newton designer gouache set when michaels has 40% discount sales. It's really night and day I can no longer use the himi now :( I got lazy mixing so just used some himi for layering, it did not go well the himi has almost no opacity
Meeden does a 24 set of tubes about the same price range as this set maybe even cheeper and are said to be pretty good so may be good for learning
Emily I had a question for you 🦋 I am working on miniature heads. Like 17 heads a page kinda small so how would we gouache paint miniatures ? I know this is a weird question but I am so curious to see how you would gouache paint miniatures
A lovely video! As a painter, I really appreciate and enjoy your technical descriptions/ explanations while painting.
Thank you very much! I'm so glad you enjoyed 💖
oddly enough, I had the opposite experience. Compared to my oils and digital, I struggle to make these blend properly and make the high finish look, and I had to learn how to loosen up and let the brush strokes remain visible and lean on them
that being said, that was exactly why I got these paints, so it is not a con in my eyes
I think jelly gouache is a great paint for fun, enrichment & learning. I wouldn't use it for anything I was selling, but digital prints can be made for pieces that you really like and want to sell. I recently bought the Himi pastel set...the colors are so soft and pretty.
This was a great review video! Thank you for sharing
I'm so excited for you! Holbein gouache is the absolute best I've tried. I'm sure you'll enjoy playing and experimenting with the Himi set as well! Happy painting! 💖
I quite like Royal and Langnickel, and I love Shinhan Pass
Daler Rowney do a good gouache, but Windsor & Newton are my favourite just because of the high pigment content. Not cheap here in the UK, but really good quality.
I struggled so much to open mine, lol. I ended up getting tweezers to pop off the lids 😂
I have this exact set. I picked it up because a couple years ago many artists I followed on UA-cam were reviewing it and creating absolutely stunning pieces. I bought it to try Gouache and it was very affordable. I could not produce the same look in my art. The major downside is the paints got contaminated with each other and very messy. They also started drying up quickly because the lid isn't air tight. I feel like I wasted my money and have stuck with acrylics for now. I'm situated in Ontario so I've definitely been considering ordering from Above Ground to try Turners however!
I'm still trying to figure out this palette myself but as far as the packaging, i like to just put down an extra layer of plastic wrap before the lid so it stays more airtight!
These are really fun to use when they are fresh. However, in my experience, the lid does not provide a sufficient seal at all, and the paint will dry out. Reactivating it is possible, but it takes more elbow grease than what I felt it was worth.
I’ve used himi as starter gouache and didn’t like it, switched to Holbein and loved it immediately
I LOOOOVE the Aragorn painting and the way you captured the lighting is just perfect! I've actually been rereading the LOTR series and I'm planning on watching the movies again soon.
Thank you so much! I've been wanting to paint Aragorn for the longest time! I LOVE the book series, and I think I'm ready for another LOTR movie marathon too! 😆
Glad you get the itch to paint LOTR every so often! Great insight into these paints
Thank you! I don't think my LOTR obsession will diminish anytime soon haha
I got these to learn gouache and didn’t know they weren’t really traditional gouache until now 😅 thanks for the video!
The more I use them, the more I do think they are great for learning! I like to use them for quick paintings in my sketchbook 😄 It is good to keep in mind that they have differences from traditional gouache, which have real pigments and less binder. Thanks for watching!
The white in the Himi is a mixing white i think ( aka Chinese white) hence it doesn’t layer so opaquely. You did an awesome job but I do think conversely this is not beginner friendly when we are still trying to learn water control and might have the best brushes. I know I got lost.
got back track and on the right learning curve with Holbein and WN.( and other artists/designer gouache)
😀I just ordered this brand of Gouache because I am new to the medium so it is nice to know how they differ from more traditional brands. I come from using water color so if they are more transparent then what is to be expected from Gouache then that's ok with me, I'm getting them to really experiment with and see. Though thanks so much for these awesome videos.
That's so exciting! I hope you enjoy experimenting with the new medium! 😄
My himi miua guache is literally 3 years now theyre dry out but if you just spray them water its good to go.. i also use them as watercolor.
This is helpful, yes. Thanks for sharing your time! I shall be experimenting in this. God bless.
I have a Himi set 2 years ago. After 1 year it's not dried. After 2 years it dries. Put water in it and it activates again. It is cheap and is used by many Chinese students for practicing.
That's really great to know! It seems like a great set to practice with. You get so much paint for a decent price 😊
This brand is the only gouache locally available in my country and to get other brand would be either hard or expensive. I never used other brand but I understand your frustrations 😅 I learn to work with this brand's flaw, if I want to layer I usually try to make my paint higher in chroma and value to get the exact color I want. And I mist my gouache every other couple days or week, depends on the weather, to keep them moist. Make sure to mist it when it gets a little bit dry to avoid mold. Personally, I've never had an issue with mold yet even after I mist it quite heavily.
I struggle a lot with the traditional gouache, think i have to learn a little bit more… i love the holbein acryla, and i am thinking of getting this himi paints just to experiment and play, to take on travels.
I appreciate the sincerity in the video! Ive seen many reviews and many say how amazing they are as if they were payed to say only good things so I didnt know what to believe at this point(probably this ha00ens with every art supply tho) and im not gonna touch these :D
I'm the other way around. My first gouache was Daler Rowney Designer's Gouache then segued to Holbein. Both were wonderful but I really didn't want to use them for some of my light journaling which was why I got the Himi Miya set. Haven't really regretted that decision. It's a nice paint for what it is and I've heard some say it reminded them of poster paints but I haven't used those so I'm not sure about it.
Let me sneak to a different brand now. Just wanted to ask if you've tried Shinhan Professional Gouache paints before? I personally love it. I opted on going for a limited palette and pretty happy with it so far. Please do try it as it does boast a good number of lightfast pigments and are honestly quite lovely.
Wow nice I have to practice painting glossy objects
Shiny objects are one of my favorite things to paint! It's a great way to learn how to simplify what you see 😄
I started off my first experience with gouache with the himi set back when it first started becoming popular before covid. (Maybe like 2019-2020) I still have the same set today but let me tell you after trying it it completely turned me off to gouache because I thought it would all be similar to the himi. I like watercolors for the mix ability and blends and I love acrylic for the layering ability so I thought this was a good first investment to gouache. I completely agree with you for recommending it - it’s not great as a “typical” gouache if that’s what you’re wanting. It’s like its own medium. I found it to be more confusing than anything and the layering is what made it terrible for me. Tried to pick it back up a few months back and I would just rather use a different medium (I’m aware it’s old though)
Ah yes, lotr. My favorite triglogy to this day, I remember going to the movies when they came out, having to wait between them.
That portrait is stunning!
I have been on the fence of getting the himi to fool around in sketchbooks, but so far, my rational brain has kept me from buying it.
I think my jaw would've dropped watching Lotr in theatres! I really want to reread the trilogy, even though I just read them last year 😂 It's been long enough, right?
Thank you so much! This portrait felt like a fight from beginning to end haha. I don't know if I would have ever bought this set if I didn't want to try them out for a UA-cam video. I'm glad I did though! I think I'll have some fun with them in my sketchbook 💖
i love to paint with gouache and i love to use Schmincke Horadam Gouache 🥰🥰🥰🥰
That's one I haven't tried! I've heard such wonderful things about Schmincke watercolours, I can imagine their gouache paints are gorgeous as well 😍
I tried these jelly gouache paints before trying any other gouache and I think they're pretty good. Probably wouldn't say the same if I tried them the other way round though 😂
i think i've said this before but your art style is so beautiful
Thank you so so much!
beautiful portrait of Aragorn 🥰 I am trying to get back into painting and you truly inspire me!
A few years ago i really enjoyed the Schmincke Akademie gouache. I am not sure about the availability, but they are quite big in Germany :)
the first set i tried was arteza, i thought it was nice so i bought a small set of winsor and newton with 6 colors. I used them together for a bit and ended up selling my arteza gouache. later bought a himi set! i like the palette, im thinking if i should get a palette to put some of my w&n paint in it, i like the painting experience the palette gives me :)
So love the portrait! Excellent job!
Nice review, for me i use winsor gouach and royal talens and royal is my favvvv
Ooh I haven't tried the royal talens gouache!
Stunning work as usual! Thanks for your thoughtful remarks 👍🏾
Thank you for watching! 😊
hiii, can you let me know whether you think the royal talens art creation sketchbook is good for gouache, im new to gouache soo i just would like more of a detailed opinion, and is the sketchbook nice for markers?
if its not great for gouache do you have any other recommendations??
i love your videos so much, you're incredibly talented !!!
I was thinking about this paints from HIMI if they whether would be suitable for starting to learn gouache painting. I am very curious about this technique especially when I started watching your channel. So Thank you for your real opinion. I really like both of your pictures. And i completely understand this requirement to check the paints will be good for painting portraits. I have the same way when I want to buy new paints from different brand😅
Couldn’t agree more with Turner being such a good and affordable choice! Love them!
Yes! I love them too! Their price and quality can't be beat 🙌
Just checking if I’m missing something but Turner Gouache is acrylic based like Himi but professional gouache is not acrylic based?
Can’t wait to pick some up and giving it a go 🙏🏼👨🎨🎨
Have fun! 🖌️🎉
I use talens gouache withe 50 ml jars it's the best I could get in my country and it's pretty good
I haven't tried the Talens gouache, but they seem to be great for the price! Also, the fact that they have lids means they won't dry out as fast as these! 💛
I felt the same about how the paints act, they feel different to my other gouaches but I'm not sure why!
Yes! They almost feel like a different medium all together! I'm glad I'm not the only one 😅
I'm just on occasional dabbler in these paints. I want to ask do these jellies dry up over years? Thanks!
They will eventually dry out, but they can always be revived and made fully useable again. There are a lot of videos on UA-cam about how to revive dried out himi gouache. And there are some people, like the Frugal Crafter, who prefer to use them dried out with a wet brush, the way you would use paint pans.
the thing that made me go for himi as a beginner was the pre mixed paints i also have talens (not the student grade ones ) the 5 tubes in a paper box and i was struggeling with mixing ,i am not ready for that yet .
That makes sense! I could see this set being good for that, getting used to creating images with paint, without worrying about color mixing! If you want to learn color mixing, I suggest using your Talens set and doing some simple color wheels. You can start with the primaries straight from the tube (red, blue, and yellow) and then mix the secondary colors between them using a 50/50 mix. Happy painting! ❤️
Hi! Awesome video!! I don't know if you remember, but I once did a study of that cute dog you made using this exact type of gouache! It was a lot of fun, using these for the first time and I had a great result :) . The perfect gouache for beginners :D
I do remember! That was amazing!! 💖 Thanks for commenting! 😊
You did such a good job
I didn’t know about the shelf life. I better start using the Himi guache I got for Christmas of 2022. I haven’t even opened the paints yet 😅
I didn't know about it either! 😅 I think the shelf life starts after they've been opened, so you should be okay!
@@emhuesart I have the Magicfly jelly gouache set and they say "self-life 6 months opened, 18 months unopened". Idk what HIMI says (I have them too but they're at the bottom of my storage pile) but yours looked stiffer/drier than usual. 🤔
(BTW, Magicfly lists pigments and lightfastness though how much to trust them is another thing altogether)
(( and yes, my Magicflys are significantly older than either of those times 😅 ))
I totally love your style and learn so much from you! Tq! May I ask how you get your wash so wet with such good coverage? When I do a wash with a square 16 brush I run out of water multiple times and it gets streaky with varying shades.
Thank you so much! I've found that it really depends on the brush. I've used some flat wash brushes that just don't hold a lot of water and paint (I found the himi brushes were like this). If you can find a synthetic flat brush that carries paint nicely, treasure it and buy more of them! 😆 I have synthetic brushes from a Toronto art store called Above ground, that are fantastic for smooth washes (they have orange handles), I also enjoy Etchr's gouache brushes! Another thing I do to make sure the brush has enough water and paint is to brush it on my palette a few times before going on the paper. I usually flip my brush a few times to make sure it's even and full. Don't just dip the brush in the color and then go straight to the paper. I hope that helps!! ❤️
12:02 the eyes shifting lowkey scared me😭🪦
Haha I did'n't notice that while editing! 😂👀
Amei as suas pinturas com guache!
Will you be adding full tutorials on Patreon down the road?
Yes! That's the plan 😊
I'm watching this because I got the 56 set and destroyed my fingers trying to get all those lids open.
🎉I use "мастер класс " gouache, really good one, professional gouache
Oh very cool! I haven't heard of these before, they come in nice big pots too! ✨
I saw Aragorn, I hit play
I am curious what you are using for the underpainting. Is it gouache too or an acrylic paint/watercolor?
Just watered down himi gouache 😊
@@emhuesartthank you for responding! I’m enjoying your videos so much. I’ve learned a lot about gouache in a short time. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi, I'm trying to find your shop to buy some pins, is it not open yet? All I get is a passworded page :(
Hi there! My shop is currently closed as I've been working on other projects. The pins actually sold out and I don't think we'll have any more anytime soon, unfortunately 🥺 I am hoping to open the store soon with prints and stickers though! 💕 Thank you so much for your interest!
It’s so weird because the only colors that mold for me are the darker blues… and I’ve only had it for less than 5 months!!!
That's really interesting! I wonder why 🤔 I recently read that you can mix a bit of alcohol into the paints to keep them from getting moldy! Now I need to go check mine haha
@@emhuesart ohhh I’ll look into that! ✨
I struggled with the Schmincke Akademie gouache for two years… then I saw Sarah burns didn’t even like them so I just bought the primaries recently in professional grade paint and I’m FINALLY not struggling anymore🙈 I really just spent the last two years thinking I was bad at gouache🤡 but I’m not upset about it because I did get some good practice in and I’m overjoyed now that I’m actually seeing improvement in my work🤩
B
Like... very much
🤟❤♾😄🌈🍔🤟❤♾😄🌈🍔
🤟❤♾😄🌈🍔
You're so good it makes me mad
Haha thank you 😆💖
What an odd idea. This looks like an awkward to use novelty.
Im so tired of titles like these xd kr clickbait tbh
6:25
I wonder if I get popular cuz I wanna show people my art and I think they will like it ☺️
You should go for it! 🥰✨
Let us see it!
Thanks teacher 😊
go for it!!