What is Gansai? | Watercolor 101 — Sadie Saves the Day! https://www.sadiesavestheday.com/blog/2016/10/3/what-is-gansai-water...

What is Gansai? | Watercolor 101 Sade’s Blog

October 03, 2016 in watercolor 101
Here, I’ll write about
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About Me What is Gansai?

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A Watercolorist’s
You have probably heard of the big brands like Kuretake
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Gansai Tambi, or Kisshou Gansai, but what is gansai really? 2019 (European
edition)
LEARN TO Gansai (顔彩) is traditional Japanese watercolor. In English, we Nov 29, 2019
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tend to refer to both types of paints as simply watercolor.
However there are two words for these types of paints in
Japanese. Gansai is written 顔彩 and the type of water colors
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that are more traditional in the West (also called transparent Handmade
©2008-2019 Sade J | All watercolors) are written 水彩. Watercolor Makers
May 24, 2019
Rights Reserved While Western watercolor is traditionally bound with gum
arabic, gansai is bound with a combination that could include
glue, starch, gum arabic ,beeswax, sugar syrup, sugar, or Matteo Grilli
glycerin [1][2][3][4]. The glue is made from concentrated
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collagen and gelatin that has been extracted from animal and Feb 13, 2019
fish skins through boiling [5] [6] . When the pigment and binder
is mixed together, they are dried in pans. Those in large square
pans are called gansai 顔彩, and those in round dishes are Watercolorist's Dream
called teppatsu 鉄鉢 [7]. They can also be formed into a sort of Gift guide | Euorpean
watercolor pastel/crayon that is called bouenogu 棒絵具 [8] & UK Edition
Nov 22, 2017

What is it used for?

Art Supply Review:
More Convenient Version of Iwaenogu 岩 Eventually Everything
絵具 or Suiengou 水干絵具 Mixes
Sep 18, 2017

Iwaenogu 岩絵具 is a type of traditional Japanese paint which

is generally made from semi precious stone and other pigments Art Supply Review:
(such as Cinnabar, malachite, azurite, lapis lazuli, etc.) that have
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been crushed and mixed with the same type of glue that is
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used in gansai by hand right before it is used[9]. They are very Sep 18, 2017
expensive and available in a range of particle sizes.
Gansai is not made with the same type of very expensive
pigments used in iwaenogu. Generally, gansai uses the same How to Test
pigments as suiengou 水干絵具 [10]. Suiengou is made from Watercolor Paper
fine pigments or dyes combined with chalk made from shellfish Jun 16, 2017
[11] or purified clay [12]. The pigments are also a bit cheaper
than iwaenogu even though they are still of high quality and
"Monument" Artwork
very lightfast. Just like iwaenogu, suienogu is sold in pigment

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What is Gansai? | Watercolor 101 — Sadie Saves the Day! https://www.sadiesavestheday.com/blog/2016/10/3/what-is-gansai-water...

form and must have glue added to it just before painting. Watercolor
in Dresden Exchange
Since gansai has already been mixed at the proper ratio and is / Art
Jun Supply Haul with
7, 2017
already dried in a pan or dish, it is much more convenient to Luna Howell
use than iwaenogu. It’s like the difference between using May 5, 2017
Western pre-made pan paints versus making your paint by
yourself each time you are going to paint a picture.
Fruit and Vegetables

Portraits Underpainting for Iwaenogu 岩絵具

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Both suiengou and gansai are often used as the underpainting
Ink for iwaenogu because they are much cheaper than the
expensive pigments used in that type of paint. By painting with
Blog one of these two, the artist can cover up the white of the paper
Courses or cloth and provide a ground for the Iwaengou to stick to [13].

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Sketching and Etegami [14]
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Because it is not as expensive or difficult to use as iwaenogu or
Newsletter suienogu, gansai is often recommended for sketching.
About Me Iwaenogu and suienogu are not as convenient as gansai, since
Contact they come in pigment form and must be combined with a

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binder right before painting. On the other hand, gansai is
already premixed and in a container, so they are ready to go
whenever the feeling to paint strikes you. That makes them a
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perfect sketching medium.
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These are also the reasons that make them great for etegami
or Japanese picture postcards. Etegami are meant to be fast,

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drawings that are meant to express emotion more than
©2008-2019 Sade J | All accuracy. So this quick medium is also suited to these types of
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Characteristics

Vibrancy and Opacity

When gansai is watered down it retains its vibrancy more than

Western watercolors do. Also,gansai’s binder can give it a shiny
finish.
Gansai tend to be more opaque than transparent watercolors.
Remember that these paints were formulated to work on
Japanese paper. Transparent watercolors do not show up very
well on Japanese paper, and the additional opacity of gansai
help them to appear on the paper with little bleeding.

Lifting

The binder adhesion in gansai is weak compared to other

Japanese paints. As a result, they tend to lift much easier than
most transparent watercolors, even when dry.
There are a few things that could contribute to this. When
gansai is used on Japanese washi paper, it doesn’t lift as easily
as it does on Western watercolor paper, especially when used
with ultrasoft Japanese goat-hair brushes. Traditional Japanese
paintings are and also not as dependent on layering as
Western watercolor paintings, so there is less opportunity for
the paint to lift when new layers are added.

Colors

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The colors of traditional Japanese gansai sets are often

different from those in transparent watercolors. These paints
were created for Japanese picture painting, which comes from
a different tradition than European painting. Japanese colors
are also based on colors that can actually be seen in nature,
which would probably explain the abundance of blues and
Fruit and Vegetables
greens in many gansai palettes.
Portraits The colors can give a calm and peaceful feeling to the viewer
because they are not overly saturated.
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Ink Pans

Blog Why are gansai pans so big? Japanese brushes can be much
Courses bigger than Western-style brushes, so they need a bigger pan
to ensure the brush hairs are not damaged.
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Mixing
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Newsletter Gansai were not made to be mixed in the same way that
About Me transparent watercolors are. This is part of the reason that
Contact many gansai sets do not come with a mixing palette.

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I have read many reviews that say that gansai paints get muddy
when mixed, this makes sense considering the traditional
background of the paints, however I have never experienced
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this. The colors I have been able to mix from gansai have been
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very clear and bright.

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Many reviews disparage the quality of gansai because they
don’t act in the same way that Western watercolors do. I think
that this is unfair. They are not the same type of paint, so they
can’t be expected to behave in the same way.
Of course, just like there are high-grade and low-grade
watercolors, or high-grade and low-grade oil paints, there are
high-grade and low-grade gansai paints.

Western Paints (eg: Winsor and

Newton, Schmincke) versus
Gansai
Western Paints Gansai
Come in half and Generally come in one size pan
full pans
Gum Arabic Binder may be a combination of glue, starch,
binder gum arabic ,beeswax, sugar syrup, sugar,
and glycerin
Tend to be more Can be more opaque
transparent
High quality Can be more difficult to mix 3 or more colors
versions mix well
Varying staining Mostly lifts very easily
levels
Dries Matte Dries Glossy
Available in Tubes Not available in tubes

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Links

About Gansai

水彩と顔彩 | 集積—イメージ・ことば
Fruit and Vegetables 顔彩・鉄鉢 | 日本画材料　吉祥
塗り絵 | 日本画材料　吉祥
Portraits
初塗り ～顔彩でチューリップを描く～｜卓上工房の奇人
Gemstones 細密水彩絵師・柴猫由貴の奇行録
Ink 吉祥顔彩の使い方 - YouTube
金色ノ鮒 [konjiki no funa] 2: 顔彩と水彩
水彩絵の具と絵の比較♪ - ゆりYO船長　お魚love♡ | クッ
Blog
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顔彩の使い方 - YouTube
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Watercolor Swatches About Traditional Japanese Painting in
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Paint for Japanese paintings
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絵を描く.com - 日本画を描く　紫陽花を描く
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Japanese painting paint - Japan paint | Musashino Art file
分類からさがす | 武蔵野美術大学 造形ファイル
LEARN TO 日本画の描き方・１
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About Japanese Colors

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Blue and Green
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word choice - How indistinguishable is blue from green
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really? - Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Is this green or blue in Japanese? | IroMegane
Blue–green distinction in language - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Ao (color) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Japanese traffic light blues: Stop on red, go on
what? | The Japan Times

Other Colors

The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors

names, and it messed with our brains (part I) | Empirical
Zeal
Traditional colors of Japan - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia

1. http://www.tanseido.jp/item/c00049/ ↩

2. http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/260614/meaning/m0u/ ↩

3. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7September5September5
%E5%85September7#.E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E7.94.BB.E7.B5.B5.E5.85.B7
↩

4. https://swu.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=pages_view_main&
active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&
item_id=178&item_no=1&page_id=30&block_id=97 ↩

5. http://zokeifile.musabi.ac.jp/228%86Thu0/ ↩

6. http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/260614/meaning/m0u/ ↩

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7. http://ameblo.jp/saibyou/entry–12019174174.html ↩

8. http://zokeifile.musabi.ac.jp/%E6%97Thursday5
%E6%9CThursdayC
%E7%94SeptemberB%E7September5September5
%E5%85September7/ ↩
Fruit and Vegetables
9. http://www.geocities.jp/wa_style_site/nihonga/nihonga2
Portraits ↩
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10. http://zokeifile.musabi.ac.jp
Ink /%E6September0September4%E5September9September2%E7September5September5
%E5%85September7/ ↩
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11. https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail
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/q1335140508 ↩
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12. http://www.kissho-nihonga.co.jp/products/suihienogu/ ↩
Patreon
Watercolor Swatches 13. http://zokeifile.musabi.ac.jp
Newsletter /%E6September0September4%E5September9September2%E7September5September5
About Me %E5%85September7/ ↩

Contact 14. http://www.kuretake.co.jp/create/letter/index.html ↩

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Tags: gansai, kuretake, kisshou, japanese, sumi, etegami, art,
traditional
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yocchan A year ago · 0 Likes

Hi, Thank you for the great article:) I was looking for the
difference between gansai and gouache. Google took
me here.

I am a native Japanese speaker. I found two typos or

misunderstanding.
It's Teppachi. Not Teppatsu. *(http://www.kissho-
nihonga.co.jp/products/gansai/)
Suihienogu, not Suiengou. *(http://www.kissho-
nihonga.co.jp/products/suihienogu/)
Sui=water, hi=dry, enogu=paints

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*You can see both Japanese and English in the top

photos in these pages.

Elina A year ago · 0 Likes

Fruit and Vegetables

I’d like to second calls for amendments on Kuretake
Portraits
paint.
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gum Arabic nowadays.
Ink
Your post is very popular when researching Gansai, and
you’ve done a great job researching, so it kept me off
Blog
Gansai for a year, because I believed you that they are
Courses not vegetarian. So you actually reducing their business
Store with your post.
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Newsletter Octavia Oliver 2 years ago · 0

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I love your explanation of gansai paints! I stumbled on a
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set of 24 on clearance and scooped them up. My
knowledge was only that they are excellent paints, but I
LEARN TO didn't know why. I watched many YouTube videos and
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was pleasantly surprised by your in-depth knowledge.

Here is my question: What is the best paper to use for

Privacy Policy these paints? Another YouTuber commented about
"western:" paper not being the best for these paints and
©2008-2019 Sade J | All
referred to your video for more information. I didn't see
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you mention paper and its not here on your blog. Could
you advise? I was thinking maybe Tomoe River paper,
but would some other paper work? Perhaps hot
pressed water colour paper?

Elina21st A year ago · 0

Likes

I use them with Fabriano Artistico and Love it. I

think they are more difficult to use on 100%
cellulose paper, but with 100% cotton I’ve had no
problems. You can use them for calligraphy, so
painting on calligraphy rice paper should be fine
too. Also there are paper blocks for sale in
Japan, kind of rice paper stretched over the
board, so it doesn’t get wavy, not sure if it’s for
sale in your country, but I’d check amazon or
Rakuten

Anonymous Watercolorist
2 years ago · 0 Likes

Thank you so, so much for translating and compiling all

this information about gansai. Your hard work is greatly
appreciated!

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Faerystorm 2 years ago · 0 Likes

I contacted Kuretake directly via e-mail few weeks ago

(April 2018) and they assured me that the Kuretake
Gansai Tambi do not contain any raw materials which
Fruit and Vegetables
are derived from animal sources.
Portraits Kuretake watercolours are vegan-friendly. I am a
scientist (Chemist) and in my email I asked for specific
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technical aspects which would confirm that the these
Ink products were suitable for vegans (who are opposed to
using animal-derived products). On several websites
Blog which list vegan-friendly art materials Kuretake Gansai
Courses Tambi are highly recommended. For example, in the UK

Store a major art supplies store called Jacksons Art also

recommend Kuretake Gansai Tambi for vegan artists
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and anyone opposed to using animal-based products. I
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hope you can amend the information.
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Lily 2 years ago · 0 Likes
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Thank you so much for this informative post and video!

LEARN TO It was really interesting and helpful to get all this

WATERCOLOR information in one place. The video was so relaxing.

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Bert Percy 2 years ago · 0 Likes

©2008-2019 Sade J | All

Rights Reserved Hi, your video and article are both incredibly
misleading. Where traditional gansai is certainly made
by using animal derived materials, the Kuretake Gansai
sets are not. After watching your video, I was made to
believe that my Kuretake paints were not vegan, I felt
horrible because I uphold a vegan lifestyle and felt that
my art had become tainted.

After doing my own research (I didn't have to look very

far actually, page one of a Google search had abundant
information), I found that the Kuretake Gansai sets are
entirely environmentally friendly. The materials are non-
toxic, no heavy metals are used, and it is natural,
without any animal derivatives such as ox gall, and they
are AP certified.

Where you don't explicitly say that the Kuretake paints

are non-vegan. You're using them in your video, you
link them in the description and you reference them in
your article. I'm sure you can see why myself and others
(lots of other people in the video comments) would
presume that Kuretake products are non-vegan.

Please make edits to clarify this mistake.

Nianko 2 years ago · 0 Likes

Where do you get the information that the

Kuretake Gansai doesn't include animal
derivatives? I can speak Japanese and I didn't

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see anywhere on Kuretake's website which said

so.

Gansai has its root from Nihonga (Japanese ink

wash painting), and most of their art supplies
(brush, ink etc) contain animal products. I doubt
Fruit and Vegetables that Gansai is an exception.

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Elina21st
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A year ago · 0 Likes

Blog
Having said so, there are several threads
Courses that confirm that Kuretake uses gum
Store Arabic instead of hide glue. Great of
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About Me Elina21st
Contact A year ago · 0 Likes

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Nianko,

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Japanese to confirm, we would
appreciate, because I have my doubts
too, as I know Japanese might not regard
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cruelty free the same way as we do.
©2008-2019 Sade J | All
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Anja 3 years ago · 0 Likes

Hi,

Great article! I am taking Nihonga classes in Japan and I

still learned something from it. :) Just one tiny
correction: 水干絵具 is actually transcribed as
suihienogu. The first character is sui, the next one hi
and the rest is e and gu (the no in enogu is often
omitted when writing in Kanji.)

Anja

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Fruit and Vegetables

Portraits

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Ink

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