Holbein Irodori Artist Gouache: Swatching and Sharing My Thoughts

Now that I’m over my fear of trying gouache, I decided to get all four sets of the Holbein Irodori Artist Gouache! You know me… I kind of have to have all the colors. I started out with just the Spring and Fall sets because they seemed to have the widest variety of colors. But I soon found myself needing to complete the set. So here we are! Read on to see closeups of each color and my thoughts.

Holbein Irodori Artist Gouache Swatching - cover photo showing all four gouache sets

Out of the few brands of gouache I’ve tried, I love Holbein the best. So it’s not a surprise that I love all of these colors and the sets in general. The feel of the paints, the quality, and consistency of the Holbein brand is top notch. In this post, I’m going to share more of my thoughts on how the sets are curated by color.

SPRING

I think out of all four seasons, Spring was the most well curated. It had a range of primary colors, pastel colors, and even a metallic (antique silver). If you look carefully, you can see that six of the colors have PW6 (white) mixed in. That’s what gives the color a pastel look. But I love that the color hasn’t been dulled.

SUMMER

In contrast to Spring, Summer has much bolder colors. Only one of the colors (Bamboo Green) has white mixed into it. Each color is so vivid and vibrant. The biggest gripe I have with this set is, why include a black and a white? To me, it seemed like a waste to use up two color spots for basic colors like black and white. I’m fairly positive that most gouache artists already have a huge tube of white (and maybe black)-I know I do-on hand, so it seems redundant. The white isn’t even an off-white. So it really didn’t make sense to me to include those.

I would have rather liked to see a bold pink (mixing this kind of color seems to elude me) like their Opera (G584) or Rose (G585) or Magenta (G582). Maybe even neon colors (if those even exist). I know their Acrylic Gouache colors have some bright colors like Luminous Orange or Yellow. Or Metallic Red, Green, etc.

I get that these sets are supposed to reflect the traditional colors of Japan rather than just the season. But it doesn’t mean that a bright pink doesn’t exist in Japanese culture. What about the Sakura? Or the brightly colored kimonos?

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Guess I’ll have to buy those bright pinks as tube paints on its own.

Fall

Since Fall is my favorite season, it’s like I have to choose this as my favorite. But it doesn’t take first place (maybe it’s more like tied for first place with Spring) because as much as I love the deep, earthy colors in this set, I felt like it could have used one or two brighter colors. For example, instead of the Orange (G811), I would have liked to see a minty blue. Or replace one of the greens with a lighter sage color.

With the Amber, Orange, Dark Brown, and Smoked Bamboo.. that’s a lot of earth colors. It’s not like Fall is the only season with this color scheme. And even the gold being a weird orange gold wasn’t my cup of tea.

Winter

Last but not least, winter. I know winter can be gloomy and feature darker colors. So I’m glad that they added colors like Patina, Geisha Blue, Hummingbird Blue, and Peony. Even the bright Antique Gold is a nice touch.

Some artists on YouTube said that the inclusion of Patina (PG7) was a bit confusing because it’s such a bright green. I would agree with that statement. But I noticed that in a set of darker colors, the Patina is like a breath of fresh air. It can also be lightened a bit with white. It can be darkened even more and neutralized with one of the browns in the set.

Overall, I’m so happy I am the proud owner of all of these colors. Even though the sets on an individual basis could have better color choices, when you see them all together like this, there’s a comprehensive library of colors, including three metalic colors.

I’ve been exploring gouache in my livestreams so catch me live or watch the replays!