Sakuras’ Koi watercolors deserve more recognition! Some time last year, I bought one of the Koi watercolor sets and I cannot believe it has taken me this long to write about how extraordinary these paints are! Not only are they highly pigmented despite being transparent, but they’re also great for plein air paintings!
All Koi watercolor sets are designed with traveling artists in mind! In fact, all sets come pre-packed with your basic watercolor supplies, such as: sponges to clean your brushes on, a mini mixing tray, a travel sized water brush, and (of course) your pans of watercolors. All sets can conveniently lay flat on your desk or can rest comfortably in your hand.
Now let me let you in on a little secret. There’s a little tab on the bottom of most of the watercolor sets, pulling the tab down will allow you to slide your finger through so you can hold the set in your hand without the fear of dropping your palette! And speaking of pallets, did you know that you can attach the legs of the mixing tray to the base of your watercolor set for extra security while working! Seriously talk about functionality, and don’t even get me started on the quality of the watercolors themselves!
Each set comes with a diverse selection of colors perfect for all types of artists! Mix your own colors with the 24 set, or have an array of colors at your disposal with the 60 color set; they even have a 24 set full of pearlescent and neon colors! Whether you do portraits, landscapes and sceneries, or even animal studies, each set will provide you with the colors needed to create your artistic masterpiece!
Now, don’t let the fact that these are student grade paints fool you! All of the paints are highly saturated and are not chalky, grainy, or weak in color! They’re easy to mix and easy to blend; all it takes is a little bit of water to make these gorgeous paints flow! And you want to know the real kicker? These paints are comparable in quality to other top brands like Winsor & Newtons’ Cotman watercolors and Grumbachers’ Academy watercolors! But that’s not all!
One thing I took note of is the brush! To most, it’s just another water-holding brush, but not to me! While true, it’s nothing new nor is it something to write home about, its design is what makes it special. For those of you who don’t know what a water brush is, then let me tell you. It’s a specially designed brush with a barrel as the handle, which stores water inside it. Making it not only perfect for on-the-go travel, but also for stationary work.
All that you need to do is gently squeeze the barrel to get the water out! It’s not only super easy to use, but also super convenient, giving you full control of how much or how little water is on your brush! Another thing I loved about the brush is the bristles. The brushes’ bristles are made of plastic, meaning you won’t have to deal with any loose hairs or your bristles deforming over time. Which means your brush can bend, twist, and twirl without losing its springy form!
And again, this isn’t necessarily a revolutionary, new, brush, but Sakura could have easily chosen to use a cheap synthetic hair brush (like the ones in children art sets), but they didn’t! They chose a brush that is not only great for travel, but also great in quality and purpose. And that just goes to show how much care and thought Sakura put into designing their sets.
And it’s for all those reasons that I just love Sakura Koi watercolors! But, of course those are just my views about them. What do you think about Sakura Koi watercolors? Have you ever tried them before; if you have what’s your thoughts on them? We’d love to hear from you in the comments down below!
