Choosing Keeping Retro Watercolour Set, 1930's

£25.00

Choosing Keeping presents seven exclusive, special editions of 8 shades of Gansai. This Japanese alternative to standard European watercolours is not dissimilar to gouache and is made by a 100 year old paint maker in Japan. The paints can be used directly out of the box with a wet paintbrush - either thinly in translucent washes, or by layering for a bolder effect. These can also be used on darker paper bases to enhance colours further.

The 1930s - Inspired by the subdued hues of the British landscape, the set is composed of earthy browns and yellows, and muted blues and purples. Smoky shades capture the rolling hills and sleepy towns of the hazy countryside in Eric Ravilious’ paintings. These eight pans also illustrate the interwar period of political uncertainty and industrial production in spite of the Great Depression: two-strip colour filmmaking and the introduction of the talkies, the beginnings of information technology and computers, and the invention of the ballpoint pen!

Included is a blank letterpress swatch card featuring each individual colour name to be painted in for colour referencing. This can come in handy as appearances can be deceiving and each colour is only revealed once wet and set to paper!

We recommend the Aquarella (white) and Aquarello (off-white) for the perfect paper pairing.

Details:
Material: Gansai watercolour
Included: 8 colours in chiyogami paper presentation box including a blank letterpress swatch card which can be painted in for colour reference. 
Vegetarian/ Vegan: No (contains gelatine glue binder)
Non-toxic
Made in Japan
Swatches and illustrations courtesy of Maria Ines Gul

Colour Breakdown:

211 - AketsuchiEarthy crimson 
42 - KurochaBlack tea 
36 - Kin-oudoiroGolden ochre 
44 - GunrokuMixed green - traditionally this pigment is made of a mixture of azurite and malachite. 
19 - KawaganeIron skin; when a Japanese sword is made the more flexible interior metal, shingane, is coated in far stronger metal coating - kawagane. 
38 - Kodai-murasakiAncient purple - due to the cost of the pigment, purple was traditionally associated with wealth in Japan and ordinary people were not permitted to wear it. 
22 - KogechaCharred tea
34 - Hadairoflesh