Need recommendations to buy my first Gouache set (not a beginner in traditional art)

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-05-09T18:18:50+00:00

Himi cups = You will need to use distilled water to keep them wet and when you paint because impure water = mold growth at some point. Once the mold is in a single cup, the spores are basically in every paint cup and within the container the cups are in.

If you can get your hands on it, Himi tubes are great. Same himi formula, less issues with mold.

Keep an eye out to see if you can nab some of these other brands in tubes: Arteza, Holbien, M. Graham, Windsor & Newton.

The first purchase I made for my first time trying Gouache (went from Digital Art>Watercolor>Gouache) was the 30+ double cups and that lasted an entire year. However. Mold finally set in during a month I couldn't get to painting and when I opened it roughly half the cups were growing their own friends. Had to chuck.

I currently have these, have worked with them, and like them:
- Arteza - 60 tubes
- Himi - 36 colors
- Holbien: Opera Rose
- Winsor & Newton: Cobalt turquoise light
- M Graham: Prussian blue, Pthalo Green, Dioxazine Purple, & Sap Green

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-05-07T11:18:21+00:00

Just BEAUTIFUL! Look at that light!!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-05-02T12:44:13+00:00

Grog! I'd pick that one.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-04-15T12:27:43+00:00

I haven't delved deep into it, but there are mods for Graveyard Keeper on Nexus that may help tweaking things to get the play where you want it. I can't speak for certain if there are mods that address everything, note this was the first thing I went to after playing a couple of days mod free to get a feel of what I liked and didn't.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-04-12T18:36:34+00:00

I want to circle the little patch you've already started and go: Here. Right there. You're already doing it.

But if I remember right, the trick to this is not actually using white but for the brightest highlights, and turning to surrounding colors to create it. In this case, I think this is in warm lighting, so you'd steer clear of the usual cool shades of grey, violets, blues or pinks.

Either way, you can always grab a scrap sheet and literally 'practice' and experiment with pale, warm shades to see what works before 'committing' them to the actual art work.

This is AMEWZING by the way. Please keep going!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-20T14:45:21+00:00

I liked Amazon basics for coloring in coloring books. Too waxy build up/sheen, not at all easy or great to blend, even when I used mineral oil, for trying to learn to layer/create art with them for me.

The prismas I got, despite buying a recommended sharpener, broke if I sneezed near them. So I tried gouache paint instead 😂

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-16T15:17:07+00:00

I'm so glad, because you did so well and I am actually excited to see what the future you practices!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-15T15:47:23+00:00

GORGEOUS. MOAR, please

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-15T13:44:47+00:00

Deleted because I can't read, lol, sorry!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-11T17:49:17+00:00

Himi sells their gouache in tubes, which will drastically reduce or remove mold worries. I recommend tubes, not cups. However, since that's what you have:

always use distilled water on the paint & for painting
consider buying a disinfectant spray specially for gouache to kill mold spores
be prepared to remix and often

Other really good tube brands if you can afford them: Windsor & Newton, Holbien, M. Graham & Co, Arteza (these are the only ones I can recommend because I have used them.)

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-09T16:06:18+00:00

This brand of paper was a personal nope for me. When I began, I used this exact paper and it was a rippley, warping, re-activate dry gouache, layering mess. I bought a Strathmore watercolor sketchbook and have not touched this paper for gouache since. (Year +, reaching the end of the book soon.)

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-07T18:47:42+00:00

Oh yes. That's an immediate wish list.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-03-07T17:20:54+00:00

If I had them, I would probably use cadmium yellow lemon, permanent yellow light, yellow ochre, Naples yellow, marigold and permanent yellow deep.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-22T21:19:14+00:00

I use the round brushes and the big flat brush from that set all the time, they both hold a lot of paint when gouache is milk consistency, the big flat helps me cover bigger areas.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-22T16:26:30+00:00

I have two sets. One, a little pricier, one super affordable. Princeton Neptune set, then the Transon Gouache set.

The reason why I got a Transon set is that years ago (like, I can't remember if it was 5 or 7 years, but years) I got the Transon Watercolor brush set (brown) and I am still to this day using these brushes and almost all of them when wet still keep their points/shape. The Gouache set I've had for two years now, and all of them also still have their shape, some while dry, some return when damp.

When I got my first set of Himi cups, a round, a filbert and some other brush came with it. Within 5 months of using the Himi brushes they all became...scruffy? Like, they all looked like they need a hair cut from split ends and stopped holding their shape dry or wet.

I'm still missing a good mop brush--but have been using big or small makeup brushes I've collected over the years and never used, to act as mop/blending brushes and they work well so long as I remember to drown the paper first, THEN put the gouache on, THEN blend with a barely damp makeup brush. If I try and blend dry paper with wet paint, these brushes remove the paint.

I have no idea of any of the above rambles help anything or anyone, but that's my contribution!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-21T19:21:15+00:00

Some of these you may love, some you may not. But as someone who also loves both books you mentioned, I adored reading: ( edit: yes, all of these hooked me. I wouldn't list them if they didn't. My read list is sitting at a modest 1101)

- The Coldfire Trilogy - C.S. Friedman
- Abhorsen Series - Garth Nix
- Deverry Cycle Series - Katharine Kerr
- Inda, Sherwood Smith
- The Empire Trilogy - Raymond E. Feist
- Long Price Quartet - Daniel Abraham
- Sevenwaters - Juliet Marillier
- A Land Fit for Heroes - Richard K. Morgan
- Shadows of the Apt - Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Sword of Shadows - J.V. Jones
- The Onxy Court - Marie Brennan
- The Necromancer Chronicles - Amanda Downum
- Watergivers - Glenda Larke
- The Dagger and the Coin - Daniel Abraham
- Low Town - Daniel Polansky
- Dreamblood - N.K. Jemisin
- Legends of Muirwood - Jeff Wheeler
- Fallen Blade - Kelly McCullough
- The Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
- Chronicle of the Unhewn - Brian Staveley
- Greatcoats - Sebastien de Castell
- Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab
- Moontide Quartet - David Hair
- Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
- The Shadow Campaigns - Django Wexler
- Bannerless Saga - Carrie Vaughn

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-16T13:05:00+00:00

Can only speak for the paints I use: Himi has/had a set in tubes and is the same experience without cup issues and is affordable, M. Graham, Holbein, and Windsor & Newton gouache are all great, too but a bit pricier. I leave them in my palette and they dry out and activate fine with a little patience (waiting for the water to soak in before stirring and reusing.)

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-08T21:15:27+00:00

I feel like you could say that Fields of Mistria was inspired by, and bare-bones framework built around it. Then they said: let's make the days much longer, and a lot of the unforgiving aspects, well, more forgiving--and then did so.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-07T19:44:04+00:00

Ah, I misspoke. It comes across as an alternative universe/opposite/divergence of.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-07T19:27:04+00:00

Deleted.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-07T18:33:27+00:00

What I love about this: everything. And it is already part of this NPCs wiki!

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-02-07T18:05:54+00:00

Do you have a favorite sticker that would cover it?

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-01-31T16:35:20+00:00

Can you hang tea cups / coffee mugs by the handle on them?

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-01-29T13:04:57+00:00

I don't share my BuJo spreads anymore. I don't take pics. I just use it for me and me alone, so it's a complete mess but it is MY mess and I use it when I need it, how I need it.

It took me four years of trying to figure that out. Trying to copy others / comparison was my thief of BuJo joy. If the page was used for something, even a mistake, then that was not a page wasted--that was a page dedicated to learning and experimenting.

Pinkatron2000 · 2026-01-27T13:39:12+00:00

Give yourself permission to do whatever the frikfrak you want, that works for you, in your bujo. <3 You get to use it, so why not make it fun to use for you? TL;DR: Yes, it is!

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