REVIEW: Arteza Gouache Paint and Tool Set

Paints and brushes and paper, oh my! The Arteza Gouache Paint and Tool set is a handy collection of the art tools you need to start painting with gouache. It’s also a handy organizational tool for those who already do.

This set is also called the ‘Arteza Gouache Paint & Tool Art Set’ on some websites, and the ‘Arteza Gouache Paint & Tool Small Art Set’ on others.

Unboxing the Arteza Gouache Paint and Tool Set

What’s in the Set?

The Arteza Gouache Paint set has 21 pieces:

• Wooden Storage Case
• Wooden Palette
• Plastic palette
• 12 Gouache bright color paint tubes

• 5 Acrylic brushes

• Gouache paper pad

It also comes in a corrugated cardboard box that is worth keeping for storage.


The Storage Box


The outer dimensions of the box are 12.6 inch x 9.2 inch x inch. The inner storage area is about 12 x 8.5 x 2.5 inch.

A wooden palette fits snugly in the lid of the box. There are rails on each side of the lid, and the palette easily slides in and out for storage.

You’ll notice that I use the word ‘easily’ often in this review.

I don’t know if I would actually squeeze my paint onto this palette for painting — the wood might soak up too much of the binder, and make the gouache dry too fast. I’ll have to experiment with this. I’ll probably end up using the palette as a support to hold what I’m working on and to tape it down when needed.

The box looks like solid wood to me, not veneer, smoothly sanded with no splinters or chipped edges.

The corners are put together with a box joint, evenly, with no gaps or distortions.

The bottom of the box is divided into five sections, by means of slats that are easily removable. You can remove one or all of the slats to create larger sections.

The latches and hinges are metal, and well-set. They’re straight, and firmly attached. The latches open and close easily, but are not likely to be opened by accident. The hinges hold the top and bottom together nicely, but allow the lid to be opened easily.

I am impressed with the quality of the box. It looks beautiful, everything fits together, and everything works like a dream.

The Gouache Paints

The tubes are 12 ml size.

There are 12 tubes included in the set, but only 11 colors. You are given two tubes of Titanium White. If you come from the traditional watercolor world you might think this is a cheat, because who uses white? But with gouache, you tend to use a lot of it! Titanium White may also be harder to find in the future, so two tubes of it is a wonderful thing.

Arteza paints are not professional or artist quality. They ARE a good bang for the buck, however. I received a 60-color set for Christmas last year and have been using them a lot. The colors are vibrant, spread easily and create beautiful mixes. The main downside is that you can’t buy single tubes, only sets. That’s what keeps the price down.

The tubes list color name, the lightfastness rating, the opacity, and the pigment index numbers. I was surprised. Most paints in this price range do not list this information.

All the tubes have a lightfastness of +++. There is more than one rating system, but this generally means the lightfastness is fair. That’s common for gouache. It tends to be less lightfast than traditional watercolors.

The colors included are:

Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Scarlet Red, Rose, Sap Green, Viridian Green, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber, Noir, Titanium White (2 tubes)

The paints are nontoxic — AP-certified as conforming to ASTM D-4236 standards.

The Brushes

There are five brushes included — a Rigger #0, Round #4, Cat’s Tongue #8, Flats #11 & #6.

The brushes are listed as acrylic brushes. There aren’t very many brushes made specifically for gouache, so this makes sense. It isn’t listed, but I believe the bristles are Golden Taklon synthetic fibers.

They perform well for brushes in this price range. They’re a bit of a middle-of-the-road workhorse, suitable for most techniques, but not the best for any. They hold a decent amount of water, spring back into shape well, and create interesting marks when they splay.

An experienced artist can make brushes like this sing, and a beginning artist will be able to learn much with them.

The paper included was specially made for this set.

The 8 x 10 inch, wire-bound pad has 20 sheets of off-white paper, with a rough texture on the front, and a smooth texture on the back. The weight is 160 gsm.

I wasn’t sure about the texture when I first saw it, and worried that the weight might be too light for gouache.

To my surprise, the paint settled into the wells of the paper and it held up well to the weight. When lots of water was used, it did buckle and curl a little bit, but evened out almost completely once dry.

The paper is light enough that it can be curled into a roll. I did this, and there was no cracking of the gouache.

The waffle-like texture adds interest to the finished work.

The paper has a distinct blue-gray cast. In some lights it looks very white until you put it next to white paper.

As a note, some of the websites listed the pad as being 9 x 12 inches.

The Plastic Palette

The plastic palette included has 6 wells. This was also incorrectly listed as having 10 wells on some websites.

This is the cheapest item in the set. It’s a fairly thin plastic and won’t hold up to much stress. Nonetheless, it will get the job done, and fits nicely into the box where it will be safe.

The Color Wheel

The set includes a small color wheel, and it’s pretty nifty.

The colors listed on the wheel are generic basic colors, not specific to the colors in the set. It’s close enough to be useful though, if you aren’t familiar with color theory. Being generic also makes the wheel useful for any other paints you might be using. Color theory holds true for all paint mediums.

The wheel has a grey scale to help you with values.

On one side, the wheel turns and shows you what colors you can get by mixing. It also identifies colors as warm or cool.

On the flip side, the wheel turns to show you tints and shades that can be achieved with the basic colors. It also identifies color relationships — complementary colors, split-complementaries, triads, and tetrads. I won’t go into descriptions of what each of these are specifically, but they’re methods for creating paintings with color harmony.

The Cardboard Box

The Arteza Gouache Paint set comes in a sturdy cardboard box with an inner lid. I know it can be a thing to keep boxes and never use them, but this one is a nice size and sturdy, so it may be an exception. It’s pretty, too! I’ve already filled mine up with other art supplies.

Examples

I know it’s the wrong season for fall, but I saw a reference photo with these colors, and I felt it was a good one to try mixing some colors.

I applied thicker paint in some places, just shy of leaving brush marks. Once dry, I rolled the paper to about pencil thickness. There was no cracking whatsoever.

I used quite a bit of water for the background in this painting to see how the paper held up. There was some slight buckling, and curling at the corners. By letting the paper dry between layers, I was able to straighten it out before continuing to paint.

Arteza Gouache Paint and Tool Set – Overall

The 21 piece Arteza Gouache Paint set includes a wooden storage box, a wooden palette, a plastic palette, five paint brushes, twelve 12 ml tubes of gouache paint, a 20 sheet pad of 8 x 10 paper and a nifty color wheel. The cardboard box it comes in is not to be sneezed at, either.

All in all, this is good middle-of-the-road workhorse set. While not professional quality, they are good enough that an experienced artist can do magical things with them, and beginners will find them a good set to use while learning.

Links of Interest

How to Paint a Tulip in Gouache

Tools

Arteza 21 Piece Gouache Paint and Tool Set 

Disclaimer


I purchased this Arteza 21 Piece Gouache Paint and Tool Set, and am reviewing it because I think others would like to know about it. I received no other considerations, though this post may contain affiliate links which help support Doodlewash. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

Sandra Strait

I’m a self-taught artist who dances about with all sorts of artistic mediums. My main loves are Watercolor, Zentangle and Ballpoint pen. The subjects of my work are many and varied and change at whim. I’m a little bit crazy, but doesn’t that come with being an artist? I post Reviews and Tutorials here on Doodlewash.

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