Feast your eyes (and your brush) on this lovely set of 12 sumi-e watercolours in a single sleek box. The label atop the lid says “kisshou,” which means: lucky, happy, auspicious. Auspicious indeed. The colour names are listed on the lid interior in Japanese and transliterated English.

Each sumi-e colour—including the three dazzling metallics (sold individually)— blends beautifully with the others, creating an almost infinite palette, as you can see in my Pentallic accordion swatch books. The combinations and permutations defy chromatic arithmetic!

Sue L. in Vancouver had acquired several colours individually from my last studio sale, and rhapsodized, “Well I absolutely love these sumi-e watercolours. The colours are very rich, vibrant, and opaque. The size of the dish enables me to do background washes with larger brushes. Colour mixing is really quite smooth. I really find these watercolours such a joy to work with!”

Set measures: 3½ x 7¾ / Colour pan measures: 1 x 1¾

Wrapped in our complimentary signature style: white tissue, French embroidery thread & our favourite washi tape of the day.