Customer Reviews

I'm giving this a 4 star. I bought this as my first set because it seemed like the cheapest alternative. At first glance it's a really great set. It comes w/24 colors, 2 sponges, a palette, and a brush pen. I've never worked with this type of watercolor paint before so I wasn't 100% sure what to expect. Overall it's a really good product. The paint quality is nice, the brush tip is really good, but there are a few problems. First the paintbrush itself...it tends to push out too much water on the first squeeze. Also, the brush must have been made backwards. Instead of turning RIGHT to tighten, you turn LEFT. So after about 30min playing around w/my new paint set, I spent about 10min fighting it to open it because I forgot they made it backwards. Lastly, the sponges aren't that great in absorbing water. To clean the brush of the current pigment, you have to keep squeezing water. I was using the sponges for this, but they don't seem to suck up water very fast. For this, I would recommend using a paper towel or separate sponge.

I'm no professional watercolour artist, but I found this to be the best set I've used to date.
The colours are great; though I mainly abuse the more earthy colours. It's really compact, and I'm more than happy that I can take it around with me everywhere. It isn't granulated (those specks in them that make it look sandy) like some other brands that I've tried, so that's another thumbs up. I'm mainly focused on the colours and handiness.
The brush is plausible; I've replaced it with a Pentel Aquash. The barrel of the waterbrush that comes with the Sakura Koi doesn't really have a spring to it. It's just there. Perhaps it is because I'm not accustomed to it, but I found it difficult to control the amount of water.
The sponges; I don't even bother with it. It doesn't soak up anything. It's again, just there.
Palette is great; I've even squeezed out some tube colours on it so I have more colours. I'm happy with that.

I would have given this kit a 1 star if it wasn't for the case. The case is awesome! the brush is terrible and the paints are very, very, very bad. The paints all granulate exactly the same. This doesn't allow for any texture. If you go into this purchase just trying to get an inexpensive pallet you can convert with new paints then you will be happy. If you go into this purchase thinking you are going to be able to use this set for more than quick sketches than you will be very disappointed. Koi's watercolors are not professional grade.

I really want to get the Akashiya watercolour brush pens but they're too pricey, so i was looking at this one.
How do they work? Is it different from normal paints?
(sorry i havent used watercolours before)

i watercolor and ink and i'm always looking at prices for the products i buy the most, and JetPens has them for a decent price. Sakura is a brand i buy often, from their pens to their watercolors. the colors are vibrant and high quality, perfect for students and professionals. the travel case is excellent, even though i do use these for traveling i often use them at my studio as well. i love the brush pen this case comes with, however i'm not too fond of using them with cakes because they over saturate them and typically either fill the tube with water and a bit of watercolor and use them as a pen instead. since the case can be reused you can fill them with cakes or color or fill in a used pan with tub color. the only gripe i have about this case is the plastic sheet inside that hold the brush, watercolor cakes and sponges. the plastic is so flimsy and thin that it often breaks. there have been a few cases i have bought and found a bottom ripped off from one of the pans of color that i needed to repair it. typically, when i use up all or most of the watercolors i just take out the plastic thingy and put in cakes i've bought at the art store. the case the set comes in and the pallet are awesome and i can't help but buy them when i need a new set though.

I really like the layout of the box. It is very portable. And self-contained.

And the best thing about this set is everything is non-toxic. C: So it feels safer carrying this around on trips and I don't have to worry about accidently swallowing the paint. But this also means some of the colours might not be as bright what you would find in other brands (the red isn't very strong, and the blues are very similar to hue).

The only thing about this set is I don't like this water brush as much as the ones from Pentel or Kuretake. It isn't as wet, and the bristles don't spring back as much as I would like them to. It could just be a preference issue though.