Holbein have curated four palettes of their Irodori Gouache based around the seasonal nature of Japan, and this time around I’m trying the Winter Palette. I’ve previously looked at the Summer Palette and Autumn Palette, and mostly found them to be a cohesive and well rounded take on the seasonal colours we are familiar with. I looked at the formulation of the paints in more detail during my review of the Summer Palette, so, as I did for the Autumn Palette, I will be looking at the colour mixing capabilities of the Winter Palette.
First Impressions of the Holbein Artists’ Gouache Irodori Winter Palette
On first impression, the Holbein Irodori Gouache Winter Palette certainly looked, well, cold. From the packaging, there didn’t appear to be any obviously warm yellow or gold tones, which was a stark contrast to the Autumn Palette: the reds lean cold, the blues looked icy, and Patina looked like a Viridian. However, some of the browns were more neutral, and Russet Green is a warm-leaning olive green, which initially meant it was one that I was drawn to the most. I like to mix a lot of my own colours when curating my own gouache palette, but I’m always on the lookout for those useful, stand alone colours to add to it, and I felt sure that Russet Green would be one of them. In fact, there were several that I would like to add to my own Winter Palette. In this review, I break down the Holbein Irodori Winter Palette into smaller palettes, and investigate the way the colours work together to create an unusual, but overall beautiful, palette.
The Individual Colours of the Holbein Artists’ Gouache Irodori Winter Palette
Unlike the Autumn Palette, there were no obvious overlaps between the colours here. Twenty five percent of the palette being devoted to browns seemed a little unnecessary on first look, but they all behaved very differently when I swatched the individual colours. It is also worth noting that some of the colours are more transparent than others – for some gouache users, this slight inconsistency might sway you, if you prefer a more flat colour. As someone that really enjoys a painterly mark, and quite happily flits between watercolour and gouache, I enjoyed the differences between some of the colours. When testing each colour, I made one thick swatch, adding water across the next two, and mixing them with white to create a slight gradient effect. I will say that this palette is also missing a white, as the Autumn Palette did. For me, I prefer to have one in every palette as it is essential to my practice, but I imagine that most of us have enough for it not to be a problem! For the swatches I made, I used Holbein traditional gouache in White.
Crimson is exactly the colour you would expect it to be, but quite transparent. Iron Oxide Red is more opaque than Crimson, with a warm undertone that I enjoyed a lot when mixed with White. Russet Brown is a cool red brown with a subtle granulation, and Dark Brown is a neutral brown with a touch of yellow, which granulates beautifully in washes. Patina is a neutral to cool green, like a viridian, that is also a little more transparent. Russet Green is an olive green, with a gentle vibrancy and some transparency, whereas Geisha Blue is an extremely opaque, cool light blue. You could make a not dissimilar colour by mixing white with Hummingbird Blue, a beautiful bright blue with a green lean, but Hummingbird Blue is different enough in consistency when compared to Geisha Blue to warrant them both to be nice additions to the palette.
Peony is, as you might expect, a cool deep pink with some transparency, and Blue Black is a dark deep neutral blue, with an indigo lean. When mixed with White it makes a lovely shade similar to Payne’s Grey. I found Rikyu Grey harder to place. It’s a light, neutral, opaque grey, with a subtle yellow beige feel to it, that I personally might not regularly use by itself, and Antique Gold is a neutral light shimmer. Again, I don’t choose to use iridescent or reflective paints in my own work, but it is opaque and can be washed down to give a very subtle glitter to a piece of work.
Testing Limited Colour Palettes
This time, I initially broke the twelve individual colours into groups of three to make smaller limited palettes. Initially, this felt tricky, as there are only three colours that I considered to be light in value in the palette (including the gold), with all the others being at least a dark mid tone. I tried to create varied palettes, and ended up making some brighter colours than I expected, alongside some beautifully subdued greys and desaturated hues that I was hoping for.
Mixing Patina and Geisha Blue created a bright, opaque aqua, which contrasted well with the warmer Red Iron Oxide. Hummingbird Blue, Rikyu Grey and Russet Brown makes for a subdued, cool and natural palette that reminds me of that early morning dog walk in the mist. Russet Green and Crimson, when combined with Blue Black, created some rich, strong tones that I associate with heavy fabrics and dark warm rooms. As I mentioned before, I don’t gravitate towards a glitter in my paint, but the pigments, when I mixed Antique Gold with Peony and Dark Brown, made for some lovely warm browns with a subtle and an altogether lovely shimmer. I never thought I would type that…
I then decided to push these a little further, making larger scale palettes. The first focussed on the greens and reds in the palette. I used Peony, Crimson, Russet Brown, Rikyu Grey, Russet Green and finally Patina, as my cool colour amongst the warmer hues. I added white to these too, and mixed, without a particular theme or image in mind. I like to do this when I’m struggling with a new illustration or project, as a matter of course – it frees up my mind and opens new possibilities – and it definitely did that for this palette. The soft lavender hue that comes through as the sun is setting on a cold winter fog? You can make that. The light sage green that the grass appears to turn after a frost? Easily done with Russet Green, Patina and a dollop of white. Dusty pinks, dark siennas and cold greens are in abundance here, and a pop of crimson on top brings them all together in a lovely complementary palette.
For the final palette, I grouped the blues together alongside Antique Gold and Red Iron Oxide in order to complement them, adding the Dark Brown as a warmer neutral. Again, I was really happy with some of the pale neutrals that came out of mixing this way. The soft siennas and bright blues are reminiscent of a bright and cold winter’s day, the tonal range is wide and the Blue Black allows for some interesting purple hues to come through. Hummingbird Blue truly sings amongst the desaturated palette I created.
This palette is certainly not for every artist – I would have loved to see a warm bright, such as a light golden ochre in place of the Antique Gold, to add more variation and hint at some warmth. That said, this palette is at the very least representative of the climate of the colder, darker months. There are a few inconsistencies in some of the paints. Geisha Blue and Rikyu Grey are prone to crumbling more if you use them in an opaque fashion, but as they are very flat colours I would think that is due to the nature of the binder to pigment ratio, or perhaps the binder itself. There is less crumbling with the more transparent colours, which I again suspect is due to the binders used. There isn’t a lot of readily available information on this, but for my own mixed media practice, it doesn’t concern me at all.
If you like painting en plein air, or your work is influenced by the seasonal shifts we experience, then there is a lot to be gained from this palette. There’s a richness across some of the colours that create a jewel like quality, that I am now tempted to bring into my work – so it doesn’t all feel dark and desaturated like the dark November afternoon I am writing this on! If you enjoy colour mixing, the Holbein Irodori Gouache Winter Palette can offer you a lot of inspiration, and perhaps an alternative colour palette for the colder season.
Read Frances’ review of the Holbein Artists Gouache Irodori Summer Set
Read Frances’ review of the Holbein Artists Gouache Irodori Autumn Set
Further Reading
Colour Mixing: The Atmospheric Quality of Cool Colour Palettes
Preparing a Watercolour Gouache Palette for Painting on Location
Colour Mixing Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Palette
Pigment Stories: Earth Pigments and Their Synthetic Alternatives
Shop Holbein Artists Gouache Paint Irodori Set on jacksonsart.com
Fabulous write up. Now I have to read about
your other two palettes.
Thanks Valerie! I hope you enjoy reading the Autumn Palette and Summer Palette reviews. Keep an eye out for the Spring Palette review in March!