Fuuimuui Muted Watercolours
I recently got sent a lovely package of art supplies from Fuumuui for me to try out…including a set of their Muted Opaque Watercolours. I’ve seen these circulating on social media so I was excited to try them.
My initial thoughts when I opened them were that they reminded me a little bit of the Kuretake watercolours. I’ve always really liked having watercolours laid out in nice, clear, good-sized pans because you can see all of the colours straight away.
There’s just something really simple about opening up a paint set and having everything there ready to use. I often find that a little easier than working with lots of tubes of watercolour, especially if I just want to sit down and start painting.
Swatching
Inside the set, there was also a little swatch card, so naturally the very first thing I did was swatch out every single colour.
I actually love doing this whenever I get a new paint set because it gives you such a good idea of what you’re working with before you even start a painting. Colours can look quite different once they’re activated with water and put onto paper, so it was a nice way to properly see the whole palette.
The first thing I noticed while swatching them was how thick and creamy the paints felt.
They’re described as opaque watercolours, which basically means they’re not quite as transparent or see-through as a traditional watercolour. You can definitely see and feel that slight thickness when you’re painting with them.
To me, they almost sit somewhere between a watercolour and a gouache.
Of course, you can still change them quite a lot depending on how much water you use. With more water, the colours become softer and lighter, and with less water you get that lovely creamy, stronger colour.
I really liked having that flexibility.
Starting a painting
One of the other things that made me excited to use this particular set was the colour palette.
I don’t normally find myself painting with lots of darker, moodier colours, so I thought this would be a really nice opportunity to try something a little different.
I decided to create a heritage-style floral painting using the paints and a filbert brush.
I really enjoyed seeing where the colours took the painting.
I did end up bringing in a yellow from another paint set because, for me, the palette needed one little brighter colour to lift some of the heaviness and darkness. But actually, that was part of the fun of using them. It made me think differently about the colours I would normally reach for and how I could bring them together.
And I think that’s sometimes one of the nicest things about trying a completely different paint set.
You might not necessarily use the colours in the way you expected, but they can push you into trying something slightly outside your usual style.
This painting definitely did that for me.
I really enjoyed seeing where the colours took the painting.
I did end up bringing in a yellow from another paint set because, for me, the palette needed one little brighter colour to lift some of the heaviness and darkness. But actually, that was part of the fun of using them. It made me think differently about the colours I would normally reach for and how I could bring them together.
And I think that’s sometimes one of the nicest things about trying a completely different paint set.
You might not necessarily use the colours in the way you expected, but they can push you into trying something slightly outside your usual style.
This painting definitely did that for me.
Overall, I really like how simple these paints are to use. I love being able to see all of the colours laid out in front of me, the paints activate really nicely with water, and that slightly thicker consistency gives them a different feel from some of my usual watercolours.
They’ve definitely given me a few more ideas too, and I’d really like to create some more moody, heritage-style floral paintings with them and see what else I can come up with.
If you fancy trying the paints yourself, Fuumuui also very kindly sent me a discount code to share with you.
Simply head over to their website HERE and use my affiliate code AURELIA at the checkout to get 20% off.
I’d love to know what you think of these colours too, and whether this is the sort of palette you would normally paint with or whether, like me, it might encourage you to try something a little different.