Hey you lot what’s up, welcome back to my channel. So, this is exciting, I was recently
contacted by a Japanese paint manufacturer called Kusakabe, asking if I’d like to try
this new paint they’d spent 10 years developing called Aqyla. And I’ll be honest with you
guys, I’ve been contacted by companies before to review different products and things, but
I’m never gonna accept something that I’m not genuinely interested in, or something
that I don’t think you guys would be interested in. But THIS paint, I mean I was sold, all
they had to say was that it was is like a mix of watercolour, gouache and acrylic and
oil in one and I HAD to try it. So this set of paints arrived a week or so
ago and I’ve been using almost nothing else since, just trying to sort of get to know
it, get the hang of it, really know the ins and outs of it before I could report back
to you all on my thoughts and experiences. I did let this company know I was gonna be
totally honest with my peeps about those thoughts and feeling. And they said go for it! So...
I feel like I’ve got a decent idea of this paint now. And here’s how it all went down.
So, to start off with, let me tell you a little bit about this paint. Aqyla is a water-based
paint or Enogu, which is a Japanese word that means “a tool to fulfil art”. And I’m
told its popularity in Japan has been growing fast, so there are actually Aqyla painters,
who primarily use this paint the same way we have oil painters and watercolour painters.
And what I did before trying this paint- and what you could do too is- just to get a better
idea of how it’s used and what it looks like in finished pieces, you can check out
some pretty cool examples of how artists have used Aqyla on the Kusakabe website which I’ll
leave linked below. Using Aqyla for the first time, I really didn’t
know what to expect. So I approached it with the idea that I would explore and test the
it’s apparent similarities to all these other mediums. I think one of the best ways
to get to know something new is to compare it and relate it to what you already know.
So straight out of the tube, its consistency reminds me of acrylic paint and it applies
smoothly to actually every surface I tested; paper, canvas, even glass. The booklet that
came with my set of paints shows Aqyla being used on things like stone, ceramic tile and
wood. As far as I can see, you can essentially use this paint on anything! Also, like acrylic
paint, I found that Aqyla starts to dry pretty quickly, which for me took some getting used
to at first as I found the paint in my pallet getting quite tacky. But that was something
that I gradually got the hang of and I dealt with it by using larger quantities of paint
and adding a little bit of water to it. When Aqyla is completely dry, you end up with
a slightly glossy, almost matte, finish, definitely not as glossy as something like acrylic, and
I’ve found it’s especially matte, with that velvety gouache finish, when you add
a little bit of water to your mixture; though I have to say I haven’t yet figured out
how to get it to a completely streak free consistency. But it’s nice that that addition
of a very small amount of water doesn’t compromise the depth or vividness of the colour.
And that was the real treat for me actually; that impressive colour payoff. Aqyla comes
in every colour you can think of, I think there are something like 76 different pigments,
including these metallic which here I’m just trying to show you the glistening effect
you get with the gold, bronze and silver. Now, you know I love, bold, bright colours
and I have to say, every shade straight out of the tube was lovely and vibrant and for
the most part they stayed that way when mixed with other colours, but obviously- as you’ll
get with any medium- some colour combinations are gonna end up looking dull or muddy. But
overall it was really nice for blending. Now, back to the subject of adding water,
when you dilute Aqyla with more water, it takes on more of a watercolour-like look.
I had no trouble creating washes of colour or that sort of blurred, blotchy, feathered
look that I love to use for things like clouds or backgrounds. And I think this might be
my favourite way to use this paint, rather than laying it on thickly, with a little bit
or a lot of water you get a proper matte finish in varying levels of opacity. It’s like
using gouache but with the freedom of being able to apply it to more than just paper.
And I did noticed that using it on canvas rather than paper actually made it a lot easier
to get the flat colour finish I was looking for, with some colours working better than
others. So, depending on how much water you add to
the paint and how thickly you apply it, it dries in between 1 and 30 minutes. And then
you can carefully add more layers of Aqyla on top or, surprisingly, any other paint.
So it could be great for underpainting, setting the tone of a piece of art or as part of a
mixed media piece. But it is recommended if you’re using Aqyla with acrylic paint that
you apply the acrylic paint underneath. Now like I said the paint dries very quickly
but it can then be reactivated with water the same way you might with a dry watercolour
or gouache painting after the painting has dried which gives you a good amount of freedom
to correct mistakes or make changes as you go. One thing I will say is that I’ve found
Aqyla is harder to completely pick up and rework the same way that you would with gouache
as it sort of stains the paper and leaves a trace of the shape where you originally
put it, but if you’re looking to pick up a specific colour and move it somewhere else
or to just spread a bit of dry paint a bit further that’s definitely doable and really
useful. And if you’re trying to correct a mistake, you still always have the option
to paint over it. This is a bit of an advantage over an issue
I’ve had with gouache when layering paint causes the lower levels to reactivate and
smudge with the fresh application; it’s a lot less likely to happen with Aqyla not
shifting so much. And over time Aqyla gradually becomes water-resistant,
so after about a month or so, your painting will be totally set with no need to be sealed
with a varnish or anything like that. So far I’ve used this paint in a few different
ways. In terms of its comparison with oil, I really don’t know. I think that’s to
do with how thickly you can apply it to create really textured paintings, I like that it
can be used with oil when totally dry, I think that’s quite cool, but I don’t know enough
about the various properties and qualities of oil paint to make a proper comparison there.
I definitely see the comparisons with acrylic, gouache and watercolour paints. I mean, it’s
really versatile which makes it perfect for me. You know I like to dip into a bit of fine
art, a bit of design, a bit of crafting and this paint really could potentially tick all
those boxes. And on a bit of a side note, something that
I thought was worth mentioning is that, I looked a little deeper into not only this
paint but at Kusakabe, the company that provide it, and I was happy to find that they have
the environment in mind so these paints are eco-friendly, they’re non-toxic and they
come in fully recyclable aluminium tubes. Okay now looking at price, cos I’m sure
you all wanna know; these are relatively affordable! Looking at the website, which again I’ll
have linked on screen and in the description, the price of a 12 set of paints is about 3300
Japanese yen, which sounds like a lot but works out to be about 21 pounds or 30 dollars.
I would say they’re reasonably priced for what you get. So if you were looking at comparing
that to other sets of 12 20ml paints, you’re pricing these Aqyla paints in that lower-mid-range
between the cheap student-grade paints and the pricier professional-quality paints, and
I think that’s reflected in the finish. So overall I am impressed. Above anything
I’m really pleased to have been able to try this paint and I’m really quite excited
to see how its popularity will grow globally in years to come because I do think it is
one to watch. And even though it’s not gonna take gouache’s place in my top spot of mediums,
because I don’t think anything ever will, I will definitely be using Aqyla create the
same type of art I’ve been creating with gouache, but now with the freedom to use different
surfaces like canvas and I had so much fun painting on glass.
So thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions or comments feel free to
leave them below and I’ll try to get back to you. And let me know what you think of
this type of video, seeing me test and try new things. It was actually really fun for
me to get out of my comfort zone and explore a different medium and see how that medium
affected and contributed to my art style so.... yeah. I’m gonna stop rambling. See you next time. Bye!