Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.15 PALE AQUA

Pale Aqua No. 15 is a delicate, cool blue-green – a colour that evokes still water in early morning light. Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour is a hand-crafted, Japanese-pressed colour cake based on water-soluble pigments that can be used both opaquely like gouache and transparently like traditional watercolour. The pigment composition of PY3, PB15:3 and PW6 creates this characteristically muted aquatone: soft yet luminous.

Features

• Water-soluble pigment colour with dual character: Activated with minimal water, it creates an opaque, gouache-like application; with abundant water, the colour dissolves into transparent, flowing glazes – the same colour, two entirely different effects on paper.
• Creamy, quick-dissolving consistency: The colour cake absorbs brush water immediately and releases pigment evenly, without crumbling or forming hard edges – even large areas can be worked quickly.
• Large well (48 × 28 mm): The oversized format allows wide watercolour brushes to be loaded directly – no careful dabbing with the brush tip required.
• Subtle shimmer after drying: Gansai Tambi colours dry with a fine gloss, giving Pale Aqua a silken, almost pearlescent surface.
• AP-certified: The colour meets international safety standards (AP Mark from the American Painting Materials Association) and contains no animal products in the manufacturing process.
• Available as individual replacement: If you've exhausted Pale Aqua from a set, you can replace this colour cake separately without needing to buy a new set.

Use & Tips

• Botanical illustration: Pale Aqua works as a cool base tone for petals, water plants and sky areas – applied opaquely for hard edges, diluted for soft transitions.
• Hand lettering & brush lettering: Activated with a water-filled brush pen, the colour delivers even, luminous strokes without streaking.
• Sumi-e and ink painting: The drying properties of the Gansai Tambi range – developed based on over 100 years of ink-making expertise – create clean gradations and soft edges important for East Asian painting techniques.
• Colour mixing: Pale Aqua mixes easily with other Gansai Tambi colours. As a pastel tone with white pigment content (PW6), it behaves somewhat more opaquely when mixed than pure transparent colours – creating chalky, matte transitions when combined with bold hues.
• Paper recommendation: On smooth, pigment-resistant paper of at least 200 g/m², Pale Aqua shows its subtle shimmer best. On rougher watercolour paper, the pigment structure creates a fine-grained effect.
• Light fastness: As a pigment-based colour, Pale Aqua is more light fast than dye-based watercolours – though light fastness decreases with higher water dilution.

For Watercolour Enthusiasts

The pigment combination PY3 (Hansa Yellow, organic, transparent yellow), PB15:3 (Phthalocyanine Blue, green shade, intense and light fast) and PW6 (Titanium White, opaque) explains the specific character of Pale Aqua: the Titanium White brings pastel opacity, the Phthalocyanine Blue contributes luminosity, the Hansa Yellow warms the tone slightly towards green. When heavily diluted, the PW6 content causes faster loss of saturation than with purely transparent watercolours – this is not a flaw but the typical characteristic of Japanese Gansai colours with white pigment content. For layering techniques, it's recommended to apply opaque Pale Aqua passages always as the final layer.

Technical Specifications