Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.54 OLIVE GREEN

Gansai Tambi No.54 Olive Green is a single colour pan from Kuretake's traditional Japanese watercolour line – hand-crafted, water-soluble pigment-based paint with a creamy-soft consistency. This muted olive green sits tonally between warm yellow-green and earthy brown hues; its pigment blend of PG7, PY42 and PR101 gives it this characteristic subdued quality. The large pan can be used as a standalone colour or to refill an existing Gansai Tambi palette.

Features

• Creamy-soft consistency: The paint dissolves quickly and evenly with a dampened brush – no hard rubbing, no crumbling.
• Variable coverage: With minimal water, Olive Green works opaque and covering like gouache; with more water it becomes transparent and glazing with a matt finish.
• Easy reactivation: Dried paint layers can be rewetted to adjust saturation, mix or make corrections – this gives you working time.
• Lightfastness: Kuretake rates all Gansai Tambi colours as lightfast.
• Non-toxic: Water-based pigment paint, ACMI-certified.
• Pan size 48 × 28 mm: The wide format accommodates large and flat brushes comfortably and allows brisk coverage work without constant reloading.
• Refill colour: Fits precisely into all Gansai Tambi palette systems – as a replacement for used-up shades or to expand a custom palette.

Use & Tips

• Prepare your brush: Work a well-dampened brush in circular motions into the pan for a few seconds before picking up colour – this fully dissolves the surface and the paint flows evenly.
• Botanical illustration: Olive Green delivers muted, organic green tones for leaves, stems and background vegetation without the risk of tipping into oversaturated green.
• Sketch and illustration: Flows in a controlled manner on cold-pressed watercolour paper; runs less wildly than Western watercolours, which favours precise line-work.
• Calligraphy and brush lettering: The opaque, creamy consistency suits generous brush scripts; a wider brush produces bold, covering strokes.
• Layering: Work quickly when painting over – the lower layer reactivates slightly when brushed over. For clean layers: let the previous layer dry completely and avoid using too much water on your brush.
• Mixing: Olive Green can be mixed with other Gansai Tambi colours directly on the supplied palette sheet or in a separate mixing pan; mixing directly in the pan will dull the colour permanently.
• Paper: On absorbent watercolour paper (rough or cold-pressed) the paint anchors well; on smooth, calendered paper it stays wet longer and blends more softly.

For Watercolour Enthusiasts

The pigment composition of No.54 – Phthalocyanine Green (PG7), Iron Oxide Yellow (PY42) and Iron Oxide Red (PR101) – explains this colour's characteristically muted, earthy undertone. Unlike Western watercolours bound with gum arabic, Gansai Tambi uses a traditional Japanese binder technology that gives the dried paint a subtle silken sheen and keeps the colour fully reactivatable even after drying. For wet-on-dry techniques on rice paper – the historical application – Olive Green excels: the paint application remains crisp and controlled without spreading.

Technical Specifications