Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.55 VIRIDIAN

Viridian – a clear, blue-toned green that unfolds its own unique depth in the Japanese Gansai tradition. The Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour No. 55 is a single full-size pan with a creamy-smooth consistency and opacity that varies between transparent watercolour and opaque gouache – depending on how much water you use. Manufactured in Japan, this pan represents a centuries-old painting tradition with a modern pigment approach.

Features

• Large full-size pan (approx. 48 × 28 mm): The generous format invites you to fully load even broad brushes – large washes work beautifully without having to repeatedly top up the colour.
• Variable opacity: Mixed with little water, the colour behaves in a creamy, opaque manner like gouache; when heavily diluted, it becomes transparent and luminous – Viridian then appears almost like broken light through glass.
• Creamy, barely granulating consistency: Japanese binder technology ensures an even, smooth colour application to paper, without the graininess that many European watercolours display.
• Easy reactivation (lift): Even dried layers can be reactivated with a damp brush – ideal for corrections and subsequent working in of highlights.
• Subtle sheen after drying: The characteristic, slightly satin finish when dry gives washes and glazes a liveliness that looks particularly striking on classical watercolour papers.
• Lightfastness: The colour is lightfast – Viridian areas do not fade quickly when displayed or archived.
• Numbering on the pan base: The printed colour number makes it easy to sort into palettes and to reorder a colour once you've finished using it.
• Compatible with the Gansai Tambi palette system: The pan fits into all Kuretake Gansai Tambi sets and can be used as a replacement when a colour runs out.

Use & Tips

• Activation: Work a well-dampened brush into the pan with circular motions for about a minute before painting – this allows the pigment surface to dissolve completely and the colour to flow evenly.
• Large washes: For sky, water or background areas, pre-dilute the colour on a separate palette, not directly in the pan – too much water in the pan can create fine cracks when drying.
• Opaque application: Applied with little water directly from the pan, Viridian No. 55 works as a rich accent green for plant details, textures or lettering in calligraphy and brush lettering – the colour adheres well to dark paper tones too.
• Layering and wet-on-wet: Work quickly when layering, as the underlying layer becomes soft again when wet. On absorbent watercolour paper (e.g. Arches cold-press), layer stability is better than on smooth paper.
• Mixing: Viridian mixes well with the other Gansai Tambi colour tones – with blue it creates a cool ocean green, with yellow a vibrant spring green. Mix on a white plastic mixing surface or separately on a palette scraper.
• Illustration and Sumi-e: The colour intensity and subtle shimmer after drying work well with Asian-inspired illustration styles and quick, expressive sketching.
• Calligraphy and lettering: With a broad brush or a pointed watercolour brush, Viridian can be used directly for coloured calligraphy – the opacity is sufficient even for mid-tone papers.

For Watercolour Enthusiasts

The Gansai Tambi formula differs fundamentally from European gum arabic-bound watercolours: the binder consists of traditional Japanese ingredients such as dextrine, sugar and other processing agents. This creates significantly better reactivation (lift) than Western watercolours – even dry layers open up again with a damp brush. Pigmentation is done in Japan without listing individual CI pigment numbers – Gansai tradition. Important for professional use: for work that will be archived long-term, the absence of official Lightfastness ratings (according to ASTM) should be noted. Kuretake states lightfastness, but an independently tested rating is not yet available. On washi papers and mineralised papers, the colour shows interesting surface effects due to variable binder behaviour.

Technical Specifications