Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.64 ULTRAMARINE

Prussian Blue No. 66 is one of the most characterful colors in Kuretake's Gansai Tambi line. The rich, deep-cyanistic blue with a slightly greenish undertone is based on pigment PB27 – one of the few iron blue pigments with extraordinary coloring power. Supplied as a single pan, it can be inserted directly into an existing Gansai Tambi palette or used independently.

Special Features

• Pigment PB27 (Prussian Blue) Pure: Iron blue with one of the strongest tinting strengths of all pigments – even small amounts color mixtures intensively. When diluted with plenty of water, it creates translucent glazes with a slightly greenish shimmer; with little water, the color remains deep, almost opaque.
• Creamy, smoothly pressed consistency: The pan is carefully filled, the surface is even and without grain – dissolves quickly with a damp brush and releases color evenly without clumping.
• Between watercolor and gouache: Due to the high pigment concentration, Prussian Blue No. 66 covers more strongly than classic transparent watercolors, but remains well-glazeable with plenty of water. Depending on the water ratio, you can freely control the character of the color – from fluid washes to almost opaque painting.
• Slight sheen after drying: Like all Gansai Tambi colors, the application dries with a fine silk shimmer – a feature of Japanese gansai tradition that looks particularly beautiful on smooth paper.
• Large format pan: At approximately 48 × 28 mm, significantly larger than European standard pans. Wide brushes, flat brushes and large Japanese brushes have enough color surface without constantly reloading.
• Compatible with all Gansai Tambi palettes: The pan fits perfectly into every Gansai Tambi set and is suitable for refilling a used color or expanding an existing palette with this tone.

Application & Tips

• Sumi-e and ink coloring: Prussian Blue is ideal for underlaying ink drawings with cool, atmospheric tones – used sparingly as a glaze over black lines, the line remains visible.
• Illustration on watercolor paper: On watercolor paper from 300 g/m² and above, the blue reveals its full depth. Applied wet-on-dry creates sharp edges; wet-on-wet produces soft, atmospheric edges.
• Washi and rice paper: Gansai Tambi colors were originally developed for Japanese papers. On washi, Prussian Blue sits richly on the surface and absorbs less than with Western watercolor papers – this intensifies the matte to slightly glossy finish.
• Mixed tones: PB27 has enormous tinting strength – when mixing with other colors (yellow to green, white to ice gray), always use sparingly and stir in gradually, as the blue dominates quickly.
• Layering: Since Gansai Tambi colors can be reworked slightly even after drying, work quickly over layers or let one layer dry completely before applying another layer – this keeps the layers clearly separated.
• Calligraphy accents: With a thin brush and little water, Prussian Blue can be used as a deep, almost black-blue color for characters or calligraphic gestures.

For Watercolor Enthusiasts

Prussian Blue No. 66 is based on the synthetic iron cyanide pigment PB27 – the historically first synthetically produced pigment ever (Berlin, c. 1704). PB27 is considered semitransparent with very high color and tinting strength; when mixed with white, it quickly loses saturation and shifts into smoky, almost stone gray. This makes it demanding for mixed tones, but particularly interesting for monochromatic works and atmospheric depth painting. The Gansai Tambi formulation contains no additional white pigment component (PW6), as some lighter colors in the series do – Prussian Blue No. 66 is listed as pure PB27 and is thus one of the more transparent tones of the entire palette.

Technical Data