Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.67 INDIGO

Kuretake Gansai Tambi No. 67 Indigo is a single watercolor pan in deep, cool indigo blue – handcrafted in Japan, following over a century of Kuretake tradition in ink and paint manufacturing. The large-format pan contains a pigment-rich, water-based color medium that falls between classical watercolor and gouache: saturated, direct, and with a creamy-soft consistency.

Special Features

• Large pan (48 × 28 mm): The wide color surface allows the use of larger brushes – from broad flat brushes to water brushes – without constant reloading.
• Higher opacity than Western watercolors: Gansai Tambi colors are formulated with more pigment intensity and opacity than typical European watercolors. Applied with little water, Indigo No. 67 works almost like gouache – saturated and compact. Diluted with more water, it creates transparent, watercolor-like glazes in cool blue-violet tones.
• Creamy, quickly soluble consistency: The color dissolves completely with a slightly dampened brush. Work progresses quickly – ideal for spontaneously capturing a color moment.
• Vegan binder: Gansai Tambi uses a vegan adhesive binder instead of animal gelatin. The color medium meets international safety standards (AP seal, ASTM-certified) and is non-toxic.
• Usable on dark paper: Thanks to the increased opacity, Indigo No. 67 displays effectively even on gray or black watercolor paper.
• Single pan as replacement or supplement: The pan can be inserted into existing Gansai Tambi palettes or used as a standalone individual color.

Application & Tips

• Watercolor and illustration: Indigo is a classic color for sumi-e painting, botanical illustration, and sketchbooks. The cool, deep tone brings atmosphere to night scenes, water motifs, and shadows.
• Control opacity through water amount: Little water produces a saturated, almost opaque blue-violet. Plenty of water creates delicate, transparent glazes – both effects are possible with the same pan.
• Layering: In areas that are worked with glazing, the previous layer should be completely dry before applying a new layer – Gansai colors can be redissolved in their dry state.
• Water brush: For on-the-go work, a water brush works directly from the pan; the amount of color can be controlled very precisely through the water pressure in the grip.
• Paper: Gansai Tambi works on a wide range of papers – from smooth sketch paper to watercolor paper to rice paper. On calendered, smooth papers, the color flows more compactly; on rougher papers, the pigment settles into the texture and creates a more lively surface.
• For gallery works: Kuretake does not provide pigment codes, and lightfastness varies depending on color – for works that will be displayed under continuous light, a test under light conditions should be planned before completion. For sketchbooks, illustrations, and digitized works, the color is excellent.

For Watercolor Enthusiasts

Gansai Tambi has its roots in the Japanese sumi ink tradition: Kuretake has been manufacturing ink colors for over 100 years, and this experience shows in the binder system of Gansai colors. Unlike Western watercolors, which are primarily gum arabic-based, the Gansai Tambi formula contains a vegan binder with gum arabic as its base – without animal gelatin. This binder can leave a slight sheen when applied very thick and with little water; with sufficient water, the color dries evenly matte. Indigo No. 67 has its own history in the Japanese color world: As a cool blue-violet between Prussian blue and violet, indigo is one of the few color tones traditionally used in sumi-e painting and East Asian calligraphy – as a tone for shadows, water, and the deep hour before dawn. The color can be mixed with other Gansai Tambi colors; for intensively opaque applications without much water, the mixture should be tested on a test sheet, as some pigment combinations may vary slightly in color saturation when drying.

Technical Data