Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor No.71 INDIAN RED

Indian Red No. 71 is a warm, broken red-brown from Kuretake's Gansai Tambi series – a creamy-soft paint cake made from water-based pigments, handcrafted in Japan. The colour characteristically sits between transparent watercolour and gouache: depending on the amount of water, it creates a delicate glazed red or a richly opaque, silky-matte tone. The pigment combination PR48:3, PR101 and PBk11 produces a red tone with earthy depth and subtle darkening.

Highlights

• Creamy-soft consistency: The paint cake dissolves evenly with a damp brush and spreads smoothly across the surface – no lumps, no hard rubbing required.
• Variable opacity: With plenty of water, transparent glazes are created; with little water, the colour dries silky-matte and semi-transparent – a range that pure Western-style watercolour paints do not cover.
• Pigment composition PR48:3 + PR101 + PBk11: PR101 (iron oxide red) is the classic pigment anchor for Indian Red – warm, earth-stable and lightfast. PR48:3 brings colour brilliance, PBk11 (iron black) tones down the shade to a rich, deep brownish-red.
• Lightfast formulation: The colour is certified as lightfast and is suitable for works that will be permanently stored or displayed.
• Large paint cake (48 × 28 mm): The format allows for loading wider brushes and generous work across areas – not just dab-wise application.
• Handcrafted production: Each paint cake is hand-pressed. Small irregularities or visible air pockets on the surface are production-related and do not affect the colour flow properties.
• Single paint cake for refilling: Fits into existing Gansai Tambi palettes as a replacement or extension.

Application & Tips

• Watercolour sketches and urban sketching: Indian Red works as a shadow colour for warm skin tones, brick architecture or autumnal plant motifs – glazed over light underpainting or as an independent outline colour.
• Illustration and manga: With little water and a pointed brush, precise, rich lines and areas can be created – the opacity far exceeds pure transparent watercolours.
• Sumi-e and East Asian painting techniques: The earthy red tone fits stylistically with classical Japanese imagery; combined with black and grey tones, it creates a muted, atmospheric palette.
• Calligraphy and lettering: On smooth, ink-resistant paper, Indian Red can be applied with a wider brush as a base colour or directly for coloured lettering.
• Mixing colour: The earth pigment base makes Indian Red a stable mixing partner for ochre, brown and dark red tones – no bleeding, no unexpected colour shifts during drying.
• Activation: Work a damp brush briefly on the paint cake until a creamy colour dissolves. On rough watercolour paper (300 g/m²), the semi-transparent, slightly glossy surface comes into its own particularly well.

For Watercolour Enthusiasts

Indian Red No. 71 is based on PR101 (synthetic iron oxide red), one of the most stable and lightfast red pigments – classic for the traditional paint colour of the same name, which was historically obtained from iron oxide-containing ochre earth. The combination with PR48:3 (an organic azo pigment) increases colour saturation and gives the tone a subtle warmth, while PBk11 (iron black pigment) acts as a toning dampener and creates the typical dark depth of Indian Red. The interplay of these three pigments creates a colour that does not bleed when diluted, but glazes in a controlled manner – ideal for multi-stage wet glazing.

Technical Data