Kuretake Watercolors Gansai Tambi 24-Color Set

Gansai Tambi are solid, water-activated watercolors from Japan – handcrafted, pigment-based and pressed into unusually large pans. The 24-color set combines a broad palette of blue, green, red and earth tones along with black and white in a flat, clear-cut box with Washi packaging. The consistency is creamy-soft, and the color behavior responds directly to the amount of water: from translucent-transparent to almost opaque like gouache.

Special Features

• Unusually large pans (48 × 28 mm): The generous surface area accommodates even wide flat brushes or thick round brushes – no tedious rubbing on small godets.
• Water-based pigment, ACMI-certified: The colors meet the international safety standards of the Art & Creative Materials Institute – non-toxic, safe for everyday use.
• Coverage controllable via water addition: With plenty of water, light, transparent glazes are created; with little water, the colors work almost opaque and gouache-like – both from the same pan.
• Creamy-soft consistency: The color dissolves quickly and evenly from the color cake, without hard rubbing – even after prolonged drying.
• Color chart and protective film included: The included protective film prevents the pans from shifting during transport and simultaneously serves as a mixing palette. The color chart for personal swatching helps with quick orientation.
• 24 coordinated colors: The set includes Black (No. 20), White (No. 10), Scarlet Red (No. 31), Red (No. 32), Dark Pink (No. 34), Wine Red (No. 36), Lemon Yellow (No. 40), Middle Yellow (No. 43), Light Brown (No. 44), Brown (No. 46), Dark Brown (No. 47), Pale Aqua (No. 50), May Green (No. 51), Ocean Green (No. 52), Middle Green (No. 53), Olive Green (No. 54), Green (No. 55), Turquoise Green (No. 57), Evergreen (No. 58), Cornflower Blue (No. 61), Cobalt Blue (No. 62), Blue (No. 64), Deep Blue (No. 67) and Lilac (No. 139).
• Manufactured in Japan: Handcrafted using traditional Japanese Gansai technique.

Application & Tips

• Activation: Apply a few drops of water to the desired color cake, let it take effect briefly, then pick it up with the brush. This noticeably shortens the dissolution time.
• Transparent glazes: Plenty of water on the brush creates soft, translucent surfaces – ideal for classic watercolor techniques with wet-on-wet transitions on watercolor paper from 200 g/m².
• Opaque surfaces: Little water, picked up directly from the color cake, produces an almost gouache-like opacity – good for color accents over already dried layers or for lettering with brush lettering.
• Mixing: The protective film of the set is suitable as a mixing palette; alternatively, white ceramic or plastic palettes work well, as the colors can be completely rinsed out.
• Brush selection: For surfaces and backgrounds, you benefit from the large pan surface with wide flat brushes; for detailed work, details and calligraphy, fine round brushes or brush markers are suitable.
• Paper: Watercolor paper with sufficient weight (200 g/m² and more) absorbs the colors best and prevents buckling. With little water use, smoother papers and sketchbook pages also work.
• Note: In very dry environments, the surface of the color cake may crackle slightly – this is a normal drying phenomenon and has no effect on color quality.

For Watercolor Enthusiasts

Gansai are not watercolors in the European sense: the formula goes back to the Japanese Sumi tradition, in which pigments are pressed into solid cakes without gum arabic, but with water-based binders. This explains the unusually fast dissolution time and the creamy-silky texture that differs significantly from European hard-cake watercolors. Being pigment-based, lightfastness is generally given – however, it decreases with strong dilution because the pigment density per color layer decreases. If you plan large-area, heavily diluted glazes, you should take this into account. The color numbers in the set are compatible with the individual colors of the Gansai-Tambi series – empty pans can simply be repurchased individually.

Technical Data