All Amsterdam acrylics are intermixable, and Greyish Blue behaves predictably in mixes given it is opaque. Start by mixing it with titanium white for tints and with a small amount of its complementary colour to knock back the intensity rather than reaching for black, which tends to deaden a mix. Keep a swatch card of your mixes with the ratios written on it, because you will want to repeat one later.

Greyish Blue is rated +++ on Royal Talens' scale. Three pluses means the colour is rated to last at least 100 years under museum conditions, two pluses at least 25 years. Museum conditions means indoors and out of direct sunlight. That rating is why work painted in Amsterdam Standard Series is safe to sell, provided the buyer is not hanging it in a north-facing window.

The Amsterdam Standard Series runs in 20ml, 120ml, 250ml, 500ml and 1 litre, though not every colour is made in every size. We carry the sizes that move, and the 500ml jar is the one to choose when you are painting large, teaching, mixing in volume or working on murals and props. If you want a size you cannot see on the site, ask us and we will check what Royal Talens produces in that colour.

Yes. Amsterdam is made by Royal Talens in the Netherlands, a company that has been making artists' colours since 1899. The Standard Series is a general purpose acrylic built for people who paint a lot, with a 100% acrylic resin binder, a satin finish and lightfastness ratings of ++ or +++ across the range. It is not a heavily pigmented professional colour like Golden Heavy Body, and it is not trying to be. What it is, is a dependable, permanent acrylic you can use freely rather than ration.

Yes, we ship Australia wide including WA, the Northern Territory, regional and remote areas. Allow about 2 to 3 business days with Express Post and 6 to 8 business days with Standard Post to those destinations after dispatch. Larger and heavier orders go by Startrack courier rather than Australia Post, which takes about 6 to 8 business days to WA, the NT, Tasmania and remote areas. Tracking is provided on everything.

Oil over acrylic is fine, and is a standard technique. Acrylic gesso and acrylic underpainting make a perfectly good ground for oils. Acrylic over oil is not fine. Acrylic is a water-based film and will not bond to an oily surface, so it will sit on top and eventually peel. The rule painters use is fat over lean: acrylic first, oil on top, never the other way around.

Yes, and it holds well because terracotta is porous. Clean the pot, let it dry completely, then paint directly or over a coat of gesso if you want a brighter base. For pots that will live outside or be watered, seal the finished paint with an exterior-grade clear varnish and ideally seal the inside of the pot separately, because water wicking through unsealed terracotta from behind is what lifts the paint.

Neither, if you can avoid it. Freezing can break the acrylic emulsion so the paint separates into a grainy, curdled mess that will not stir back together. Sustained heat thickens it, can partially cure it in the jar, and shortens its life considerably. An Australian car in summer gets well past the point where this matters within an hour. If a delivery has been sitting in heat, open it, check the consistency and tell us if it has been affected.

No. Standard Series runs around 90 colours at one consistent grade, medium viscosity, satin finish. Expert Series uses higher pigment concentrations, more single-pigment colours and traditional artist pigments including cadmiums and cobalts, organised into series bands by pigment. Choose Standard for scale, teaching and mixing in volume. Choose Expert when you want maximum tinting strength and the cleanest possible mixes.