All Amsterdam acrylics are intermixable, and Manganese Blue behaves predictably in mixes given it is semi-transparent. 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.

Manganese 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.

Royal Talens states that Amsterdam acrylics contain no animal-derived ingredients and are not tested on animals. Pigments and binders are synthetic or mineral. If this matters for a specific colour or for a school or institutional purchase, ask us and we will get the current safety data sheet and manufacturer statement for that exact product code rather than giving you a general answer.

If you are in Melbourne, our Moorabbin store carries the Amsterdam range on the shelf, and you can use Click and Collect to reserve online and pick up, usually ready in 1 to 3 business days. If you are in Brisbane, our West End store stocks it too. Everywhere else in Australia, we ship direct from our warehouses with tracking on every order, and Express Post reaches most metro areas in 1 to 2 business days after dispatch.

Usually one of three causes. You painted a thick layer over a layer that was not fully cured underneath, so the top skinned and the bottom shrank. You over-thinned with water, which weakened the binder. Or you applied it very thickly in a hot, dry, windy spot so the surface set long before the body did. The fixes are: thinner layers, proper drying time between them, thin with medium rather than water, and keep a heavy application out of direct heat.

Yes. Clean and lightly sand the piece, prime bare or previously varnished timber with an acrylic primer or gesso, then build two or three thin coats rather than one heavy one. The important step is the finish: seal it with a hard-wearing clear polyurethane or an acrylic varnish rated for furniture, because raw acrylic on a tabletop will mark and scuff. Allow proper curing time before you put anything on it.

It cures water resistant and permanent, which is enough for an indoor painting and enough to survive being wiped. It is not the same as a waterproof coating, so for anything living outdoors, getting scrubbed, or holding water, seal it with an exterior or hard-wearing clear varnish. Note also that it needs to be fully cured, not just touch dry, before it reaches that water resistance, which means days rather than minutes.

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.