That depends on how much this one covers, and Metallic Green is semi-transparent. A metallic that lets light through is at the mercy of its ground: over black or a deep green underpainting it flares properly, and over white or raw canvas it goes pale and chalky. One that covers in its own right is far less fussy and will shimmer straight over a light surface, though a darker ground still deepens it. Either way, let the ground dry completely before laying the metallic over it in one or two even coats.

Yes, all Amsterdam acrylics are intermixable, but adding an opaque colour to a metallic buries the mica flakes in solid pigment and reduces the shimmer. If you want a metallic version of another colour, glaze a thin layer of Metallic Green over the opaque colour once it is dry rather than mixing the two on the palette. Mixing metallic into metallic works fine and is a good way to shift the tone.

Yes, more than it affects a plain colour. Gloss varnish deepens the flare and makes Metallic Green look richer. Matte varnish scatters the reflected light and will noticeably mute the metallic, sometimes to the point of losing the effect. Satin sits in between. Always test on a painted sample board before varnishing the finished piece, because this is not a change you can undo.

Royal Talens, based in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1899 and also makes Rembrandt oils and pastels, Van Gogh oils and watercolours, Cobra water-mixable oils, Ecoline liquid watercolour and Bruynzeel pencils. Amsterdam acrylics are manufactured in the Netherlands, not contract-made offshore, which is part of why batch-to-batch consistency is reliable when you are mixing a colour you need to match again later.

Yes, Click and Collect is available from our Moorabbin store, for Melbourne metro customers. Order online and the Click and Collect option appears as a delivery method once you enter your address. Allow 1 to 3 business days for your order to be picked and packed, and we will email you when it is ready. Orders need to be collected within 4 business days of that notification. Someone else can collect on your behalf if they have the order number.

Pre-primed canvas from the shop is ready to paint on. Raw canvas, raw board and bare timber should be primed with acrylic gesso first, two thin coats sanded lightly between, which gives you a stable, slightly toothy surface and stops the binder sinking straight in. On masonry, render or concrete the surface needs to be clean, sound and slightly porous, and Amsterdam's alkali resistance means it will hold there without a specialist primer.

Yes, with a fabric medium mixed in. Straight acrylic on fabric dries into a stiff plastic patch that cracks when the cloth flexes. A textile or fabric medium keeps the binder flexible so the paint moves with the weave. Prewash the fabric to remove sizing, paint with a board inside so it does not bleed through, let it cure fully, then heat set with an iron on the reverse per the medium's instructions.

Barely. Amsterdam is water based and Royal Talens describes it as odourless, which is the main reason acrylic suits home studios, apartments and classrooms where solvent-based oils are impractical. There is no turpentine or mineral spirit involved in painting or cleaning up. Some mediums and varnishes, particularly solvent-based varnishes, do have a smell, so read the label on those and use them with ventilation.

Yes, it is a common mural choice, and the alkali resistance is the reason. It adheres to stone, plaster, concrete and render without a specialist masonry primer, provided the wall is clean, sound and slightly porous. For an exterior mural, finish with a UV resistant exterior varnish. The paint's lightfastness rating assumes indoor museum conditions, and an Australian north-facing wall is a very different ask.