All Amsterdam acrylics are intermixable, and Transparent Red Medium behaves predictably in mixes given it is 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.

Transparent Red Medium 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.

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.

Acrylic paper or a heavyweight watercolour paper, 300gsm or above. Acrylic is a heavy, wet medium and lighter paper will cockle and eventually break down. Watercolour paper works well and gives you texture to play with, and stretching or taping it down first prevents buckling. Cartridge paper under about 200gsm is fine for quick studies but not for anything you intend to keep or frame.

Upright, lid on tight, at stable room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Heat and freezing are the two things that ruin acrylic, so a hot car, a tin shed in summer or an unheated garage in a cold winter are all bad storage. Wipe the rim before you close the lid or dried paint will stop it sealing. Never tip used paint from the palette back into the jar, because you are introducing contamination and half-cured lumps.

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.