Magenta is the most saturated colour in this group. Holbein makes it from BV11:1, BV7 and BV15, all listed as Fluorescent Pigment, and Munsell records it as 1.0RP 3.5/14.0. A chroma of 14.0 is about as high as any notation gets, and it is sitting at a value of 3.5, so this is not a pastel. It is a deep, hot, unapologetic magenta right on the boundary between red and purple.

This is a print-shop magenta with the volume turned up, and it behaves best when you treat it that way: flat, at strength, in shapes. Gig posters, record sleeves, sportswear graphics, protest printing, packaging mock-ups and any flat-design palette that needs one colour doing all the shouting. It is superb next to a clean white or a dense black, where the chroma reads hardest. Illustrators also use it as a base field and then bring form back with lighter opaque notes on top once it has dried, rather than trying to shade it with mixes.

What Makes This Colour Special

Pigment, lightfastness and series as published by Holbein. Holbein does not publish an opacity rating for individual colours; the range as a whole is described by Holbein as opaque.

Acrylic Gouache, Not Traditional Gouache

Acrylic gouache was designed around flat colour: illustration, animation backgrounds, graphic-style artwork, model finishing. Pigment in acrylic emulsion, thinned with water, used straight from the tube for flats. Holbein Acrylic Gouache dries to a matte opaque finish and is water resistant once dry, so it does not reactivate with water like traditional gouache. For a colour as saturated as Magenta the matte surface is doing real work, keeping the chroma reading evenly across a shape. The complete colour chart lives on the Holbein Acrylic Gouache page.

Why Holbein Acrylic Gouache Is in Serious Studios

• Genuinely opaque. Holbein describes the range simply as an opaque acrylic paint. It covers, including over darker colour, which is the whole point of reaching for gouache rather than watercolour.
• Velvety matte, no sheen. Holbein describes the colour as opaque, intense, smooth and velvety. It dries flat, which is why it photographs and scans without glare.
• Water resistant once dry, so you can layer. Holbein’s own wording, and the reason the range exists. A dry layer will take another one over the top without lifting.
• The colour you mix is the colour you get. Holbein states it does not shift in colour tone from wet to dried colour. Anyone who has watched a perfect grey dry into a different grey will appreciate that.
• Built to use straight from the tube. Holbein says it is specifically designed to be used directly from the tube and will dry to even, uniform paint layers.
• Works on more than paper. Holbein lists paper, canvas, cloth, stone, wood, leather, plexiglass and concrete, with excellent adhesion, and full compatibility with all acrylic mediums.

Getting the Most Out of This Tube

Straight from the tube is the default. This is what Holbein designed it for, and it is where you get those even, flat, uniform layers. Add a little water to loosen it, but go easy: very diluted washes can dry streaky across a large flat area, so build coverage in thin even coats rather than flooding it on.

Watch the palette, not the clock. Holbein gives an open time of roughly 10 to 30 minutes and notes the drying time is much like ordinary watercolour. The practical consequence is that paint left sitting on the palette will go off and will not come back, so squeeze out small amounts as you need them.

It plays well with acrylic mediums. Holbein states the range is compatible with all acrylic mediums, so you can change the body or extend the working time if you want to. Soft synthetic brushes suit it, since they hold enough paint to lay a flat area without dragging.

Questions About Holbein Magenta