Pale Pink is the simplest recipe in this batch: PR9, a Monoazo Pigment, tinted with PW6 Titanium Dioxide. Munsell reads 8.0RP 8.5/4.0. A value of 8.5 makes it very light, a chroma of 4.0 makes it very gentle, and the 8.0RP hue keeps it just on the cool side of red, so this is a soft powdery pink rather than a peachy one. Two stars for lightfastness.

Pale, low-chroma colours do a lot of unglamorous work, and this one is a proper utility pink. Use it for blossom, ballet-shoe pink, pale interiors, packaging layouts, baby-goods design and any high-key scheme that needs air in it. Because it is already tinted you can lay it straight in as a flat field without hunting for the right white-plus-red ratio each time, which matters if you have to repeat a colour across a series. Warm it with Ivory White, cool it with Misty Blue, or raise the chroma with a touch of Magenta while keeping the value light.

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 is what you use when you want gouache's flatness without gouache's nerves. Finely ground pigment, an acrylic emulsion binder, water as the only thinner. Holbein Acrylic Gouache dries to a matte opaque finish and is water resistant once dry, so it does not reactivate with water in the way traditional gouache does. A delicate tint like Pale Pink stays exactly as painted while later layers go on. Soft hair brushes give the smoothest flats, and our watercolour brushes section has plenty that suit it.

Jelly gouache in those little pots is rewettable by design, which is why it suits quick studies and why a stray wet brush can wreck a finished flat. Pale Pink dries water resistant instead. You get the same soft matte pastel surface, but the layer underneath will not soften and blend into whatever you paint on top of it.

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 Pale Pink