Ash Green is a four-pigment colour and the list tells the whole story: PG7, a Polychloro Copper Phthalocyanine, with PY42 Hydrous Iron Oxide for warmth, PBk7 carbon to bring the chroma down and PW6 titanium white to lift the value. Munsell reads 8.5G 5.5/2.5, a mid value with barely any saturation at all. The result is a soft grey-green in the eucalypt and sage family. Three stars for lightfastness.

Ask a landscape painter which green they actually use and it is usually one like this. Ash Green suits eucalypt foliage, lichen, saltbush, old paintwork, ceramics and interior schemes where a saturated green would be too loud. Illustrators reach for it as the quiet green in a limited palette, and animators and designers use it as a background field that keeps foreground colour legible. Being pre-muted, it also mixes downwards very easily: a little Sepia gives deep shadow foliage, and white takes it to a chalky pale sage.

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

The recipe is simple and the behaviour is what sells it: finely ground pigment in an acrylic emulsion, thinned with water, laid down flat. 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. Soft muted colours such as Ash Green benefit from that even matte film, which keeps a large field of low-chroma colour looking deliberate rather than patchy. Soft synthetic rounds and flats from our watercolour brushes give the smoothest coverage.

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 Ash Green