Metallic Red is a mica colour with an actual red pigment in it. Holbein lists PR146 alongside PW20, described as Titanated Mica and a Monoazo Pigment, so you get a red hue carried on platey mica particles rather than a plain flat red. No Munsell notation is published, which is the honest answer for a paint whose appearance depends on viewing angle and on what sits beneath it. Holbein gives it two stars for lightfastness.

This is the metallic for anything lacquered, candied or automotive: motorbike tanks, nail-polish reds, wrapped sweets, insect wing cases, dragon scales, ribbon and foil. Illustrators use it as the accent that lifts an otherwise flat palette, and it is genuinely useful in fantasy and character work where you need a red that looks like a material rather than a colour. It sits happily over dried areas of Deep Magenta or Deep Violet in mixed media pieces. Keep it to the places you want the eye to land, because a large field of it loses the effect.

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

Think of acrylic gouache as the flat-finish member of the acrylic family: the same emulsion binder, but loaded with pigment and formulated to dry without sheen. 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. That is the whole reason a colour like Metallic Red is worth having, because it can go over a dried dark ground as a final layer. It dilutes with water and rewards a soft brush, so it is worth looking at our watercolour brushes.

Traditional gouache never fully commits, so a wet layer on top lifts the one underneath and you end up chasing colour around the page. Acrylic gouache does not do that. Once Metallic Red is dry it stays where you put it, which is what makes it usable as a top layer over other colours in the first place.

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 Metallic Red