Metallic Blue combines PB15:3 with PW20, listed by Holbein as Titanated Mica and Copper Phthalocyanine. Phthalo blue is one of the cleanest, strongest blues available, and here it is carried on platey mica particles, so the surface changes as the light moves while the hue itself stays firmly blue. Holbein publishes no Munsell for it, and that absence is informative: no single flat value describes a paint like this. Three stars for lightfastness.

Metallic Blue is the workhorse of the metallic group for illustrators. Night skies with a glint in them, water, kingfishers, car paint, denim under a streetlight, armour with a cold cast to it, sci-fi panelling. It is strong enough to hold its own over a dark ground and cool enough to sit beside Silver without fighting it. Designers use it on packaging roughs where a foil-blue effect needs to be shown flat. Over dried Prussian Blue or Navy Blue it looks deliberate and deep. Layer it, do not blend it.

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 came about because designers and illustrators liked the flat matte surface of gouache but needed the paint to stay put. Holbein grinds pigment into an acrylic emulsion to get both. 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. With Metallic Blue that means a dark ground and a metallic pass over it can be built up in confidence. Anyone coming from acrylic paint will recognise the way it dries.

Poster paint is made for volume and quick coverage, not for finish. It chalks as it dries, shifts colour, and lifts if anything damp touches it. This is a professional acrylic gouache: the colour you mix is the colour you get when it dries, and a dried coat of Metallic Blue takes further layers without surrendering.

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 Blue