Luminous Red is one of the fluorescent brights, and it works on a different principle from the rest of the range. Holbein builds it from BV11:1, BR1 and SY135, all listed together under the chemical name Fluorescent Pigment. These pigments take in light you cannot see and give some of it back as visible colour, which is why the red looks charged rather than simply saturated. Holbein publishes no Munsell notation for it, so there is no swatch here to mislead you.

Fluorescent red belongs in work that needs to shout across a room: gig posters, skate graphics, zines, packaging concepts, warning motifs, anything with a screen-printed attitude. Illustrators use it as a single hot accent inside an otherwise restrained palette, which is where the effect is strongest. It also has real uses in figurative work for lit skin, sunset edges and rim light. Keep it beside your conventional colours rather than in them, and give it a dark or grey neighbour to push against. Alone on white it is loud. Against black it is electric.

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 pigment carried in an acrylic emulsion, made to lay flat and dry matte rather than to build texture. Water is the only thinner it needs. 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 fluorescent such as Luminous Red the matte surface is what keeps the colour reading evenly instead of glaring in patches. If acrylics are already your medium, see our acrylic paint for the more conventional side of the family.

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 Luminous Red