Yellow is a three-pigment mix, PY3 and PY83 with PW6 Titanium Dioxide, described by Holbein as a Monoazo Pigment, a Disazo Pigment and Titanium Dioxide. Munsell notation of 2.0Y 8.0/13.5 explains the character: a high value of 8.0, a big chroma of 13.5, and a hue of 2.0Y that sits just past the yellow-reds, so it carries a warm golden bias rather than a lemon one. Two stars for lightfastness.

If you want one yellow that behaves like the yellow in a child's paint set, this is closest to it. The warm bias makes it good for sunflowers, wattle, taxi yellow, packaging and signage, and it mixes strong mid greens with Ultramarine Blue instead of the sour ones a very green yellow gives. Add Scarlet for a hot orange, or Titanium White for a creamy pale yellow that still has body. Graphic designers and animators use it as a flat key colour, since it holds its identity at small sizes and under reduction.

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 exists because designers wanted a paint that stayed flat, stayed put and photographed evenly. Pigment in an acrylic emulsion, thinned with water, used at full strength for flats. Holbein Acrylic Gouache dries to a matte opaque finish and is water resistant once dry, so it does not reactivate with water the way traditional gouache does. A key colour like Yellow can therefore be laid down, dried, masked and overpainted with no lifting. It sits happily beside ink and pencil, so try it on a mixed media pad.

Ordinary acrylics dry with a slight sheen and often darken a little as the binder clears, which is a nuisance when you are matching flats. Acrylic gouache is formulated to dry dead matte, so Yellow looks the same across a whole poster and photographs without glare. You keep acrylic durability and lose the shine.

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 Yellow