Light Apricot is built from the same three pigments as Naples Yellow, PO36 Benzimidazolone, PY53 Nickel-Antimony Titanate and PW6 titanium dioxide, in different proportions. It reads 8.0YR on the Munsell scale, further round towards red, with a chroma of only 4.5. That low figure is the whole character of the colour: it is quiet. Value 8.5 keeps it pale, so what you get is a gentle warm blush, not an orange.

Low-chroma pales are the colours you get through the most of. This is a background colour, a skin colour and a paper-warming colour, and it is far easier to build a palette around than a bright. Illustrators use it for cheeks, ears, morning light and the pale side of adobe or sandstone. Designers lay large flat areas of it behind type, because it carries warmth without competing for attention. It also settles Scarlet into a workable coral when you want a red that is not shouting.

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

Worth knowing what you are actually buying. 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. In practice that means you can lay a soft tint down, let it dry, and work over it in pencil, ink or more paint without lifting a thing. Holbein also lists the range as compatible with all acrylic mediums. It suits heavier surfaces, so a mixed media pad is a sensible home for it.

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 Light Apricot