Leaf Green is the sharp end of yellow-green. Holbein builds it from just two pigments, PY3 and PG7, listed as Monoazo Pigment and Polychloro Copper Phthalocyanine, with no white in the mix. The published figures follow from that: a Munsell value of 8.5 sits high on the light scale while chroma 12.0 keeps it fiercely saturated, and a hue of 3.0GY places it close to the yellow boundary. A bright new-growth green with real acidity to it.

The absence of white is the point. Nothing has been used to lighten it, so it stays clean when you push it in either direction, towards deeper foliage with Ultramarine Deep or into a muted olive with Yellow Ochre. Illustrators use it for new spring growth, citrus and the lit side of leaves where an ordinary green goes dead. It reads at a distance, which makes it useful for poster work and colour blocking, and it holds a crisp edge for graphic-style artwork. Two stars for lightfastness puts it mid-range, so give a thought to where the finished piece will live.

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

If acrylic gouache is new to you, it is the flat matte character of gouache carried in an acrylic binder. 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. In practice that means a dry layer stays where you put it while you work over the top, which is why illustrators and animators who build an image out of flat shapes get on with it so well. The rest of the colours sit on our Holbein Acrylic Gouache page.

Worth separating from poster paint, which it can resemble in a photograph. Poster paint is a school and craft material, cheap by design, with a low pigment load and no permanence claim attached. This is an artist-quality paint with the pigment codes and a lightfastness rating published 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 Leaf Green