PEARL’ ACRYLIC PAINT: THE TEST!
I really like paintings with effects and I wanted to test the “pearl” acrylic paints that are pearlescent/iridescent/metallic… Out of curiosity or if you want an opinion before buying them, I hope my article will be useful to you…
INTRODUCTION
The ‘pearl’ acrylic paints are from the AMSTERDAM brand by ROYAL TALENS.
The Amsterdam Standard Series range includes fine quality acrylic paints, with a nice color chart:
• 8 transparent shades
• 8 semi-transparent colors
• 25 semi-opaque colors
• 29 opaque colors, and
• 10 metallic colors.
Here are the 6 ‘PEARL’ colors:
TEST OF ‘PEARL’ ACRYLIC PAINTS
THICK LAYER
To start, I applied a dollop of the ‘Pearl’ acrylic paint on a medium gray background (it’s important that the background is as neutral as possible, so neither white, nor black, nor colored… That leaves little choice ^^).
In thickness, the paint appears very white, milky with slight colored reflections.
Fresh paint:
Slightly translucent texture
Dry paint:
The whiteness of the acrylic paint has gone to let the pearlescent effect come through…
ON COLORED BACKGROUND
Ready for the test on colors!!
For the thin layer test, I made 5 stripes on my sheet: black, white, brown, magenta, and cyan. This will allow us to see how these effect paints perform on different shades and background values.
Perpendicularly, I made the 6 stripes with the ‘Pearl’ acrylic paints. I loaded one side a bit more than the other, to see the effect with a very thin thickness, or with a bit more material.
The effect is visible by tilting the support in relation to the light, and thanks to the magic of metallic effects, the shades reveal themselves!
So it’s finally a really nice effect paint!
On the website, it’s indicated to use these paints on dark shades. In my first version of the article, I said that it didn’t necessarily seem interesting with the ‘whitish veil’ of the paint. But after using the paint in a thin layer on an original painting, it’s clear that the effect really looks good, whether on a light shade or a dark shade.
Using pearl paint on a background with the same shades works well too: pearl blue (for example) on a sky blue or midnight blue background.
Mixing colors is a bit more complicated to manage, for example, pearl green on magenta, not great… But why not when the choices are wise.
MIXES
The mixes between the shades work well! Mixing green/purple neutralizes the color to give a nice gray.
LAYERING
Layering test with the “Pearl” green + blue mix. From 1 layer up to 6 layers.
Observing the mix and layering test, we notice that a thin layer simply colors, whereas in thickness, there will of course be more of a metallic effect, but only from the angle of the light, because otherwise the thickness tends towards white.
COLOR WHEEL
I finally made a wheel with the shades from the tubes, and the intermediate mixes.
In the center: mix of all the shades.
IN SITUATION
Here is a piece of one of my paintings with a graphic and textured background made using classic acrylic paint and ‘blue pearl’ paint.
This first photo is taken from the front, with a classic setting aimed at minimizing unwanted light reflections.
This second photo is taken at an angle so that the light highlights the metallic effect. (Photo taken with a polarizing filter)
In reality, the effect is even prettier and more intense!
If you want to give a pearlescent/iridescent/metallic texture to your paintings, these “Pearl” acrylic paints are available in:
• 817 Pearlescent White
• 818 Pearlescent Yellow
• 819 Pearlescent Red
• 820 Pearlescent Blue
• 821 Pearlescent Purple
• 822 Pearlescent Green
Available in 20, 120, 250, and 500ml sizes. Findable in most art supply stores and online.
PHOTO CONSTRAINTS
To sell paintings online, you need to take high-quality photos that are very true to the original. Like all these effect paints, they are very complicated to photograph… Generally, lighting is set up to the side to avoid bright reflections on the canvas, and it is precisely this angle of light that would be needed to bring out the effects. One solution: if you use these paints on a painting, you need to show online customers at least two photos:
- With the camera angle, from the front, perfectly perpendicular.
- At an angle to clearly see the metallic effects in relation to the angle of the light.
A polarizing filter (which allows filtering out certain unwanted light reflections) can be indispensable in some cases.
CONCLUSION
I wrote this article because I had no idea of the outcome when I purchased these “pearl” acrylic paints, and I thought it could give you an overview before buying them…
AND YOU ?
Do you have any questions?
What do you think?
Have you ever tried these “Pearl” acrylic paints?
If so, what are your impressions?
What would you like me to test?
Feel free to leave a comment below.
Do you want to improve, be proud of yourself, and sell your paintings better?
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