The Ever-changing Artist's Palette
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Historical Color Matches:
Historically Significant Colors Recreated with GOLDEN Acrylics

Below are mixing ratios for historically important colors and some recently discontinued GOLDEN colors. We have tried to duplicate each hue as closely as possible, however, pigments often have unique attributes which make exact color matching impossible. When using this guide bear in mind which characteristics are important for your application, such as chroma, opacity/translucency, masstone, undertone, etc. Also note that some historical pigments are much grittier than their refined counterparts. If this is significant to your work, a textural medium can be added, such as GOLDEN Acrylic Ground for Pastels, to mimic the roughness. Transparency also can greatly vary depending on the source of the pigment and the strength of each mixture.

Note: The below mixes are ratios, meaning the mixes have a relationship between each other. They are NOT based on percentage (100%). For example to create an Alizarin Crimson (Alternative Match) mix 10 parts of Quinacridone Violet to 12 parts Quinacridone Burnt Orange. In a sense mix 10 drops (or dollops) to 12 drops of each color respectively in order to match Alizarin Crimson.

Table 1: Color Matches Using GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylics

 Historical Color To Match  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5
Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone Crimson        
Alizarin Crimson (Alternative Match) Quinacridone Violet (10) Quinacridone Burnt Orange (12)      
Hooker's Green (1) Jenkin's Green        
Hooker's Green (2) Anthraquinone Blue (1) Nickel Azo Yellow (3)      
Indian Yellow Nickel Azo Yellow (15) Transparent Pyrrole Orange (1) Regular Gel (Gloss)(50)    
Malachite Titanium White (8) Phthalo Green (BS)(3) Cobalt Titanate Green (4)    
Naples Yellow Titan Buff (20) Yellow Oxide (2) Diarylide Yellow (1)    
Naphthamide Maroon (Masstone) Quinacridone Violet (11) Quinacridone Burnt Orange (11) Dioxazine Purple (2) Carbon Black (0.7)  
Naphthamide Maroon (Undertone) Quinacridone Violet (11) Quinacridone Burnt Orange (12) Dioxazine Purple (2)    
Sap Green Quinacridone Gold (30) Phthalo Green (YS)(10) Quinacridone Magenta (1)    
Sepia Raw Umber (20) Burnt Sienna (3) Carbon Black (0.7)    
Smalt Ultramarine Blue (5) Naphthol Red Light (0.4) Red Oxide (0.15) Regular Gel (Gloss)(10) Acrylic Ground for Pastels (6)
Terra Rosa Red Oxide (10) Yellow Ochre (1)      
Terre Verte Cobalt Green (1) Cobalt Titanate Green (8) Regular Gel (Gloss)(40)    
Van Dyke Brown Burnt Umber (20) Quinacridone Burnt Orange (0.5) Carbon Black (0.3)    
Venetian Red Red Oxide        
Viridian Green Cobalt Green (2) Phthalo Blue (GS)(1) Phthalo Green (BS)(6) Zinc White (14) Regular Gel (Gloss)(20)
Vermillion Quinacridone Red        

Table 2: Color Matches Using Just the GOLDEN Color Mixing Guide Set of Colors

Historical Color to Match

Titanium White Zinc White Quinacridone Magenta Naphthol Red Light Hansa Yellow Medium Phthalo Green (BS) Phathalo Blue (GS) Yellow Ochre Regular Gel (Gloss)
Alizarin Crimson     100   25   3    
Asphaltum     25   50 3      
Aureolin   5     30     9  
Cobalt Violet
  15 40 2   15     50
Coblat Violet Deep   10 30     18      
Hooker's Green   2 8   9 8      
Indian Yellow       2 30 .1      
Malachite 40   11   30 12      
Manganese Blue   70       .5 15   50
Manganese Violet 3   38   3 .2 12    
Naples Yellow 30       20     30  
Olive Green Deep       20 40 18      
Prussian Blue     30     15 20    
Sap Green     15   60 20      
Sepia     40 5 25 15      
Smalt     40 5     10   100
Terra Rosa 16     50 41 .8      
Terre Verte   23 10   12 7     50
Van Dyke Brown     40   30 8      
Venetian Red 10   40 26   1      
Viridian Green 1   3     20   10 15
Vermillion 7   27 20 5 .3      


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