Acrylic Painting

Core Paints

Look for pigment codes, not color names.

These are the core paints that will yield the best results:

• Titanium white (PW6)
• Lemon yellow (PY3 or PY35)
• Cadmium yellow medium (NY24)
• Yellow ochre (PY43)
• Vermilion (PY108)
• Red oxide/Mars red (PR101)
• Alizarin crimson (PR83)
• Cerulean blue (PB35)
• Cobalt blue (PB73)
• Ultramarine blue (PB29)
• Payne's grey (PB15)

Secondary Paints

These are good-to-haves and should be acquired next.

• Sap green (PG12)
• Opaque chromium oxide green (PG17)
• Hooker's green (PG8)
• Cadmium orange (PO20)
• Dioxazine purple (PV23)
• Raw umber (PBr6 or PBr7)

Tips

• When mixing colors, add dark to light, never light to dark.
• For skin tones, do not use a premade "skin tone" paint; instead, mix burnt sienna, burnt umber, or raw umber with white.
• If you need black, make your own from a dark blue, burnt umber or sienna, and a little red like alizarin red.