1. Copying kits is a crime that hurts original artists & producers. Help support your favorite artists by buying their original works. PlanetFigure will not tolerate any activities related to recasting, and will report recasters to authorities. Thank you for your support!

Acrylic or Oil equivalencies

Discussion in 'Painting Techniques' started by gerryj199, Oct 30, 2021.

  1. gerryj199 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Hi,
    Does anyone know of a chart that can give equivalencies between oil colors and acrylics from any of the main manufacturers?

    I've been reading about painting horses from an art book and it uses oil paints with the standard names like Payne's Grey, Jaune Brilliant, Mars Orange, etc.

    I'm trying to find the closest acrylic equivalents to these.
    Thanks,
    Gerry
    Chrisr likes this.
  2. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    As far as I am aware Gerry...there does not exist any kind of comparison chart between oils and acrylics.
    Logically...if you grab some colour charts from the web...the reason will become obvious for the lack of such.
    There are a far greater number of acrylic shades than there are oils...with so many similar shades of a given colour within most ranges.
    Oils on the other hand...tend to have very few such shades of a given colour within a range.
    Best I can suggest...download some colour charts of each medium...not ideal...but at least it will give you a starting point.

    Ron
    Chrisr, Nap and winfield like this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Agree with Ron

    Good starting point

    Nap
  4. gerryj199 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks to both of you. I think that I'll have to find some properly printed printed charts to work from because when I tried to look at downloaded charts there was some variation in colors because of the limitations in how they've been scanned/produced/uploaded.

    Time to go to a real art shop and then create my own charts from my acrylics collection to see what I can match as accurately as possible.
    Thanks agauin guys.
    Gerry
    Nap likes this.
  5. Lucas Ferron Active Member

    Country:
    Brazil
    Deleted
    Chrisr and gerryj199 like this.
  6. Mike - The Kiwi A Fixture

    Country:
    New_Zealand
    Hi Gerry
    Adding on to Lucas’s notes I use Jo Sonja Gouache & acrylics - many are equivalent to generic oil colours. Trust this helps.

    Maybe of interest I’ve also begun to again use oils for surfaces like animals, furs & leathers rather than acrylics to get a better natural sheen.
    MikeTheKiwi
    Chrisr, Lucas Ferron and gerryj199 like this.
  7. dmcHobbes Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Gerry,
    The two current comments provide excellent information. I just want to add that pigment information is another way you can find equivalencies between acrylic and oil paints. (Unfortunately, I also have not found this information for model paints such as Vallejo etc.) I also use Jo Sonya acrylics, like Mike, and they do have pigment information along with similar names to the equivalent oil paint. Most acrylic brands mentioned by Lucas also contain that information. Dick Blick carries many of those brands and you could compare say, Winsor Newton oils with their acrylic paints. Google acrylic pigment charts and you should find many posted on-line for many brands (I have one for Jo Sonya). I also have an Oil Paint Pigment Chart pdf I found on-line that you may find useful that I can send to you if interested.
    Doug
    Chrisr and gerryj199 like this.
  8. Lucas Ferron Active Member

    Country:
    Brazil
    Deleted
    dmcHobbes and Chrisr like this.
  9. gerryj199 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thank you all for this amazingly helpful information.

    I have been looking at the acrylics of the artist-oriented paints, but I have also bought a full set of the single-pigment Kimera Kolors paints and am experimenting with those.

    Of course, getting the colors right is just one aspect of this - I still have to improve my techniques in applying them! :)
    Lucas Ferron likes this.
  10. theBaron A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    For me, the answer to this question, in our context of painting figures, is the same as it is in the world of scale models: I don't use color charts, or FS numbers, or similar things, when painting an airplane, or a tank, or a ship, and so on. I eyeball it, and if the color looks close enough to my references, and to my eye, then I'll use it. The color out of the tube, bottle, or jar, is often just a starting point, anyway, given that I'll tint it for shading or highlighting, or for weathering, etc.

    Prost!
    Brad
  11. Lucas Ferron Active Member

    Country:
    Brazil
  12. Ferris A Fixture

    Much is said already, just like to add that even if you achieve a colour match between the pure oil colour and an acrylic mix equivalent, their behaviours will be very different when mixing with other colours. So instructions written for mixes of oil colours will be very hard to duplicate with ‘matched’ colours.

    Adrian
    Nap likes this.

Share This Page

planetFigure Links

Reviews & Open Box
Buy. Sell & trade
Articles
Link Directory
Events
Advertising

Popular Sections

Figure & Minis News
vBench - Works in Progress
Painting Talk
Sculpting Talk
Digital Sculpting Talk
The Lounge
Report Piracy

Who we are

planetFigure is a community built around miniature painters, sculptors and collectors, We are here to exchange support, Information & Resources.

© planetFigure 2003 - 2022.