Riposte

I get interesting painting questions from students and have decided to share some of the answers with you.

Question:

Is there a conversion out there for oils to Americana acrylics?

Riposte:

Color Match Source is the only conversion from oils that I know of. You pay to join. They used to publish a book but are now on line.

DecoArt has a good conversion for acrylic brands to Americana on their web site, as well as other good educational information. Search under the education tab.

That said,

I don’t convert. I compare the bottle of paint with the color shown in the project photo. When photos are printed there is most likely color shift so that the colors you see in the photo may not be the colors of the original painting. Acrylics come in many colors. When you get a conversion for oils to acrylics you may mix several colors to come up with a color that matches closely one of the acrylic colors already mixed for you.

I compare the bottles of acrylic paint with the photo, assuming they are the colors that you liked anyway. Start by looking for the medium value of an object, then find a good shadow value or two and highlight value/s in the same color family. This is a good way to learn more about color, values, and your acrylics, as well as being simpler.

I hope that helps.

Have fun painting, Liz