Basic Information
The Turner Acryl (acrylic) Gouache comes in 20, 40, and even some 100ml tubes, and is generally cheaper than the artists’s gouache by the same brand. The plastic tubes are long and skinny but large and have a good cap design.
(purchased here. Affiliate link)
Strangely the Turner Acrylic Gouache is easier to buy than the Turner Artist’s Gouache where I live.
I asked Turner if they use animal byproducts and they said they don’t test for that (?) but that “I’m pretty sure that excepted colours like the bone black, the colours are vegan.” So your guess is as good as their customer service reps.
Lastly, I will use ‘Acryl’ and ‘Acrylic’ interchangeably in this post, since Turner made the strange choice to name it ‘Acryl Gouache,” probably to be clever and different.
Swatches & Permanency
I tested the opacity by doing a swatch of color straight from the tube over a black line, and as you can see here Turner Acrylic Gouache seems very opaque, even the yellow (which is more rare). The single stroke test is pretty self explanatory, and mostly I use that as a way to see how it flows straight from the tube. The swatch on the right is a normal swatch with more water added as I drag it to the right.
I was very happy to see how permanent the paint is. The permanency test shows no movement or discoloration. And I really rubbed hard with a wet brush to try to lift it. Well done, Turner.
Review
As I mentioned in the Holbein Acrylic Gouache Review, there is a learning curve with using acrylic gouache if you are used to artists (traditional) gouache.
(TLDR: acrylic gouache dries crazy fast. You need to mix more color than you think you need, if you plan on using it throughout the whole painting. I filled my mixing tray pretty fast…)
On the palette, the paint dried extremely quick unless I mixed a huge amount. It felt like I needed much more paint, especially white. I tested using water to dilute as well as blending medium. But either way it dried quickly. I suggest using a glass or ceramic mixing surface or a stay-wet palette since it dries quick and permanent. You don’t want to ruin any of your nice palettes.
That aside, the Turner Acrylic gouache is extremely opaque, but dried even faster than Holbein acrylic gouache. Like way faster. I was already struggling with that issue and it was even worse in this case. I’m trying not to judge the paint because of this, but wow it was difficult.
For my test painting I did a master study of this lovely Georgie Robbie river scene. I kinda gave up before it was finished because I was struggling with the paint. But it still looked decent in the end, and I was certainly able to make some interesting effects.
Because the paint was very opaque, I was able to dilute with water to help the flow which was nice. And I could let it dry to make it sticky and get amazing dry brush textures.
So, my experience wasn’t the greatest, BUT the paint is very opaque. And permanent. That’s a huge bonus. Overall, I liked Holbein acrylic gouache better, because it had a little bit of an advantage in the “flow” category. But Turner Acryl gouache was slightly more permanent. So I guess it depends what you need.
Lightfast tests are currently underway, so check my Gouache Database for results later in 2024/early 2025.
Sarah–acrylic paint dried on a palette, brush or water container will not wreck it. If a substrate can tolerate soaking, then acrylic paint can fairly easily be removed with some scrubbing. So if you have a paintbrush or whatever that has acrylic paint dried on it, just soak it and come back to it one or more days later. A toothbrush can work very well for getting the paint out of paintbrushes. I have an old plastic Holbein water container that had acrylic paint on it from like 20 years ago, and it scrubbed off with just a bit of elbow grease. Personally I think it would be hard for acrylic paint to ruin anything.
That is not my experience at all. Perhaps it depends on the actual brand/type of acrylic paint. I’ve ruined multiple brushes and palettes over the last decade because I forgot there was acrylic on it, and it dried. I’ve tried soaking/scraping, nothing could remove all of the acrylic. So, I would always take care in extensively washing any palette/brush I use with acrylic of any kind.
Soaking in rubbing alcohol cleans hard acrylic paint off brushes. It has never failed me – I used 90%. It will dissolve it from most fabrics, too.
Thank you for reviewing this! I’ve been very curious about Turner Acryl Gouache for a few months now, and I was secretly hoping that you’d review it since I’ve come across your other gouache reviews and found them helpful. Your review makes me more curious to try them. I’m still new to gouache and the relatively low price and decent quality is tempting.
I have the Turner acryl gouache and Turner’s Japanese acryl gouache which has a more subtle, moodier palette (less bright) and love them both in my mixed media work …always on black surfaces. The tubes recommend a mixing ratio of 2 paint :1 water which greatly improves flow and slows drying time. I also use retarder, wetting additive and airbrush medium which slows drying and allows for more soft blending ,more like watercolor but non lifting which is why a have the acrylic gouaches in all the well known brands. Experimenting is the BEST !
Interesting!
Sarah thanks for another very useful great review