Transparent Orange Paint Colour - 20 Paints, 13 Brands

Why Transparent Orange isn't one colour

Every brand makes its own Transparent Orange, and no two are quite the same. They pick different pigments, grind them differently and mix them to their own recipe — so two tubes with the same word on the label can look noticeably different once they are on the paper.

We measured all 20 of them from 13 brands and compared them the way a lab would, using a number called Delta E. It is just a measure of how far apart two colours look to the human eye. Under 2 and almost nobody can tell them apart; over 10 and most people would call them different colours.

Useful when your usual Transparent Orange is out of stock and you need the closest substitute, when you are deciding which brand to buy, or when a mix you got right last time will not come out the same again.

How far is each brand from the average?

Every brand's version measured against the average of all 20 paints. Below 2 is imperceptible to most people; above 10 is obviously a different colour.

Brand	Distance from the average	In practice
Old Holland	Delta E 0.78	Near-identical
Royal Talens	Delta E 0.86	Near-identical
Liquitex	Delta E 0.91	Near-identical
Golden	Delta E 0.99	Near-identical
Winsor & Newton	Delta E 1.11	Near-identical
M. Graham	Delta E 1.90	Near-identical
Schmincke	Delta E 2.41	Very close
Michael Harding	Delta E 3.06	Very close
Gamblin	Delta E 3.26	Very close
Holbein	Delta E 3.45	Very close
Amsterdam	Delta E 5.07	Noticeably different
Sennelier	Delta E 7.37	Noticeably different
Vallejo	Delta E 8.27	Noticeably different

Which brands are interchangeable?

The closest pairs among 78 brand comparisons - swap one for another and most people would not see the difference.

GoldenvsLiquitexDelta E 0.24Near-identical
HolbeinvsMichael HardingDelta E 0.40Near-identical
LiquitexvsWinsor & NewtonDelta E 0.86Near-identical
GoldenvsM. GrahamDelta E 0.93Near-identical
Old HollandvsRoyal TalensDelta E 0.98Near-identical
GoldenvsWinsor & NewtonDelta E 1.10Near-identical

Which brands are clearly different?

The furthest apart. Same name on the tube, visibly different paint.

SenneliervsVallejoDelta E 15.43Clearly different
AmsterdamvsSennelierDelta E 12.31Clearly different
HolbeinvsVallejoDelta E 11.73Clearly different
Michael HardingvsVallejoDelta E 11.33Clearly different
GamblinvsVallejoDelta E 11.18Clearly different
M. GrahamvsVallejoDelta E 10.10Clearly different

Pigments used

Brands do not always use the same pigment for the same colour name.

PO43

Holbein

PO71

Golden, Holbein, Liquitex, M. Graham, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Winsor & Newton

PY128,PR207

Amsterdam

PY83

Vallejo

PY93, PR145

Gamblin

Lightfastness

How well the colour resists fading. ASTM I is the most permanent; V is fugitive.

I

Amsterdam, Gamblin, Golden, Holbein, Liquitex, M. Graham, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Vallejo, Winsor & Newton

Opacity

How much the paint covers what is underneath.

Transparent

Amsterdam, Gamblin, Golden, Holbein, Liquitex, M. Graham, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Vallejo, Winsor & Newton

Brands that make it

Every brand in the database with a Transparent Orange. Each links to that brand's full range.

Available in

The kinds of paint this colour is made as.

Closest other colours

If you cannot get this one, these sit nearest to it across the same brands.

Every Transparent Orange we have measured

All 20 paints, with the measurements the comparisons above are built from.

Brand	Line	Medium	Hex	Lab*	Pigment	Opacity	Lightfastness
Amsterdam	Expert Series	acrylic	`#ff8c1e`	69.5, 37.2, 70.2	PY128,PR207	Transparent	I
Gamblin	Artist's Oil Colors	oil	`#ff731e`	64.7, 49.4, 66.5	PY93, PR145	Transparent	I
Golden	Fluid	acrylic	`#ff8030`	67.2, 43.6, 62.2	PO71	Transparent	I
Golden	Heavy Body	acrylic	`#ff8030`	67.2, 43.6, 62.2	PO71	Transparent	I
Holbein	Artists' Oil Color	oil	`#ff8034`	67.2, 43.7, 60.6	PO71	Transparent	I
Holbein	Heavy Body Acrylic	acrylic	`#ff6e28`	63.8, 51.9, 62.3	PO43	Transparent	I
Liquitex	Professional Heavy Body	acrylic	`#ff8030`	67.2, 43.6, 62.2	PO71	Transparent	I
Liquitex	Soft Body	acrylic	`#ff8232`	67.6, 42.6, 61.7	PO71	Transparent	I
M. Graham	Artists' Oil Colors	oil	`#ff7d32`	66.6, 45.1, 60.8	PO71	Transparent	I
M. Graham	Artists' Watercolor	watercolor	`#ff8034`	67.2, 43.7, 60.6	PO71	Transparent	I
Michael Harding	Artists Oil Colours	oil	`#ff782d`	65.7, 47.4, 62.0	PO71	Transparent	I
Old Holland	Classic Oil Colors	oil	`#ff7d23`	66.6, 44.7, 66.3	PO71	Transparent	I
Royal Talens	Rembrandt Oil Colors	oil	`#ff8023`	67.2, 43.2, 66.8	PO71	Transparent	I
Schmincke	Horadam Aquarell	watercolor	`#ff9137`	70.7, 35.3, 62.6	PO71	Transparent	I
Schmincke	Mussini Oil Colors	oil	`#ff822d`	67.6, 42.5, 63.7	PO71	Transparent	I
Sennelier	l'Aquarelle	watercolor	`#ff641e`	62.1, 56.2, 64.5	PO71	Transparent	I
Vallejo	Acrylic Artist Color	acrylic	`#ff9100`	70.5, 34.3, 76.1	PY83	Transparent	I
Vallejo	Fluid Acrylic	acrylic	`#ff9100`	70.5, 34.3, 76.1	PY83	Transparent	I
Winsor & Newton	Artists' Oil Colour	oil	`#ff8232`	67.6, 42.6, 61.7	PO71	Transparent	I
Winsor & Newton	Professional Watercolour	watercolor	`#ff8737`	68.7, 40.3, 60.6	PO71	Transparent	I

Transparent Orange