Hi Don....Beautiful!  I can see why you love this color.  It is very different than what appeared on the color chip at the art store.  Thank you for sending this example.  I am looking forward to using it.

I also wanted to ask if you have used spike of lavender oil for an oil medium?  I have been
researching more on how to use my oils again
without the toxic smells. 

I appreciate the information on reading Max Doerner's book.  I will see if my library has a copy. 

Are you familiar with Robert Maynord site on mediums?  He didn't reinvent the "wheel" obviously
but he has what appears to be some alternatives.  His blog is also of great interest...

Wishing you a wonderful Monday! 

I am not sure what is happening but I am not receiving the notify (it is checked) when there is a
reply. 

Angelica... :)

Hi Don,

1)  I finally had a chance to see a tube of Opera by Holbein today.  It appeared to be a fluorescent magenta or pink.  Is that what you see when it is on paper or canvas? 

2)  Have you mixed this with small amounts of white or other colors? 

3)  I didn't purchase it yet.  I wasn't sure it would be the color to capture the magenta shades I see in the sunsets here.   

4)  Have you used it in the skies?

5)  Do you have other painting subjects that this color worked well for?

Thank you,
Angelica

Are you familiar with Faux Effects paint products?
D. A little, I think I looked into their brushes. One, if I remember right had maybe 8 smaller squirrel brushes in a row. I never did get into faux work.

I think I will go with the Old Holland acrylics and mediums.  Do you have any preferences in acrylic mediums?
D. There is a fast drying water thin binder by liquitex that I use when going over my charcoal drawing with a thin wash of blue. It doesn't wash off when its dry. Thinning down plain acrylics thins down the binder too much. I like to paint on a white smooth surface so I remove all the charcoal with a water wash. Besides that I just use water and tubed colors. WN has the strongest burnt sienna and ult blue. It's a good brand. I re-read this post, I should mention that I wash the painting down with water each night to get any dirt off. My final finish I have been using for 30 years and still get it at my local hardware store, water based clear Polyurethane.

I love the depth of color Old Holland paints offers.  I appreciate all the information here on your site.  I am also looking forward to trying OPERA by Holbien.
D. Opera is also available in a oil/water emulsion tubed paint called Duo Aqua Oil by Holbein.

Media I made=
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/mediatable.htm
All oil smells like oil, turpentine is better than synthetic, Max Doerner is my reference. Good turp smells like flowers.

I work in both media and believe me, if I didn't write the medium on the back I couldn't tell the difference between them, at least not for a couple of years, all oil yellows. Acrylics don't yellow. Acrylics are more difficult to paint with, after your good at it you will prefer and fight for acrylics.

I'm looking forward to seeing your location work AngelicaV. You can post your text and images. You can also change, add or subtract anything that you post at any time.

Q.
Are you still happy with the Duo Holbein Luminous Opera color?  I noticed that they have a beautiful violet as well. 
There is a notification on the Dick Blick site that all of the luminous shades are not permanent?  Have you experienced this?  I love the idea of luminous colors.
A.
I like the first finer ground Opera made by Shin Han of Korea. I started the tests in 2005, today, 9 years later they are still bright, I just looked at them.
There was a time that alizarin crimson was considered permanent by Blick's contemporaries, he wasn't around yet, as most of the retailer's today weren't around, they still don't do their own research. Opera is more permanent than alizarin. The color is made with PR122 quinacridone, that's permanent.
Don't trust artiscreation.com to do their own testing either, they have many errors from copying errors. They are still trying to make the red-yellow-blue colorwheel work.

Q.
Do you still feel the Old Holland Acrylic Colors are still consistent with what you had experienced before? 
A.
Absolutely, their acrylics are great. just like their oils. They have the original nickel recipe for oil Indian yellow from 130 years ago. Acrylics are comparatively new, the medium is standard throughout the industry, the pigments are also. No one ever made a transparent mono-toned yellow before, O.H. is/was the first.