How to Find Acrylic Paint Color Equivalents for Oil Paint Colors: The Primary Colors

Painters who have long painted with oil paints may have their favorite oil color paint names memorized.

The day may come when the oil painter delves into a new medium, like acrylic paints. I am not going to debate which one is "better," because there are strong arguments for each type of paint.

What I will do is offer up the acrylic paint names that are the equivalents to standard oil paint color names. In the few cases where an oil paint color is not matched by an acrylic paint color, you will see a suggestion for an acrylic mixture which will bring you close to the original oil paint color.

How to Find Acryic Paint Color Equivalents for Oil Paint Colors

Blue Oil Paint Colors and their Acrylic Paint Name Counterparts

Sometimes the acrylic paint name is the same as the oil paint name. This is true for the following paints: Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, and Ultramarine Blue.

For the rest of the blue color paints, here are the acrylic paint colors names paired with the oil color paints names.

In oils, Permanent Blue is the equivalent of acrylic's Ultramarine Blue. The acrylic name is misleading, as it makes the blue sound lighter or more green than it truly is.

Red Oil Paint Colors and their Acrylic Paint Name Counterparts

Some acrylic paint names are simple variants on the oil paint color name. The name is sometimes reflective of the fact that the pigment is really a hue, due to the dangerous nature of some color pigments.

The one color an acrylic painter must have in their painting palette is Alzarin Crimson, which is the same name as this color in oils.

In oil paint, Vermilion becomes acrylic's Vermilion Hue.

A lovely oil color, Phthalo Red Rose finds its equivalent in Phthalo Crimson.

The purplish-red Magenta is called Medium Magenta in acrylic paint lines.

Yellow Oil Paint Colors and their Acrylic Paint Name Counterparts

Yellows in acrylics do not have quite same earthy tones as in oil paints. Here are some acrylic paint name equivalents to the oil paint color names:

Some names are the same, including Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Yellow Ochre.