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In this post, I’m taking a close look at two hues of green that are very dark straight from the tube – viridian hue permanent and jenkins green. There are so many different tubes of green acrylic paint on the shelf at the art store, and I’ve purchased so many trying to decide which greens I want to keep on my palette. I’ve been testing out colour mixes with all my tubes of paint to see which ones I want to use long-term. Let’s take a look at these two colours.
Viridian hue permanent
The Liquitex Viridian hue permanent acrylic paint is a gorgeous, velvety green which is quite dark and leans toward blue. I’ve had this tube of paint in my collection for years. I picked it up when I was first learning how to paint with acrylics, and chose it because it looked like a very dark green. I had no idea how to use it and whether it was a worthwhile choice or not. I used it quite a bit, but as I got to know how to mix blue and yellow to make green, and picked up other colours of green, I stopped using it.
It is a great shade for painting green ocean water, but many artists can find it hard to control unless they understand how to use it well. It’s a mix of PBr7 (raw umber) and Phthalo Green (PG7), so it’s not a true viridian. I wasn’t able to find a solid source for why there are so many viridian hues, rather than true viridian pigments, in acrylic paints, but saw some discussion about it being difficult to properly mix with the acrylic binder.
A bit of history: the original, true viridian replaced Emerald Green, which was very toxic because it included arsenic.
Jenkins green
This is a green blend created by Golden for painter and abstract phenomenist Paul Jenkins. It’s beautifully dark straight from the tube, and is a bit warmer than the viridian hue. It’s a mix of PBk9 (bone black), PY150 (Nickel Azo Yellow), PG 36 (Phthalo green yellow shade). It doesn’t seem to be very commonly used, but I do think it’s a lovely green.
Colour mixes
I used quite a few different colours around the colour wheel when testing out colour mixes with viridian hue permanent and jenkins green, including:
- Cadmium lemon
- Cadmium-free yellow medium
- Phthalo blue (green shade)
- Ultramarine blue
- Quinacridone magenta
- Cadmium red
- Cadmium orange
- Dioxazine purple
- Titanium white
Watch me as I mix various colours using the two shades of green on my YouTube channel.
Final thoughts
While both create some really beautiful colour mixes, I doubt that I will re-purchase either colour. I can use a phthalo green to mix something similar to viridian, and I don’t think Jenkins green would be more useful or easy to find as another convenience green, such as Hooker’s green.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with either choice. If you’re looking for a dark green that leans blue, either would work. Just keep in mind that Jenkins Green is a bit warmer than viridian when you’re choosing.
Learn more
Check out a listing of all my colour mixing blog posts and videos on my colour mixing roundup article.
Get your own
Pick up your favourite green acrylic paint at your local art supply store or on Amazon:
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