Royal Talens is a Dutch company founded in the 1899. Corporate headquarters are still based in The Netherlands. Royal Talens produces oil, acrylic, and watercolor paint lines as well as pastels and pencils.
Royal Talens Acrylic Product Names: Who’s your Daddy?
Due to clever packaging and product names, it wasn’t until I visited the Royal Talens website that I discovered some acrylic paint brands are all produced by the same company. Sneaky huh? Their Rembrandt brand is familiar to me as an watercolor, but not as acrylic.
- Royal Talens | Rembrandt Acrylic Paint: Talens top of the line acrylic paint. Highest quality & pigment load. I have yet to find these in the States, although the Rembrandt pastel and watercolor are widely available.
- Royal Talens | Van Gogh Acrylic: Described by Talens as “pasty”, which I take to mean thick and suitable for impasto work.
- Royal Talens | Amsterdam Expert: Heavy body, artist’s grade acrylic paint. Described by Talens as a step-up from Amsterdam Standard. Royal Talens offers 7 acrylic mediums to accompany this line.
- Royal Talens | Amsterdam Standard: Student grade acrylic paint.
- Royal Talens | ArtCreation Expression: Low cost acrylic paint which I will describe as hobby or crafting paint for the time being. Talens uses the politically unoffensive term ‘beginner’.
- Royal Talens | ArtCreation Essentials: 38 colors of low cost acrylic crafters paint in large tubes.
Amsterdam Expert or Standard, what’s the deal?
Due to similar packaging and logos is easy to confuse the Amsterdam Expert with Amsterdam Standard. If you don’t notice based on price alone — take care, and don’t mistakenly grab expert if you are wanting Standard instead.
See our Opinionated Article titled, Three Reason Why Hobby Painters Need to use Professional Artists Paint.
Dick Blick produced and informative, but slightly boring video about the differences between the two products. If you just can’t keep you lids up long enough to watch the entire 2:54 minutes of it, below is a handy-dandy comparison chart for your reading pleasure.
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Where to purchase in the USA:
Amsterdam line is widely available online and in most art retail stores through out the country.
The jury is still out on where to purchase Rembrandt Acrylic and Van Gogh Acrylic in the States. I will update as soon as I receive more complete information about these two Royal Talens product lines.
What I really think about Royal Talens Paint:
Editor Mini-Rant WARNING now in EFFECT.
Ok, Talens. I have sat here all afternoon, reading your website, comparing your literature about your different brands.
I am thoroughly confused.
After reading about Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Amsterdam – 2kinds, and also ArtCreations - ALL of which are described as fine art paint; I can’t honestly report on any of it.
At this time, my best guess is that you sell 5 different grades of acrylic paint. They begin as super-fine and proceed to cheap? But with all the different branding labels, and mushy descriptions, I am totally lost.
Maybe it is an American thing, and European painters have no trouble at all with keeping all your different brands. I prefer to know what I am buying BEFORE I purchase it.
Full disclosure is one of the main reasons I began this blog. To help working artists cut through the marketing crap and determine the facts about acrylic paint brands. I am none too pleased so far.
One last note:
I wrote this post initially in response to an email a received from a Royal Talens rep asking why I didn’t have Amsterdam paint listed on this site.
To date, in my own studio, I have only had the opportunity to try Amsterdam Expert and Amsterdam Standard. IF I can track down and purchase some Rembrandt and Van Gogh acrylic tubes in the States I will test them and out write a followup.
Until such time, I welcome your opinions on all or any of the Royal Talens Acrylic Paint Brands.
Like Royal Talens? Love it? Hate it?
Tell us about it!
I like Amsterdam Expert, as it is a very good deal, easy to use and is nearly as (sorry) buttery and deep as the much more expensive Heavy Body Paints of the leading companies. Even holds brush strokes.
The plastic tubes are very practical and stable.
It’s one of the best studio qualities I know of.
100 years. Congratulations and continued success.
Over the years as a professional artist, I have experimented with almost all brands of oil paints and continue to come back to yours for quality and price. I also use your pastels for my basic palette. Both work very, very well for me.
I understand that you intend to have presentations and demonstrations of your products in various areas of the US. I live in the largest town in western Colorado and I expect you will only enter the Denver metropolitan area with these events. I would be honored and would like to offer my services if you would consider having me promote your art materials in my area. It is a large area and has a lot of artists living here.
Whatever you decide, I will always continue to recommend your paints to my students.
Thank you and again, Congratulations!
Charles Morris
I have used both Amsterdam and Van Gogh paints and I have to say that you can see the difference between the two. I don’t quite understand your confusion regarding all the different brands and qualities. The more expensive a brand is, the better quality it has. Amsterdam series are cheaper because they have more filler while Rembrandt and Van Gogh do not. If you are a beginner you wouldn’t need the high quality paints and if you are an expert quality is important. That’s were the difference between them lies. It’s all about what YOU specifickly look for, that’s all ^^
I would have to agree with the above comment. Expensive should = better quality. I know it doesn’t always, but should be the case here. The more expensive ones are thicker, and vibrant. In regard to the Rembrandt acrylics, there is only one art supply store that carries these in my area, that i know of. It’s called Studio Art Shop in Charlottesville, VA. Pretty sure it’s a locally owned place. I’m not sure why they aren’t more widely available.
The ArtCreation stuff is obviously craft paint, or scholastic quality. The Expression is only in sets of small 12ml tubes up to 24 colors, the Essentials has 38 colors in individual 75 ml tubes.
The Amsterdam Standard is student quality, uses similar pigments to the artist quality stuff, just lower pigment loads, for lower cost.
The Van Gogh is more intermediate. Only 40 colors, only in 40ml tubes, only white and black in larger tubes (150ml).
Rembrandt has been their top line since it was introduced in 1899 (and the acrylic range in the 1970s.). 75 colors, 70 of which have highest lightfast rating. They are formulated to have a uniform satin gloss when dry (unlike for example Golden where it depends on the individual pigment).
Amsterdam Expert is a newer artist quality paint. Unlike Van Gogh or Rembrandt, all 70 colors are the highest lightfast rating, lightfast for at least 100 years in museum conditions. All 70 colors are also available in both 75ml and 150 ml tubes, and 40 of them in 400ml bottles. Dries to uniform finish.
Thanks Brian for the additional information.
I have edited the previously harsh review of Royal-Talens, which was written several years ago.
The current website is MUCH easier to understand and make sense of the different acrylic paint products.
Makes me curious to try the rembrandt acrylic line. Have you used it? any feedback or additional comments? Are you a Royal-Talens rep or staff member or just a frequent user of this brand?
Again, thanks for clarifying comments!
Cindy