Mix Tint Colour Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

So I had a little brainwave the other day and did a little experimenting and am so exited to be able to share it with you.

As you probably know by now Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is available in 30 colours. I have only used Old White, Pure White, French Linen, Paris Grey, Country Grey, Duck Egg Blue, Greek Blue and Graphite.  Here are these colours below on pieces of my furniture.

Annie Sloan has chosen beautiful colours but it is a limited palette (especially when I'm never going to crack open a tin of Scandinavian Pink, Barcelona Orange, Primer Red, Olive etc). You can also mix your own colours and The Painted Lady has a fantastic colour mixing tool but what if you are painting on commission and your client asks for Antique White USA or Dulux Limed White but you want to use your ASCP chalk paint? You could fuss around with different tins of colour and possibly get a close match but why not...

TINT YOUR PAINT!

(and yes I know you could also use Websters Chalk Powder or your own DIY Chalk paint and I will talk through my experiences with both those options in a coming blog post)

The other day I was flicking through a magazine and I saw a wall painted in a specific colour, a beautiful peacock blue, brighter and deeper than Duck Egg Blue and seeing I had about a third of a tin left of duck egg blue I decided to experiment with it and I ducked into my local hardware shop and asked them to tint it. 

I painted over an old brass lamp with my new paint colour, then washed it down with a wash of ASCP Graphite. You can see the wet colour on my finger! It dried much darker than that, and then darker still with the Graphite wash. Because the colour I wanted was off a deep base and I was tinting Duck Egg blue I didn't get an exact colour match but as I was just experimenting and not colour matching I am really happy with the result and wasn't expecting the exact colour (although it is close)

 I think it looks like verdigris and love the effect. 

Anyway it set me thinking about ASCP and if you love Annie Sloan's paint but need a specific colour that is off a white base you can always take your ASCP Pure White tin to the hardware store and for a couple of dollars get the specific colour you are after. Now I know that there aren't many situations you will do this as there are other ways of getting a broader colour range than the stock standard 30 colours but I thought it was worth sharing.

In regards to changing the paint or effecting the properties of the paint I very much doubt it. In the manufacturing process, tint is how the colour would be added to make the range in the first place. Also Annie herself recommends thinning the paint with a little water if you want a smoother coat so I doubt the 8-10 mls of tint that you will need to add will change the chemical and physical properties of the paint (spoken like a true engineer).

What's your all time favourite paint colour, ASCP or otherwise?

on a sad note, today is my Mum's birthday, missing her a lot. She was such a creative, wise, clever woman.

cheers

Fiona