This year DecoArt discontinued quite a few Americana Acrylic colors, some of my favorites. I hear many comments about our beloved colors that will no longer be available. At first I was really upset and refused to believe the rumors running rampant on Facebook. When these rumors were confirmed, I decided to settle down and approach this as the creative artist I claim to be.
When I actually started analyzing these colors, I realized that many were so very close to other hues, that I was a bit surprised! For example, I use Green Tea in almost all of my designs. My next choice (if I didn’t have a bottle handy) was Limeade…guess what?…both were discontinued! Well, take another look, Lemonade is almost identical and is just as lovely. I always had the worst time finding a good Christmas red. Too bright, too transparent, too orange, too blue, etc… until I found Antique Rose which was perfect. I was more than a little saddened to see this wonderful color on the list. I could either quit painting Christmas or find another color. I tried the new Watermelon Slice. I found out that it is absolutely beautiful! I was so excited with the results that Antique Rose has become a distant memory.
So, this is my conclusion: We can let the discontinued colors become a black cloud over our painting world, or we can venture into the world of experimentation and look for substitutions or create mixes. I am not a fan of mixes as I never can mix a second batch that will match. I did find out that in my adventure of trying to find comparable colors, I have ended up with some pretty and impressive results! This would have never happened if my tried and true had not been discontinued. So, looking on the bright side, I say “Thank You” to DecoArt for pushing me outside my color comfort zone, forcing me to be a little more creative and becoming a better artist! I encourage you to take that same journey with a fresh attitude and dabble with gusto!
These are some of the color substitutions that I would recommend. I don’t stress out too much on being exact. “Close” often will work out fine, don’t be too fussy, it’s more fun to relax & enjoy the artistic journey. The first color in the list is discontinued and the second is my choice. I have notated some of the bigger differences, such as the substitution colors are darker, lighter, etc… All paints are available at Cupboard Distributing at a great discount! Click on this link: DecoArt Paint Savings
Discontinued Color |
Replace with… |
| DAO5 Taffy Cream | DA07 Moon Yellow |
| DAO21 Crimson Tide | DA097 Rookwood (darker) |
| DAO26 Mauve | DA162 Antique Mauve |
| DAO27 Gooseberry | DA286 Terra Coral |
| DAO28 Raspberry | DA276 Razzle Berry |
| DAO30 Spice Pink | DA292 Coral Blush |
| DAO79 Brandy Wine | DA097 Rookwood |
| DAO81 Colonial Green | DA178 Blue Mist |
| DAO89 Cool Neutral | DA319 Burlap |
| DAO96 Iron Oxide | DA219 Heritage Brick |
| DA102 Medium Flesh | DA025 Dusty Rose |
| DA135 Ice Blue | DA149 Silver Sage |
| DA156 Antique Rose | DA324 Watermelon Slice (beautiful!) |
| DA158 Antique Teal | DA107 Teal Green (brighter) |
| DA162 Antique Mauve | DA128 Deep Burgundy (darker) |
| DA177 Green Mist | DA209 Arbor Green |
| DA184 French Vanilla | DA309 Banana Cream (brighter) or DA03 Buttermilk (softer) |
| DA185 Light French Blue | DA098 French Grey Blue (darker) |
| DA197 Violet Haze | DA236 Grape Juice (darker) |
| DA198 Dried Basil Green | DA187 Reindeer Moss Green |
| DA206 Limeade | DA252 Lemonade |
| DA210 Soft Blue | DA277 Spa Blue |
| DA213 Admiral Blue | DA035 Navy Blue |
| DA218 Gingerbread | DA062 Terra Cotta |
| DA220 Traditional Raw Umber | DA130 Raw Umber (never could tell the diff!) |
| DA222 Traditional Raw Sienna | DA093 Raw Sienna (ditto) |
| DA237 Soft Lilac | DA211 Wisteria |
| DA258 Butter | DA309 Banana Cream |
| DA279 Blue Haze Light | DA178 Blue Mist (darker) |
| DA280 Autumn Red | DA018 Country Red |
| DA281 Slate Green | DA152 Shale Green |
| DA282 Green Tea | DA252 Lemonade |
| DA295 Butterscotch | DA194 Marigold |
| DA298 Purple Wave | DA272 Purple Cow |
Please note: these are my “go to” choices. They will be “close”, but if you want an exact match, the mixing chart is listed at: Discontinued Paint Mixing Chart
Chris Haughey Designs 
What color would I use instead of russett
What do I use in place of Shading Flesh?
Thanks!
Use Dried Clay in place of Shading Flesh. It works perfectly!
Thanks for the lists.
Close is great. We used cool neutral in a class I taught (with permission) recently. The conversion is a mix of three colors. I think it would be much easier to use Burlap. Nice list of suggestions. Thanks,Chris!
Have you tried Coral Blush for cheeks? I had always used Antique Rose, so needed to adapt also. Just when you find the perfect color… Again…pushes us to be creative LOL!!
I found that I could work around all of the discontinued colors except for Crimson Tide. I liked the translucent of it to mix with Flesh Tone for cheek colors. All the other reds are too heavy. Wish they would have kept just that one. Watermelon Slice doesn,t work for me as well. I have had a learning curve with paints from the time I painted in oils, and different brands of paints and finally settling on the DecoArt Americana paints. We can improvise, even if it means mixing colors.
:-). Smiles
Thanks!