Golden Acrylics Painting Workshop
More than seventy acrylic artists came to learn about the inner workings of acrylic pastes, gels, and mediums at the Golden Artist Colors painting demo
This morning, I and attended a workshop on the working properties of Golden brand paints. Golden majors on acrylic paints (though they also own Williamsburg oils), and are committed to ever expanding the world of acrylic possibilities. If you have ever visited the "Golden aisle" of an art supply store, you will know what I mean when I say the array is dazzling. I was interested in gaining a more concrete idea of what the myriad of additives and mediums can do.
The Golden Open Series of acrylics stood out to me. The Open Series have a slower drying time, and they caught my eye because they are recommended for printmaking applications. As most of you know, printmaking is part of my background and an ongoing interest of mine. Living in a dry climate makes relief printing (such as linocut and woodblock) a bit of a trial sometimes, so the idea of using an acrylic paint with a long dry-time as opposed to block printing inks (which require attentive misting) is an appealing prospect.
Samples from the Golden Artist Colors Paint Demo
During the Q and A time, I noted a tip relating to Open Acrylics that was of interest-- if you mix Golden Open Medium with other Golden paints, it lends to them the properties of Open Acrylics to whatever other Golden product you're working with. So, one doesn't actually need to go out and buy new tubes of Open series paints in order to get printing-- mix in the medium with what you already have. Super bonus.
Another noteworthy medium that was discussed is called GAC (Golden Artist Colors) 900. This is an additive for making paints work with fabric. I was amazed to feel how soft the paint was on fabric surface. Furthermore, there was a fascinating example involving a chiffon-like fabric (below), and the painted area didn't feel hard, sharp, or brittle. The GAC 900 works some pretty intense magic.
Overall the workshop was really valuable, and per usual, Golden’s commitment to materials science was evident.
Do you have a favorite medium or type of Golden acrylic paint? Share your favorites in the comments below.