Paint is one of the few things I find that the price is indicative of quality, and a higher price usually means more pigment, more saturation and more opacity. Even though cheaper paint costs less, if you need full coverage, you will tend to need to use a lot more. Personally, I tend not to need a high-coverage optical white, so I often go for a cheaper Titanium white in a large size. I use white mostly for mixing, but also for underpainting. Probably some people would use Zinc white for mixing instead, but zinc doesn't stand up well to the more intense colours on my palette. There are pigments where I will always buy the more expensive versions, because I need the coverage or saturation. Usually for me, these are the reds and yellows, where I see a big difference.
One thing I would add is that you can use Gesso as a medium and as a white. Gesso is great to make a paint more opaque and matte. If you need to cover something, use Gesso instead of white, my 0.02.
The Golden open mediums work well with other golden paint lines as well. I like golden open gel with my Golden Heavy body. Dry time ends up somewhere in between. Retarder first then as I work to thicker layers transition to open gel. Acrylic is a wild medium there is so much variety. Just mixing the right colors from the right brands sometimes as well. [Holbein has a handful of super transparent heavy bodies that are so so creamy and are the perfect glazing paints... they have a PB15 based Maganese hue, PR179 perylene maroon, and a PY110 Isod yellow that make the most fantastic glazing triad, they all GLOW like crazy with a little glazing liquid] A thing I discovered recently was using Golden High flow with a bit of glazing liquid... or if I want something to really really pop with pigment, watering down my heavy body WITH high flow. So take say ultramarine heavy body and water it down with a little matte medium AND a drop or two of high flow ultramarine. Thins the paint yet punches the pigment up instead of reducing the pigment load. Its a fun little thing I have been experimenting with. (also using Titanium White and Titan buff high flow basically as medium)
All great points! I definitely had a learning curve for these too I can understand being underwhelmed by Golden's heavy body titanium white for opacity/white-out potential. I'd strongly recommend giving a whack Golden's titanium white in High Flow or even Fluid lines. They serve as "white-out" much better. The High Flow is designed to be acrylic ink consistency but Golden paint quality. Is *chefs kiss*
Brilliant video, thank you! I'm a watercolour portrait artist that occasionally dabbles in soft pastels, oil pastels and pencils but I've never tried acrylics to produce serious work before. Unfortunately I've just invested a a big Golden Titanium White heavy bodied and an extensive range of The Schminke acrylic range - half price (now I know why 😳)! Haven't tried out either yet as just purchased but when you started your vid with that info I was "oh shite"! However, the rest of the video was full of really super helpful info. I own a large selection of Golden high flow which I've enjoyed for mixed media pieces for a while now, so I'll be interested to see how they go in portraiture. Also, I think you can be forgiven for not knowing about all the different types of acrylics and mediums because they're pretty new. Golden in particular has spent a lot of money creating these ranges which certainly didn't exist back in the 80s when I started my art journey. Anyhoo, thank you so much for another fabulous, informative video. Will be watching some more of your acrylic vids before I start working on any serious pieces moving forward. All the very best to you and yours for a wonderful festive season. Beverley 🇦🇺
Fabulous overview of the properties of different acrylic paints and mediums. If I were to ever go back to NYC Guerra paint would be my first stop and I would haul a suitcase full of their lovely products back to Australia. They do deliver here and I am planning to make a big purchase from them soon (the postage will be killer and the exchange rate is abominable, but what is money for anyway? 🤣), but I can't believe that shopping on line at Guerra is anywhere near as fun as going in person.
I didn't know about this either, back when. Well to be fair, quite a few of these acrylics and mediums didn't exist, but some did. Acrylic and water is what I used. 100% with you on disliking painting on canvas. I don't like the bounce or the texture. Moved to DaVinci cradled gesso boards, the ultra smooth line because I love smooth. They're basically the same as what you showed. The only reason I'll be painting on canvas now is to use up the stash I have.
Thanks for this! I'm trying to move from heavy body to fluids when my budget allows, and try high flow as well, but curious, when you added white to the fluids to make them more opaque, was that a fluid white as well or heavy body? Thanks again, you're the best!
One thing you didn't talk about and I really don't know what to do is varnish for acrylics. I've been researching but I couldn't find a definitive answer, I wanted to varnish a painting I'm working on so it's UV protected, I live in a tropical country and the painting is gonna be on my wall exposed to sun light, but I can't figure out if varnishing is necessary and if so, which one to use.
Usually the best is to have an isolation coat of clear acrylic and then put on a layer of removable UV protective varnish on top. There should generally be manufacturer's instructions on the bottle of varnish. Many high-quality artists paints already have good or very good lightfastness, except fluorescent/dayglo pigments that are inherently sensitive to UV. One place I would look for information would be Golden's blog. They are not the only manufacturer that makes varnishes, but they often write good articles on how different materials work.
Gamvar is a wonderful varnish that is easily removed with Gamsol if you muck up the finish and start again. It can be used on acrylic or oil paintings. If you are worried about the possibility of the acrylic lifting if you. have to remove the varnish then you can put on two coats of Golden Isolation Coat before varnishing. Golden makes excellent varnishes, but bear in mind that these are acrylic varnishes, so if you don't get the varnish layer perfect ie if there are any drips or inconsistencies in the layer that form ridges, you won't be able to remove it and start again.
Watch our video on acrylic effects and materials: th-cam.com/users/liveg0nI9jroKX8?feature=share
Paint is one of the few things I find that the price is indicative of quality, and a higher price usually means more pigment, more saturation and more opacity. Even though cheaper paint costs less, if you need full coverage, you will tend to need to use a lot more. Personally, I tend not to need a high-coverage optical white, so I often go for a cheaper Titanium white in a large size. I use white mostly for mixing, but also for underpainting. Probably some people would use Zinc white for mixing instead, but zinc doesn't stand up well to the more intense colours on my palette. There are pigments where I will always buy the more expensive versions, because I need the coverage or saturation. Usually for me, these are the reds and yellows, where I see a big difference.
Definitely, you get what you pay for!! -Prof Lieu
i love the golden open acrylics !!
One thing I would add is that you can use Gesso as a medium and as a white. Gesso is great to make a paint more opaque and matte. If you need to cover something, use Gesso instead of white, my 0.02.
Great tip, would have never occurred to me!! -Prof Lieu
The Golden open mediums work well with other golden paint lines as well. I like golden open gel with my Golden Heavy body. Dry time ends up somewhere in between. Retarder first then as I work to thicker layers transition to open gel.
Acrylic is a wild medium there is so much variety. Just mixing the right colors from the right brands sometimes as well. [Holbein has a handful of super transparent heavy bodies that are so so creamy and are the perfect glazing paints... they have a PB15 based Maganese hue, PR179 perylene maroon, and a PY110 Isod yellow that make the most fantastic glazing triad, they all GLOW like crazy with a little glazing liquid]
A thing I discovered recently was using Golden High flow with a bit of glazing liquid... or if I want something to really really pop with pigment, watering down my heavy body WITH high flow. So take say ultramarine heavy body and water it down with a little matte medium AND a drop or two of high flow ultramarine. Thins the paint yet punches the pigment up instead of reducing the pigment load. Its a fun little thing I have been experimenting with. (also using Titanium White and Titan buff high flow basically as medium)
All great points! I definitely had a learning curve for these too
I can understand being underwhelmed by Golden's heavy body titanium white for opacity/white-out potential. I'd strongly recommend giving a whack Golden's titanium white in High Flow or even Fluid lines. They serve as "white-out" much better. The High Flow is designed to be acrylic ink consistency but Golden paint quality. Is *chefs kiss*
acrylic has changed so much from when i was a teen using the apple craft paints 25 years ago. i find something new every time i look.
Super cool info, thanks for sharing!
The level of research you did w acrylic is so high, honestly, thank you for sharing your knowledge
Any excuse I can make to get more art supplies will get me to do anything 😆-Prof Lieu
Great advice...I can definitely see the benefits of glazing!
Can I exert some peer pressure so you go to the art store and plunk down $300 of acrylic painting supplies to get started? 😂-Prof Lieu
@@artprof Oh, I definitely have over $300 worth of paint tubes in my closet 😂
Brilliant video, thank you! I'm a watercolour portrait artist that occasionally dabbles in soft pastels, oil pastels and pencils but I've never tried acrylics to produce serious work before. Unfortunately I've just invested a a big Golden Titanium White heavy bodied and an extensive range of The Schminke acrylic range - half price (now I know why 😳)! Haven't tried out either yet as just purchased but when you started your vid with that info I was "oh shite"! However, the rest of the video was full of really super helpful info. I own a large selection of Golden high flow which I've enjoyed for mixed media pieces for a while now, so I'll be interested to see how they go in portraiture. Also, I think you can be forgiven for not knowing about all the different types of acrylics and mediums because they're pretty new. Golden in particular has spent a lot of money creating these ranges which certainly didn't exist back in the 80s when I started my art journey. Anyhoo, thank you so much for another fabulous, informative video. Will be watching some more of your acrylic vids before I start working on any serious pieces moving forward. All the very best to you and yours for a wonderful festive season. Beverley 🇦🇺
Loved this video keep up the great work
Fabulous overview of the properties of different acrylic paints and mediums. If I were to ever go back to NYC Guerra paint would be my first stop and I would haul a suitcase full of their lovely products back to Australia. They do deliver here and I am planning to make a big purchase from them soon (the postage will be killer and the exchange rate is abominable, but what is money for anyway? 🤣), but I can't believe that shopping on line at Guerra is anywhere near as fun as going in person.
Be careful with your credit card when you order...😆-Prof Lieu
I love this video! I hope to do more acrylic exploration this 2025
I didn't know about this either, back when. Well to be fair, quite a few of these acrylics and mediums didn't exist, but some did. Acrylic and water is what I used. 100% with you on disliking painting on canvas. I don't like the bounce or the texture. Moved to DaVinci cradled gesso boards, the ultra smooth line because I love smooth. They're basically the same as what you showed. The only reason I'll be painting on canvas now is to use up the stash I have.
Thanks for this! I'm trying to move from heavy body to fluids when my budget allows, and try high flow as well, but curious, when you added white to the fluids to make them more opaque, was that a fluid white as well or heavy body? Thanks again, you're the best!
can you tell me exactly where in the video? I totally can't remember 😆 if you can send me a time stamp I can tell you! -Prof Lieu
One thing you didn't talk about and I really don't know what to do is varnish for acrylics. I've been researching but I couldn't find a definitive answer, I wanted to varnish a painting I'm working on so it's UV protected, I live in a tropical country and the painting is gonna be on my wall exposed to sun light, but I can't figure out if varnishing is necessary and if so, which one to use.
Usually the best is to have an isolation coat of clear acrylic and then put on a layer of removable UV protective varnish on top. There should generally be manufacturer's instructions on the bottle of varnish. Many high-quality artists paints already have good or very good lightfastness, except fluorescent/dayglo pigments that are inherently sensitive to UV. One place I would look for information would be Golden's blog. They are not the only manufacturer that makes varnishes, but they often write good articles on how different materials work.
Gamvar is a wonderful varnish that is easily removed with Gamsol if you muck up the finish and start again. It can be used on acrylic or oil paintings. If you are worried about the possibility of the acrylic lifting if you. have to remove the varnish then you can put on two coats of Golden Isolation Coat before varnishing. Golden makes excellent varnishes, but bear in mind that these are acrylic varnishes, so if you don't get the varnish layer perfect ie if there are any drips or inconsistencies in the layer that form ridges, you won't be able to remove it and start again.
Have you tried golden gloss or satin glazing liquid it has the retarder in it so it extends drying time
I haven't, perhaps a future item for my wish list! -Prof Lieu
I didn’t know about open acrylics??
Hopefully they have them in Matt
Yea
I would try Floetrol to thin paint for the hell of it and see what happens.
I have seen acrylic painting that has dirt from studio floor, ash, burned cigs and condoms it was all encased in resin :)
Is it true about Open Acrylic that it will be wet still after 1 or 2h?
It did for me! See here, this stream was 2 hours and stuff was still wet: th-cam.com/users/livefyReBB3CtNA?feature=share -Prof Lieu
I guess different brands are going to use different chemicals and therefore ARE different media.
I never thought of it that way before.