Hello Helen! I work in acrylics for my highly textured and mixed media paintings. I have almost all the Golden acrylic types of paints: heavy body, fluid, high flow and lately, I purchased a few basic colors from the SoFlat series. I love them all and I use them all for their different properties in my projects, in conjunction with acrylic mediums, gels, pastes and found objects. I also discovered the Le Franc Burgeois Flashe paints, which have a few unusual colors not found in other brands and I like them too, as convenience pigments. Your presentation in this video of student grade acrylics vs professional ones is excellent and very helpful for everyone watching. Thank you! ❤
Hi! Your work sounds so interesting!! I'd definitely love to try all the Golden range at some point! I absolutely love the Flashe Paints and have quite a few. Thanks ever so much!
@ Thank you so much for your kind words ☺️ Yes, I’m most happy when I get to experiment, try new things and let the media do what it does best: presenting me with delightful surprises at every corner. Helen, you are an awesome source of artistic inspiration and I am elated every time you post a new video. Keep up the good work, please! Warm hugs from California 🤗❤️
I love the Golden SoFlat paints -- a more fluid matte acrylic in wide-mouth jars, and I have played with the Golden Open Acrylics, but don't much like the stickiness of the heavy bodied acrylic paints. I'm probably never going to love-love acrylic paints to work with, but it's nice to see the difference between the various brands. The SoFlat paints are packaged in a way that avoids a lot of waste, and the Open Acrylics should help avoid the plastics-waste issue, too, as they will remain workable for longer.
The SoFlat paints sound quite like the Lefranc Bourgeois Flashe Paints! I didn't get much into the matte acrylic paints in this video, but I'd kind of like to get hold of some and do a comparison. I think it's the crazy pigmentedness of the professional heavy body acrylics that I like, and adding strong areas of colour with them over the top of the student grade ones.
Thanks Helen. I needed to know this. Your last painting is lovely....liking the small pops of yellow and the multi media used. Makes for a more interesting vista. You've inspired me....the hardest part is when you start running low on your paint and tighten up immediately. Art is an expensive hobby!😊 Jo.
Thankyou Helen - really interesting to see the comparisons - I was concerned about the quality of the galleria, but they look fine 😊 Would love to see more of your process using acrylics on board, how you apply the layers and how you finish a painting 😊
That was such an interesting and useful video, thank you, Helen. I know nothing about acrylics & can’t see me trying them in the near future but I am really interested in getting or making a gel plate so at some point it will come! I love the direction your acrylic paintings are going in…particularly the blues and greens. Great stuff 😊
@ I am not an art critic, and for good reason. Some art critics would judge your fridge door is a piece of art. But, as they say, it’s what’s inside that counts 🤣.
Coffee filters! That's brilliant! I had just bought acryla gouache to try out, but was put off using it when someone mentioned the pollution aspect. Time to delve in. Thanks for the great idea 💡😊
I've never tried liquitex's professional paints. But in my experience, the regular student grade paints are really smooth, pigmented, and easy to use. They automatically come in large tubes, which is helps keep the cost down. I would definitely recommend them if you're looking a nice creamy paint that's cheap. (This is based on buying them in the US; where they're the one of the cheapest brands available The price might be a bit higher overseas, but I doubt there's a significant markup.)
Hi Helen, so nice to see you keep practicing, i paint 20 years and still make mistakes, i love acrylic paint and paint with Senelier artist and every other medium except oils don't like that, love your videos, you do a great job ❤
I like to know the pigment numbers too. Brands have such different color names it makes it easy to know what I am working with. Lightfastness is good to know too, but I still like my fugitive colors because they are always so pretty.
I love your subtractive works using sand paper. Golden Open Acrylics are brilliant for gelli plate. Le Franc Burgeois Flashe paints could be fun . Thanks for sharing.
Hi Helen, I recently bought a gel plate and I’m having loads of fun with it. So far only playing with student grade paint but can see me falling down the rabbit hole with the golden lines. Also would like to try a flat version of paint as I’m not so keen on the shine. Good idea to use a coffee filter I was concerned about the pipes getting clogged. Love your workshop paintings, look forward to seeing more.
I knew you'd be busy with your acrylics! 😃 I know very (very) little about acrylic paints, despite it being the only medium I've ever painted with until taking up watercolour a few years ago. This was fascinating - thank you. I do have quite a lot of the Golden High Flow paints and all the titan colours are AMAZEBALLS! I use these in abstracts and mixed media landscapes. I also love the SoFlat but I only have one of those at this point. Again, I think the direction you're going in is fabulous. You seem to have a real affinity with the subjects. As soon as I saw your black outline sketch, I knew it was Mont Saint-Michel, and the final piece really did it justice. Look forward to seeing more of whatever you're up to. All the best x
@@helencryer I've just put some heavy body Golden in my basket! 🤭 Still have a few bits to add but I'm giving them a go - even though I don't paint in acrylics (yet)😂. I think I need to explore.
I haven’t played with my acrylic paints in years (I hope they’re not dried out!). I’d guess that about 95% of my acrylic paints are either Liquitex heavy body or Golden heavy body. I might have a tube or two of W&N, but I doubt I’d have more than that since they’re more expensive here and I could catch sales on Golden or Liquitex. I’d be so intimidated to paint on a large canvas after painting on smaller surfaces with watercolour and gouache the last few years! When I did paint primarily in acrylics, my favourites were pallet knife paintings. I’ve been thinking for the last year that I’d like to do some more painting in that style again, but acrylic painting takes up so much more space and I’d have to get out all the supplies again 😅. I really like your approach with the dark outline and loose centres!
I was totally intimidated when my art course teacher plopped a large board in front of me, but it was strangely freeing and wonderful! I'm definitely struggling with space though, and my dining room is looking a bit of a mess! I'm thinking about trying to get some studio space somehow. I still hope you give it a go though!
I really like my Golden fluid acrylics…for me all if the Golden products are very high quality (although pricey)-use their gesso and gel medium a lot for journals..,that second to last blue sea from the Alex Y course was so lovely…😊
Regarding the waste water from acrylics, I used acrylics for years and always just threw it out. The thing I worried about was little globs of paint hardening in the plumbing and creating a permanent blockage. So I would use lots of soap and continuously flowing water. Coffee filters sound like a good idea.
I’ve not dabbled in acrylic paints yet but as always this was very interesting for the future as I’d like to give them a go,I have a few inks which I love. 🙏
Over the years my Mum in law switched from oils to heat set oils, that you used a heat gun on to set them and then eventually to Golden open acrylics when they came out. She hasn't painted with oils since using the open acrylics.
Thank you Helen for this informative video. It’s helpful to see the difference between the student grade and professional. I love working with acrylics, especially inks, building layers for my abstract work which I’m still trying to figure out! I use Amsterdam as I also love just grabbing a colour without having to mix, especially when in the flow of creating. I’m only working in journals for now whilst I develop and find my language and style, so the student grade is ideal. I also use Dayler Rowney system 3 which is very affordable and from what I gather is a professional range. I have seen professional artists use this brand. The colour range is limited compared to the premixed in other brands however for the price point they are lovely to work with. Have a lovely week and look forward to seeing your next creative project 🙏🏻😊🙏🏻
We used Daler Rowney System 3 paints at the St. Ives School of Painting, and to me they felt very similar to the Winsor & Newton Galeria paints. Very nice, but not as thick and pigmented as the Golden or W&N Professional.
I agree the Galeria are a bit better than the Amsterdam Standard. But they are also quite a bit more expensive here in Austria. For some colors it makes quite a difference buying the Amsterdam Expert instead of the Standard. Obviously love Golden! Thanks for the video.
I haven't tried the Amsterdam Expert, but I imagine they're pretty good! The Golden are wonderful, but now that I'm doing much bigger paintings, they're not realistic price wise!
@ yes, I have some Golden, usually getting them when visiting family in the US. they are nearly half price there and still expensive. And then I try to get certain colors from other brands. I find, it depends a lot on each individual color especially with the standard and expert lines. I find it a pretty big hit and miss. I usually buy those colors from the expert line, that they don’t make in the standard line. I find generally there are much bigger differences between brands and lines in acrylics than watercolors. And also the price gaps are much bigger.
@@helencryer Just that MDF absorbs liquid quickly and so paints will dry out fast on a bare board. With gesso, you paint in one direction (not the group 😆) and then when it's dry, paint 90° in the opposite direction. That way you get a bit of a canvas feel to it, but further paints will dry a little slower. Also, keep a fine spray bottle handy and you can keep paint wet for much longer for blending etc.
@WolfmanWoody Thank you, yes. I'm aware of gessoing boards (and have some gesso), but I think it very much depends on how you want to work on the boards. I want to work very quickly and with high texture, and for my liking the acrylic doesn't dry quickly enough as it is!
Hi Helen! I was wondering why you don't paint with your Flashe paints on the boards. I know they are not Acryl but they behave like Acryl, don't they? My Flashes are in my Acrylpaint drawer. :)
I'm painting a lot of boards at the moment and some are pretty big - I'd get through my Flashe Paints too quickly. I've bought some big 500ml Galeria tubs now.
@@helencryer :) I see. Did you test the acrylics from LeFranc & Bourgeois? They are slightly cheaper than the Flashes and I don't find them to different . They also dry very mat. Oh, btw the Flashes are also available in 400 ml jars. :D
@@helencryer Oh! I guess you have to start buying in germany. :D The 400 ml jars are 23 Euro ( PG1). But they don't have all the colours in 400ml. Galeria in germany is about 16 Euro per 500 ml.
A teacher told me to let you jar/bucket of water to sit for a few a bit so the pigments accumulate at the bottom before dumping the water. Then you can just throw away the congealed mess in the garbage.
Hello Helen! I work in acrylics for my highly textured and mixed media paintings. I have almost all the Golden acrylic types of paints: heavy body, fluid, high flow and lately, I purchased a few basic colors from the SoFlat series. I love them all and I use them all for their different properties in my projects, in conjunction with acrylic mediums, gels, pastes and found objects. I also discovered the Le Franc Burgeois Flashe paints, which have a few unusual colors not found in other brands and I like them too, as convenience pigments.
Your presentation in this video of student grade acrylics vs professional ones is excellent and very helpful for everyone watching. Thank you! ❤
Hi! Your work sounds so interesting!! I'd definitely love to try all the Golden range at some point! I absolutely love the Flashe Paints and have quite a few.
Thanks ever so much!
@ Thank you so much for your kind words ☺️ Yes, I’m most happy when I get to experiment, try new things and let the media do what it does best: presenting me with delightful surprises at every corner.
Helen, you are an awesome source of artistic inspiration and I am elated every time you post a new video. Keep up the good work, please! Warm hugs from California 🤗❤️
Yes! I was hoping for another Helen video soon! I'm stopping everything to watch.
That's so nice - thank you!!
I love the Golden SoFlat paints -- a more fluid matte acrylic in wide-mouth jars, and I have played with the Golden Open Acrylics, but don't much like the stickiness of the heavy bodied acrylic paints. I'm probably never going to love-love acrylic paints to work with, but it's nice to see the difference between the various brands. The SoFlat paints are packaged in a way that avoids a lot of waste, and the Open Acrylics should help avoid the plastics-waste issue, too, as they will remain workable for longer.
I have MatPub and Flashe paints that are super matte and in wide mouth jars, I love them! And no wasted paint at all!
The SoFlat paints sound quite like the Lefranc Bourgeois Flashe Paints! I didn't get much into the matte acrylic paints in this video, but I'd kind of like to get hold of some and do a comparison.
I think it's the crazy pigmentedness of the professional heavy body acrylics that I like, and adding strong areas of colour with them over the top of the student grade ones.
@@helencryer if you love gouache, you'll love the Flashe paints!
Oh, I have them, and do love them!!
Thanks Helen.
I needed to know this.
Your last painting is lovely....liking the small pops of yellow and the multi media used.
Makes for a more interesting vista.
You've inspired me....the hardest part is when you start running low on your paint and tighten up immediately. Art is an expensive hobby!😊
Jo.
Thank you!! Yes - I've found the best value for the acrylic paints is the 500ml Galeria tubs.
Thankyou Helen - really interesting to see the comparisons - I was concerned about the quality of the galleria, but they look fine 😊 Would love to see more of your process using acrylics on board, how you apply the layers and how you finish a painting 😊
I'm really enjoying working with them, and the coverage has been good. I haven't exactly finished any yet!! I'll try and video one though.
@ 😊
This looks so good 😊😊
Oh, I really love the paintings you did. Bravo!
Thank you!
That was such an interesting and useful video, thank you, Helen. I know nothing about acrylics & can’t see me trying them in the near future but I am really interested in getting or making a gel plate so at some point it will come! I love the direction your acrylic paintings are going in…particularly the blues and greens. Great stuff 😊
I'm really glad - thank you!!!
0:59 ooooo 😮. It’s so artistic!
Thanks! Nearly as artistic as my fridge! 😉
@ I am not an art critic, and for good reason. Some art critics would judge your fridge door is a piece of art. But, as they say, it’s what’s inside that counts 🤣.
😂 Love it!!
Coffee filters! That's brilliant! I had just bought acryla gouache to try out, but was put off using it when someone mentioned the pollution aspect. Time to delve in. Thanks for the great idea 💡😊
Great! I bought the larger machine ones with a flat bottom.
I've never tried liquitex's professional paints. But in my experience, the regular student grade paints are really smooth, pigmented, and easy to use. They automatically come in large tubes, which is helps keep the cost down. I would definitely recommend them if you're looking a nice creamy paint that's cheap. (This is based on buying them in the US; where they're the one of the cheapest brands available The price might be a bit higher overseas, but I doubt there's a significant markup.)
I have only worked with the acrylic inks. My mom loves acrylic painting. This was good to watch. Thank you
They are enormous fun! Thanks!
Hi Helen, so nice to see you keep practicing, i paint 20 years and still make mistakes, i love acrylic paint and paint with Senelier artist and every other medium except oils don't like that, love your videos, you do a great job ❤
I love this! Thank you!
I like to know the pigment numbers too. Brands have such different color names it makes it easy to know what I am working with. Lightfastness is good to know too, but I still like my fugitive colors because they are always so pretty.
Yes, definitely!
I love your subtractive works using sand paper. Golden Open Acrylics are brilliant for gelli plate. Le Franc Burgeois Flashe paints could be fun . Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
Hi Helen, I recently bought a gel plate and I’m having loads of fun with it. So far only playing with student grade paint but can see me falling down the rabbit hole with the golden lines. Also would like to try a flat version of paint as I’m not so keen on the shine. Good idea to use a coffee filter I was concerned about the pipes getting clogged. Love your workshop paintings, look forward to seeing more.
The Golden paints are so nice!! I haven't tried their SoFlat paints, but Flashe paints are gorgeous matte paints.
I knew you'd be busy with your acrylics! 😃 I know very (very) little about acrylic paints, despite it being the only medium I've ever painted with until taking up watercolour a few years ago. This was fascinating - thank you. I do have quite a lot of the Golden High Flow paints and all the titan colours are AMAZEBALLS! I use these in abstracts and mixed media landscapes. I also love the SoFlat but I only have one of those at this point. Again, I think the direction you're going in is fabulous. You seem to have a real affinity with the subjects. As soon as I saw your black outline sketch, I knew it was Mont Saint-Michel, and the final piece really did it justice. Look forward to seeing more of whatever you're up to. All the best x
I'm so tempted to try all the other Golden types of acrylic paints!!
Thanks ever so much!
@@helencryer I've just put some heavy body Golden in my basket! 🤭 Still have a few bits to add but I'm giving them a go - even though I don't paint in acrylics (yet)😂. I think I need to explore.
You're so like me... Got to be prepared for all the things I don't do yet!!
I haven’t played with my acrylic paints in years (I hope they’re not dried out!). I’d guess that about 95% of my acrylic paints are either Liquitex heavy body or Golden heavy body. I might have a tube or two of W&N, but I doubt I’d have more than that since they’re more expensive here and I could catch sales on Golden or Liquitex.
I’d be so intimidated to paint on a large canvas after painting on smaller surfaces with watercolour and gouache the last few years! When I did paint primarily in acrylics, my favourites were pallet knife paintings. I’ve been thinking for the last year that I’d like to do some more painting in that style again, but acrylic painting takes up so much more space and I’d have to get out all the supplies again 😅. I really like your approach with the dark outline and loose centres!
I was totally intimidated when my art course teacher plopped a large board in front of me, but it was strangely freeing and wonderful! I'm definitely struggling with space though, and my dining room is looking a bit of a mess! I'm thinking about trying to get some studio space somehow. I still hope you give it a go though!
I really like my Golden fluid acrylics…for me all if the Golden products are very high quality (although pricey)-use their gesso and gel medium a lot for journals..,that second to last blue sea from the Alex Y course was so lovely…😊
Yes, Golden seem to be the best and have the widest range of materials. Thanks!
Regarding the waste water from acrylics, I used acrylics for years and always just threw it out. The thing I worried about was little globs of paint hardening in the plumbing and creating a permanent blockage. So I would use lots of soap and continuously flowing water. Coffee filters sound like a good idea.
I got the larger, flat bottomed ones.
I’ve not dabbled in acrylic paints yet but as always this was very interesting for the future as I’d like to give them a go,I have a few inks which I love. 🙏
Thanks!
How would you compare the Flashe Vinyl paints to any of these?
Over the years my Mum in law switched from oils to heat set oils, that you used a heat gun on to set them and then eventually to Golden open acrylics when they came out. She hasn't painted with oils since using the open acrylics.
Ooo, I never heard of the heat set ones! I like fast drying things, but it's good to know about the open acrylics, thanks!
The Golden High Flow is like Golden’s version of acrylic ink. I prefer them over the Daler-Rowney acrylic inks.
This is good to know, thanks!
Thank you Helen for this informative video. It’s helpful to see the difference between the student grade and professional.
I love working with acrylics, especially inks, building layers for my abstract work which I’m still trying to figure out!
I use Amsterdam as I also love just grabbing a colour without having to mix, especially when in the flow of creating.
I’m only working in journals for now whilst I develop and find my language and style, so the student grade is ideal.
I also use Dayler Rowney system 3 which is very affordable and from what I gather is a professional range. I have seen professional artists use this brand. The colour range is limited compared to the premixed in other brands however for the price point they are lovely to work with.
Have a lovely week and look forward to seeing your next creative project 🙏🏻😊🙏🏻
We used Daler Rowney System 3 paints at the St. Ives School of Painting, and to me they felt very similar to the Winsor & Newton Galeria paints. Very nice, but not as thick and pigmented as the Golden or W&N Professional.
I agree the Galeria are a bit better than the Amsterdam Standard. But they are also quite a bit more expensive here in Austria. For some colors it makes quite a difference buying the Amsterdam Expert instead of the Standard. Obviously love Golden! Thanks for the video.
I haven't tried the Amsterdam Expert, but I imagine they're pretty good!
The Golden are wonderful, but now that I'm doing much bigger paintings, they're not realistic price wise!
@ yes, I have some Golden, usually getting them when visiting family in the US. they are nearly half price there and still expensive. And then I try to get certain colors from other brands. I find, it depends a lot on each individual color especially with the standard and expert lines. I find it a pretty big hit and miss. I usually buy those colors from the expert line, that they don’t make in the standard line. I find generally there are much bigger differences between brands and lines in acrylics than watercolors. And also the price gaps are much bigger.
Hi Helen, do you prep your MDF boards with gesso first or just go straight in with the acrylic paints. Also, do you ever use canvas boards?
No, just straight in with the acrylic under layer. That's what both the artists who ran my classes did too.
@@helencryer Just that MDF absorbs liquid quickly and so paints will dry out fast on a bare board. With gesso, you paint in one direction (not the group 😆) and then when it's dry, paint 90° in the opposite direction. That way you get a bit of a canvas feel to it, but further paints will dry a little slower. Also, keep a fine spray bottle handy and you can keep paint wet for much longer for blending etc.
@WolfmanWoody Thank you, yes. I'm aware of gessoing boards (and have some gesso), but I think it very much depends on how you want to work on the boards. I want to work very quickly and with high texture, and for my liking the acrylic doesn't dry quickly enough as it is!
Hi Helen! I was wondering why you don't paint with your Flashe paints on the boards. I know they are not Acryl but they behave like Acryl, don't they? My Flashes are in my Acrylpaint drawer. :)
I'm painting a lot of boards at the moment and some are pretty big - I'd get through my Flashe Paints too quickly. I've bought some big 500ml Galeria tubs now.
@@helencryer :) I see. Did you test the acrylics from LeFranc & Bourgeois? They are slightly cheaper than the Flashes and I don't find them to different . They also dry very mat. Oh, btw the Flashes are also available in 400 ml jars. :D
Thanks! They're more than x3 the price of the Galeria, so not realistic, unfortunately.
@@helencryer Oh! I guess you have to start buying in germany. :D The 400 ml jars are 23 Euro ( PG1). But they don't have all the colours in 400ml. Galeria in germany is about 16 Euro per 500 ml.
I can get the Galeria 500ml for under £9 here.
19:37 Smurf Helen 😂.
A teacher told me to let you jar/bucket of water to sit for a few a bit so the pigments accumulate at the bottom before dumping the water. Then you can just throw away the congealed mess in the garbage.
Thanks!