As a watercolorist and former oil painter, I have finally found a paint that combines the qualities I most enjoy from both mediums – the new Golden Open slow-drying acrylics. I am so pleased with the results I’m getting that I’m currently painting with them exclusively.
ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES
The main advantage of the paint is its slow-drying feature, but the one that interests me the most is the fact that nearly all of the 74 colors are transparent and I can use my watercolor experience to get the luminous effect that I want. The transparency also presents a challenge in building up some of the darker colors.
I start by covering my pre-sized and coated canvas with two coats of regular acrylic white paint, diluted with a little medium and using the wax paper method of texturizing the surface. This gives me a good surface to draw in my composition.
THE FIRST LAYER
I block in all the areas with the different basic colors, knowing that the completed painting will have evolved from at least ten successive layers of paint. The blocked-in areas will have the undercoating of white showing through and will look very simplistic at this point.
Next, I add more drawing and more layers of color, defining the composition and creating subtle changes. The paint goes on a little better by now and, though still vibrant, has added more varieties of color. Each layer of paint adds more definition and more contrasts of color and also some exciting, unanticipated mixtures of color.
Each time I add new elements to the painting, I first paint the area with regular white acrylic, which gives me the ability to range from dark to light and still have a vibrant transparent quality. It also allows me to change any elements of the composition.
ADDING LAYERS OF MEDIUM
I mix both gloss and matte acrylic medium, water it down and coat the painting after about every four layers of paint. It is important to wait at least a day to allow the paint to dry before applying the medium. I finish off the painting with a final coat of medium.
