Golden liquid acrylic paint & some Twinkling
Painting is like magic to me. You touch the paper with colors and an image appears! A realist will tell you it’s not magic at all but a science of understanding colors and textures. I’d rather look at painting as magic!
Brenda Grounds McCart
A while back I splurged on some new to me paints, Golden and Twinkling h2o, and today I thought I’d write a bit about them. I found one new favorite and a few disappointments. The favorite is the Golden fluid Acrylics, fluid/liquid being what separates it most from what I usually use in other cheaper brands. And the price of course. Golden is expensive, and in Sweden I think it is super expensive if you happen to find it. The little bottle I got is 119 ml (4 oz) and it costs 190 Swedish crowns (24 dollars). If I would get one of each colour you can calculate yourself how much that would be.
But to paint with fluid acrylics was a joy, a real joy. It is very rich and it seams that a little will go a long way, especially if you add water. It has a beautiful transparency to it too. My colour choice was a beautiful rich Quinacridone Magenta. I think it is very nice to paint with and I’m glad I now know what everyone is talking about when mentioning liquid acrylics.
I also bought some pretty ribbons and a pack of watercolours from a scrapbook store. I have read raving things about the paints, so I really wanted to try them when I found them here in Sweden. They are called Twinkling H2O (from LuminArte’) and comes in pretty miniature jars and has pretty names (pink is called Cherry Sorbet) that makes me want to eat them…
But to paint with them? No thanks! Sorry, but not my cup of tea.
Twinkling h2o
First you have to add a lot of water to soften them, then wait because they are really hard. Then when you paint you do get a beautiful shimmer effect, but is almost invisible to the eye and some of the colors are not much of “colour”. My sample is painted on gesso in my altered book, and the photo is taken with a flash which makes them shinier than they look in real life:
The green, called Olive vine, was boldest, but the others were almost invisible to me. As a light colour hint I think they would work fine, but I guess I was expecting something more from these paints… like colours…
Here I tried the H2O on acrylic painted surfaces, and the shimmer comes through but it wouldn’t matter in which jar I picked that shimmer, because again; the colour is invisible. I just wanted to share my experience, you might be of a different view and are welcome to let me know what you think about both Golden fluids vs. other brands, and H2O shimmer effects below!
I give Fluid acrylics two tumbs up! The h2o kit will not be used much around here; they are boring to use because of the hard cakes. Maybe I’ll try them on fabric, that might be fun.
Oh, buy the way: the Siam white paint is not twinkling, but rather good as a covering white if you don’t have one in your water colour box (I don’t).
if you use less water with the twinkling h2o’s, so that the paint is thicker you will get more pigment. and a lot of the colors can be vibrant, but i agree, some can be too ‘soft’ for my taste.
as for the golden fluids, do you know anyone in the states that could purchase them for you and ship them over? for me they are $4-$10 a bottle, and the shipping shouldn’t be too bad as they are lightweight.
good luck!
Hanna, I think your problem with the Twinkling H20s is that you have the pastel colors. I have 2 large sets (about 48 colors!) and find the jewel tones much more effective–stunning, really. It’s the colors you have, not the product as a whole.
I use a different brand of the shimmer paint and I have found the same thing- you can barely see them unless you shift the paper around and catcht the light. I may try less water as suggested above, but I have jewel tones and they are a bit darker but still not what I expected.
Dick Blick sells art supplies at a good discount. It’s an online store – don’t know what your shipping would be since they are based in the states. Still, the prices are good and I’ve been very happy with my purchases from there.
Wow, paint is so expensive in Sweden – or maybe just Golden! I don’t even have a closeby source in Italy, so I use other brands. I actually discovered some Liquitex paints that are twinkly sparkly as well…it’s really fun! The shimmer is not too gaudy, but still adds a nice shine to things!
I’ve used and recommended those paints for years. Here’s what I like about them:
-Obviously the mica in them that makes the shimmer effect. I find these look lovely layered over dyes, inks or other paints, to “guild the lily”, as it were.
-You can take a whole colour pallet with you in a very minimal package. I own about 3 sets that fit nicely into a small box in my travelling art supplies collection.
-The hard cakes last FOREVER. You can get alot of mileage out of those wee pots. One set lasted me through more than 10 classes of 8 students, all of which used TONS of paint.
-The cakes dry when you are finished. You don’t ever get ugly, messy pooling of water when you are finshed using them.
-Luminart stands behind their products-any problems (like once I had a single half filled pot in a brand new set by accident) and they immediately sent out a replacement. They were SUPER nice!
I would suggest that you use a small width, medium density bristle paintbrush. Dip it in water, but don’t try and take any of the water off-you want it very wet. Swirl it around in a circle over and over to “wake up” the paint in the pot. Once you get the paint moving, you won’t need as much water on the brush. As always, the more water you use after that, the thinner the paint will be, so the less intense the colours will appear.
I think you’d probably be happier with the jewel toned colours if you are looking for more intensity on the page. I tried the pastels too and didn’t like them as much. My personal fav are Kits # 1202 or 1252. Those are the ones I buy most often. Copper Penny is my fav colour.
Hope this helps! Perhaps if you write Luminart and explain what youw ere hoping for and what the problem was, they may offer to send you a different set. It never hurts to ask! :)
oh how i love fluid acrylics. Quin. Magenta is one of my favorite colors :)
Even in the photo they’re faint; but hey, a bit of glitter is good. And at least the jars are cute!
Hanna,
I too love golden fluids and got such a deal on a bunch of colors that I am set for a long time. You can use glazing medium or matte fluid medium to extend the paint. Also add water for lighter shades or a more watercolor like look. The nice thing about them is a little goes a long way.
Kate
I?ve never tried Golden paints, it?s a bit too steep for me… But I have lots of the twinkling H2Os, and I do love them. But if you want the most colour possible from them, paint them on top of for example acrylics, then they will pop! And as the others have said – especially the jewel tones. I always use them for eyes and lips and such, and the olive vine one gets used on my mermaids. Also – you can either let them stand for a while with a little water in them, or just dip the paintbrush in water and swoosh it around until the paint softens – more water, less intense colour!
I have been wanting to try those twinkling H2Os, but now I’m not sure. I’ll definitely try to find the jewel toned ones if I do! I haven’t tried the golden paints either. I usually just go for the cheap stuff. ps, I like the quote at the beginning!
I’m with you; it’s like magic.
Happy working, playing and dreaming.
Hanna, I just wanted to tell you that I came home from vacation today and your zine was in my mailbox! How inspiring it is! Thank you!!
Megumi in Connecticut, USA
Thank you everyone who commented! Your input is so helpful and great, I’m glad we all have different experiences that we can share and learn from each other! Thanks!
Lelainia, your input is great and I appreciate it. I was suspecting I got the lightest colour of the palette by mistake, I hope I can try the other colours some day! I too appreciate the smallness of the jars, they truly are cute! :-)
Hanna,
I love your explorations with color and paper.
Keep it up.
Alma
Hi, there! Oh, this post made me happy. I have just learned the joys of both fluid acrylics and twinkling H2O’s. I haven’t read the other comments yet, so I hope I’m not repeating anything, but the H2O’s I have a pigment pots of dry color which come alive in acrylic media and/or water. And they are awesome! They are intense. I have never tried the watercolor pots, but I probably wouldn’t like them, either. my pigments have a shimmer to them, and when used with less of the wet media added, the colors are very vibrant and shimmery.
I LOVE Quinacradone Magenta, but I have it in a different brand. However, the Golden fluid acrylics I have nickle azo gold and dioxazine purple are so great, I love them!
You make good stuff.
I had the same thoughts the first time I used the Twinkling H2o paints. Maybe I will try again with the tips suggested here.