Are Golden Open Acrylics BETTER THAN OILS? ✎ Golden Open Acrylics review from an oil painter
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 бер 2022
- I've been wanting to try acrylics, specifically Golden Open Acrylics, for a while, but it's safe to say that it didn't go how I expected it to.
I really wanted to love these paints but unfortunately, with the experience I currently have, I can't recommend them. Hopefully I can find a way to actually work with these paints going forward, and if any of you have tips to share I'm definitely willing to listen!
I knew that trying acrylics as an oil painter was going to be a weird experience, but I'd really hoped that the longer working time of Golden Open Acrylics would help bridge that gap a bit and make it a smoother transition, but nope! My first impressions of these paints are definitely negative, which really isn't how I wanted this review to go.
Resources to help, in light of current events: www.supportukraine.co
♥ MY DIGITAL PRODUCTS ♥
○ My Notion Content Calendar Template:www.kelseyrodriguez.com/store...
○ The Artist UA-camr Workbook: www.kelseyrodriguez.com/store...
✿ MY FILMING EQUIPMENT ✿ referral / affiliate links
○ refurbished Canon M50: amzn.to/3oxl1mQ
○ link for new M50: amzn.to/3Dn588V
○ extra batteries: amzn.to/3cociOm
○ diffusion filter I use to get a softer look: moment.8ocm68.net/RyZ9P9
○ another diffusion filter (but weaker): amzn.to/3wUQCD3
○ best tripod ever: amzn.to/3oHoDTB
○ light I use for filming at night: amzn.to/3np0qlj
♥ MY FAVES ♥
○ my leuchtturm1917 120gsm bullet journal: amzn.to/3Fa641n
○ my art book collection: bookshop.org/lists/my-art-boo...
☆ SOCIAL LINKS + CONTACT ☆
○ all my important links here: withkoji.com/@kelseyrodriguez
○ support me on patreon! / kelseyrodriguez
○ website/portfolio: www.kelseyrodriguez.com
○ email: kelseyrodriguez.yt@gmail.com
♫ TOOLS, RESOURCES, MUSIC ♫
○ editing software: Final Cut Pro
○ software that helps me edit faster: getrecut.com/kelsey
○ music: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
☆ MUSIC ☆
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sound!
If you want to get royalty free music too, use my referral link to support me, at no extra cost to you: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
* Referral or affiliate links allow me to gain a small commission off of any purchases you make through the link, at no extra cost to you! - Навчання та стиль
I'll admit, I actually bought these paints after your review. The way you described them, they actually fit my needs for painting. I haven't been able to paint for a while - I can't at all, because my apartment doesn't allow open solvents - but these have sort of brought the joy back. So...thank you? I'll have to send you an image of what I've been working on!
I’m glad these worked out for you! Would love to see whatever you’re working on if you wanted to post it in the community discord server!
well im going to be honest, watching this my toes curled at the amount of water you used. Almost as if you are water coloring. you might wants to consider their thinning mediums as to not break the pigments bonds. the Open series is just pre-blended heavybody with their extender medium. so you shouldn't need to dilute nearly as much or it will turn into a transparent soup. i know you were painting on paper but the best way to achieve the oil like effect is to apply the extending medium onto the surface and paint on top of that.
Underpainting and lots of glazing layers will shift it in the direction you want it to go. They aren't great for direct painting but once the technique clicks you can get fantastic results. I did a portrait series with these paints that I'm pretty proud of, BUT it's very time consuming. I found that for the subject matter I was working with, the results were as good as oils but not necessarily faster to execute.
Interesting. Weird that these are marketed so heavily for plein air painting, then. I really appreciate the insight Tommy, thanks! I'll have to give glazing a go with these. Feel free to share a link to your series with them, would love to take a look!
I wonder if your frustration with the transparency was mainly from how Golden develops their OPEN paint line. GOLDEN's OPEN are more soft bodied than their heavy bodied line and have a medium in them to slow the drying time. This could be why they are transparent.If you want opacity you might like their regular heavy bodied paint more. Adding a heavy bodied white to the mix or applying a white layer below your final color layer might help make them more opaque with your current kit.
I was reading some of the comments and for me I disagree a tiny bit with some of the comments of people saying its great for glazing. If one is looking to layer many glazes you would want regular drying paint + an acrylic glazing liquid, bc wouldn't one want it to dry faster to layer more? But of course if you don't mind the slower drying time they work great for glazes! ♡
However, I do agree that it can be used for glazing because of the transparency for specific pigments, but it's not optimal with the slower drying time. These are my main paints I paint with and find it way easier to blend and do direct painting.
However, I do specialize in glaze paintings and mainly with grisailles so I use regular drying acrylics to use on afterwards for the glazes with a special glazing liquid because of the faster drying with regular acrylics, and mainly the titanium white and carbon black open for the grisaille. These two are very opaque as well as the raw umber for brunailles. I still mix colors with white and do direct painting and find these work well
I couldn't see on your tubes the "square" that shows the opacity. But my guess is you are using transparent pigments and not mixing it with white? But my titanium white and raw umber have half a square filled in mean they are pretty opaque. My carbon black is a full filled in square, meaning its superr opaque. So since I use titanium white and black most I have no issues with transparency. Expescially since the titanium white gets mixed with the carbon black, therefore increasing the opacity of the mixture. The other main primary colors I have definitely are labeled as more semi transparent ... but since I usually mix with white rather than a standalone color, the white helps with the transparency and I personally have no issues. But if you use them without a mixture of white or some opaquer color, I can see where people have issues!
Youre not supposed thin these with water, even if you can. Open thinner is best (but still in moderation) but a touch of water can still work. Ultimately I believe it depends on your style of painting and technique as many people find no issue with it (such as myself) but I can also see how some people dislike it. If you're used to more fluid paint, a fluid non dragging stroke, but also retaining opacity as well as the dense pigment concentration in oils mixed with a thinner, I can see why these paints may be a struggle for some people.
Even though these are my favorite paints, I am an oil painter as well and I know that know acrylics cannot replace the feel and workability of oils. But for my painting style it is a good mediation to be able to have more of the smooth blending I want to achieve with acrylics as oils can do. These will always feel more plastic and slippery. It may help with blending as well as less paint waste, and still dries way faster than oils, but slower than regular paint.
Ultimately I believe these paints work but also do not work for some people and there are many variables like technique, style of painting, thinning amounts and kind of medium used, as well as personal preferences.
Also wanted to note I was observing you paint in this video and mix the paints on the palette and you favor a more flowy stroke, without loss of opacity when mixing a medium whether it be water or acrylic medium, and to do so you mix too much water/medium with them, but you can't with these I'm not sure how you paint with oils but even when you thin those, there's a lot more pigments so its harder to get something really transparent unless the pigment was transparent to begin with. Same with gouache, even the gouache can be transparent they are more opaque due to the chalk and bigger pigment particles (I think?) thats added to it. So I can see why you say you like gouache and their fluid line of acrylics! They need to be not mixed with water and mixed with a more opaque color like titanium white, but if you don't use a lot of white in your mixtures they will be transparent as you are experiencing!
If you don't want your paints I'll take them ;D
Wow! I’m so sorry you didn’t get along with these. I have been loving these paints and everything about them. I love how silky they are and I love their transparency. You’re right, they are in a category of their own. I have been starting my paintings with regular acrylics and then adding glazing layer and depth with the Open. ❤️🙌
That's so interesting! I really wish I knew how to work with these. Glazing seems like a promising option for sure. Do you have any tips for trying to use these for the entire process, start to finish?
🤔 well, you can mix them with Other Acrylics, you could see about mixing them with a more opaque pigment like titanium or a cadmium. Take a tree foliage for example, this paint allows you to layer up and see depth in the foliage and branches.. or grass in a field, or clouds in a sky, if layered, you’ll see depth and slight variation, it’s not bold like gouache, definitely best to work more traditionally with these. Or perhaps on top of mixed media work in more abstract colour building pieces, they could really shine, their transparency would be a benefit. Just gotta make them work for you. 🙌
@@JudeandherPencil Do you have any tips for a beginner artist trying to learn acrylic painting?
Like it dries so fast and I'm not a fast painter either.
@@makizenin1840 ya know, I was there not too long ago. I definitely like using a retarder additive to slow down the acrylic when I know I’m gonna be working slower, especially if I’m pre-mixing colours. GOLDEN makes a great retarder and you can use it in most any acrylic. Also you could try a wet-palette, basically it’s a plastic box that closes and has a wet sponge to help the acrylics stay cooler and wet. ❤️🙌 hope that helps. Ohhh and just keep painting, even when it gets hard and ugly, just keep at it.
So when I need a color to be Opaque with acrylics, I will usually add some of whatever color I need to be Opaque to some titanium white, and then do a block in. Then I go back over it with the color I needed to be opaque. White tends to brighten it up so if I need to tint I will add a dark version of a color since dark colors tend to be more of a tint than anything.
Great tip!
I never use acrylics or oils but I love watching you paint with them. And your voce overs are always awesome.
love your painting demos paired with different Golden supplies. Top notch, thank you!
Your having trouble with them because your not using them correctly. They are not water colors you are thinning them too much. You can use the thinner provided as needed but they don’t really need much. Try that
Thank you for your review. I've wondered about using these instead of oils.
Just stumbled on your video looking for blending acrylic info. This is such a helpful video. I was looking at this very set but I have a couple of Golden HUE paints and I haven't enjoyed working them so I was wary. TY for you thoughts on using these and the demo was so clear.
Optional: thinning/thickening mediums & glazing/impasto. Not optional: Sticky substrate. Thick applications with very loaded brushes. Direct, immediate strokes (do not spread, & only slightly blend on canvas). Mix on palette & place color/value (much moreso than blending). This is a challenging medium made for direct ala-prima with acrylics. Do with gusto and channel your inner virtuoso! Takes practice but this is a great place to start. You got this!
As others have said, my first thought was these would probably be good for glazing techniques, but I can't imagine trying to paint a landscape alla prima with them! I paint with regular acrylic and thin them with a lot of medium to get that kind of transparency but at least I am doing it intentionally and they're still opaque out of the tube. Yikes. Did you have any impression on their drying time? Did they stay workable for a while?
They stayed workable on the palette for about as long as acrylic gouache does, but dried on the page pretty slowly. It's bizarre because these are strictly marketed for plein air painting, so essentially Alla Prima.
@@KelseyRodriguez No, Golden Open acrylics are not “strictly marketed” for plein air painting.
Odd that your palette dried as fast as acrylic gouache (those dry fast).
If I leave my palette of Golden Open paints for a couple of hours of lunch break, I come back and they’re still wet.
I’ve even kept some extra Open paints inside a plastic container with lid (not airtight) and a few months later, only the surface have tacked up. If I peel that off, the paint underneath is still wet and usable.
Sorry but it's your technique. These paints are from Heaven I'm done with oils. I'm so amazed at this. This paint has took me to elite status. Please revisit oils are not as good and I hated acrylics until just a week ago.
Drop your tips for technique and I might revisit
@@KelseyRodriguez I will on my channel once I get a set up. I can show u the two paintings I've done unsing this paint. I been so critical over acrylics now I'm eating my words because of this. I'm done with oils as long as this is around. U seeing my results will inspire u to pull them back out
How can I show u my works In progress with this?
I’d recommend dropping pics in the community discord server! Link in the about page of the channel
I found EXACTLY the same problems, mostly lack of opacity and brush drag, plus the need to use a lot of paint to reduce feathering. I am so glad I saw this, I thought I was going mad! 😅 xxxx
Other folk seem happy, so horses for courses as they say! But I'm gutted I spent the money! Thank you for sharing 🙏🙏🙏
I switched out the open titanium for heavybody titanium white. It sped the drying time up so I would not lose too much patience waiting; things get tacked up after 15 minutes or less now, added some opacity and oompf to the colors and generally just made them feel more familiar. Still, I think I’m happier with regular acrylics and a spray bottle.
ooh, that's a good tip! I might try that
It much more suitable for wet on dry painting, without waiting a couple of days.
It ia really something different. After lets say 2 hours the paint is dry to the touch, but reactivades with a new layer of wet paint.
I had to learn that this isn't really like acrylic, nor oil paint
Funny how I bought the exact same set and feel in love with the paints 😁
I also thought that the color selection was pretty on point for landscapes
I'm so glad I watched this video because I just started painting a little piece for fun on gessoed hardboard and idk if its the colors I chose or the paint itself but they're soooooo transparent in comparison to what I'm used to.
It was very frustrating. I've seen other people use golden and get such smooth beautiful opaque paintings.
I feel like I'm the problem.
Id love to know fav brushes or best brushes to avoid brush drag. From affordable to expensive
I think regular Golden acrylics are probably the way to go here? I don’t think that it’s us. As for brush drag, I think it’s a paint problem rather than a brush problem!
@@KelseyRodriguez yeah I have the standard golden paints in standard colors like cadmium red and yellow, Phthalo blue, and they just seem sheer to me, probably going to go back to liquitex at the very least im familiar.
Hmm well good to know its more about the paint than the brush. I'll have to experiment more with kinds and brands of paint.
beautiful channel ! thanks for the videos you share
It was fun watching you paint with them, despite them not meshing with you. I've heard Golden are a really good brand so I'm surprised. Good review though, hearing other artists' thoughts on a product is interesting. I've never used oils but I enjoy watching people paint with them.
Same issues here I felt like I was being gas lit LOL. What helps is that the surface is VERY PARTICULAR. Gesso Board and Acrylic Paper are terrible and the drying times are close to regular acrylics with only the gummy tacky phase being extended on any absorbent surface EVEN WITH and underpainting.
Cheap Canvas from Walmart believe it or not actually worked the best so far. Test the surface before hand with a few drops of water...if the water immediately beads and you can move it around the canvas while titling like an ice rink with the beads retaining shape, then Open will work well. So I'll be sticking with canvas/canvas paper. Art boards, while intuitively absorbent, are absorbent enough with the gesso.
What works on an absorbent surface is get a watery, thinner first layer with the thinner applied, avoiding water dilution. That layer will act is the "ice rink". Then break down the painting into small chunks using smaller, shorter brush strokes and keep adding tiny amounts of thicker paint, being more strict with thick over thin vs oils. The firm brushes and stiffer blender brushes will then help SCUMBLE as the open dries. Paint almost like Daria Callie - though you don't have to be almost pixel small strokes like she does, but it helps keep the paint open if the are you paint is smaller so you can work on it in a shorter amount of time and get into the flow of keep adding paint to keep open and opaque-er.
Michael's Artist Loft series 3 Brushes, the house brand of a tacky "art" store oddly enough gave me the best results by miles. I got a size 12 round brush that IMO is PERFECT for Open. Those brushes have the right stiffness and they have a decent hair density to allow scumbling when the paint gets tackier. I literally believe that 12 Round can single handedly make a painting with open alone as it has the ends of the brush hairs exposed to create FLAT taper, whereas other round brushes, the end of the hairs curve inward to form a smooth point. That gives that brush scumbling real estate and can mimic a flat brush as well, features of a round brush that would normally turn people off, wound up being a benefit.
I still don't like them as WATER SOLUBLE OILS exist, kind of defeats their purpose. But it feels like a completely different product when you use non absorbent canvases and really odd how using an expensive art board makes Open feel like a cheap and expired dollar store paint, and a $2 pack of walmart canvases make Open work like actual oils.
Hmmm… interesting. Thx to both of you! 👍🙏🏻🖌
Exactly what I am dealing with, but all of it goes under one reason to use acrylic colors because it's odder free, I tried a lot of mediums but still not what I want, one medium left to try which is the Golden High Flow medium, if u tried it, please reply!
Yes new video :’j I am very happy
Have you tried using these paints again after your first attempt? I'm curious how these would do on top of an underpainting, if you try that you should post an update for us! I'm actually interested in their transparency/slow drying because I often find I need more transparent paint while working on my landscapes. Idk I guess I work too slow, I can't blend when I need to because everything dries out lol Then I need something more transparent to fix my mistakes without destroying necessary elements/the parts I like xD
I appreciate honest reviews, but that’s a lot!
Ive been hesitant to buy these paints due to their transparency. After watching the painting demo, i can see i will be very frustrated. I can see the transparency immediately on the mixing palette - would be hard to mix paint. I will stay with the regular acrylics. Thank you for the fantastic demo!!
Thanks for the head's up...
Thank you!! Not going to but these..I see exactly what your saying
Woah??? No brown??? That’s so weird… Color selection is why i rarely reach for these prepackaged sets!! I don’t trust ‘em to make good decisions lmao
Absolutely bizarre!! The only reason I got the prepackaged set was the price, but I'll be thinking twice before doing that again, yikes
I thought I was going crazy while using this set too... I agree completely with your review because this set doesn't work. It was so frustrating. I'm going to have to use my other Golden heavy body acrylic paints for almost 10 years and have never really had a complaint but this set was uggggggh. Made me doubt my ability of painting..
a lack of brown just seems so odd, its kind of a needed colour
right?? crazy
I just watched your vid again to hear your problems a second time. Perhaps your surface is not good enough for this set. And all the paints being transparent is what you need for depth. I do agree it needs to be a sienna in the set but it's easy to mid what u want. I recommend a better surface and to try again. Just amazed at this paint and the transparency allows me to glaze like I'm using oils.
I was very surprised at your demo and the extreme transparency of the OPEN paints, since all reviews of the 'standard' Golden acrylics show them as having the best opacity over other brands. I'm thinking it's probably simpler just to get the standard, more predictable type of Golden acrylics and add either liquid or gel extender if needed, rather than wrestle with the transparency problems of their OPEN type. I wish you'd been pleased with them, since Golden paints are so pricey.
It’s your technique or your set.
I use them no problem
I don’t understand.. majority of this video was about the bad color choices in this set. 🤔
Why so surprised? The list of colors in the set was openly available. All you had to do was read the description before check out.
Please, next time you try a new brand, choose the color pigments that you are familiar with. Just cross reference with their pigment number. It’s so easy, it’s not even much effort. All the info you need is on the product label and quickly accessible online.
And it will turn your reviews more about the product and less about your poor color choices.
Ooof, i am so sorry these were disappointing for you! It's always hard when you invest in supplies and they just aren't the right fit or what you were expecting
it really is :/ still hoping i'll be able to make them work for me though, just gotta keep trying
I feel the same exact way about these paints...will likely just stick to oil paint.
I agree, I wasn't too impressed. They got sticky really fast, even using the thinner. I would rather use oil.. honestly
Anyone who judges oils or acrylics by how they react on paper lacks the skill and experience needed to call this a review.
I don't get it why you try to use Golden OPEN for glazing techniques. There's glazing mediums for that you could aswell add to Golden open or any normal acrylic color, but the point of these slow drying colors is to be able to make soft transitions like oil color can or certain Bob Ross techniques since you can work hours on it instead minutes.
I'm first to comment here? loll, Haiiii to Kelsey if she sees thiss
Hey Erin!! how's it going?
@@KelseyRodriguez I’m just on my March brake this week!!
Any acrylic paint that says hue is going to be transparent. It will not have a strong pigment, I try not to buy any that say hue.
You are not supposed to put that much water on them.
Aw man, that sucks that the paints were so transparent :(((
I'm still not over it?? like why would a company market transparent paints as good for plein air, absolutely mind boggling
@@KelseyRodriguez tbh I don't even understand why people would want transparent acrylics in the first place. Like... if you want transparent, go use watercolour??
You put too much water, used it on paper. I love these paints and you're just using it wrong girl
My experience with W&N professional acrylics was equally disappointing. Very weak coverage and I found it difficult even with retarders to blend larger areas. The hardest by far is getting used to the fact that you really need a thicker layer especially with tints if you want your tone stable otherwise if it's thin it will just sink and dissappear. I think I was surprised how much of a learning curve it will take to really to be good with acrylics.
Nothing can ever compare to oils. Acrylics is literally plastic paint.
Even i left these because they are too transparent even without dilution
Terrible color pallette, your right! And shouldn't be so transparent
You are a drama queen
No