Golden Artist Colors: The Gold Standard in Professional Acrylic Paint

Golden Artist Colors is the most technically sophisticated acrylic paint manufacturer in the world, and for professional painters who work in acrylics, it is simply the benchmark against which everything else is measured. Founded in 1980 by Sam Golden in New Berlin, New York, the company has spent four and a half decades developing acrylic formulations, mediums, and grounds that give painters unprecedented control over the properties of their paint. Golden does not just make paint. It engineers paint, approaching every product with a level of technical rigor that reflects the company's founding conviction: that artists deserve materials that perform exactly as they need them to.

Sam Golden came to the company with deep roots in the art materials industry. His father, Leonard Golden, had worked with Bocour Artist Colors, the company that produced the first commercially available acrylic paints in the 1940s and 1950s. Sam Golden worked with Bocour before founding his own company, bringing with him both the technical knowledge and the artist-focused philosophy that defined the best of the early acrylic paint tradition. Golden Artist Colors was built on the premise that professional artists needed acrylic paints with the same quality, consistency, and technical sophistication as the finest oil paints, and that achieving this required genuine investment in materials science and ongoing dialogue with working artists.

The Product Lines

Golden produces several distinct acrylic product lines, each designed for different working methods and different desired paint properties.

Heavy Body Acrylics are the flagship product and the line that established Golden's reputation. Heavy Body paints have a thick, buttery consistency similar to oil paint, with enough body to hold brushstrokes and palette knife marks without slumping or losing texture. The pigment load is exceptionally high, meaning that the colours are intense and retain their saturation even when diluted. The range covers more than 200 colours, including single-pigment formulations that give painters maximum control over colour mixing, and a range of iridescent, interference, and fluorescent colours that extend the expressive possibilities of the medium.

Fluid Acrylics have the same high pigment concentration as Heavy Body but in a pourable, flowing consistency that is ideal for techniques requiring thin, even layers, for staining, for airbrushing, and for working on absorbent surfaces. The Fluid range covers the same colour palette as Heavy Body, allowing painters to work with both consistencies while maintaining colour consistency across their work.

OPEN Acrylics are a genuinely innovative product that addresses one of the most significant practical limitations of conventional acrylic paint: its fast drying time. OPEN Acrylics dry much more slowly than standard acrylics, remaining workable on the palette and on the canvas for extended periods. This extended open time allows painters to blend colours on the canvas, to work wet-into-wet in a way that is normally impossible with acrylics, and to make corrections and adjustments without the pressure of racing against the paint's drying time. OPEN Acrylics were developed in response to requests from painters who wanted the versatility of acrylics but found the fast drying time limiting, and they have become an important option for painters transitioning from oil to acrylic or working in techniques that require extended blending.

High Flow Acrylics have an ink-like consistency that makes them ideal for calligraphy, fine detail work, airbrushing, and techniques that require paint to flow freely through narrow openings. The High Flow range includes a selection of colours designed for use with ruling pens, technical pens, and airbrushes, as well as for creating fine lines and details in mixed media work.

The Mediums System

What truly distinguishes Golden from other acrylic paint manufacturers is the depth and sophistication of its mediums system. Golden produces more than 70 mediums, gels, grounds, and varnishes, each designed to modify specific properties of the paint in specific ways. This system gives painters a level of control over their materials that is simply not available with any other acrylic brand.

Gels modify the consistency and texture of the paint, from soft gels that thin the paint slightly while maintaining body, to extra heavy gels that create thick, sculptural textures. Specialty gels include glass bead gel, which adds a granular texture, pumice gel, which creates a rough, stone-like surface, and fiber paste, which creates a fibrous, matte texture. These gels allow painters to create surfaces with specific tactile and visual qualities that would be impossible with paint alone.

Mediums modify the flow, transparency, and finish of the paint. Glazing liquid extends the open time and increases transparency for glazing techniques. Polymer medium increases transparency and gloss. Matte medium reduces gloss and increases transparency. Self-leveling clear gel creates smooth, even surfaces. Each medium is formulated to work seamlessly with Golden paints, maintaining the archival quality and flexibility of the paint film.

Grounds prepare surfaces for painting with specific properties. Acrylic gesso is the standard ground for most acrylic painting. Absorbent ground creates a surface that accepts paint like watercolour paper, allowing watercolour-like techniques with acrylic paint. Clear gesso creates a transparent ground that allows the texture and colour of the support to show through. Pumice ground creates a rough, absorbent surface ideal for pastel and charcoal as well as paint.

Technical Support and Education

Golden's commitment to artists extends well beyond selling paint. The company maintains a technical support team of trained artists and materials specialists who are available to answer questions about products, techniques, and materials compatibility. This team is genuinely expert, capable of addressing complex questions about archival properties, surface preparation, varnishing, and the technical aspects of acrylic painting that most manufacturers cannot or will not engage with.

The company's website at goldenpaints.com is one of the most comprehensive technical resources available for acrylic painters, with detailed product information, technical data sheets, application guides, and articles on specific techniques and materials questions. The Just Paint newsletter, published by Golden, has been a respected source of technical information for professional painters for decades, covering topics from pigment chemistry to varnishing to the archival properties of different acrylic formulations.

Golden also operates an Artist Educator program that provides discounts and resources to art educators, reflecting the company's commitment to supporting art education at every level. The program is used by art schools, universities, and community arts organisations across the country.

Why Professional Painters Choose Golden

The reason professional painters choose Golden over less expensive alternatives comes down to consistency, technical depth, and the confidence that comes from using materials that have been rigorously tested and honestly described. Golden's colour charts include detailed information about each pigment used, its lightfastness rating, its opacity or transparency, and its specific handling characteristics. This transparency allows painters to make informed decisions about their materials rather than relying on marketing claims.

The archival quality of Golden paints is also a genuine concern for professional painters whose work is sold to collectors and institutions. Golden's commitment to using lightfast pigments, to formulating paint films that remain flexible and stable over time, and to providing honest information about the archival properties of their products gives professional painters the confidence that their work will endure.

The Bottom Line

Golden Artist Colors represents the highest standard in professional acrylic paint manufacturing. The combination of exceptional pigment quality, an unmatched mediums system, genuine technical support, and a forty-five-year commitment to serving professional artists makes Golden the default choice for serious acrylic painters worldwide. Whether you are working in Heavy Body, Fluid, OPEN, or High Flow formulations, and whether you are using Golden's mediums to modify texture, transparency, or drying time, you are working with materials that have been engineered to give you maximum control over your painting.