Mirjam Hintz: Up Close

Golden Artist Colors’ new Materials & Applications Specialist is working from her studio in Frankfurt, Germany and gives us our first Materials Support staff in Europe. She has the ability to serve customers in both English and German, strengthening our commitment to artists by answering their questions and assisting with product and application challenges. Mark … Read more

Aesthetics of Varnishing Transparent Watercolor: Creating the Least Change

For artists who push the boundaries of traditional watercolor, work in sizes large enough that framing is not practical, or just dislike the barrier created by glass, varnish is a valuable option for protecting their paintings.1 Varnishing is likely to alter color, value, contrast, granulation, and the appearance of the paper in a watercolor painting. … Read more

Always Striving for the Best: The Introduction of Benzimidazolone Yellow Medium (PY154) & Benzimidazolone Yellow Light (PY175)

Featured image for Always Striving for the Best: The Introduction of Benzimidazolone Yellow Medium (PY154) & Benzimidazolone Yellow Light (PY175)

Introduction Golden Artist Colors is a company that has a very clear goal of making the best artist paints possible! In a time when so many companies see how far they can reduce quality before a consumer notices, GOLDEN continues to resist this trend and make improvements wherever possible regardless of cost.   Artists and conservators … Read more

Emergency and Natural Disaster Recovery Resources for Artists

Texas National Guard soldiers arrive in Houston to aid residents in heavily flooded areas from the storms of Hurricane Harvey, Aug. 27, 2017. Texas Army National Guard photo by 1st Lt. Zachary West

Obviously in any emergency or natural disaster, such as the devastating flooding caused by Tropical Storm Harvey in the Houston area and Hurricane Irma in Florida, the first priority is the life and safety of yourself and those around you. As the water recedes, however, and people are able to return to their homes and studios, … Read more

Flattening a Transparent Watercolor Painting on Paper

When painting on watercolor paper with transparent watercolor, the paper often buckles and stays that way once the painting is dry. This article offers one possible way to flatten the paper using a temporary ‘paper press.’ This method is appropriate for paintings composed of thinly applied glazes and washes of transparent watercolor on paper, and … Read more

Materials Information & Technical Resources for Artists (MITRA) Website Launch

When Mark Gottsegen, a well-known educator and expert in artist materials, passed away in the Fall of 2013, an unbelievable amount was lost. Not least among them was AMIEN, the much beloved discussion forum on art materials that he founded. For Mark, AMIEN was his dream. It was from this desire to educate and to … Read more

Are acrylics as durable as oils?

Apple and orange on a white background

  If oil paint was just now being invented, and had to sell itself to the marketplace as a new medium, it would probably have an incredibly difficult time – especially if we knew beforehand that its list of problems would include yellowing, cracking, wrinkling, flaking, embrittlement, hydrolysis, fatty acid crystallization, protuberances and delamination caused by … Read more

Oiling Out and the Cause of Dead Spots in Oil Paintings

Example of sunken-in areas in an oil painting

It’s been a problem for a very long time. At least according to the historical record. Blotchiness. Sinking in. Dead spots. For oil painters these are well known terms, conjuring up images of skin disease as much as painted surfaces, but whatever words are used the implication is clear – it’s an undesirable nuisance;  a loathsome … Read more

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