I’m all Aglow About Golden Paints

Today I attended a two hour demo for Golden Paints given by professional artist, Kevin D. Tobin. I was surprised, amazed, and inspired! I had no idea Golden had so many products, uses and especially such great quality.

I don’t know why, but I assumed Golden was more of a “craft” paint. I’d used the Gels and molding pastes for mixed media work and collage, but I’d never really used Golden paints to paint.

I want to share these incredible products with you. If you get the chance to attend a Golden demo or workshop, I highly recommend it. Besides, we each took away a small packet of product and a binder stuffed with ideas and information.

Here’s a rundown of some of my favorite products:

“Absorbent Ground” – this medium can be painted on any surface, including walls, tables, wood, metal, etc. If a wall is painted with Absorbent Ground, and then covered with a mural, mistakes can easily be taken out by sanding. The space sanded can be repainted with Absorbent Ground and painted over correcting any glaring errors.

“Clear Tar Gel” – can be painted on a surface and then peeled off when it’s dry. The peeled off strips of color may be basket woven and glued back on a stratum and resealed with another coat of Clear Tar Gel. A fantastic three dimentional look.

“Soft Gel Gloss” – Gel “skins” can be made by a) printing off an image of choice, b) coating the surface with Soft Gel Gloss, c) when dry using a damp cloth to wipe the paper away. Like magic, you have a transparent print. Duplicate this process, and you have several clear prints. Mix a little “transparent” paint with the gloss and you get a clear, colored print. Sensational!

“Golden Open” – a medium to keep acrylics moist longer. Since it is made with a “clear” polymer, you may increase your paint without reducing intensity of color. This mixed color may be stored in a tight container for several days or weeks. Tobin opened one that had been stored for several months. The paint was still soft, and this is acrylic! The secret, of course: “Golden Open” mixed with the paint from up to 30% to 70% of the “Open.”

“Molding Paste” – May be coated on a gessoed canvas for a thin painting surface. When acrylic paints are placed over the surface, a moderate sheen penetrates or produces a glow from beneath the paint. A beautiful affect.

Tobin Tip: “How can you tell an opaque from a transparent? Cadmiums are almost always opaque,” said Tobin, “If you can’t pronounce its name, the paint is usually transparent, i.e. Quinacridone red, Dioxazine purple, etc.

My favorite medium from the Demo:

“Digital Ground” – The most incredible product that makes it possible to create unusual prints using your own computer and printer. By coating rice or other paper, linens, even cheesecloth with Digital Ground and allowing it to dry, you can print out a drawing, a finished painting, a portrait using the previously prepared “grounding” material.

We saw samples of beautiful artwork printed out on this material that was clear and sharp. Next to it were the results without using Digital Ground. It was simply amazing. I think this will become my most favorite product.

With Golden you may add a crackle surface to your canvas before painting, or add other surface mediums for more texture and style. The variety of products available is almost equal to the artist’s imagination. Tell Golden what you want to do or what you hope to accomplish, and they’ll create a product for you.

All of their products are environmentally safe. I’m unable to share all of what I took away, but I’m so glad I took advantage of this “free” opportunity!b>

A Workshop by any Other Name

Inspiration and fun highlighted a demonstration by the renowned artist Art B. Cunanan, a water colorist from the Philippines who lives in Ontario Canada. Once longing to be a comedian, Art’s wife, Lu, suggested he stick to painting. A professional oil and acrylic painter at the time, Art moved into watercolor for the freedom it provided for spontaneity. His secret? “You must plan ahead!” He paints for the “light,” which requires leaving areas of the canvas unpainted where you want and need the most light.

“Loose” is his watchword and Art slathered watercolor paints on a dry canvas with vigor and imagination. Using plenty of water and a mop brush or “rigger,” Art places color first in sky areas, using his favorite cobalt blue wash, but only in certain areas. He leaves some white spaces for clouds or light.

Working his way down the canvas, Art splashed in some yellow near the “eye line” Art prefers to paint plein air and from his imagination. For our demo he worked from a photograph so we could see how he applied his interpretation of what he saw to the canvas. Using only a few light pencil marks to define negative space and light, he worked loosely around those parameters.

The rigger brush provided a point when he needed detail, but mostly he washed many different colors over areas of the canvas, leaving them unblended; a splash of alizarin here, a touch of yellow ochre there. He never uses green, but prefers to add cerulean blue to areas of yellow mixing them on canvas to make green. He stressed that too much time on a canvas produces overworking and “tightness.”

Masterful at what he does, he wrapped up a beautiful finished painting in about 40 minutes as we sat with our mouths hanging open. For a beach painting, he also spattered some droplets of color to add texture to the sand and some finer shadows. He stressed that colors should appear in different areas all over the canvas to provide continuity.

Cunanan added people to scenes with simple shapes and the stroke of a brush tip. Two legs were single strokes of a different color (no feet or detail). A head was a simple dab of paint. What brings the people out and makes them viable along wiith other details? Art uses a touch of white gouache on the shoulders and head. His people look realistic and add to the energy and interest of the painting.

I will be taking a full day workshop from Art next week while he is here in Fort Myers. In the Spring he has workshops in Spain and Italy. In the summer, Cunanan teaches workshops in France. Of course, he teaches in his beloved Ontario where he is more familiar with painting snow scenes than beach scenes and pine trees more than palm trees.

Please go to Art’s web site and enjoy his wonderful energetic portfolio
@ http://www.artcunanan.com/