Choosing the paints you work with is about more than choosing the right colours for your subject matter; viscosity, sheen and opacity are also essential to take into consideration. To accommodate a wide variety of applications, acrylics are available in different viscosities, from bottles of very fluid acrylic ink to tubes of buttery, heavy body paint. The Golden acrylic range encompasses the variety of acrylic consistencies, making their paints useful for providing a comparison of the four main viscosities of acrylic paint.
Acrylic Consistencies
Heavy Body Acrylic
Soft Body / Open Acrylic
Fluid Acrylic
High Flow Acrylic
To demonstrate each Golden paint’s viscosity we applied them to a tilted panel. From left to right: Heavy Body, Open Acrylic, Fluid Acrylic and High Flow Acrylic.
Four Golden acrylic consistencies on a tilted panel moving over six seconds.
Heavy Body Acrylic
The most characteristic feature of heavy body acrylic paints is their stiff, buttery consistency. This allows them to hold peaks and retain brush strokes, making them ideal for impasto techniques and painterly brushwork. A palette knife or a stiff hog brush can be used with heavy body acrylics, as they allow you to sculpt the paint and build up layers of rich colour and texture.
In fact, Golden’s first acrylic range, introduced in the 1980s was their heavy body acrylics. Their thick texture appealed to oil painters who were already familiar with a similar consistency. Heavy body acrylics are recommended for artists who enjoy the density of oil paint, but who find the long drying time too restrictive. When painting with acrylics, multiple layers of varying thicknesses can be applied in any order and the next layer can be applied as soon as the last is touch dry, unlike with oil painting, where you need to be mindful of the fat-over-lean principle. This is an advantage for artists who want to build layers of paint quickly.
Heavy body acrylic’s dense consistency and thick paint film allows solids such as marble dust, pumice powder, sand and glass beads to be incorporated. Once dry, the material will be firmly held by the acrylic polymer, adding bulk and texture and bringing a three dimensional aspect into the work.
Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Quinacridone Magenta brushed out beside Golden Open Acrylic Teal.
Of all of the available viscosities, heavy body acrylics generally provide the best coverage. This is due to a thicker paint film, rather than a higher pigment load. Golden’s acrylics vary in terms of sheen and opacity depending on the individual qualities of the pigments used because Golden refrain from adding mattifying or opacifying agents to their paints
Soft Body / Open Acrylic
Most acrylics dry quickly, giving the artist a relatively short working time. Open Acrylics have been formulated to have a drying time which is up to 10 times longer than traditional acrylic paints. It offers possibilities for techniques which require the paint to stay workable for longer, such as blending and wet-in-wet painting.
Golden Open Acrylics are an example of a soft body paint, although they are slightly more viscous than most other soft body acrylics. Straight out of the tube or jar, they have a creamy consistency and are more self-levelling than their heavy body counterparts. Lower viscosity means that soft body paints are suited to more fluid, continuous brush work. A soft brush will give you the smoothest possible application, but this versatile consistency of acrylic can also be applied with a medium to firm brush, depending on your painting style. The paint will retain brush strokes to a certain degree, but to a lesser extent than heavy body acrylics.
Golden Open Acrylic Teal brushed out beside Golden Fluid Acrylic Chromium Oxide Green and Golden High Flow Acrylic Transparent Red Iron Oxide that has been allowed to run.
Golden Open Acrylic’s extended drying time makes it behave differently to other soft body acrylic paints. As it dries, it becomes increasingly viscous and stiffer, without forming a skin, allowing for more textural handling of the paint. This slow-drying quality is an advantage on the palette, as well as on the canvas. Because it dries quickly, standard acrylic paint can become unusable on the palette, which can be wasteful. Golden Open Acrylics can be kept fresh for far longer, reducing wastage—even as it begins to become tacky, it can be reopened by brushing with water or a medium. It can take more than two weeks for the paint to form an impermeable, immovable film, and once it has reached this stage, it will remain so permanently.
Fluid Acrylic
There is a common misconception that thicker paints contain more pigment than their fluid counterparts. However, a fluid paint will provide the same depth of colour in a less viscous binder. Fluid acrylics flow consistently from the brush and are self-levelling, reducing the retention of visible brush strokes, especially when used with a soft synthetic brush.
Golden originally made fluid acrylics for artists on a custom basis but their popularity was such that they were soon introduced as a standard line. Golden Fluid Acrylics are available in bottles and have a consistency like heavy cream. They can be poured or dripped onto the surface for vivid puddles of colour, or they can be used for more precise techniques, such as glazing.
Glazing is a technique originally established in oil painting which relies on the inherent transparency of certain pigments. Multiple transparent layers are used to render the subtle complexities of colour, light and tone. This gives the painting depth and realism which are impossible to achieve when using opaque colours. Oil painters know that glazing with oil paint can be a time consuming process because each layer can take a long time to dry. In contrast, acrylic paint generally dries very quickly, allowing you to work at a faster pace, which may be preferable for some artists.
Golden also refrain from using opacifying fillers in their fluid acrylics, so the naturally transparent qualities of certain pigments can be used to full effect. Information regarding transparency for each colour can be found on the tube, on a colour chart, or online.
High Flow Acrylic
High Flow Acrylic are the most fluid paint in Golden’s range. They are a good example of an acrylic ink and have an aqueous consistency.
Many inks are dye-based, meaning that colour is completely dissolved in the binder to make a solution. High Flow Acrylics and other acrylic inks are pigment-based, where extremely finely ground pigments are suspended in the binder to make a dispersion. They might need a gentle shake before use to ensure that the pigment particles are evenly distributed throughout the bottle. The advantage of pigment-based inks is that the colour is generally more lightfast; dyes are vulnerable to fading after prolonged exposure to light, whereas pigment-based inks are far more stable, as long as the pigment used is lightfast.
High Flow Acrylics come into their own when used to create watercolour-like effects, staining and highly pigmented gestural washes, on porous substrates, such as paper or raw canvas. Unlike watercolour, the acrylic binder ensures that the paint will be water-resistant and immovable when dry. Golden High Flow Acrylics contain a retarding agent to extend the drying time which gives them excellent spreading capability when painted wet-in-wet. As well as flooding areas with colour, High Flow Acrylics can be used delicately with a small, soft synthetic brush for fine detail. For even finer lines, the paint can be used in refillable markers or with a dip-pen.
While each kind of acrylic paint behaves very differently, all of them dry to form a water-resistant and flexible film. Whether you want to use one type of acrylic paint viscosity, or several in combination, making an informed choice for your work will help you make the most of acrylic paint.
Acrylic mediums let you change nearly all of the qualities of acrylic paint. As Golden creates the largest range of acrylic mediums, we’ve also written a comparison of them that explains their acrylic consistencies, texture and unique effects. Read our Golden Acrylic Mediums Comparison.
Further Reading
Size, Primer, Gesso and Ground Explained
Everything You Need to Know About Acrylic Painting Paper
Pigment Stories: Black Pigments, and Getting the Most Out of Using Black in Your Palette
Two Painters Try Jackson’s Artist Acrylic Paint
Shop Golden Acrylic Paint and Mediums at jacksonsart.com
Shop Acrylic Paint on jacksonsart.com
That first photo with them doing what
they do ( or don’t do!) as they come out
of the tube is very helpful indeed. The
rest of it… (like extending with water /
medium/texture additions) comes later
Thank you very much, I’m glad to hear it’s helpful!
Fantastic explanation of the
differences between Golden
acrylics! My brain will probably
forget in a few minutes but now I
have the email, I can keep it. The
only question I have, if you don’t
mind, is ~ which of these are the
best, technically and cost
effectiveness, for paint pouring? I
would guess the 2 in the middle?
So glad I found Jacksons! Off to
see some canvases…. Thank you!
Thank you for your feedback! The best choice for acrylic pouring would be fluid acrylic or high flow acrylics which already have the fluid consistency required for pouring and can be used straight from the bottle. You can thin heavy body paints with a fluid medium to reach the right viscosity for pouring, which may be more cost effective because you can extend the pigmented paint to make it go further, but bear in mind that by thinning the paint you will also dilute the pigment, reducing the colour concentration. Golden Open acrylics are not ideal for acrylic pouring because of their extended drying time, but other soft body acrylics could be used and thinned a little with a medium.
Cost effectiveness? That is not
great English. My apologies
Cost effectiveness makes perfect sense! Another consideration is that in artist and professional quality ranges each colour is priced according to a series number-depending on the pigment used. You can make a wonderful palette using colours from series 1 and 2. The series number does not reflect the lightfastness or permanence of the pigment.
Can i thin down heavy body to produce a
fluid paint, or is there a point where the
binder loses it ability to keep the
pigment together.
Yes, you can thin heavy body acrylic to produce a fluid acrylic- but it is advisable to do so with an acrylic fluid medium instead of water. A medium will dilute the paint to give it the consistency you want, but unlike water it won’t weaken the binder and compromise the film strength. I hope that’s helpful!
You mean the pouring medium? That
can be used to thin the heavy body
paint?
I’ve been doing dotting on stones and
canvas. I’ve had a lot of trouble with paint
losing colour and pigment. I’ve used a
medium with little change.
Looking at your different paints is helpful.
Thankyou.
You will find that professional quality acrylic paint, like Golden acrylics, will have high concentration of pigment and excellent lightfastness so your paint remains vibrant. Thank you for your comment!
So helpful – more please on other
mediums. Thank you.
I’m so glad you found it useful! Thank you for the feedback
Is golden thick body suitable for an outdoor
mural? How fade resistant is it?
Thank you for your question. You can use Golden Heavy Body, Fluid and High Flow acrylics for exterior murals, the best consistency depends on the surface you are working on and the kind of painting you want to do. Fade resistence will depend on the pigment, and only the most permanent pigments should be used. I would suggest looking at Golden’s information sheet which lists suitable colours and other advice that will be useful for you: https://www.goldenpaints.com/technicalinfo/technicalinfo_murals
Just to say ‘very well done’! will have to read
it all again [didn’t expect so much info!.
Thank you, Lenore!
I was wondering if there is a colour chart
available of the W&N Professional acrylic
range, where the pigment/acrylic is
applied directly to the chart rather than a
CYMK printed representation.
Hi Stanley, Winsor and Newton produce a hand-painted colour chart which is available on our website : https://www.jacksonsart.com/winsor-newton-hand-painted-professional-acrylic-colour-chart . It is currently out of stock but will be back soon!
I cannot seem to be able to reply
using “reply” so leaving another
comment, lest you think me rude.
Thank you for your detailed and
extremely helpful reply. High
flows are actually one of my
“wishlist” products so I might just
have to ask for them, in time for
that day in December. Lol.
Once again, huge thank you.
Caroline.
No problem, thank you Caroline!
I have been trying to do ‘drip’ paintings, a
la Jackson Pollack, and have found it
impossible to discover the correct
viscosity for the paint; it just pools. Can
you suggest which type of medium or
paint would be best? Thanks.
I
I’d recommend trying Liquitex String Gel or Golden Clear Tar Gel . Both mediums will ‘lengthen’ the paint and give it a honey-like consistency.
I’m so glad I’ve found this. What a great
explanation. I have one question, if I want
to thicken the fluid acrylic slightly, what is
the best product to use? I have read a lot,
and spent a lot, and it doesn’t appear to
have worked. I only want to thicken very
slightly in some instances as I do a lot of
dot art and would like to add a little
dimension to my pieces. The Golden
paints are just glorious, colour is amazing,
everything just seems to “pop”.
Hi Christine, thank you for your comment. I would suggest using a gel medium. Golden make three different gel mediums- regular gel, heavy gel and extra heavy gel. As the names suggest, the extra heavy gel is the thickest and will give you the most 3 dimensional effect. My colleague Tegen wrote an excellent comparison of Golden mediums that you might find helpful! https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2019/07/30/golden-acrylic-mediums-comparison/#plaingel
now personally this helped a lot since i
wanted to start glass painting and i wasnt
sure which type i needed
i normally use the regular apple barrel
paints since those are the ones i have rn
and i never tried another brand
if anyone uses apple barrel, i think it’s
mostly like the third one
anyway this was helpful
is there any article about how to use
gouache paints btw?
Hi Momo,
Thanks so much for your comment. We have some articles which feature goache artists who share some tips on how they can be used. You can find these here: https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/?s=gouache
Hope these inspire you, many thanks
Lisa
I created a three-dimensional art piece with various slivers of 1/4 inch plexiglass super glued to a 1/4 inch plexiglass base. I will be lighting it with high intensity color-changing LED lights from below but I need to “mask” around all the pieces. Will your High Flow acrylic be suitable for pouring at the edges of the base and with slight tilting around having it flow around all the pieces? I want the most dense black to mask the light. I need a setting time slow enough to allow the flow to all spaces. And I need adhesion to the plexi over time and changes in temp. Will your product fill the bill?
Hi Jim
High Flow is highly pigmented acrylic ink but I don’t think it will be dense enough for masking light, but it might, I don’t know anyone who has ever tried it. If your email research doesn’t give you enough information then it sounds like you will need to do the testing yourself. A bottle of each of your short-listed paints and a piece of plexiglass should suffice to determine flow rate, drying time, opacity and adhesion.
Hei! I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to use
pouring medium with heavy body/standard
acrylics to make my own fluid acrylics at
home? Or is it a bad hack?
Hi Deepika
It is perfectly acceptable to use any acrylic medium with heavy body acrylics.
You will get different results with each one. Using pouring medium will give you some more flow so that your colours will spread better. But it will also dilute your colour strength and add some transparency, with even more dilution and transparency the more medium you add.
It also dries a bit sticky so you will need to be sure to varnish the painting so it has a hard, non-sticky surface.
Using a medium instead of water to thin your paint is good because you will still have lots of binder so your pigments stay stuck to your surface well.
But, it isn’t quite the same as creating a fluid acrylic. The heavy body, soft body, fluid, and high flow/ink acrylics all have the same concentration of pigment in them, the low viscosity paints are just as strong as the heavy paints. They are the same strength of colour it’s just that thickeners have been added to make the body heavier. Adding water or a fluid acrylic medium to heavy body paint will not recreate fluid paint because it will have less pigment, be weaker in colour.
But it will give you a more fluid, flowing paint, so go ahead and give it a try. It may turn out to be exactly what you like to work with.
So I just ordered a full set of heavy body
acrylics.. but now I think maybe I made
a mistake and should have ordered fluid
or high fluid instead.. since I want to
work with very much fine details and
small brushes.. and work with glazes
and layering. But can I still work with my
heavy body and achieve this?
I mean get a smooth working colour to
achieve very very fine details? I bought
glazing medium but will it thin down the
pigment too much?
Have painted only watercolour before so
acrylics is new to me. I like the feel of
watercolour but you have to plan much
ahead. With acrylics you can paint over
and lighten up areas.
And also I wonder, can they be mixed
with each other? Like heavy body and
high fluid, if i decide to invest in those
also?
Hi Camilla
All acrylic paints can be mixed with one another, irrespective of whether they have different consistencies. The glazing medium should help to get the right fluidity for fine detail from your acrylic paint, or you could try a flow medium. Getting the right consistency would be down to mixing different proportions of paint to medium and seeing what works for your requirements.
Many thanks
Lisa
I am very new to acrylics and want to
know the right ways of adding water to
acrylic paint. Am I adding problems by
doing this? My instructor has
discouraged me in adding water but find
it offers spreadability and helps in
blending colors.
Hi Fred,
Adding water to acrylic paint is a good way to dilute colour and improve spreadability. It is also likely to cause paint to become more matte. Do you know why your instructor discouraged you to add water?
Water will dilute paint where acrylic mediums will extend paint, i.e. add more of the acrylic ‘glue’ that holds the paint in a regular tube or pot of acrylic paint, so there is in theory an increased risk that the adhesive qualities of the paint will be undermined, and the paint may be at greater risk of flaking from the canvas, but from my personal experience, I have never known this to happen.
Hope this helps
Lisa
What is the best way to use Golden paints
from the jars? It seems like a lot gets wasted
just taking it out of the jar. I used a palette
knife.
Hi Susan, thanks for your question! Once you’ve got all that you can out of the pot using a palette knife, I like to add a little bit of fluid acrylic medium (or water) and use it to mix the remaining paint together- it makes it much easier to get it out from the jar.
Hi – This is so helpful! I am a beginner and my teacher recommends Golden Fluid Titanium White. However, I am going through it quickly and it is quite expensive. Is there a reasonably comparable, less expensive paint in another brand that might be suitable for learning? I don’t want to use a paint that is so different that it would change how/what I am learning, but I also do not need to have the finest quality paint. Thanks!
So glad you found this article helpful, Laurie! Golden paints are lovely but they are among the most expensive. I’d recommend Vallejo’s fluid acrylic – https://www.jacksonsart.com/vallejo-fluid-artist-acrylic-paint-100ml-titanium-white-rutile – as an alternative.
I plan to paint on a piece of marble, should I use acrylic or oil
paints? Thanks.
Hi Sue
You can use either. It depends on what you want to achieve really. Do you want the stone to show through?
Marble is very porous, so we would suggest a primer.