Gold Testing

Sometime after my Celtic foray, I picked up a few gold paints with plans to review. Well, one thing led to another and the gold testing went by the wayside. This evening I experimented with the following paints:

Brand: Winsor and Newton Designers' Gouache
Name: Gold
Description: Titanium dioxide coated mica/ synthetic iron oxides

Brand: Holbein Artists' Gouache
Name: Rich Gold
Description: PW20 PW6

Brand: Holbein Artists' Gouache
Name: Brilliant Gold
Description: PW20 PW6

Brand: Schmincke Horodam Aquarell
Name: Gold
Description: Yellow gold tone. No bronze, but coated mica with metal oxide(Iriodin).


Here's a scan that came out okay. Not a lot of sparkle but it does illustrate color.



And here's a photo with sparkle... and glare (sorry about that...)


Note that the first three rows (WN, Holbein) are gouache, the last (Schmincke) being watercolor. The first column was a wash perhaps a bit too wet. The second was straight from the tube. The third was just a bit of water. Do click on the photos for better viewing.

My favorite for color and application was Holbein Rich Gold; my least favorite for the same reasons was Holbein Brilliant Gold. Brilliant gold seemed to have large chips that left a chunky appearance. WN was decent and probably my number two pick. Schmincke, being a watercolor, seemed to go on lighter. I do like its distinctly lighter color that might come in handy in particular paintings. I absolutely love the Schmincke caps! They're huge with small threaded tubes. So much nicer that those WN beasts that make me keep pliers handy.

I visited Odyssey 2010 this afternoon, meeting vendors and spending money. I'm going back for more tomorrow! Details to follow! :-)