Thursday, October 8, 2009

Saving money on acrylics

As a followup to an earlier post, I wanted to report that I've had a lot of luck, and saved a good deal of money, by using Dick Blick acrylic paint ("Blickrylic") instead of Golden's. Of course, the colors aren't luscious like Golden's. But for "no-show" or covered areas, like toning backgrounds and my initial applications of white lines, it works great.

Nothing can replace Golden's Nickel Azo Yellow, though! It comes out a rich golden brown and dilutes into a sizzling hot yellow. Not a tacky, screaming yellow like hansa yellow or certain cadmiums can sometimes be. But Blickrylic's brown and yellow mixed together can make a series of lovely forest greens.

I've also had luck with diluting the Blickrylic into Golden's "fluid acrylic" consistency by mixing in water and letting the mixture settle overnight. By adjusting the amount of water I add, I can get thinner or fatter lines, as detailed in this older post.

4 comments:

Martha Marshall said...

I am constantly amazed by my bottle of Golden's Nickel Azo Yellow. Their fluid acrylics are so concentrated that they last forever when combined with mediums or other paints.

Thanks for the tip on the Blickrylic. Haven't tried them but I will.

I guess you and I both should disclose right now that nobody paid us to say all this!!

Catherine Carter said...

Golden's is better quality, Blick is cheap but still useable, and I will gladly accept money for making either of those statements! ;-)

CMC said...

Try Nova Color acrylic....great produce, great prices. I mostly use them and a few Golden.

Catherine Carter said...

Great tip, Cheryl, thank you, I plan to try this brand. Different paint colors are like clothes -- some you splurge on (like boots), some you scrimp on (like T-shirts).