Golden Open Acrylics - First Impressions

OK, I just received a bag of these new Golden Open Acrylic paints and I had to try them out.

First, the disclaimer - I have limited experience with acrylics so my insights may be different from a dyed-in-the-wool acrylic painter.

Anyway, here are a few impressions:

1) These are noticeably thinner in consistency than oils or even my regular heavy body acrylics. I'm not sure that's a problem but it may be a little difficult to pile it on real thick - as I'm inclined to do from time to time.

2) These REALLY do stay wet on the palette a lot longer. In fact, they maintained the same consistency as I squeezed them from the tubes for the entire time I had them out - about 3 hours! I never had to spray them with water.

3) The puddles of mixed paint (much thinner) did get a little tacky after about 10 minutes but, unlike the regular acrylics, a little water restored them completely. No film.

4) These do take much longer to set up on the canvas. Good for re-working and blending like oils - maybe bad if you like to layer thin applications in a hurry.

5) The consistency is still more like standard acrylics than oils. They don't have that "buttery" feel.

6) I have a feeling that these will really shine as plein air paints. Regular acrylics can be a challenge to keep from drying out - especially when it's hot and/or dry outside. I'm going to try these outdoors. I'll update this entry after I give this a try.

That's about all I could pull out of one session. These may be a god-send for working outdoors. I'm not sure, though, if they would serve as a "closer to oils" experience fro me. We'll see....

Sample 1

Sample 2