Heavy Body History

GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylics were the first products introduced by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. in 1980. Initially, the Heavy Body line was sold directly to artists in Manhattan in quart and gallon containers. Pints, 8 oz. and 4 oz. jars soon followed as the products gained more and more popularity with professional artists. Tubes of GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylics finally appeared on the market in 1990.

In 1980, it was considered unusual to contain a heavy body, high viscosity paint in a jar. Almost all of the literature written about acrylic at that time implied that jar colors were thin and tube colors were thicker. Actually, the first water-borne acrylic paint was thin - similar in consistency to house paint. Only after technological improvements allowed for thicker formulations could artist acrylics be put in tubes. Since GOLDEN began by directly supplying professional artists requesting quantities of paint, larger sized containers were preferred. As GOLDEN products became widely accessible, jars and tubes provided more size and packaging options for a growing group of artists with a variety of needs.