Can GOLDEN products be mixed together with other brands, and latex house paints?
Almost every GOLDEN waterborne product is compatible with other like products. Most artist acrylic brands will mix with GOLDEN paints, gels and mediums. Latex house paints are very similar in chemistry to acrylics and the two should physically blend together. However, all products being mixed together should be thoroughly tested before applying them to artwork. Especially those made with other brands and house paints. *Note: House paints should be avoided for permanent fine art, as they may contain insufficient grades of resins, pigments and additives that have not been tested for archival use.

Do GOLDEN Acrylics contain Formaldehyde?
GOLDEN Acrylics do not contain Formaldehyde. We can send a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that states what is in our products.

What kind of acrylics are used in GOLDEN products? I see you have a mineral-sprit-based acrylic used in the MSA Varnish and the MSA Conservation Paints. Is this a new acrylic resin?
There are two kinds of acrylics GOLDEN uses to make products. The first group is the waterborne acrylic emulsions, which most people are familiar with. Although acrylic resins and latex resins are similar, they are not the same. The ones we use are designed to be non-yellowing, have excellent durability and last for centuries. There are literally hundreds of acrylic polymer resins to select from, but since we are making artist grade products, longevity concerns are a big part of which ones we select. There are about 8 different resins we use regularly, and another 12 we use for specialty needs and custom products. Some are the common flexible acrylics used to make our standard paints and mediums. Others vary in hardness, clarity and other film formation properties. Once most of these polymer resins cure, they are meant to be water and alkaline resistant.

The other varieties of acrylic resins are the MSA products. These are Mineral Spirit-based Acrylics, hence the name MSA. While solvent-based acrylics are not as well known as their waterborne counterparts, they were actually developed first. During WWII, acrylic resins were first extensively used to form the fighter and bomber canopies to replace glass. Plexiglas, Polycarbonates, and Acrylite are the modern day successors to this technology.

After WWII, polymer technology was in full swing and of course these days, plastics are everywhere. Sam Golden worked in the shipyards during the war, and when it was over, went to work with his Uncle Leonard Bocour at Bocour Artist Colors. Bocour made oils (of course) but Sam and Lenny decided to see if these new polymer resins could be used to make paint. The result was the MAGNA acrylics, and these products were the first true acrylics made for artist use. They are resoluble in mineral spirits or turpentine, and dried much faster than oil paints. They had short-term QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SHEET Technical Support Questions & Answers 1 success as artist paint until the 60's when water-based acrylic technology improved. Sam retired in the early 70's and Bocour is no longer in business. With his son and daughter in law, Mark and Barb Golden, Sam began making paint again at the urging of his Manhattan artist friends, and in 1980, GOLDEN was founded.

Are GOLDEN products tested on animals?
Golden Artist Colors, Inc. does not do any testing of our products on animals. However, because the raw materials used in the manufacture of acrylic paints are common to many industries (automotive, cosmetic, toys, etc.), our ingredient manufacturers' Material Safety Data Sheets often supply animal test data. We support the trend toward using more in vitro test methods and look forward to the time when animal testing will be considered unnecessary.

I am just starting to use the GOLDEN brand. Before I invest my money in a full set of GOLDEN acrylic colors, I want to know which line of your
Selecting the appropriate paint line is dependent upon personal needs. We will review the general attributes, however, it is no substitute for testing. There are the Fluid Acrylic paints. These paints are pourable, but not ready to spray. There are many artists who use them as is, mixed with a medium or gel, or thinned for spraying and washes of color. They have the same pigments and pigment load as our thicker Heavy Body Acrylics, but are simply thinner. Matte Fluids are meant to give the look and opacity of the High Loads, but have better leveling and a pigment load similar to regular Fluids. GOLDEN's flagship line is the Heavy Body Acrylics. This line offers the largest selection of colors, and we suggest that you try a couple of tubes, as you should note a smoother feel than competitor products. This is not to say the Fluids are not suited for fine art -- they are -- it's just you may need a certain color and it's only available in the Heavy Body line.

GOLDEN Matte Acrylics are essentially the same thing as the Heavy Body Acrylics, but for those colors not at a low sheen, matting solids are added to lower their gloss into a specific range. For the most part, all of these paint lines are intermixable, but commonly artists will find a line best suited for their needs and add gels and mediums as needed.

Is it O.K. to add water to acrylic paints, or should I only use mediums?
Up to a 30% addition of water is acceptable for most canvas work. Higher water additions run the risk of poor film formation and possibly surface defects. This can be countered by mixing in a thin medium in place of the water, such as the GAC 100, or applying a layer of Gel or Medium on top of the artwork to provide protection. However when your goal is watercolor effects, over-thinning is needed to create washes. This is acceptable if the work is to be displayed behind glass. If the work needs to be displayed as a painting, applying an additional layer of a gel or medium is required to regain a complete film.