Soraya French tried out Golden High Flow Acrylics and found that they really have the wow factor!

Launched to replace the discontinued Golden Airbrush colours, these paints dry to a harder and more durable paint film and there are 49 colours in the range.

Where to buy

Golden High Flow Acrylics can be purchased from Jackson's Art Supplies by clicking here and from art shops and other online retailers.

Video taken from Golden's YouTube channel

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Top features

1. Ink-like qualities

High Flow Acrylics have an ink-like consistency and contain high-quality pigments with 100 per cent acrylic polymer dispersion, so have excellent water and chemical resistance.

2. Finely-ground

Their finely ground pigments reduce any issues with clogging of airbrush nozzles and small tips of pens.

3. Free-flowing

They contain additives such as flow improvers, film levelling products and retarders, which makes for very thin, free flowing ink that can be used in all kinds of applications from fine line detailed work to loose and free washes of colour on all types of support.

Give them a shake

These acrylics come in a lightweight container with a twist-top cap.

Shake the container to create an even and consistent colour, but make sure you close the cap beforehand or, like me, you will be covered from head to toe.

The denser the pigment required, the longer you need to shake the bottle to achieve a homogenous mixture.

Ways of using the paints

1. Mixing

High Flow Acrylics mix together to give an infinite number of hues to work with, as well as numerous tints when mixed with titanium white. A few primary colours plus white is enough to start you on the road of exploring these versatile acrylics.

2. Pouring

High Flow Acrylics can be used for any kind of watercolour-style application and whenever you require paint with an inky consistency. They are ideal for pouring so the colours mix on the support – colours with larger pigment particles settle more rapidly than the ones with smaller particles.

3. Wet-into-wet

One of the more exciting ways of using these gorgeous colours is wet-into-wet applications as the colours spread to create wonderful patterns.

4. Gels and mediums

Preparing your surface with different types of gels and mediums results in different behaviour and it is great to see the exciting and varied patterns that emerge; learning to leave the happy accidents is the key for creating spontaneous results.

Experimenting with Golden High Flow

Experiment one
 
Here I dampened the paper in some areas to create both wet-into-wet soft edges and some hard edges where the paper was left dry.
 
I sprayed some of the hard edges to let them run, which created some lovely patterns. I also splattered darker colours.
 
I was left with a random and chaotic surface, ready to be manipulated into shapes and patterns.
 
Experiment two
Summer Rain, Golden High Flow Acrylics on gessoed board, (30.5x15cm)
 

For Summer Rain, I stained the board with yellow and orange inks and let the surface dry before painting the figure.

I used some oil pastels and candle wax to create resist and then dribbled the inks over the top.

Experiment three
Iris Patterns, Golden High Flow Acrylics on absorbent acrylic paper, (45.5x56cm)
 
For Iris Patterns, above, I applied more washes to shape the flower heads, then went into their negative areas to bring more colour washes to suggest background foliage.
 
I let some of the inks run, as I was working at my easel at this stage.
 
I did more spraying of edges and splattering here and there to add more energy.
 

Different tools for application

High Flow Acrylics can be used with the following tools:
 
  • Synthetic and sable watercolour brushes
  • Pens
  • Airbrush
  • Sponge rollers
  • Dipping pens
  • Other implements used with inks

Creating different effects

Golden High Flow are great for:
 
  • Glazing
  • Staining your support
  • Splattering
  • Stamping
  • Spraying
  • Creating fine lines
  • Refilling acrylic marker pens

Top tips

As with any Golden paint, High Flow Acrylics may be used to add colour to gels, mediums and pastes, but they may prolong the drying time as they contain retarders. They are also compatible with most other Golden paints.

Because they contain retarder, do make sure the inks are dry before applying other media on top and leave for at least 12 hours before you varnish your work.

Using Golden High Flow with a airbrush

High Flow Acrylics are ideal for use in airbrushes, although a few pigments may cause clogging, so do refer to the colour chart.

For high degrees of dilution always use Airbrush Extender rather than water.

Avoid using mouth atomisers with High Flow Acrylics.

Additional uses include marbling on both paper and fabric, wood staining and exterior signage and murals.

What types of support can be used for High Flow acrylics?

 
1. Absorbant grounds
High Flow Acrylics create intense and vibrant colour washes. They can be modified with water when working on absorbent grounds such as paper.
 
Add more water when you are using as colour stains on absorbent surfaces but additional layers of acrylic medium applied on top will provide better long-term durability.


High Flow Acrylics are influenced by gravity – like watercolours they absorb and spread freely and work well on all types of watercolour paper.

They behave differently on each type of paper, so beware when you switch your support. On absorbent surfaces the inks can be overlaid within minutes without lifting.

2. Non porous grounds

On non-porous supports such as canvas boards, some acrylic papers and similar surfaces, High Flow Acrylics take considerably longer to dry, so experiment to get the result you hope to achieve.

For staining canvases use the inks neat; by adding Golden Flow Release you can improve the staining ability.

Avoid thinning the inks with water more than 20 per cent volume when using them in pens and airbrushes or when you are applying them to non-absorbent surfaces.

It is better to use Airbrush Transparent Extender for high levels of thinning or extending.


Colourful Cockerel, Golden High Flow Acrylics, (25.5x25.5cm)
 
For the Colourful Cockerel, above, I began by creating a random textured ground on the paper by applying some soft and heavy gels and drips of stringy clear tar gel and pumice gel.
 
When that had dried, I applied the lightest, brightest colours – High Flow Acrylics take considerably longer to dry on non-porous surfaces such as this and I had to wait some time for the inks to dry before I could go on to my darker tones.
 
It is much easier to wash out any unwanted area on this kind of surface.
 

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