I’ve been busy this past month, teaching workshops, painting and also assimilating a bunch of new Golden Acrylic products into my studio storage system.
I received two cartons of Golden products several weeks after the training workshop I attended in New Orleans (see the previous blog post). It was a major event, unpacking and admiring all my new supplies. Then the domino effect ensued. In looking at all the new stuff, I realized I’d need to get it organized and in doing so, I’d also need to reorganize the supplies I already had. Soon my studio was turned upside down.
After much sorting and resorting, I ended up at Home Depot where I bought 2 sets of wire racks and at Target where I bought some clear plastic containers. I eventually sorted the supplies into categories and put them in their new home. I have yet to consolidate all of the supplies I had already before the Golden delivery, hence the yellow box perched precariously on top of the racks. I’m not going to show the jumble of other supplies I need to incorporate.
One of the unexpected (at least for me) delights about all this new paint is that there are quite a few colors I’ve never used before. One of the oddest colors is Smalt Hue. I got 3 tubes of it. I was curious, so I squeezed a little bit out and boy, was I unimpressed. A boring grayish, purplish, blueish, very wimpy and transparent color. So I decided to test drive it in a color wheel. Golden suggests the combination of Aureolin Hue (never used or heard of this one either) and Quindacrinone Crimson, which is a part of my normal palette of colors and Smalt.
It was pretty unimpressive, in my humble opinion, although there are a few interesting results.
Not one to give up, I decided to give Smalt a try on 3 paintings I’d just started. This early on in the painting process, I’m all for experimenting. The paintings are barely formed and will have many layers applied before they are completed, so there’s nothing to loose. Well, was I surprised, amazed and thrilled. It is a subtle shade of purple/blue/grey that I’ve tried many times to mix without much success. If you look at the top of the painting in the center, you’ll see a hint of Smalt.
Then I decided to give Smalt a go on a couple of sunflower paintings I just started and was amazed. That subtle shadow color that’s so hard to get, well, it’s Smalt.
And more Smalt in this one, too. Hard to point out as it’s in dibs and dabs here and there on both paintings, but trust me, Smalt is going to propel me to the next level of painting. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but still.
The thing that’s so exciting is that this is not a color I ever would have tried out, much less bought. But now I have it and I love it and I’ll be using it. And guess what, I have a whole bunch of other unknown (to me) colors to test out.
Thank you again, Golden Acrylic Color Company for this great opportunity.
P.S. I’ve also fallen in love with the name of this elusive color. Smalt.
I LOVE smalt hue also. and then micaceous iron oxide…and then Daniel Smith moon glow.(can I say that?) oh my dear, we are but paint junkies. Thinking about you and your lovely paintings. Me, I am a one armed paper hanger. So much to do & so little time.
xox B
Yikes! I hope this isn’t for all to view!! B
How come? Sure hope I didn’t make a boo-boo. If so, it’s too late now.
i too feel the same way about smalt. its a mix of ultramarine blue + diox. purple + carbon blk… crazy! when i looked at the break down i thought man that’s dirty. but i soon feel in love with it too when i started to play with it. i use it in glazes… a hair of it with a hair of Quin Gold… (or Aqua gold by liquitex) it makes a honey colour when its dry. that might not sound so exciting but it was to me 🙂
Great lesson to learn. now i don’t underestimate any colour.
Love this post! I too love Smalt…OMG, Liquitex and Daniel Smith on the same page!!! Now, i need to explore Moon Glow, just because I love the name,,but, doubt I will go for Aqua Gold!! I am such a Branded Geek! But, yes, Evelyn, good comment, about not underestimating a color,,that was exactly what I learned by doing all those color wheels..
Acra Gold Sorry… 🙂 its ok. that is discontinued colour any way.
GOLDENs Quin. Nickel Azo Gold is much cleaner
Thanks for the hint. I’ll give the Quin. Nickel Azo Gold a try with Smalt.
Maybe we should form a Smalt lovers club!
I can’t wait to check out some of the other colors I’ve either never heard of or never tried before that were in the boxes of goodies from Golden.
And I thought I knew something about color and had a pretty good grip on what was out there–so excited to be learning all this new stuff.
And looking forward to passing it on to my workshop students, too.
I got that trio of colors on the day we did the color wheels. And I was smitten with Smalt!!! Very excited to get 3 of them in my carton too 🙂
Great post.