Hi there everyone! I saw Golden air dry paint at my local Michael’s recently. I’ve always wanted to try painting my own reborns. One of the artists I’ve spoken to say they use Golden Heavy Body air dry paints. I noticed at Michael’s the paints are kind of expensive. My questions are:
1.) What colors would I need to paint a caucasian newborn skin tone?
2.) Is there a starter kit or something with multiple colors in it?
3.) What’s everybody’s experience with Golden? I’ve mostly heard good things about it.
Thanks,
Julie
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Hello hello! I can indeed help!
I use Golden fluid acrylics though I recently picked up a tube of heavy body to try sometime soon.
I use the primary method (But it’s Cyan, yellow ochre, and Magenta), but I also paint high contrast. Here’s my Levi next to the Alexis I am currently painting (only her head is finished)
Here’s the painting order I used on Levi as well as a WIP photo of her head when it was nearing being finished and the blushing on her hand.
Here’s the list of colors I own, starred are the ones I think are super important!
Quinacridone Violet** (Mottling and creases)
Primary Cyan** (veins, blue undertones, mixing)
Yellow Ochre** (yellow undertones and skin building)
Primary Magenta** (blushing and mottling)
Burnt umber light** (darkens skin tones, always mixed with a little cyan)
Alizarian crimson hue** (darker burgundy red, use for darkening creases)
Titan buff* (nail tips, color achievable with white and a teeny bit of yellow)
Titan green pale* (lovely mint green)
Primary yellow (I’ve never actually used this)
Burnt Sienna (also never used)
Green gold (haven’t used yet but plan to for darker skintones)
Phthalo blue (red shade) (I don’t think I’ve ever used this, it’s too dark for my taste)
Carbon black (never used)
Titanium white* (use sparingly)
The following are the mediums I use
Golden fluid matte medium** (I use this constantly mixed into paint, to seal eyebrows down, and add a skin texture to the nose)
Golden airbrush medium* (basically the same as the next product)
Jo Sonja Flow Medium** (I use this CONSTANTLY and it’s a bit cheaper than the airbrush medium)
Golden Retarder** (just started using this recently but it’s really helpful!!)
Satin glazing liquid* (I use this for the sheen on nails, lips, eyes, and nose)
Golden Matte Polymer Varnish w/UVLS (lovely varnish which I super recommend, it’s got UV protection)
Something I don’t use but I’m planning on buying soon is the isolation coat that Golden makes, this means that the varnish becomes removable with ammonia.
Here’s how I mix my paints to make about an Oz (I use a bunch of little 1oz jars I got at dollar tree to store it and just paint out of the lid. I shake the jar well when I sit down to paint and then just use whatever is in the lid)
2 TSP paint
3 TSP flow medium
1.5 TSP Matte Medium
1-2 TSP Retarder (sometimes more)
Lastly I’ll mix another two TSP of flow medium in for washes and mottling layers. I don’t use water in my paint mixtures at all anymore, but I do work with wet brushes for application and dry brushes for excess paint removal.
This recipe seems to be holding up well (I’m planning on testing it with some durability tests this weekend though just to double check it), but of course everyone’s recipe for mixing is different! The reason I try not to use water is to prevent fading long term of a dolls paint! I hope this helps some!
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And thanks for the tag! I’m always happy to help where I can! I also know @anjsmiles always has great advice about air dry!
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Could you tell me what the colors on the paper mean? Like it’s darker at one end then gets lighter as it goes 
I feel so lost right now I’ve been using golden the last 6 months or so, but still getting the hang of it. Do you happen to have photos of your paint jars? Like how thinned they are? Are your TSP like tea spoons? Do you actually put the paint in teaspoons or just estimate of drops?
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The paints are swatches of the colors so that I know what order I’ve put them on in, the colors are listed above them, I do the darker to lighter to show what the paint looks like out of the bottle vs how light I’m applying it to give me an idea of the shade range I’m working with. It’s also to show what multiple layers look like.
I can snap photos of the paint jars but they aren’t really that special lol, the paint is just transparent against the sides of the paint jars if I tilt them if that makes sense? As for measuring yes I literally use a plastic measuring set from the dollar store which I wipe out after each measure with a washcloth, lol it sounds extra but it helps keep everything consistent.
I’m originally a traditional studio artist who’s worked in tons of mediums, so this is just how it all works for me.
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That makes total sense idk why it wasn’t coming thru in my head so bottle to thinned is what the dark to light shows. I have the issue either not thinning enough or thinning wayyyy to much so there’s barely any color at all lol 
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No you’re totally fine, I get it lol. Plus it can be confusing to just look at! I’d definitely try starting to measure your paints and thinners/mediums! It can be super helpful once you find the right balance for you!
Oh I forgot to mention, for the heavy body paint I’ll be using half the amount of paint in my minute to start with and see if that takes it thin enough!
Do the JoSonjas less sticky than the Golden airbrush?
Run like the wind from green-gold. It leaves babies with a fluorescent yellowish color with a green tinge that is hard to correct. I’m either going to find some kind of complimentary color to add to this or give it to my six year old since I don’t make alternatives. 
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I’d say yes? I’ll check tomorrow when I paint again, but if my memory isn’t being dumb then yes it’s less sticky.
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Omg, that’s so funny. I’m gonna try it, but I also mix a lot of my own colors and work with the primary method so it should be fine for my work. But I appreciate the warning and I’m sure that’s helpful for others too!
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I buy some anyway and will try it. I love the airbrush medium but it grab every dust and lint possible…
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I would! Btw I ordered mine from Blicks, it’s I think $5 for 8oz
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Exactly!!!
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I stay away from yellows unless I tint another color with it… barely. lol
I can not stand the yellowish green look. And why I didn’t even attempt to use it on my test baby with the Golden fluid paints.
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Yellow and blue makes green.
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Well thanks for clearing that up. 
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