Golden Art Supplies Deals — Sales, Discounts & Price Comparison UK

The Complete Guide to Golden Artist Colors — Plus How to Find the Best UK Deals and Discounts

There's a particular type of art supplies brand story that I find genuinely compelling — not the corporate acquisition story, not the heritage-for-heritage's-sake story, but the one where somebody with deep knowledge and genuine passion for the craft decides to do it properly because nothing else available is quite good enough. Golden Artist Colors is that story, and it begins with one of the most remarkable figures in the history of acrylic paint.

From a Barn in Upstate New York — The Golden Story

Sam Golden started making paint in 1936 in Manhattan, working with his uncle Leonard Bocour at Bocour Artist Colors. What followed was a career of extraordinary innovation. Sam Golden is credited with developing the first artist acrylic paint — Magna — between 1946 and 1949. He developed the first phthalocyanine artist paints. The first iridescent artist colours. The first stable alizarin colour in acrylic. The first stable zinc white in acrylic. He was, by any measure, one of the defining figures in twentieth century paint chemistry.

After thirty years in the paint making business, Sam retired in the early 1970s and moved with his wife Adele to a farm in New Berlin, New York — picturesque, quiet, about as far from a Manhattan paint factory as you could reasonably get. He planned to fish and play golf. He lasted seven years before the pull of the paint room became irresistible.

At the age of 67, Sam Golden came out of retirement. In June 1980, he founded Golden Artist Colors, Inc. alongside his wife Adele, his son Mark, daughter-in-law Barbara, and partner Chuck Kelly. They started in a 900 square foot renovated cow barn on the New Berlin farm. Mark made weekly trips to New York City to sell the paint directly to artists. The quality spoke for itself — professional artists found Golden and told other professional artists, the way genuinely good products always spread.

The barn grew. A factory was added in 1985. A 13,000 square foot expansion followed in 1990. In 2002 Golden became an employee-owned company — and in 2010 employees became the majority owners. It's still employee-owned today, still operating from the original New Berlin site, still making paint the same way Sam Golden insisted it should be made: with the highest quality materials available, formulated specifically for the professional artist, with complete technical honesty about what's in every tube.

Sam Golden died in 1997 at the age of 81, having spent fifty years making paint and having fundamentally shaped what acrylic paint is. The company that bears his name remains one of the most respected artist paint manufacturers in the world. I've been in the art supplies industry for sixteen years and I've watched Golden's standing in the UK market grow continuously — in our community of 36,000 UK artists, Golden comes up consistently in conversations about the best acrylics available, particularly among professional painters who want maximum performance from their materials.

The Golden Range — What's Available in the UK

Golden produces a broader range than most artists are aware of when they first encounter the brand. Here's what UK buyers need to know:

Golden Heavy Body Acrylic

The original range and the product that established Golden's reputation. Heavy Body Acrylics have a thick, buttery consistency that holds brushstrokes and palette knife marks on the canvas — the paint retains texture rather than flattening as it dries. For painters who want impasto effects, palette knife work, or the physical texture of oil painting translated into an acrylic medium, Heavy Body is the benchmark product.

The pigment load is exceptional — among the highest of any production acrylic available. The colour range covers over 100 colours including unique pigments that aren't available from other manufacturers, historical hues, and the iridescent and interference colours that Sam Golden pioneered. Full ASTM lightfastness ratings on every colour. Complete pigment information on every label.

For professional painters transitioning from oil to acrylic, or for painters who want the richest possible acrylic colours with genuine physical presence on the canvas, Golden Heavy Body is the natural reference point.

Golden OPEN Acrylic

Launched in 2008, OPEN Acrylics were Golden's answer to the single most persistent complaint about acrylic paint from professional painters — that it dries too fast. OPEN Acrylics have an exceptionally extended open time compared to conventional acrylics, remaining workable and blendable on the palette and the canvas for significantly longer. Colours can be blended and reworked in ways that were previously only achievable with oil paint.

For painters who want the practical advantages of acrylic — fast cleaning, no solvents, stable emulsion chemistry — without the rapid drying time that makes blending and colour transitions difficult, OPEN Acrylics are the most significant product innovation Golden has produced since the original Heavy Body range. Compatible with other Golden acrylic products and with the full range of Golden mediums, OPEN Acrylics can be mixed with conventional acrylics to extend the working time of a standard acrylic palette.

Golden Fluid Acrylics

A pourable, self-levelling consistency with the same high pigment load as the Heavy Body range. Fluid Acrylics are used for poured painting and fluid art techniques, for airbrushing, for staining canvas, and anywhere a flowing, liquid acrylic consistency is required. Not a watered-down version of Heavy Body — a separately formulated product with its own consistency and working properties, using the same quality pigments.

The colour range parallels the Heavy Body range closely, making it practical to use both in the same painting — Heavy Body for impasto and textured passages, Fluid for washes, staining, and areas requiring smooth, even coverage.

Golden Matte Acrylic

The same pigment quality as Heavy Body but formulated with a matte finish rather than the slight sheen of standard acrylics. For painters who want the opacity and colour intensity of Golden's pigments without any surface reflectivity — useful for work intended for photography or reproduction, or for artists who prefer the matte appearance aesthetically.

Golden Iridescent and Interference Colours

The iridescent colours — metallic-looking paints that reflect light like metal surfaces — and the interference colours — which create a colour shift depending on the viewing angle and the light source — are part of Golden's heritage going back to the innovations Sam Golden made at Bocour. In the current range these are available across a wide selection of metallic and interference effects, from fine to coarse grades.

Used sparingly these add extraordinary visual interest to work where light interaction is part of the intended effect. They're also among the most distinctive Golden products — not available with quite the same quality and range from any other manufacturer.

Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colours

A separate brand within the Golden family — Williamsburg is a handmade oil paint line produced using historical pigments and traditional oil paint manufacturing methods. Stone-ground pigments, single-pigment formulations, and an extraordinary range of historical colours that aren't available from mainstream oil paint manufacturers. For serious oil painters who want maximum pigment authenticity alongside the acrylic excellence that Golden is known for, Williamsburg is worth knowing about.

Golden Mediums

One of the most comprehensive medium ranges available from any artist colour manufacturer. Gels in multiple viscosities and surface textures, pastes, varnishes, grounds, gessoes, and specialty mediums for effects including crackle, granulation, and texture. The GAC series — Golden Acrylic Concentrates — covers specific technical applications from sealing porous surfaces to creating isolation coats for varnishing. For painters who take their acrylic technique seriously, Golden's medium range is an extraordinary resource.

How to Get the Best Golden Deals and Discounts in the UK

Golden is a premium brand and prices reflect that — a 60ml tube of Heavy Body Acrylic typically costs between £9 and £14 depending on the pigment, with some specialist colours higher. Given those prices, comparison shopping before buying is genuinely worthwhile.

Use a price comparison tool first — this page aggregates live pricing from UK stockists so the best current Golden deal is immediately visible. The variation between UK retailers on Golden products can be significant, particularly on the larger tube and set formats.

Sets as entry points — Golden produces sets across the Heavy Body and OPEN ranges at various price points. These typically offer better per-tube value than buying individual colours and provide a sensible starting point for painters trying the range for the first time. The Heavy Body Starter Set is the most logical entry point for painters new to Golden.

Trial sizes before committing — Golden produces 30ml and 60ml trial sizes across the Heavy Body range alongside the standard 150ml and larger formats. Trying a new colour or medium in the smaller format before buying the larger size is always more economical than discovering it doesn't suit your technique after opening a 150ml tube.

Watch for sale events — Golden products appear in seasonal sale promotions at UK art retailers. Black Friday in particular tends to produce the most significant discounts on premium acrylic paint. Given the price points involved, even a modest sale percentage represents a meaningful saving on a professional studio purchase.

The mediums are where the real value is — Golden's mediums and gels are arguably even more distinctive than the paints themselves. If you're exploring Golden for the first time, trying one of the specialty mediums alongside the paints — a Heavy Gel Gloss, a Pumice Gel, a GAC product — gives you access to possibilities that are simply not available from other manufacturers.

Are Golden Acrylics Worth the Price?

For professional painters and serious practitioners — yes, without reservation. The pigment quality, the colour range, the technical depth of the medium range, and the innovation across the OPEN and Fluid lines make Golden the benchmark by which other professional acrylics are measured. Artists who switch to Golden from mid-range alternatives consistently report a step change in colour intensity, working properties, and the range of effects they can achieve.

For developing painters who haven't yet built enough technique to perceive the differences between pigment loads and formulations — a solid mid-range acrylic serves perfectly well while the technique develops. When you reach the point where you're pushing against what your paint can do, Golden is where the conversation about professional acrylics begins.

Frequently Asked Questions About Golden

Who founded Golden Artist Colors? Golden Artist Colors was founded in June 1980 by Sam Golden — who had previously helped develop the first artist acrylic paint in the 1940s — alongside his wife Adele, son Mark, daughter-in-law Barbara, and partner Chuck Kelly. Sam Golden died in 1997. The company is now employee-owned.

Where are Golden acrylics made? Every Golden product is manufactured in New Berlin, New York, USA — the same location where the company started in a renovated barn in 1980. Despite worldwide distribution, production has never moved from the original site.

Who owns Golden Artist Colors? Golden Artist Colors is an employee-owned company. Employees became the majority owners in 2010.

What is the difference between Golden Heavy Body and OPEN Acrylics? Heavy Body Acrylics are conventional acrylics with a thick, impasto consistency and a standard acrylic drying time. OPEN Acrylics are formulated with an extended open time — remaining workable and blendable significantly longer than conventional acrylics, more comparable to the working time of oil paint.

Where can I buy Golden acrylics in the UK? Golden is stocked by Jacksons Art Supplies, Cass Art, Great Art, Amazon UK, and specialist art retailers. Use the comparison tool on this page to find the best current UK deal before you buy.