How to Mix Gold Watercolor Paint (Plus 6 Shimmer Topcoats I Tested)

If you’ve ever Googled “how to mix watercolor gold” and landed on a generic answer to just mix red, yellow, and brown, you already know that recipe never quite gets you the warm, shimmery gold you’re picturing. I ran into the same problem while working on a couple of Christmas gift illustrations, so I retraced an old painting of mine and used it as a test sheet to work out a better gold mix and figure out which shimmer topcoat actually sells the effect.

Watch Me Mix and Test Each Gold

The Base Color Recipe for a Realistic Gold

Instead of the standard red-yellow-brown mix, I started with New Gamboge (Winsor & Newton) as my yellow base. It’s a very staining pigment with a huge range, so it can go from a soft, watery yellow all the way up to a deeply pigmented tone, and it already carries a slight brownish, greenish undertone that reads as a cooler yellow.

To warm it up, I added a touch of Winsor Red Orange. New Gamboge on its own leans cool, and the red-orange pushes it toward the rustier, deeper tones you actually see in gold when the light catches it — the brighter areas of real gold read as a vibrant yellow, while the shadowed areas read more rust-colored.

Rather than finishing the mix with brown, I reached for a contrasting color instead. I like using contrasting colors when mixing neutrals with watercolor, since it gives the illustration more depth than a flat brown, gray, or black. After trying mauve and Winsor Violet, I settled on a small amount of Quinacridone Violet — a grapey, reddish purple — to build the deeper shading hues you see in gold. I used this New Gamboge, Winsor Red Orange, and Quinacridone Violet mix to paint the moon and stars in my illustration, then let it dry completely before testing topcoats.

Shimmer Topcoats I Tested Over the Gold Base

Once the base gold was dry, I tested several metallic and iridescent topcoats over it to see which gave the best shimmer without overpowering the illustration.

Schmincke Aqua-Bronze, Pale Gold

This is the most expensive product I tested, but a little goes a long way and it lasts. Pale Gold is my favorite shade in the Schmincke Aqua-Bronze line, and it created a really nice shimmer where I used it in the corner of the illustration.

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors (gold)

This one felt too weighty over the base color for what I wanted, and it didn’t produce as strong a shimmer as the other options.

Ranger Perfect Pearls (budget-friendly alternative)

Perfect Pearls are inexpensive and easy to find in the scrapbooking aisle of most craft stores. I used the copper and gold shades, and out of everything I tried, these came closest to the Schmincke shimmer without the price tag — a good option if you want that look on a smaller budget.

Deco Art Dazzling Metallics acrylics

These are inexpensive craft-store acrylics. I tested Glorious Gold and Emperor’s Gold; Emperor’s Gold had less shimmer but gave a really nice topcoat finish on this particular piece, while Glorious Gold also looked good. Both are an affordable way to add a shimmer coat on top of watercolor and make a gold area pop.

Golden Acrylics — Iridescent Gold Deep & Interference Gold Fine

These professional acrylics both looked nice as a topcoat, but Interference Gold Fine was my favorite of the two. It has a creamy, yellowy-white hue that really made the moon in my illustration pop.

Daniel Smith Luminescent Watercolors — Duochrome & Interference

I tested three from this line. Duochrome Adobe had too much pink in it for this piece. Duochrome Lapis Sunlight, on the other hand, looked impressive layered over the yellow-gold base and was one of my favorite results from this whole test. Interference Lilac wasn’t quite what I was going for here, but it dulled the yellow down into a pale, moon-like gray with a slight purple tint that I really liked and plan to use in a future illustration.

Which Combination I’d Reach for Again

For a traditional gold look, I’d still reach for the Schmincke Aqua-Bronze Pale Gold first, or the Ranger Perfect Pearls gold as a cheaper dupe of that same shimmery effect. Of the newer supplies I tested, the Daniel Smith Duochrome Lapis Sunlight and the Golden Interference Gold Fine were my favorites — both added a noticeable shimmer without looking distracting on top of the New Gamboge, Winsor Red Orange, and Quinacridone Violet base.

Supplies Used in Video

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This was one of my exploratory videos where I set supplies side by side to really compare them, and that comparison is what helped me settle on a favorite. Fun fact: I asked followers on Instagram and Facebook to help me name the bunny in this illustration, and “Mina” won.