If you’re hunting for a good gold or iridescent watercolor paint, it helps to know that not every metallic supply behaves the same way. Metallic and iridescent paints are some of my favorites for adding a bit of unexpected pizazz to my paintings. That being said – I’m not really a bling-bling kind of girl, so I like to keep my accents minimal. Below is a list of my favorite metallic and iridescent paints to use with watercolor.
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry colors 6 color set
These are by far my favorite gold watercolor paints! And for the price, you can’t beat it. If you’re just looking for a subtle accent – these are the way to go.
Winsor Newton Iridescent Medium
My next favorite supply is Winsor and Newton Iridescent Medium. This shimmery, fine silver glitter is great for painting over your watercolors or mixing into your watercolor paint for a shimmer effect.
Schmincke Aqua Bronze Powder
The next two metallic supplies are a bit pricey – but I do enjoy the glistening shimmer of these beauties. This metallic supply comes as a jar of powder that can be mixed into your paint or applied on top of your paper alone. It doesn’t have a lot of payoff in color – it’s more of a subtle film of glitter that can be used to glitz up a Christmas painting or snow scene. The two colors I like are listed below.
Acrylic Paints
And finally – these last three paints are my most opaque and saturated gold paints. Since they’re acrylic, they have a thick body appearance – but don’t let that stop you from using them with your watercolors. Sometimes I’ll water these paints down and add them into my watercolor paints to create an assortment of iridescent colors of my choosing. Recently, a lot of watercolor companies have started selling their own lines of watercolor iridescent paints, but with this little hack you can create your own for a fraction of the price. I’ve had my acrylic tube paints for over two years now and still have plenty to use – you don’t need a lot, so these paints will last a while if you store them well.
Golden Iridescent Copper Light (Fine)
Golden Iridescent Gold (Fine)
Golden Interference Gold (Fine)
Curious About My Other Supplies?
Click the image below to see my full watercolor supply list.
