First of all, going back to working with acrylics in general felt strange at first. The texture and workability of the paint compared to Cobra is so different - where the Cobra paints could irritate me for being thick, dry and sticky to work with, Golden is very translucent and thin and thus also very different from "regular" opaque acrylics that was easy to apply in thick layers. I was advised to adjust the opacity with regular acrylics and just be constantly aware of what effect I wanted and how to combine the paints accordingly, I suppose it will take some more time to get used to.
So far I have discovered that when it comes to whites and blacks I have to depend on other acrylic brands at least when it comes to the first layer, as the titanium white has the same "milky" effect of zinc white in other brands, and the bone black, even straight out of the tube, is just as translucent as watercolour. The raw sienna and Hansa yellow light are also quite low in opacity but in general it's a plus that the tubes includes an opacity guide to make the choice of colours easier, depending of the properties you want (as far as I could tell though, most of the yellows scored much the same on this scale).
Golden also has several mediums to go with it; Golden Open and other Golden products can also be combined for the desired effect. I have used the Golden slow-dry medium previously with other acrylics, which should be redundant in this case since the paints already have prolonged drying time, however I was encouraged to try another medium which supposedly would blend the colours together while they were still wet (but not just after application, and not actually mixed in with the paint). I've just used it on very small areas as of yet but I'm not sure I see the full potential in it yet; the effect was much the same as if I had just used water. In addition I suppose I'm more partial to thicker layers and tend to get more impatient with thin translucent layers - in this matter I have to say Cobra gets the upper hand because blending colours and thick layers weren't always mutually exclusive. It seems difficult to get both with Golden, however more experiments with Golden Open to regular acrylics ratio may prove me wrong.
One obvious advantage about Golden Open is that even though the drying time is longer than regular acrylics, it doesn't take months for the painting to dry. After the first stroke of Golden Open the paint was still surprisingly wet after a few hours, but it was dry by the next day and I didn't have to wait several days before continuing work. And since the drying time doesn't result in a sticky surface that collects dust like a magnet, the surface is cleaner (and easy to keep clean).
However, as it is now I have the Golden Open painting and a Cobra painting hanging next to each other and the differences, especially in terms of paint surface are highlighted: Compared to the Cobra painting with its glossy surface, colour intensity and brush marks still left in the paint in the thicker layers, the Golden Open painting has a matte surface with colours that almost seem to recede even though the colours are very intense. It may be just an optical illusion, something that's only visible while the two paintings are seen in the same glance, or just a question of getting used to this new (old?) medium.
In general I would say that both brands have obvious advantages and down-sides, and that the challenge is really to adjust the use of or combination of the mediums according to each project....and hope that I will never really succeed. If there is no room for experimentation or play and just an endless strive for perfection, there really is no need for art-making as I see it.
