As you can see from the label, Golden’s Iridescent Bronze is made of a mixture. This paint includes mica platelets that are coated with a layer of iron oxide. The color is achieved in the milling process where one of the Iridescent Gold colors is combined with a specific green pigment. When water is introduced to the milled paint, that green pigment will separate out from the iridescent color. This also happens when the paint is used on a gel plate where moisture comes from mineral oil within the gel plate. It is this separation feature that makes this a favorite of mine, and allows me to use it to obtain varying verdigris-like effects in my artwork..
Shown above are examples of the verdigris-like effect. The owl is a small bronze sculpture with an oxidized finish. The fossil ammonite is in a natural, non-iridescent state, but the coloration of the matrix material imparts a similar look. Demonstrating the separation of color in this paint is a big hit during my official Golden Lecture Demos at Universities, Art Supply Shops and Art Leagues. In fact, seeing the demonstration myself about 15 or so years ago is what got me hooked on this color! This is one color you will want to add to your collection of color essentials.
A white Turkey feather printed on a gel plate using the OPEN viscosity of Iridescent Bronze. Before the feather was printed, an embossed piece of paper with a Greek Key design was used to “offload” some paint from the gel plate and to allow the design to be printed onto the feather with the verdigris-like appearance.