GOLDEN Custom Lab Services
Custom Paint for Artists: Formulation, Product Development & Material Solutions
Custom Paint Solutions. Driven by Innovation.
Creative professionals often encounter challenges that standard materials can’t solve. Whether you’re a painter, conservator, designer, architect, or manufacturer, the GOLDEN Custom Lab works directly with you to develop custom formulations, solve material challenges, and create innovative products tailored to your project goals. From custom acrylics, oil paints, watercolors, varnishes, and grounds to specialized coating solutions, our team helps turn complex material needs into successful outcomes.
Developing Custom Paint or Material Solutions Together.
Call us direct: 800-959-6543
Custom Services Include:
- Custom acrylics, oil paints, and watercolors
- Custom varnishes and grounds
- Color matching and color development
- Viscosity, sheen, texture, and drying-rate adjustments
- Lightfastness and durability testing
- Adhesion and application testing
- New product development
- Small-batch and large-scale production
How the Custom Lab Process Works
- Tell us about your project or material challenge.
- Our team evaluates your needs and recommends possible solutions.
- Trial formulations are developed and tested.
- Refinements are made based on performance goals.
- Production begins once the formula is approved.
From Problem Solving to Product Innovation
Art professionals continually push materials beyond their intended limits. While experimentation often sparks discovery, achieving reliable, archival, and repeatable outcomes often requires specialized equipment and technical expertise.
Whether you need a few ounces or multiple gallons, our team can help develop a solution tailored to your project.
The Custom Lab collaborates throughout the development process, creating and testing trial formulations for:
- Performance
- Stability
- Lightfastness
- Durability
- Flexibility
- Adhesion
- Archival Integrity
A Legacy of Collaboration
The GOLDEN Custom Lab began with artists - specifically, with Sam Golden’s belief that meaningful innovation starts by listening to what artists need. Every request, challenge, and pursuit of a new or better-performing material has helped shape what GOLDEN has become today.
The first custom work began in 1981 with a project created on the surface of a wood stove in Sam’s barn. What started as a single collaboration grew into a decadeslong tradition. Artists have continued to bring their ideas, frustrations, and ambitions to the table, sparking conversations that inspire new materials, techniques, and possibilities.
Since establishing a dedicated custom production facility in 1987, thousands of custom formulations have been created for painters, conservators, designers, architects, and manufacturers—each inspired by a unique creative vision. In 2000, the Custom Lab expanded into a dedicated space focused on turning artists’ ideas into tangible materials through our deep technical expertise.
At its core, the GOLDEN Custom Lab continues a longstanding collaboration where artists not only use materials but help shape them, leaving a lasting legacy on both their work and the tools themselves.
Call us direct: 800-959-6543
Professional Use Only Products
In addition to formulation and production of custom paints, mediums, and finishes, we offer a range of professional use products & services designed to meet the specialized needs of artists and art conservators.