Mediums are so much fun to use and can elevate your art process and paintings to spectacular levels.
What Are Acrylic Mediums
So what are acrylic mediums, you may be asking?
They can be a great addition to your painting process.
They can often help transform paintings from flat pieces to interesting textured pieces of art.
you could read the label to find out which key in of paint the medium should be used with.
Types of Acrylic Mediums
Acrylic mediums come in a variety of different types and finishes.
The bang out of medium youll use will depend on what you want to accomplish in your art.
Each throw in of medium can also come in a variety of finishes from gloss, semi-gloss to matte.
Ill go over a variety of mediums in the article below.
In terms of brands, many brands of acrylic paint also have their own collection of acrylic mediums.
The 2 brands I have personally used and love is Liquitex and Golden, which are popular among artists.
you’re able to also use it as glue for collage work for mixed media throw in paintings.
Dries with a matte effect / finish.
They come in different consistencies : from extra heavy, heavy, regular and soft gel.
Each pop in of gel also comes in different finishes from gloss, semi-gloss to matte.
you’re free to also use gels like a glue in mixed media art projects.
Use this medium to add thick layers of paint onto your surface.
The gel is thick in consistency and can hold high peaks even when dried.
The result is a lifted 3-D like effect (picture below).
Gels are opaque when wet and most of them dry transparent.
Regular gel mediumis the same thickness as heavy bodied acrylics( I.e.
thick acrylic paint) .
Extend the drying time of acrylics and create some impasto effects with this medium.
Soft gel mediumis thinner in consistency compared to heavy bodied acrylic paints.
The thinner consistency can be helpful when wanting to thin down acrylics to create glazes.
Create some wet-on-wet blending work or use it as a glue for collages in mixed media projects.
Pouring Medium
Pouring mediumscan be mixed in with acrylics to make them thinner and increase thefluidity of the paints.
Artists use this medium to create fluid acrylic / pour paintings with a glass like finish.
Read the instructions beforehand as you might have to mix medium and paint in a specific ratio.
Modeling Pastes
Usemodeling pasteto create heavy texture and sculpture-like finishes.
you could create impasto techniques with this medium.
Retarding Mediums
Retarding mediumthins the paint and increases the time to dry.
A little tricker to use compared to glazing liquid.
Glazing Medium
Glazing mediumthins paint consistency without affecting pigment.
It works for both thin layers of paint as well as thick layers of paint.
The gloss finish also amplifies the acrylic colors so they look more brilliant.
you’re able to increase transparency of the paint color and blending becomes easier when using this medium.
For best results, read the instructions/labels on the bottle.
A gessoed canvas makes blending easier and the paint adheres better to the canvas too.
Read more about how tohow to stop acrylic paint from washing off objects.
Varnishes come in a variety of finishes: gloss, semi-gloss, matte.
There are also different formulations like a paint-on and also spray-on.
The sprays can be useful when sealing larger pieces.
Theres also removable and permanent varnishes also.
You cancheck out this pagefor more information.
Glass Medium
If you want to try painting on glass, then thisglass mediumcan help achieve smooth color app.
When cured it dries with a glossy, scratch-resistant finish.
Use with surfaces like glass, ceramics and porcelain.
you could use texture mediums by mixing them into your paints.
Similar to the pumice gel, except the beads are bigger than the granular pumice.
In the painting below I mixed the gel with gold paint (in the diamond portion).
Mix thestring gelwith paint to create long honey-like strings that dry with a of glossy/glass-like effect, wet-look.
you’re free to alternatively paint large areas too with the same effect (I.e.
the red poppy flowers in the painting below).
This adds different sheens/finishes to your art.
you might mixiridescent mediuminto the paint to give the paints an iridescent sheen.
Ive used these in my paintings and they work great.
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