Working With Mediums

Good Evening My Friends,

As promised to my followers,  I gathered information on the different mediums available to use on your projects.  Hopefully this can help you decide what to use with your acrylic paint to obtain the effect that you want.  Most mediums can be added to the paint in any amount until you've the achieved the desired effect.  Using medium, you can modify acrylic paint properties like thickness, shine, drying time and texture. 

A. Gel Medium

 Acrylic paint can be dilute with water, but I wouldn’t recommend it because the paint will loose its adherence properties, causing uneven coverage. Adding gel medium to the paint is a way to increase the paint’s transparency without compromising the consistency and adhesive properties. Gel medium will have a unique effect on the consistency, finish and adhesive.

Liquid Glaze Medium

Liquid gel will increase fluidity and transparency of acrylic paint, so brushstrokes will be less visible. It can be used to decrease the color intensity of acrylic paint.  Glazing allows you to obtain a transparent layer of paint, slightly modifying the color underneath.

Gel Medium Finish

Gel medium comes in matte, semi-gloss or gloss finish. The finish alters the paint’s level of shine. If your completed painting has an uneven finish, with some areas glossier than others, using a medium varnish finish will correct this issue, resulting in uniform shine.

Gel Medium 

Most gel mediums can be used as adhesive, which works well for collaging papers.

B. Texture Mediums

Texture mediums are used to modify the texture of acrylic paint. There's a wide variety of texture mediums, which I love to use: modeling gel, sand texture gel, beads texture gel, pumice, glass texture gel and so much more.

Texture mediums: modeling paste

Modeling paste is the most commonly used texture medium.  It can be used to create 3-D textures. Once dried, modeling paste can be sanded and/or painted over.

C. Flow Medium

You can buy medium that will increase the flow of acrylic paint. Increased flow makes the paint easily adhere to the canvas’s texture, increasing its staining properties.

D. Slow Drying Medium

Acrylic paint dries very fast, making it difficult to blend colors on the canvas. Adding slow drying medium to the paint will double the drying time, which will allow you to blend colors.