Your Guide: How To Use Mediums In Acrylic Painting

What are acrylic mediums and what do they do for your paintings? Acrylic mediums are substances you mix with acrylic paints to change their properties, like how they flow, look, and feel. Can you paint without them? Yes, but mediums unlock a world of creative possibilities, allowing you to achieve effects you can’t get with paint alone. Who is this guide for? It’s for anyone who uses acrylic paints, from beginners curious about these additives to experienced artists looking to expand their techniques. This acrylic medium guide will help you explore the diverse world of painting mediums explained in detail.

How To Use Mediums In Acrylic Painting
Image Source: www.amsterdam-acrylics.com

Fathoming Acrylic Mediums: Your Palette’s New Best Friends

Acrylic paints are versatile on their own, but when you introduce mediums, they transform. Think of mediums as clever helpers that let you tailor your paint to your specific artistic vision. They can make your paint thinner, thicker, glossier, more matte, or even give it a unique texture.

The Core of Acrylics: What’s Inside the Tube?

Before we dive into mediums, let’s remember what acrylic paint is. It’s a pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. This emulsion acts as a binder, meaning it holds the pigment particles together and sticks them to your surface. When the water in the paint evaporates, the polymer forms a flexible, durable, and often waterproof plastic film.

Exploring the Types of Acrylic Mediums

There’s a wide variety of mediums available, each designed to achieve a specific outcome. Let’s break down the most common ones:

Changing the Surface Finish: Gloss and Matte

Using Acrylic Gloss Medium: This is one of the most popular mediums. When mixed with acrylic paint, it increases the paint’s glossiness and transparency. It also makes the paint a bit more fluid.
- Benefits:
  - Creates a shiny, reflective surface.
  - Enhances color vibrancy.
  - Improves paint flow and leveling.
  - Can be used as a varnish or a sealant.
- How to Use: Mix directly with your acrylic paint. Start with a small amount and gradually add more until you achieve the desired level of gloss and fluidity. You can use it in thin layers or thicker applications.
Acrylic Matte Medium Benefits: Conversely, matte medium reduces the sheen of acrylic paint, giving it a flat, non-reflective finish. It can also make the paint slightly opaque and increase its viscosity.
- Benefits:
  - Achieves a flat, non-shiny look.
  - Reduces glare.
  - Can be used to “tone down” overly bright colors.
  - Excellent for achieving realistic textures or when you don’t want a glossy finish.
- How to Use: Similar to gloss medium, mix it directly with your paint. Be mindful that adding too much matte medium can make the paint chalky or dull the color slightly. It’s best to add it gradually.

Building Depth and Structure: Texture Mediums

Texture Mediums for Acrylics: These mediums are specifically designed to add physical texture to your paintings. They often contain aggregates like sand, marble dust, pumice, or glass beads.
- Types of Texture Mediums:
  - Gel Mediums (with aggregates): These are typically clear gels with added materials. They can create a gritty, sandy, or rough surface.
  - Modeling Paste: This is a thicker, opaque medium that dries to a hard, sculptural surface. It’s great for building thick layers, creating peaks, or sculpting.
  - Coarse vs. Fine Aggregates: Choose based on the size of the texture you want. Coarse mediums have larger particles, while fine mediums have smaller ones.
- How to Use:
  - Mix with paint or apply them directly.
  - Use palette knives or brushes to apply.
  - Allow to dry completely before painting over them.
  - Experiment with applying them to create different surface effects.

Creating Luminous Layers: Glazing Techniques

Acrylic Glazing Medium Techniques: Glazing is a technique where you apply thin, transparent layers of color over an existing layer. This allows light to pass through and reflect off the underlying layers, creating depth and luminosity.
- Glazing Mediums:
  - Glazing Mediums: These are specifically formulated to be highly transparent and fluid, perfect for glazes.
  - Gloss Medium (thinned): Diluting gloss medium with water can also create a good glazing medium.
  - Airbrush Medium: While designed for airbrushing, it can also be used as a very thin glazing medium for traditional brushwork.
- Techniques:
  - Thinning: Mix your acrylic paint with a glazing medium to make it very transparent.
  - Application: Apply thin, even coats with a soft brush.
  - Drying Time: Allow each layer to dry completely before applying the next to prevent muddiness.
  - Layering: Build up color and depth slowly through multiple thin layers. This is how you achieve rich, luminous effects.

Controlling Flow and Working Time: Performance Enhancers

Acrylic Retarder Uses: This medium slows down the drying time of acrylic paints. Acrylics are known for their fast drying, which can be a challenge for blending and achieving smooth transitions. A retarder gives you more working time, similar to oils.
- Benefits:
  - Allows for longer blending times.
  - Helps prevent brushstrokes from drying too quickly.
  - Useful for smooth gradients and realistic effects.
- How to Use: Mix a small amount into your paint. Too much retarder can weaken the paint film or cause it to become gummy. Start with a 1:10 ratio (retarder to paint) and adjust as needed.
Acrylic Flow Improver Tips: This medium is designed to increase the flow and spreadability of acrylic paints without significantly altering their color or transparency. It breaks the surface tension of the water in the paint.
- Benefits:
  - Makes paint more fluid for techniques like pouring, watercolor effects, and detailed linework.
  - Prevents streaky brushstrokes.
  - Improves paint coverage.
- How to Use: Add a few drops at a time to your paint. Too much can make the paint too thin and cause the pigment to separate from the binder, resulting in a weak or chalky finish. It’s often used with water or other mediums for dilution.

Adding Volume and Body: Thickening and Sculpting

Acrylic Impasto Medium: This medium is used to thicken acrylic paint while maintaining its color intensity. It’s ideal for creating textured, three-dimensional effects where you want the paint to hold its shape, like peaks or thick brushstrokes.
- Benefits:
  - Adds body and viscosity to paint.
  - Allows paint to be applied thickly without sagging.
  - Maintains color opacity.
- How to Use: Mix directly with acrylic paint. It can be used on its own or in combination with other mediums. For very thick applications, ensure the paint layers are not excessively deep, as they can take a long time to dry and may crack.

The Versatile Gel Mediums: A Deeper Dive

Gel mediums are the workhorses of acrylic mediums. They are essentially clear acrylic polymer emulsions that dry clear and flexible. They come in various viscosities and finishes.

Viscosity Matters: From Fluid to Heavy

Fluid Gel Medium: This is the thinnest gel. It’s good for increasing transparency and flow without adding much body.
Soft Gel Medium: This is the most common and versatile. It adds a bit of body to the paint and increases transparency.
Heavy Gel Medium: This gel has a thicker consistency, similar to heavy body acrylic paints. It’s great for adding body, creating texture, and when you want the paint to hold brushstrokes or peaks.
Extra Heavy Gel Medium: The thickest option, providing the most body and dimension.

Gel Finishes: Matching Your Paint

Gel mediums also come in different finishes, just like paints and other mediums:

Gloss Gel: Adds sheen and transparency.
Matte Gel: Creates a flat, non-reflective finish.
Satin Gel: Offers a finish between matte and gloss.

Practical Uses for Gel Mediums:

Increasing Transparency: Mix with paint to create transparent washes or glazes.
Adding Body: Heavy and extra-heavy gels are excellent for adding thickness and texture, allowing you to create impasto effects without thinning the color.
Adhesive: Gel mediums can be used as a glue for collage work, attaching paper, fabric, or other lightweight materials to your canvas.
Sealing and Varnishing: A final layer of gloss or matte gel can protect your painting and give it the desired finish.
Mixing with Pigments: You can create your own custom paints by mixing pigments directly into clear gel mediums.

Using Mediums Effectively: Best Practices

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your acrylic mediums:

Start Small and Test

Always begin by mixing a small amount of medium with your paint.
Test the mixture on a scrap piece of paper or canvas before applying it to your artwork. This helps you gauge the effect on color, transparency, and consistency.

Mix Thoroughly

Ensure the medium is fully incorporated into the paint. Uneven mixing can lead to inconsistent results, such as patches of glossiness or dullness.
Use a clean palette knife or brush for mixing.

Consider Drying Times

While mediums can affect drying times, acrylics generally dry quickly. Retarders will extend this time, but it’s still faster than oils.
Allow layers to dry completely, especially when glazing or working with texture mediums, to prevent muddiness or cracking.

Layering is Key

For glazes and subtle color shifts, apply multiple thin layers rather than one thick one. This builds depth and allows the underlying colors to show through.

Clean Up Promptly

Acrylic mediums, like acrylic paints, are water-soluble when wet. Clean your brushes, palette knives, and other tools with soap and water immediately after use. Once they dry, they can be very difficult to remove.

Compatibility is Important

Generally, most acrylic mediums from reputable brands are compatible with each other and with acrylic paints.
However, avoid mixing acrylic mediums with oil paints or water-based paints other than acrylics, as this can lead to unpredictable results or a breakdown of the paint film.

Combining Mediums for Advanced Effects

The real magic happens when you start combining different mediums.

Creating Unique Textures

Impasto Paste + Sand: Mix acrylic impasto medium with sand or marble dust for a very rough, gritty texture.
Modeling Paste + Gel Medium: Use modeling paste for the base structure and then glaze over it with thinned gloss gel medium to create depth and color variations.
Texture Gel + Pigment: Mix coarse texture gel with a vibrant pigment for a richly textured, colored surface.

Modifying Flow and Finish

Retarder + Gloss Medium: For smooth, blended gradients that stay wet longer and have a subtle sheen.
Flow Improver + Matte Medium: To create thin, flat washes that cover evenly without streaks.
Glazing Medium + Heavy Gel: Add a touch of heavy gel to your glazing mixture if you want your transparent layers to have a bit more body or to slightly alter the texture of the underlying paint.

A Quick Reference Table of Acrylic Mediums

Medium Type	Primary Function	Key Benefits	Typical Uses
Gloss Medium	Increases sheen and transparency	Enhances color, improves flow, creates a glossy finish	Glazing, creating transparent layers, enhancing vibrancy, sealing surfaces
Matte Medium	Decreases sheen, creates a flat finish	Reduces glare, dulls colors, provides a velvety appearance	Achieving matte surfaces, toning down colors, creating soft transitions
Texture Mediums	Adds physical texture to the surface	Creates grit, roughness, sculptural effects, dimensional surfaces	Building impasto, creating natural textures (sand, stone), sculptural elements
Glazing Medium	Increases transparency for thin layers	Allows light to pass through, builds depth and luminosity, smooth blending	Creating transparent glazes, subtle color shifts, historical painting effects
Retarder	Slows down paint drying time	Extends blending time, allows for smoother gradients, wet-on-wet techniques	Blending, achieving soft edges, portraiture, smooth transitions
Flow Improver	Increases paint fluidity and spreadability	Enhances coverage, prevents streaks, ideal for pouring and fine details	Pouring, watercolor effects, ink-like washes, fine line work
Impasto Medium	Adds body and viscosity to paint	Allows thick application, holds brushstrokes, creates dimensional texture	Impasto techniques, building texture, adding dimension to paint
Gel Mediums (General)	Modifies consistency, transparency, and finish	Versatile for altering paint body, creating washes, collage adhesive, sealing	Adjusting paint viscosity, creating glazes, collage, sealing artwork

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Can I mix different brands of acrylic mediums?

Generally, yes. Most acrylic mediums from reputable brands are water-based acrylic polymers and are designed to be compatible. However, if you’re concerned, it’s always a good idea to test a small amount first.

Q2: Will mediums change the color of my paint?

Mediums can slightly alter the color. Gloss mediums tend to make colors appear richer and more saturated. Matte mediums can sometimes make colors appear slightly duller or lighter due to their light-scattering properties. Texture mediums may also slightly lighten the color depending on the aggregate used. Always test your mixture!

Q3: How much medium should I add to my paint?

This varies greatly depending on the medium and the desired effect. For flow and transparency, you might use a 1:1 ratio of paint to medium. For impasto effects, you might use more paint than medium, or vice versa, to achieve the right consistency. For retarders and flow improvers, start with just a few drops and add more gradually. Always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for specific recommendations.

Q4: Can I use acrylic mediums as a varnish?

Yes, gloss, matte, and satin mediums can all be used as a final varnish. They protect the painting from dust and UV light and provide the desired finish. Ensure your painting is completely dry before applying a varnish layer, typically waiting at least 72 hours, or even longer for thick impasto work.

Q5: What happens if I use too much flow improver?

Using too much flow improver can cause the pigment to separate from the acrylic binder. This results in a weak, chalky film that may not adhere properly, can be easily rubbed off, and loses its color intensity. It can also make the paint too watery, leading to poor coverage.

Q6: Can I use acrylic mediums on surfaces other than canvas?

Yes, acrylic mediums are generally suitable for most surfaces that accept acrylic paint, including wood, paper, fabric, metal, and primed surfaces. Always ensure the surface is clean and free of grease or dust for best adhesion.

By incorporating these mediums into your acrylic painting practice, you can unlock a vast array of creative possibilities. Experiment, play, and discover the transformative power of acrylic mediums!