When working on a painting with acrylics, I never use water. Instead, I turn to these three! These acrylic painting mediums are excellent for mixing and achieving certain effects such as translucency or texture. Check out my acrylic paintings to see examples of finished artworks!
Slow Drying Acrylic Painting Medium
The first one is a retarder which helps acrylic paint to stay wet longer. Acrylic paint has a very nifty ability to dry fast, which sometimes presents a problem, especially if one is trying to achieve a gradual transition between colors or just maintain a wet palette. Retarder dilutes the paint and allows it to stay wet longer. It is my golden (pun intended) solution to blending acrylics. I have not tried any other brands yet, since I bought this bottle years ago and still haven’t finished it.
Water Substitute Medium
The second one is a pouring medium. I use heavy body acrylics which are very pigmented and thick. This medium helps the paint to last longer, to glide on better, and to manage translucency. For example, when painting water, one can build up translucent layers to create a realistic effect. These come in gloss and matte sheen. This is a little tricky as one has to make sure the medium matches the finish of the final artwork. Therefore, a gloss medium works if one plans to apply a gloss varnish to the artwork.
Texture Medium
The third one is a texture gel. These come in all kinds of textures, like sand or glassy beads. They also come in different levels of thickness; this one is a regular gloss gel. I use it to add dimension to textured paintings. It saves a lot of paint if one wants to achieve a thick brushstroke or chunky paint texture.
I hope this info about acrylic painting medium was helpful, and feel free to reach out in replies below with topic suggestions for TTF or comments!
