Experiment with applying acrylic glazes using a soft brush, a palette knife, a scraper, or even by pouring it straight onto the canvas. You can use whatever brush shape you prefer but avoid using stiff-bristled brushes as they can leave streaks and lines on your painting.

Acrylic glazing medium dries to a glossy finish. This means that when a glazing medium is added to acrylic paint it will increase its glossiness. Acrylic paint is already considered quite glossy, but depending on the brand of your paint, glazing medium can still make it even glossier. Glazing medium dries to a glossy surface. So when you add it to acrylic paint, it increase the glossiness of the paint.Acrylic glazes are super thin layers of paint that act like coloured stained glass over your painting. You can use transparent or semi-transparent colours so you can still see the colour underneath but glazes enhance and unify the painting underneath. Glazing works best with warm colours, and artists such as Rembrandt used many layers of glazing to add visual interest and complexity to his portraits. Step #1 – Preparing the Ground & Drawing Out Using a medium to create a glaze will result in a semi-transparent, tinted layer on top of the painting. This means that glazing can be used to change the temperature of a painting. You can make a painting warmer or cooler using a glaze. If you layer two different colored glazes on top of each other, the colors from each layer will appear as if they have blended. RGM Classic Line, Medium size 45, Diamond-shaped, cranked (angled) handle. I use an RGM 45 for mixing the paint on the palette. Applying too much water or too much medium to the paint can cause overthinning, this dilutes the acrylic binder and can leave an inadequate amount of binder for the pigment. To ensure you have the boldest colour finish always read the directions on the medium. This will ensure the best results and avoid oversaturation.

Because it takes so little medium to modify the paint, you don’t lose the characteristics of the paint. The paint to which you add the medium will be a main factor in the resulting mix. If the paint is fast-drying or matt or fluid – those characteristics will remain and have a big effect on the results. So the same medium mixed with different paints will behave differently. Linseed oil has a number of benefits as a glazing medium. First, it dries slowly, which gives you more time to work with your paint. Second, it imparts a beautiful shine to your paintings. Third, it increases the durability of your paintings. fourth, it makes your colors more vibrant.

Gel Medium

If you want to create very transparent acrylic glazes, you should choose paints that have transparent pigments. To do this, just glance at the tube or take a look at a color chart from manufacturers. Modern organic pigments such as Phthalo Blue and Phthalo Green are good examples of transparent pigments. According to Golden, their acrylic glazing liquid contains acrylic polymers, retarder and water ( Source). They also add acrylic flow release to help with blending and to improve how the paint flows. For some of the finer details, I dip the brush into the Acrylic Glazing Liquid Gloss. This helps when you want to increase the flow of the paint yet still keep the body. Having an acrylic medium is crucial when learning how to glaze with acrylics because it keeps the viscosity and paint film of the thin application. Step #3 – Mixing a Tonal Colour String

They’re both artist quality, both from the same manufacturer, but when we look at them side-by-side, we can see their differences in covering power – assessing their opacity vs transparency properties is key for how to glaze with acrylics. Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic Flow Improver - A clear surfactant that reduces paint surface tension. When diluted with water and used with acrylic colour it increases smoothness and can assist with glaze techniques. I mix it with the Raw Umber to produce a muted green/blue – perfect for the fish’s darkest areas. I use the pre-mixed Raw Umber and Titanium White values in the colour string to tweak the colour. When colour-concentration is of key importance in your work, you should use as little medium as possible, and start with a paint which is closest to your required consistency. While it is possible to mix consistencies, like using a heavy body medium with a soft body acrylic, more medium will be required and as a result, the colour will be less strong. Equally, If you wish to thin your acrylics but keep the intensity of colour, it’s best to start with a thinner paint and add a little fluid medium to extend it further.

Medium additives

GOLDEN Retarder - Slows water evaporation from acrylic paints and increases open time up to 40%. Mix with paint on palette to prevent skinning and keep colours workable for longer over extended painting sessions. Link copied to clipboard Wondering what the best oil painting mediums are? Martin Kinnear explains everything you need to know