In the final example, I altered the paint’s sheen by applying a layer of gel over the dry paint. I applied matte gel on the left side and semi-gloss on the right. Extending Paint Volume With Gels Ten types of wet Golden Acrylic Mediums partially mixed with Golden Acrylic Paint Which Acrylic Medium Should I Use? Combining Acrylic Paint Mediums, Gels, and Pastes Two or More Pastes Combining two or more pastes allows you to create even more effects. Doing a wash of colour over a thin layer of beads seems just as effective as mixing a transparent colour in. Self levelling with some flexibility. Best used as for a spray-applied isolation coat. Two parts of GAC 500 mixed with one part High Flow Medium produces a good spraying, fast-drying isolation coat. Useful to hard-edge painters to seal masking tape for cleaner edges. Apply over masking tape. Let dry before applying additional paint layer. GAC 700

This product is a pourable acrylic paint medium. As with gels, it’s white when wet and clear when dry, and is a great paint extender. I like to use a knife to mix my paint into the medium. You may also use a brush since polymer medium has a lower viscosity than the previously discussed gels. Polymer medium makes opaque paint more transparent. Patterns should first be gelcoated with EG160 High Temp Epoxy Tooling Gelcoat. For small to medium sized moulds, the high temperature laminating paste can then be used on its own with no further reinforcement necessary. For larger moulds, the paste can be used in conjunction with EL160 High Temp Epoxy Laminating Resin and additional reinforcement (such as woven glass or carbon), in which case the paste can be used to fillet tight corners or smooth over complex details on the mould making it easier to produce a void-free mould using woven reinforcement. I found it quite hard to achieve decent strings after mixing the tar gel with fluid acrylic, and I found the working time was very short, before it started being too gloopy to make long strings. However, when used neat, it was very easy to control and create strings, loops and other effects. This may be because it needs to mixed and left to sit overnight. These drips that were unmixed, see the swatch on the right, were completely clear and levelled out quite a lot, as well as being un-absorbent on the surface.

2. Handy Art Modeling Paste Medium

Filling or filleting tight corners or complex details on moulds before laminating with compatible epoxy resin and reinforcement. Pumice gels use sand and gritty concrete-like solids in a transparent binder to create texture, meaning their ability to create peaks is decreased slightly and their opacity is slightly increased. Create vibrant colors by layering paints rather than blending colors. For example, paint a color, let it dry, then layer a new color that has been mixed with a polymer medium. In the image above, I painted the left side with permanent violet dark. When dry, I painted a mixture of cobalt teal and polymer medium over the surface. On the right side, the colors are reversed. I find that making a chart of some of my favorite layer combinations comes in handy while painting with acrylic paint mediums. Working With Fluid Matte Medium Fluid matte medium is pourable with a matte appearance.

The texture, when wet, feels like wet paper pulp. Once dry, it feels exactly like a rough handmade or lightly processed, recycled paper pulp, I would not say it gives exactly a manufactured paper feel even once dry. It is an off white colour when dry, making for a nice ground. Homemade texture paste doesn't last as long as the store bought kind so don't make big batches. Put your leftover mixture in a tightly sealed container to preserve. Wipe your painting surface with a cloth slightly wet with denatured alcohol to remove any texture paste dust before painting. Using a paste is easy: apply a small, dime-sized amount of product on wet hair for a little bit more hold or dry hair for more texture. Make sure to warm it up by rubbing it in the palm of your hands before applying it to avoid clumping. Most pastes are water-soluble, which means they’re easy to wash out with some shampoo and won’t leave your hair greasy but also can be restyled and reworked throughout the day without adding more to your hair. If you’ve ever noticed your hair drooping after a long day of work, then you know how important restyling can be.The hardest and least flexible of all Golden products, it increases film hardness and needs to be used in pure form on rigid surfaces. It also needs to dry at a minimum of 21 degrees. It improves adhesion to non-porous surfaces. Dries to a high gloss with an excellent transparency. Useful for hard edge techniques as it has less pull than other acrylic compositions. GAC 400