An idea came to your mind. You want to express it with the painting. You’ve mixed the paints and started painting. But somethings off! Your acrylic paints are too watery!
Acrylic paints are popular for their formula and how easy it is to use. Some acrylic paints are already formulated in a way that you can use it straight out of tube! But most of the times you’ll add few drops of water to get a desired consistency.
Why we mix water to acrylic paints
Most acrylic paints are water-soluble. So, we can dilute acrylic paints as desired. This color can even be used as children’s paint since acrylic paints are virtually non-toxic.
Acrylics paints are very popular because of its faster drying time. The water solubility makes the colors even more popular. But when we want a longer drying time, we can mix water with acrylic paints.
The composition of acrylic paints
The ingredients of acrylic paints are also put together in a correspondingly simple manner: Color pigments organic and inorganic, Binder as acrylic resin or acrylic binder, water as dilution. you can use glycerin to delay drying.
How does acrylic paint become more watery?
Adding water breaks the connection between the individual color pigments, which dilutes the color. This makes the paint more fluid and can be applied almost transparently, like watercolors.
What happens when acrylic paints become watery
Some packaging give instructions about how much water to add. Sometimes when we are using acrylic paints tube for a long time it dries out a bit. We also use water in this case to make the paint lump free and easy to use.
However, the problem arises when the paint become too runny. Even though sometimes we only added a drop of water, it can make the paint too watery to use.
The color loses its intensity. It covers very poorly. It doesn’t look as you will want it to be. Sometimes the paint loses consistency so much it can hardly be applied.
How can you get the paint thicker again?
There’s many who thinks that you can mix in some powder to make the paint thicker. It’s so that the liquid is somewhat reduced adjusting paints consistency. However, you cannot use any powder in this case. Some even use flour. Mixing any powder can change the hue or color intensity. Some color may not come as same as before. It’s important that the hue does not change.
An acrylic paint thickening gel
The best way to thicken acrylics without the risk of ruining your paint is with a special thickening gel. Gels like these are designed to be used with acrylic paint and should not interfere with the finish or color of your paint. You can find acrylic thickening gel at a hardware or craft store.
There are thickening gels designed for other color types. So check any gel you’re considering to make sure it’s compatible with acrylic paint. You will get this information printed on the label or packaging.
A textured gel
You can also use textured gel. Get a textured gel to give your paint a rough, textured finish. These gels can also thicken acrylic paint and give it a textured finish.
A textured gel is a paste mixed with sand, powder, or other similar ingredients to provide the finished product with a rugged, coarse appearance. Stucco, modelling paste, sand gel, and resin gel are all textured gels.
Use this option if you want this type of composition. If you don’t know which type is best for your needs, speak to an art or hardware store associate.
How to use gels to thicken acrylic paints?
Spread the paint on a palette or plate. Take the paint tube and squeeze out the amount of paint you want to use. If you mix paints, do this before adding thickeners. Then spread it out with a spatula so that the gel mixes in better.
Add gel to the paint in a 1:4 ratios. You can always add more color later if you didn’t squeeze out enough. But do not use more gel than 1/4 the amount of paint you use. More could make the color unstable.
Use your spatula and scoop out some thickening or textured gel. You could add less gel if you want thinner color. Just don’t exceed a 1:4 ratios.
If you’ve never done this before, start with a small amount. Blend it into the paint and see if you like the consistency. Add more until the paint reaches the desired thickness.
Blend the gel into the paint until it reaches an even consistency. Scoop the gel into the paint and start mixing. Do not leave thickening gel residue on the side. Stir the mixture until it reaches an even consistency. You are now ready to paint!
You can use your brush or spatula to mix a water-based thickening gel. If using a textured gel, use a spatula to mix it in.
Remember that the thickening gel usually allows the paint to dry faster. Therefore, start painting immediately after adding it.
Make your own thickening gel at home
Mix 2 cups or 470 ml water with three tablespoons or 14.3 g of cornstarch. You can make your thickening gel at home using cornstarch and water if you’re on a budget. First, mix these two ingredients in a bowl. Stir the ingredients to mix in the cornstarch.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and place it on the stove over low heat. Stir the mixture occasionally with a spoon. When the water starts to boil, the mixture should thicken. Stir often at this point. When the mixture becomes a thick paste, it’s done. Allow sufficient time for the paste to cool before using it in your paint.
Spread the paint on a palette or plate. When the mixture has cooled, you can blend it into your paint. Start by getting the colors you want and expressing them on your palette.
If you are mixing colors, do this before adding the paste.
Add the paste until the color reaches the desired consistency. Scoop out some thickening paste using only the edge of your spatula. Blend it into the paint and see how it changes consistency. If you want the paint to be thicker, add more paste. Start painting when the color has reached the desired consistency.
If you’ve never done this before, you should experiment first to find the right consistency. Use a small amount of paint and add some paste. Then try it on a canvas and see how it looks when it dries after the paint is spread on it. Repeat this process until you find the mix you like best.
Can acrylic paint be thinned without becoming watery?
The answer to this question is yes. You can dilute acrylic paint with water or use special diluents such as an acrylic binder or pouring medium.
However, to achieve the desired consistency, you should follow a few basic rules. You can achieve this with normal water or special agents such as an acrylic binder or pouring medium. But you have to be careful so that the dilution succeeds and you get the desired result.
Diluting acrylic paint with water
The easiest and cheapest way to dilute acrylic paint is with water. Adding water dilutes the color pigments and the binder. Water ensures that the binder and pigments contained are diluted. This makes the light color less radiance and ends with a lower intensity of color. So the color becomes more transparent and translucent. This is sometimes used for glazing painting.
Using acrylic paints for glazing
If you want the glazing painting, it works best if you add no more than 30-40% water. Too much water can cause cracks and can destroy your work. Over-diluted paints damage the surface with unwanted surface defects during drying. Stir the diluted paint together for about 1-2 minutes to create an even consistency.
Using acrylic paints as watercolor
If you dilute your paint significantly, you can use the color like watercolors. You can paint with it as you would paint with watercolor. For example, you can create soft backgrounds and color gradients. This is ideal for painting soft backgrounds and color gradients. Then, once the paint is completely dry, you can easily paint over it without any problems. If you don’t want to use your diluted acrylic paint right away but want to store it longer, you should use distilled water to prevent mold from forming.
Diluting acrylic paint with acrylic binder
Acrylic paint can also be thinned with a conventional acrylic binder. In contrast to dilution with water, you can dilute your acrylic paints with a commercially available acrylic binder without affecting the color intensity and other properties. The acrylic binder can be used with paints from all manufacturers because it is already part of the acrylic paint.
The advantage of this compared to dilution with water is that the color intensity and the other properties of the color are not affected. The acrylic binder only changes the viscosity of the paint by making it more liquid. However, the color pigments that the paint contains are not broken down.
The paint absorbs less into the substrate with more binder, resulting in a higher radiance of the paint. The surface gives a shinier effect after drying.
Afterwards, you can still achieve a uniform surface by varnishing with a final varnish. Do not use more than 50% acrylic binder to avoid loss of color intensity. You can further influence the level of gloss when the paint dries with a gloss medium.
Diluting acrylic paint by Pouring Medium
The Pouring Medium was developed for Acrylic Pouring to ensure that the acrylic paint flows better. You can also use it to paint with acrylic paint. Instead of using water or an acrylic binder to dilute, you can also use a pouring medium. 10 to 20% is enough for acrylic painting to obtain a significant thinning of the acrylic paint.
The Pouring Medium provides a similar effect to the Acrylic Binder, but it increases the drying time, allowing more painting time before the paint dries. You will get much more time to create your artwork before the paint dries. This was developed to improve the flow of acrylic paint.