What are Some Thick Acrylic Painting Techniques?

Acrylic Painting is the great medium for all to start any artwork because it is less expensive, dry quickly, versatile and water soluble. It’s most important characteristic is forgiving. If you don’t like the area you have painted, let it dry and paint over it within minutes to get what you want.

Do you know?

Acrylic is plastic polymer means you can paint it on any surface you want. They doesn’t contain any toxic solvents and clean up very easily with soap and water. But sometimes we need to thicken the acrylics in order to get the texture we were aiming for.

Paints have different viscosity and consistency. It also depends on the blending technique being used. A thicker consistency is usually required to conceal a pre-existing dark colored base.

Luckily, there are simple and easy ways on how to thicken acrylic paint to get the right amount of thickness and texture for your artwork. The simplest way to thicken your paint is to use and add more color and reduce the amount of water content. If you don’t know where to start, we’ll show you how.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
Materials required for adding thick texture to an acrylic painting. These materials are used to make different patterns and texture we need. We can change the viscosity and consistency of the paint by applying these solutions.

Acrylic Paint Medium
You can easily get the medium from any hardware store. Mix it with acrylics. Just mix a small amount of medium with acrylic paint. Best option is to use the matte or gel medium to get a clear finish.

Types of Paint Medium
Matte Medium: Acrylic paints usually have a glossy finish. However, a matte finish produces a softer and non-reflective appearance.

Glossy Medium: This helps enhance the natural beauty of the acrylic paint. A glossy medium makes the paint thinner in consistency and gives a transparent finish.

Semi-Gloss Medium: In order to achieve a semi-gloss effect, you can combine equal proportions of matte and glossy mediums.

Gel Medium: This type of medium appears similar to a paste. It has a white color and has a gel form. This effectively thickens your paint and retains your brushstrokes. A gel medium is suitable for collages because it strengthens the adhesion in your acrylic paint.

Glazing Medium: A Glazing medium enhances the transparency of the paint using specific glazing techniques.

Acrylic Additives: Acrylic additives have similar functions to acrylic mediums. However, additives do not have any acrylic binders, unlike mediums. This means you have to be more careful when you’re working with additives in order to get the correct proportions. If you overdo the additives, it may affect the color and adhesive properties of the paint.

Textured Gel
A textured gel when mix with acrylics improve not only the thickness of the paint but also finish and sheen the paint as well.

Wanna get more creative? Add sawdust and sand to the gel and then mix it with acrylic paint. You will get customized and unique paint textures.

Modeling Paste
Mix the small amount of modeling paste to the acrylic paint and add more thickness to the paint. If you want to see the three dimensional texture on the canvas then modeling paste is the best solution. One disadvantage of the modelling paste is that it leaves the white color when it gets dry. In that case it will affect the paint. So test it on sample before finalizing it to the paint surface.

Cornstarch
You can use the cornstarch solution to thicken the acrylic paint. It is a good alternative to other materials mentioned above. This household material is cheap and can be used by budget conscious painters.

Mix a one and a half cup of water with two tablespoons of cornstarch. Put the mixture in a saucepan and heat it until it produces a thick solution.

Once it cools down, you can add the solution to the acrylic paint to get the right amount of consistency. If you happen to have extra solution on hand, you can put it in a sealed container for future use.

Apart from cornstarch there are many other household items lying in your kitchen which can be used to thicken the paint. Some of them are mentioned below:

Crushed Eggshells- This is very easy to prepare and make a distinctive texture on your acrylic painting. Just take the egg shells and crush it and here you go with a solution.

Talcum Powder This is easy to use. Just add them in acrylic paint resulting in sheen and greasy finish.

Fine-Grain Sand Once you mix it with acrylic paint it will be visible through the texture of the paint. It will not dry easily.

When you are mixing solutions, you can experiment by trying different methods. This way, you can determine which type of solution may work best for you.

Combine the textures and materials is a great way to add variety to your painting. Just experiment until you find a suitable solution on how to thicken acrylic paint.