How to Create Glazes With Acrylic Paints
Painting with acrylics can be such a joy. Due to their versatility you can create nearly any effect possible. But unless you know how to create that effect it can be difficult since working with acrylics is nothing like working with oils or watercolors.
Painting with glazes in oils is part of what gives oil paints their luminous, eye-catching look. But it is a difficult technique to mimic in acrylics. This is a step-by-step on how to create glazes like with oil paints, only using acrylics. It's not as hard as you think.
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Things You'll Need
- Stretched, gessoed canvas Acrylic paint set w/ palette Acrylic slow-dry medium Brushes Small container for medium Water Rags
Instructions
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Pencil in your painting if you desire. Not all artists feel the need to sketch in pencil lightly, but if you are new to painting it is a good idea if you plan on something representational. As with any painting it is a good idea to start with an underpainting. For this you can thin your acrylics with water. Block in your value areas as you would with any under painting and let it dry completely. If you've never done an underpainting, simply apply thin (almost watery) color blocks to set your value areas and give a base for your glazes.
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Squeeze out a decent amount of the colors you intend to start with. Also, put a decent amount of slow-dry medium in the container you have. When painting with glazes you can either start with light colors and work into darker colors or vice-versa. Much of it depends on the desired effect you wish to create. For starters it is a good idea to do some alternating darks and lights to see what can be done.
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Get a small amount of paint on your brush (this can be a mixture of colors or a little bit of one a little bit of another) by pulling it away from the main glob of paint you squeezed out.
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Dip your brush with paint on it in the slow-dry medium and apply it to the canvas. Allow the paint to mix with the medium in varying ratios as you spread paint across the canvas. Let some areas be more medium and others be more paint.
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Keep adding additional colors, if you want, before allowing it to dry at all and let the medium dictate how they mix on the canvas. You can do this for an entire abstract painting to get the feel of working with the medium. If you are going for straight thin glazes to build up color, you can evenly mix the medium and paint in a separate container and apply it evenly to the canvas. The image shows an example of entire painting done before drying. Note how the colors show through each other and the warmth and inviting nature it expresses.
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Allow your painting to dry now before continuing.
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Repeat the process once your painting is dry. Remember to keep your layers thin and translucent. This is what results in the "inner glow" effect of oil paintings. You can repeat this process as many times as your painting requires, at your discretion. When it is complete you can varnish it or seal it as desired. Ensure that what ever you use will not yellow and is intended for use with acrylics as some finishes may not adhere well to acrylics.
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Tips & Warnings
Clean your brush regularly and use a good brush conditioner.
Remember that while acrylics are safer than oils. Some pigments still contain harmful chemicals. Do not use solvents with acrylics, as they are water soluble until the pigment dries.
