How to Use Liquitex
Liquitex is a high-viscosity acrylic paint that is concentrated and has rich color pigments with no fillers. The paint comes in a variety of containers and also has different texture weights. Liquitex paints are best used on porous surfaces and spread easily, with more coverage than regular acrylic paints have. Liquitex also has many other products that can be used in conjunction with its line of paints.
Things You'll Need
- Acrylic paintbrushes
- Palette knife
- Palette or glass plate
- Canvas, paper, wood or other surface
- Liquitex acrylic paints (tubes or jars)
- Liquitex Gel Medium (optional)
- Water
- Pencil
Instructions
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Put the paint on your palette. If you are using Liquitex tube acrylics, place a damp paper towel onto your palette before squeezing out the colors to help prevent the paint from drying up. It will dry quickly if not kept moist. If you're using the jar acrylics, this step isn't necessary. Colors can be mixed using the palette knife once the paint has been placed on the palette.
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Prepare the paint. To thin the paint, mix a drop or two of water into it. This will create a thinner, lighter, more transparent color. To keep your paint wet for longer periods of time, giving you more time to blend colors on your painted surface, add the Liquitex Gel Medium. This medium should be mixed into the paint on your palette prior to starting the project.
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Start painting. Moisten your paintbrush with water and blot it dry. Load the brush with paint and begin spreading the creamy texture over the surface. Liquitex is rich and thick, so a little goes a long way. The jar paint tends to be creamier and smoother in texture. Tube acrylics are thicker.
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To add dimension, depth and interest to your painting, use the palette knife to apply paint. The paint will take a little longer to dry, but you can still add shading and details to the design once the application has set. This step is especially nice for flowers and leaves.
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Tips & Warnings
When using tube acrylics, spray a mist of water over the paint if a dry skin forms over the top. The colors are permanent, don't need to be heat-set and clean up with water.
Some colors contain toxic cadmium salts and shouldn't be used by children. Read all the labels for caution and warnings.
