Painting Mediums in Acrylic and Oil Painting

Painting mediums are auxiliary agents used in painting. Painting mediums are used in watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting. Painting mediums are also commonly referred to as painting agents. In this text, the auxiliary agents used in painting are called painting mediums, and the focus is on the use of painting mediums in acrylic and oil painting.

Choose Your Painting Medium According to Its Purpose

There are many types of painting mediums. The most common use for painting mediums is to thin paint. Painting mediums can also be used to speed up or slow down the drying of paint, and to affect the paint's consistency and sheen. Painting mediums can also facilitate layered painting.

Understanding painting mediums and their uses helps in achieving the desired result and a successful artwork. Painting mediums are intended to affect the paint's consistency, sheen, and drying speed in a desired way. In this context, it is important to distinguish the auxiliary agents used in painting from varnish, which is used to finish and protect a completed work.

The following sections describe the use of painting mediums for thinning paint and for influencing the drying time of paint.

If you want to read about the use of varnish for finishing and protecting a work, follow this link to read the article on varnish and its use.

Thinning Paint with Painting Medium

It is good to remember here that oil-based paints should not be thinned with turpentine or mineral spirits, except for the very first layers of paint. When turpentine or mineral spirits are added to paint, it becomes thin and lean. After painting the first layers of an oil painting, turpentine should only be used as a cleaning agent. Painting mediums intended for thinning paint, on the other hand, are suitable as thinners for paints applied over the first layer, as they act as a binder, ensuring that the thinned paint remains rich and its consistency remains good.

Painting mediums used for thinning paint are also commonly referred to simply as mediums. Mediums are available for both acrylic and oil paints, as well as for water-soluble oil paints. A medium increases the paint's fluidity and reduces its thickness.

You can also make your own medium by creating a mixture of, for example, linseed oil, varnish, and turpentine. However, it is easier to acquire a ready-made medium from an art supply specialist store, which also ensures the medium's suitability for the paints you are using and that you obtain the correct medium for your desired purpose.

When using mediums, it is good to remember that the same medium should always be used for the same artwork. It is therefore not recommended to change mediums in the middle of a work; instead, the sufficiency of the medium for the entire work should be ensured when starting the project. If you have to change mediums during the work, there is a risk of creating so-called "working edges" or visible transitions in the artwork. By ensuring the medium is sufficient for the entire work, you ensure that the colors blend well with each other.

Influencing Paint Drying with Painting Medium

Sometimes, it is desired to speed up the drying of paint. In such cases, fast-drying mediums can be used. If, however, there isn't time to wait for the paint to dry, and the work needs to be completed as quickly as possible, a so-called "exhibition varnish" can be used.

Fast-drying mediums are also commonly referred to by their English name, "fast drying medium." Fast-drying mediums thin the paint and thus accelerate drying. Due to faster drying and thinning, brushstrokes may become smoother, and the paint's sheen and translucency may increase, which is a desired property in glazing techniques.

In other cases, it is desired to slow down the drying of paint. Especially oil paint can be prone to cracking as it dries, which is why drying should not be accelerated too much with auxiliary agents. The drying of oil paint can be slowed down by mixing, for example, linseed oil into the oil paint. Linseed oil thins the oil paint, improves fluidity, and adds a slight sheen.

Choosing a Painting Medium

The choice of painting medium depends not only on the paints used (oil, water-soluble oil, acrylic) but also on the thickness of the paint layer, the desired final surface, and the drying time. Itäisenkadun Taidetarvike is happy to advise you on choosing the right painting medium for your desired purpose. Welcome to discuss choosing a painting medium at our store on Itäinen Pitkäkatu in Turku.

You can also explore painting mediums in our online store.

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