Don't Make These Mistakes with Acrylics and Water

I was just about to say Golden's study that they shared on their blog is super helpful resource 😂 glad we're on the same page! You're on point, my friend

Paint that very watered down usually only cracks if it's put on too thickly. Thin layers works well for me. Higher quality paint also helps. I also do fluid art and the paint is greatly thinned with water fortified with a GAC product, Floetrol or even glue. Thanks for making great and helpful videos.💚

Never had a problem with using water, and I never used any of the mediums until recently. For example glaze medium puts super depth into those layers. It is well worth trying out the mediums as I was so reluctant to do for years. I do not know if you can still get them from Windsor & Newton but they did a pack of try out of 4 mediums. Matt medium, improves the flow of colour. Slow drying medium, doubles drying time. And maintains colour viscosity. Gloss medium, increases depth of transparency and flow of colour. Flow improver, increases flow, maintains stability. Slow drying. The flow improver did not really impress me. But like I say mediums are well worth a try out and help improve your mastering of Acrylic paints. Liked the painting by the way, great paint marks.

I have ALWAYS heard this warning, and NEVER had a problem with it myself - but always wondering if "THIS will be the time it happens!" Thank you!

I use GAC100 a lot (for different reasons) and I can confirm even just using a little bit certainly takes you a very long way! It's a super handy medium and I do recommend it

Just found your site and As an Old guy in my 70's now .. I do not use water for my acrylics but I use Clear Acrylic Floor Wax.. I even use it in my Air Brushes ..I found that Gloss wax,, Mate Wax will also give a different look as well as how much you use to thin it down..Just a thought. All the best to you and yours.

Great Painting and tips Thank You….Loving the new style….

Thank you for clearing up the confusion about water and acrylics!!

Fantastic video as always!

Your big fan from 🇪🇹 Ethiopia. I love your technique tnxs

I use watercolor and acrylic both. It is definitely helpful for artists using acrylic! Thanks a lot for good information.

Thank you sooooooooooo much for this video. I have been diluting with lots of water ever since I began using acrylics... many thin layers... especially when working on faces... which helps me get the desired complexion hues and more realistic contours.

I've been painting with acrylic - and mostly with water - for over 50 years: the only problem I've had lay with the surface, not the paint; obviously, don't use an oily surface, but some canvases, eg from the Far East (if India counts as Far East) seem to be treated with some kind of fugicide - that can repel paint; if you see glittery bits in the weave of your canvas, wash it off, and let it dry completely before painting on it. I agree with all the points you've made in this video - when you say "cheap gesso", I suspect the fungicide issue is all part of that. Don't buy cheap boards - don't use cheap paint: I stick to Daler-Rowney Cryla; system 3; Winsor and Newton Artists' range; and yes, I add my own gesso (usually Daler-Rowney, but I'd be just as happy with Winsor and Newton. I haven't yet used Golden! Which strikes me as a major omission, so one day I shall do so. To add a note of controversy, I've used, for some 25 years, Chromacolour, from Chromacolour UK - it is differently formulated, the way it's sold is not the way professional acrylic paint is normally sold, but my now long experience of it suggests it's a very good, lightfast paint, capable of great dilution - but not to be used, if that's anyone's idea of a good idea anyway, under oil.

Thanks for the explanations!❤

You make it look so doable but it’s still tough. I’ll get there eventually

Lovely.... 💯💯✅

Beautiful!! Wow!! :eyes-pink-heart-shape:This is absolutely spot on!! :text-green-game-over:4 years ago by accident as I hated acrylic paints and frustrated at them drying up so quickly and sticking and dragging but was getting nausea on the 3rd day after the Oil Paints I tried to start painting with; started to do it's chemical drying; then I have to wait a month for the oil painting odor to dissipate in the garage. So, I decided to use very thin "watered down" cheap acrylic "house paint" in layers as my "base" to paint under the Oil Paint which my thought was to paint on top of as I knew I would only have a 3 day window before it started its oil paint smell and so getting most of the painting down in acrylic I thought I could shorten the painting time before the odor kicked in ... well low and behold, :face-purple-wide-eyes: I loved the look of the watered down layered "base" acrylic painting so much that to this day I have not painted over the acrylic "base"!! Also, I did not put on a gesso layer, :face-blue-wide-eyes:since I was just experimenting I just painted straight on to an old piece of 3 foot by 4 foot Plywood type sheet that was mildly warped and would have been thrown out. Over these 4 years no cracking, no pealing, no fading. I have abused it, brushed other canvas on it, laid stuff on it, moved from garage to storage, from room to room and closets. Apart from a few light scuffs it looks as good as the day I painted it 4 years ago!! :face-fuchsia-wide-eyes: I never showed or told anyone about breaking the "water ratio" acrylic rule hiding the evidence. :face-orange-biting-nails: Family has seen it but not how it was painted :body-blue-raised-arms: Must confess zero frustration with the acrylic drying up and dragging and with 4 years proof and your stunning art, this "closet Artist" is coming out!! 🥳 lol 👩🏻‍🎨

This is amazing

Great work

For me, I would wet the brush before adding the paint. I found that doing this made the paint unload more smoothly and thereby creating a nice smooth line. As Acrylic dries it can be used for dry brush effects but eventually it gets tacky and this results in rough lines. All of these states can be used to create the needed variation of detail, but yeah, for me personally, I prefer clean lines as it allows the eye to differentiate between two different zones and this creates the feeling of "I can sell this". I do like rough areas too but I always make sure that the style is consistent because the mistakes are things that stand out because they don't conform to the style of each zone. An easy thing to do is get some test canvas/paper and try various amounts. Try and be as exact with the description of the amount of water, so that it is a consistently repeatable amount. (Eg: how deep to dip the brush | X amount of drops for Y amount of paint will result in Z type of paint viscosity.)