The Pros and Cons – Paint Media and Consistency

Painters use different types of paint, these are known as painting mediums and are usually oil, alkyd, and acrylic. Of the different types of painting mediums, the most expensive paint to use is oil. This type of paint is considered to be the best quality. Oil painting is bright and very rich. Due to the consistency and oiliness of this paint, it takes a long time to dry. It is quite possible that an oil painting could take anywhere from twenty-four hours to ninety-six hours and more to dry completely.

Another painting medium is acrylic. If you use acrylic paint, it can dry almost immediately. In fact, there are artists who say that acrylic can dry on the brush. This is a good indication that you have to work fast. The acrylic is water based but the colors are extremely vivid. Acrylic paint, unlike oil paint, is cheaper.

Lastly there is the alkyd paint medium. These are oil based and are often used to mix with oil paints. Help oil painting go further. It should be noted that acrylic paints cannot be mixed with oil paint.

If you are learning about paints, you should also know about painting mediums. A paint medium is the agent used by painters to mix the paint in the tube. One medium can be used for many purposes such as: color enrichment, color depth, paint dilution, varnish addition, paint thickening, paint life extension.

There are many different types of painting mediums for the painter to use. It is very important that you understand the exact uses, limitations, and security measures of the media you choose to use. It would be accurate to say that painters tend to have their own favorite artistic mediums. Media are used to create special effects. For example, damar and copal add shine to oil painting and also enrich the color. Distilled turps and seed oil are less complex. If a painter needs to touch up dry matte, he will opt for varnish.

Paint mediums can be combined, but nowadays you can buy them already mixed. It is important to use only distilled white spirit and not coarse white spirit. The smell of turp is very strong, so contemporary artists use an improved product known as a turpenoid. This modern product does not have any odor.

If you are using acrylics, your painting medium would simply be water. This is because acrylics are water based. Since acrylics dry so quickly, you may want to keep them wet as long as possible. To do this, you would use extenders and retarders. In general, a tutor will teach his students that any medium should be used in very small amounts. The reason for this is to keep the paint layers stable when on the canvas. Many beginners are shown that the more it is used, the thinner the paint becomes. An easy medium to mix is ​​a small amount of linseed oil with a small amount of distilled white spirit. It is important to use the correct amount of painting medium to maintain the proper consistency of the paint.