How to make acrylic not see through?

Author: Alycia Mayert  |  Last update: Friday, February 13, 2026

My go-to technique for making acrylic paint more opaque is to add a bit of white to the transparent color. I specifically use Titanium White since it's the white color with the most opacity.

What medium makes acrylic opaque?

The most common way to make your pigments more opaque is to add Titanium White (PW 6) to your paint. Then, cover everything as necessary and glaze with your transparent color until everything is rich and saturated.

Can you water down acrylic paint to make it transparent?

You can thin acrylic paint with water to your desired transparency to use on watercolor paper or paper that has some texture and absorbent qualities. However, if you are by any chance painting on other surfaces like canvas, you should not thin the paint over 25% with water.

Do you wet the brush before using acrylic paint?

Acrylic Paint Instructions and Tips. You don't 'need' to start with a wet brush, but if you want your paint to glide smoothly then it's best to have the bristles wet. I just quickly dip my brush in water, it doesn't have to be soaking wet.

Can you lighten acrylic paint with water?

To lighten your colors, just add a little water to the paint: the more you dilute it, the lighter your shades will be. For darker colors, add paint. Note: without water, the color will be more opaque and cover the previous layer of paint.

How to make acrylic paint transparent

How to make white acrylic paint look whiter?

Adding extra white pigment to white paint actually DOES make it whiter! It's perfectly acceptable to add more white tint to white undercoat or primer for example to get better coverage. A bright glossy white finish naturally looks 'whiter' than a matt finish, shiny surfaces reflect light, duller surfaces absorb light.

Do acrylics turn yellow?

If your acrylic brushes or tools aren't cleaned properly, they can introduce contaminants into the product, leading to yellowing. Oils, dust, or leftover product can affect the color of your acrylic nails. Household chemicals like cleaning products can cause acrylic nails to turn yellow.

Can you get opaque acrylic?

darwi Opaque Acrylic Paint is a ready-to-use, water-based acrylic paint. It has a medium consistency, and can be thinned with water if required. This paint is ideal for paper, canvas, wood, plastic, glass, etc. darwi Opaque Acrylic Paints are sold in 80ml bottles.

Can you mix cornstarch with acrylic paint?

This article has been viewed 78,049 times. If your acrylic paint is too thin and watery, you can easily thicken it up with a little bit of cornstarch.

Is gesso opaque?

Titanium White Gesso is opaque and made with the same pigment as our Titanium White Original Oils. See how well it covers this dark paper! Transparent Gesso is great for mixed media because it allows the color or pattern of your substrate to show through your work, giving you even more creative options.

How do I reduce transparency in paint?

Select the picture and then select the Insert button. Move the Transparency slider in the Format Shape pane to adjust the picture. Or you may enter a number in the box next to the slider: 0 is fully opaque, the default setting; and 100% is fully transparent.

What medium makes acrylic paint transparent?

Transparent and opaque techniques with acrylics
  1. Creating a "watercolor-like" acrylic painting (transparent technique) Use watercolor paper (300 g or more). Mix your colors with a lot of water to create washes in various shades. ...
  2. Creating an "oil-like" acrylic painting (opaque technique) Use a canvas-covered medium.

Is acrylic see through?

Acrylic is a transparent plastic material with outstanding strength, stiffness, and optical clarity. Acrylic sheet is easy to fabricate, bonds well with adhesives and solvents, and is easy to thermoform.

How do you make white acrylic paint less transparent?

Work in Layers

Painting a transparent color on top of a lighter layer can really help it pop. Additionally, you can paint over the transparent color a few times to increase the opacity even if it's on a darker background.

What is the best white for acrylic paint?

Titanium white is the big one – it's the most common white colour used by acrylic artists. It's very opaque, meaning that it covers other colours very well. You can essentially block out any colours underneath your titanium white layer. It's considered a neutral white, or even a touch warm.

What does white spirit do to acrylic paint?

White spirits and methylated spirits have applications across various industries. They're commonly used as solvents because they can dissolve nonpolar substances such as acrylic paint.

Does adding water to acrylic paint make it transparent?

One of the best reasons to mix water with acrylic paint is to create washes. A wash is a thin, transparent layer of paint. You can achieve beautiful watercolor-like effects by thinning your acrylic paint with water, especially for backgrounds or base layers.

How do you lighten acrylic paint without white?

Yellow, orange, yellow ochre do a good job. Make your underpainting lighter in those areas (if you do an underpainting), dilute your top layer of paint more. Also, light is relative to other colors around it so try making your darker colors darker. Last, not all whites are equal.

Is it OK to dilute acrylic paint with water?

Acrylic colors can easily be thinned using water. If, however, you use large amounts of water, only a small amount of acrylic resin will be left on your work. The pigments will not be properly protected and might smudge once the water has evaporated.

Do you rinse your brush when using acrylic paint?

As you work

Once you've finished using your brush, rinse it, blot it, and then rest it (while wet) on a piece of paper towel during your project. This will keep the brush moist throughout your creative session so that no paint dries on it.

What happens when you add too much water to acrylic paint?

Using too much water on your acrylic paints can result in a loss of adhesion. This means that your paint may become too watery and simply flow off your canvas or muddy up your colors when you try to blend them. You can avoid this by using acrylic mediums instead.

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