To achieve even more
In order to make acrylic paints appear glossy, you can add gloss medium to the palette before you begin painting. The paint should dry to a glossy finish. To achieve a high-gloss finish, apply a high gloss varnish once the painting is finished.
High gloss acrylic paint has the highest reflective appearance in its final finish. Because of its shine, it's also one of the most durable paints. It's typically used for doors and cabinets, but has become increasingly popular on walls and is often hailed as one of the best furniture paints on the market.
To make paint glossy, you can add a gloss medium. It's a clear liquid that mixes easily with paint and gives it a shiny finish without changing the color. You can find it at most hardware or art stores.
To glaze, you'll need a glazing medium and a brush. Mix the glazing medium with your paint to create a transparent layer. Then, apply the glaze over your base layer, using smooth brushstrokes to spread the paint evenly. You can build up multiple layers of glaze for even more depth and richness.
For a beautiful matte finish that makes ordinary glass look like ceramic pottery, add 1 tablespoon baking soda to any color water-based paint and mix thoroughly. Use acrylic or latex paint only (oil-based paint will not work). Apply to a clean glass surface with horizontal brush strokes.
For acrylic painters, any gloss acrylic medium will work to make an acrylic glaze. I like to use a slow drying acrylic like Golden's Acrylic Glazing Medium, which makes it easier to spread the glaze mixture out evenly. Tip: Acrylic mediums appear white when wet, but eventually dry clear.
Heavy Gel, Impasto Gel, Soft Gel are all gels that bulk out acrylic paint and add texture, while making it more transparent and glossy. Basically, anything with the words gel, gloss, metallic, iridescent, interference, and pearlescent tend to add shininess to paint.
To sand only the highs spots, you MUST use a block. Achieving a high gloss finish on wood involves sanding, applying multiple coats of high-quality varnish, and buffing. Polishing enhances shine and durability.
High resin quantities allow the paint to flow more smoothly and evenly than low resin paints. High resin quantities keep pigment particles low and embedded within the resin. This gives the painted surface a strong glossiness.
Gloss Medium
Gloss mediums are handy if you want to enhance the natural sheen and luminosity of acrylic paint. Gloss medium will also make paint thinner and more transparent, which is useful if you want to paint thin but brilliant glazes.
Restore shine
Apply a thin layer of polish to the matte acrylic and rub it again in circular motions with a soft cloth. This helps to restore gloss and transparency. Wipe off excess polish and check the result.
Crown Trade New Build Acrylic Gloss is a professional-grade paint designed for optimal long-term performance. It's specially formulated to resist yellowing in new-build environments and can be applied in temperatures as low as 8 degrees.
After wet sanding, the next step is rubbing compound, then polishing compound. You can use an electric buffer, but you have to be careful or you'll burn right through the paint. By hand takes longer but it's safer. Use lots of water either way.
To achieve even more gloss, apply a high gloss varnish once the painting is finished and the paint is dry. There is a product by Liquitex that is both a gloss medium and varnish, so you could use it to mix with the paint as well as use it for a final coat of varnish.
A higher PVC results in flatter finishes, while lower PVC will give a finish a glossier appearance. Lower pigment concentrations allow more white light to be reflected by the binder material from the surface, giving it a shiny or wet appearance.
Load the brush with your gloss paint and wipe away any excess, then begin painting very gently and lightly in long strokes to achieve one final coat with the gloss and avoid brush marks.
Acrylics carry their own natural luster, but you can easily boost their brilliance by adding a little gloss medium. A good-quality gloss bonds nicely with paints, extending their drying time and allowing them to flow with ease as you blend and build colors to produce luminescent effects.
Select a clear topcoat product designed specifically for adding gloss to flat paint, such as a polyurethane finish or an acrylic-based sealer. Apply the topcoat evenly using a high-quality brush or roller, following the manufacturer's instructions for application and drying times.
Vaseline, Jojoba oil, and coconut oil can be used to replace the shine and flexibility of the original acrylic. Make sure you “buff” the jelly/oil into the nail with a soft cloth of very soft toothbrush. This will not only keep them looking healthy, but keep them from cracking.
In general, acrylic resin varnishes are glossier, stronger and clearer than acrylic polymer varnishes. Therefore, if you want a high-gloss finish, you should go for an acrylic resin varnish such as Golden MSA Varnish. Before applying the final varnish, you'll need to apply an "isolation coat" over the entire painting.
What Can Underpainting Achieve? An underpainting in oils, if used correctly, is a great way to unite color values in the overall painting and add a subjective color key to the painting that will create a tonal dominance. It helps establish the overall composition and values, providing a roadmap for subsequent layers.