Glazing is a technique where you add a transparent layer of paint over an existing layer. It's a great way to add depth and dimension to your paintings and bring out the colours or form underneath. To glaze, you'll need a glazing medium and a brush. Mix the glazing medium with your paint to create a transparent layer.
FOR ACRYLICS: Start with one of the matte or semi-gloss glazes manufactured by acrylic paint makers such as Liquitex or Golden. I use Liquitex Glazing Medium. The stuff seems pretty much like a thin version of white glue.
A glaze is a thin transparent or semi-transparent layer on a painting which modifies the appearance of the underlying paint layer. Glazes can change the chroma, value, hue and texture of a surface. Glazes consist of a great amount of binding medium in relation to a very small amount of pigment.
Soft Gel Gloss (an acrylic medium) is ideal for both glazing layers and isolation coats. Gloss is best because it allows for optimal passage of light. Thin it with water in a 2:1 Soft Gel Gloss to water ratio or use straight (stronger in paint removal situations).
Floetrol is a pretty cool product. It is a paint conditioner, normally used with a sprayer, or if you want a really smooth finish. I rarely use it for that, though. Instead, I like to use Floetrol to create my own custom glazes.
GOLDEN Color Pouring Medium (Matte) Features:
Improves leveling of paint mixtures. Dries to a thin, smooth, matte finish. Uniquely suited for large color fields. As little as 20:1 medium to paint can be used for color glazes, or increase the paint amount to 3:1 (medium to paint) for more opaque color layers.
Glazes are usually added at the last painting stages over the opaque painting layer.
Use Dark Colors in Background, Lighter Colors in the Foreground. A value is the relative lightness or darkness of a color. When an art piece has different values, such as shadows and highlights, an illusion of depth is created.
All you need to do is mix the gloss medium into the paint on the palette, and then paint as normal. The paint should dry to a glossy finish. To achieve even more gloss, apply a high gloss varnish once the painting is finished and the paint is dry.
Gesso glazes are a great way to loose, simplify and obliterate regions of a painting, allowing you to adjust and control where attention is focused in the work.
For our first painting, I'm going to mix glazing liquid, water and Phthalo Blue together in this bowl. Robert Genn always had a rule of 'A third, a third and a third' meaning a mix of 1/3 glazing liquid, 1/3 paint and 1/3 water. However, you can mix any amount of glazing liquid with any amount of paint.
Want to add depth and dimension to your paintings? Try glazing! Glazing is a technique where you add a transparent layer of paint over an existing layer. It's a great way to add depth and dimension to your paintings and bring out the colours or form underneath.
Like gloss medium, glazing medium will make acrylic paint more transparent and facilitate subtle glazing techniques. Glazing medium is also sometimes called glazing liquid, depending on the brand. Golden offers glazing liquid in satin and gloss sheens.
Atmospheric perspective (or aerial perspective), one of many art techniques to show depth. Atmospheric Perspective is using color and light to show depth in a large environment, such as a landscape. In short, it is the haze you see in the distance when looking out at something like the Grand Canyon.
The dark blue is used to pull your vision back, thus making depth. The bright yellows, greens, and whites in this painting are used to create light that your eyes are drawn to. This makes the darker colors reseed and create depth. In the mess of color, the darker colors are creating an illusion of depth and shape.
Atmospheric perspective, or aerial perspective, is a technique that uses modification of tone to create a sense of depth. Simply described, natural conditions like fog and light have a softening effect on distant layers of the landscape. This impacts a painter's color and value choices.
Glazing is a technique that has been used by artists for centuries to create luminous, glowing effects in their works. It involves applying thin, translucent layers of paint over a dried base layer of paint, building up layers of glaze to create depth and complexity.
A scumbled layer is where paint – usually opaque – has been brushed on without the addition of medium, allowing parts of the underneath layers to show through. A glaze is a thin layer of paint – which has been mixed with medium – brushed over a previous layer or layers.
Oil-based glazing compounds are typically applied with a glazing knife. They have a long working time but also take longer to dry/cure (fully solidify and stabilize). They must be painted over with an oil-based paint (or oil-based primer) but only after they are fully dried, which can take several weeks.
Discovering the Floetrol Secret
I use Floetrol. Believe it works just a good as glaze. All you have to do is mix 4 parts floetrol to one part paint. If you want it to have even more open time add some extender.
We recommend a ratio of 1 part water to 2 parts paint for the best consistency but adjust as necessary to reach that ideal pouring cream fluidity. Watch these different mixing combos in action by checking out our How to Thin Acrylic Paint for Pouring Art video.
Acrylic wash painting is a technique where acrylic paint is diluted with water to create translucent, watercolour-like effects on a surface. It involves applying thin, transparent layers of paint to build up colours and create subtle, soft transitions.