Worst Mistake Acrylic Painters Make

Liquitex Airbrush Medium 8 oz: :// Liquitex Gloss Medium 8 oz: :// Liquitex Gloss Medium 16 oz: :// Golden Airbrush Medium 8 oz: :// Golden Airbrush Medium 16 oz: :// Golden Gloss Medium 8 oz: :// Golden Gloss Medium 16 oz: :// Do you know how much water is OK to add to your acrylics? Ever heard of the term “underbinding“. Michele explains what the art conservators know, but most artists have never been taught -- how much water can be added to the paint without destabilizing the paint film. 1:00 What I learned in school: Tone the ground by taking a little bit of paint and adding water, and make a wash over the canvas 1:45 What I didn’t know until much later is that toning the ground with so much water “underbinds” the paint film. Paint is pigment and a binder; acrylic paint is made of large spherical acrylic molecules (the binder) and pigment. if you don’t have enough binder, then the color will not stay on the canvas. 2:35-2:58 With acrylic, when the water evaporates, all the molecules of the paint film should come together to make a stable, honeycomb-like structure. When mixing the water and paint to tone the ground, I added so much water that each acrylic molecule is spread so far apart they can’t bind with the pigment, which makes the paint less durable and prone to flaking and lifting off. 3:44 To prevent underbinding, follow the 30% rule: use less than 30% water when diluting your acrylics. 4:07-4:57 Instead of using water, use an airbrush medium to create a wash. It has a very thin body and you can use it for painting even though it is categorized as “airbrush”. The difference between water and medium is that medium has acrylic polymer in it, which gives the pigment more molecules to attach to. 6:05 You can tone a canvas with gloss medium! Gloss medium is thick and viscous. Using a gloss medium will yield a more glaze type of effect. 8:16 The exception to the 30% rule is when you use any absorbent surface such as watercolor paper, unprimed wood, bristol—anything that isn’t primed with an acrylic-based primer such as gesso. The fibers in the absorbent surface acts as a binding agent and will bind to the pigment particles. 🖌 PAINTING TUTORIALS Learn more about gloss medium here: Series on Stain Painting: 🎨💻 ONLINE PAINTING CLASS In-depth step-by-step video painting lessons on Craftsy. You’ll get some of my best tips on color mixing, layering and glazing, using acrylic mediums, gels, additives. Plus handouts and you can ask me questions directly on the forum. Acrylic Stain Painting Workshop : ☕️LIKE THIS VIDEO? BUY ME A “COFFEE” SO I CAN MAKE MORE LIKE IT 📘MY BOOK Seven Essential Practices for the Professional Artist” book (FREE PDF DOWNLOAD ) “Seven Essential Practices for the Professional Artist” (READ ALOUD AS AN AUDIOBOOK) “Seven Essential Practices for the Professional Artist” (PAPERBACK ON AMAZON) 🌿 TIPS & MOTIVATION FOR YOUR STUDIO PRACTICE Professional Practices, Tips, and Motivation for Artists 👋 FIND ME HERE AND SAY HI!🙋🏻‍♀️ INSTAGRAM MY ART RESOURCES & INSPIRATION ETSY *This description may contain affiliate links for which this channel receives a small commission at no extra cost to you. Using these links helps support this channel so we truly appreciate it when you do so!