Layer, combine, experiment - Royal Talens
Layer, combine, experiment - Royal Talens

Layer, combine, experiment

April is a call to disrupt routine. As light returns and energy shifts, it becomes easier to invite risk back into the studio. This is the month to combine materials, layer boldly, and let surfaces evolve through interaction rather than control.

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In this chapter of our year-long celebration of Amsterdam Acrylics, written by Jeff Olson, we explore mixed media as both method and mindset. Mixing tools, surfaces, and materials expands your visual vocabulary. Depth often emerges from thoughtful layering rather than single gestures.

Why acrylics work for mixed media

Acrylic paint is uniquely suited to this approach. Its adhesive strength allows it to bond with paper, fabric, found objects, drawing media, and collage elements. It performs reliably on canvas, wood, panels, and heavyweight mixed media paper. Pair it with gels or modeling pastes, and acrylic becomes both structural and expressive, holding texture while anchoring layered elements.

Real texture catches light, creating shadows and movement as the viewer moves. Layering defines edges, heightens contrast, strengthens focal points, and builds dimensional space. Mixed media is not embellishment, it is construction.

Learning from the Masters

Artists like Romare Bearden combined acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and patterned paper to tell powerful stories. His layered approach created rhythm, emotional resonance, and spatial depth.

Mark Bradford builds monumental abstract surfaces from paint, paper fragments, and found objects. He layers, sands, and reveals, creating geological depth that relies on acrylic’s bonding strength.

Wangechi Mutu (artwork on the right) combines acrylic, collage, and ink to create rich, layered compositions where texture and contrast enhance meaning. For her, surface variation isn’t secondary, it’s an integral part of the message.

Layering Guidelines

  • Oil-based materials (oil pastels, oil markers) can go over fully dry acrylic (24–72 hours). Do not apply acrylic over oily surfaces.
  • Water-based layers (watercolour, gouache) can be painted over with acrylic to introduce bold passages with texture.
  • Prime absorbent surfaces with acrylic gesso to prevent soaking and give tooth for charcoal or pastel.
  • Use heavyweight paper (300gsm+) or rigid supports to prevent warping under multiple wet layers.

Essential Amsterdam Tools for Mixed Media

Experiment, Play, Discover

April invites you to combine, build, sand, glaze, and scratch. Introduce contrast through material shifts. Let spontaneity coexist with structure. Not every experiment will resolve perfectly, surfaces can be reworked, adjusted, and rebuilt. Imperfection often leads to discovery.

Amsterdam Acrylics provide the perfect foundation for this exploration. Their consistency, bonding strength, and versatility make them ideal for artists expanding their practice.

April reminds us: variety creates vitality. Mix boldly. Layer thoughtfully. Let experimentation lead.

About the author

Jeff Olson is a Seattle based artist with more than thirty years of studio practice and exhibition experience. He is both a painter and an educator with a deep understanding of the materials that shape visual expression.

He is the Art Education Director for Royal Talens North America, where he shares his knowledge with universities, art organisations and professional events throughout the United States and Canada. His work focuses on the history, composition and expressive potential of artists materials. Find out more about Jeff on his website.

Jeff Olson in a red shirt sitting in front of a colorful abstract painting

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