Acrylic paint

Our acrylic paint auxiliaries help you to use the full potential of acrylic paint. The collection includes primers, painting mediums to adjust the properties of the paint, effect mediums for special effects and varnishes to protect your work.

The binder of both acrylic paint and acrylic mediums consists of a dispersion (distribution) of acrylic resin particles in water. As long as the binder contains water, the binder is white. When after drying all the water has evaporated, the acrylic resin particles present in the binder form a continuous colourless transparent film, and the white disappears. This explains why acrylic paint colours darken during drying (this effect is often called "colourshift"). When mixed with a medium, the wet paint will therefore also lighten slightly, after drying the colour will be the same as that of pure dried paint.

Since the binder of acrylic paint consists of acrylic resin particles and water, the paint layer will lose volume when the water evaporates from the paint. This means your brush strokes may become much more subdued once your paint has dried compared to when you first applied it.

The drying time of acrylic paint depends on various factors, including humidity, temperature and the thickness of your layers, but it’s usually dry to the touch in about 30 to 60 minutes. The paint will fully cure in 3 to 4 days, but you can add layers once the paint is dry to the touch. Varnish can be applied after a minimum of 4 days. Don’t apply acrylic paint at temperatures below 10 °C.

If you want to work alla prima using acrylic colors, you need to act quickly as acrylic paint dries quite fast. Buy yourself some extra time to create stunning color transitions, blend colors smoothly and allow yourself to work on the same area for longer using Amsterdam slow drying medium or acrylic retarder.

Acrylic retarder 070 may be added to the paint up to a maximum of 5% and extends the drying time up to 20%. If you want it to dry even slower, it is better to use Amsterdam Slow drying medium 071.

One of the few limitations of acrylic paint is that this type of paint does not adhere to a greasy ground, including oil pastels. Oil pastel on acrylic paint, on the other hand, does not cause any problems.

For more texture and visible 3D effects, Talens supplies Gel medium, Heavy gel medium and Extra heavy gel medium, each in both glossy and matt. Adding Gel medium to the paint enables a clearer brush stroke/structure. Heavy gel medium allows even more brush stroke. Using Extra Heavy gel medium, very sharp structures and extremely thick layers can be applied. Furthermore, all gels, pure or mixed with paint, are ideally suited for incorporating materials such as sand, sawdust, paper, wood, stone, etc. into the paint due to their great adhesive strength.

Since oil paint creates an oily film, it is not a suitable base for acrylic paint. Acrylic paint needs a slightly absorbent surface that is free of dust and grease to adhere to.

Due to the high adhesive strength of the binder, acrylic paint and the various gel mediums are ideally suited for working with different materials. A prerequisite for good adhesion is that the surfaces of the materials to be glued are grease-free and somewhat absorbent. The most durable result is achieved if the materials are completely encapsulated by the paint or gel, especially in connection with adhesion when it concerns less porous materials such as sand, pebbles, glass, etc., but also more porous materials such as paper and cardboard are then protected against harmful external influences. If the natural colour of the material must remain visible, use one of the gel mediums.