How to Create Texture in Your Acrylic Painting

I recently discovered the wonderful textures I can create in my acrylic and mixed-media painting using a product called Dick Blick's Artist's Acrylic Gel Medium. I am basically a self-taught artist, and I mostly work by just trying things out to see what will happen. I had a pint of the Gel Medium in my art supplies, and I don't even remember where or how I got it. In fact, I wasn't even sure what Gel Medium was, until I started using it.

I was cleaning out an old box of art supplies, getting ready for a yard sale, when I found the bottle. I wasn't sure what it was. The lable said something about "impastos", which was Greek to me, but I read further on, and read on the lable that it can be mixed with acrylic paints, and creates three dimentional effects, which sounded interesting.

First I tried mixing it with some acrylic, and just putting a smooth layer on my canvas (a cheap student grade canvas, an already used one I was using for experimenting.) The color didn't lighten much at all, even though I mixed it 1 to 1. This is a cool thing for me, sinse I only have a small budget for painting, and I especially don't like wasting money on experimenting if I don't have to. The gel is clear, so it didn't change the color any either, which is nice.

After I spread on the paint and Gel Medium mixture, I just started experimenting to see what it would do . I made impressions with different objects like sponges and different plant materials, like leaves and moss. I also added inclusions, like small strings of hemp, and lightweight dried plant material. I laid the material on the gel mixture, and then covered up some pieces, and left some still partly showing, to see what the effects would be, and to see what weights of material would hold.

When the Dick Blick Gel medium dried, I really loved the effects I created. It holds inclusions well, although I haven't tried heavier objects yet, but the string and plants were held firmly in place, with only a small amount of gel. I noticed immediately that the gell hardens really wel, but is still somewhat flexible, so I don't foresee any problems with cracking or flaking.

I also noticed that the textures come out sharper if I only put the gell in places where I want the textured effects, instead of putting on an entire layer on the canvas first. the peaks and valleys really show up well. When I want to add texture with, say, a string of hemp, I lay it directly on the canvas, and cover it in the gel with my fingers. It still stays on the canvas, and stands out much better.

Dick Blick Artist's Acrylic Gel Medium is one of my new favorite products to work with when creating my paintings and other mixed media projects, and I'm glad I discovered it, and will continue experimenting with the gel to see what else it can do.