Matte medium is a versatile acrylic painting medium that serves various purposes, primarily to reduce gloss, extend paint, and improve handling properties.
What is Matte Medium?
Matte medium is an acrylic polymer emulsion that dries to a non-glossy, matte finish. Unlike gloss medium, it reduces the reflectivity of acrylic paints. It can be mixed directly with acrylic paints or used on its own.
Common Uses of Matte Medium
Matte medium has several practical applications in acrylic painting:
- Extending Paint: Mixing matte medium with acrylic paint increases its volume while maintaining or slightly thinning its consistency. This is useful for achieving thin glazes or simply making your paint go further.
- Reducing Sheen: If you want to reduce the glossy finish of acrylic paint and achieve a flat, non-reflective surface, mix matte medium into your colors.
- Improving Adhesion: Matte medium acts as a strong adhesive, making it excellent for collage work. You can use it to glue paper, fabric, and other materials onto your painting surface.
- Creating Translucent Effects & Washes: As highlighted in a reference demonstration, matte medium can be effectively used with translucent colors to create smooth blends and acrylic washes.
Using Matte Medium for Acrylic Washes
One effective way to use matte medium, as demonstrated in the provided reference, is to mix it with translucent acrylic colors to create washes:
- Combine matte medium with your chosen translucent color.
- The matte medium helps to extend the paint and allows it to flow more easily across the surface.
- This mixture facilitates blending the color smoothly.
- The result is a thin, layerable acrylic wash with a matte finish.
Mixing translucent colors with matte medium makes them behave more like watercolor washes, perfect for subtle layers or large areas of color where you want to see through to previous layers.
Tips for Working with Matte Medium
- Mixing Ratios: Experiment with the ratio of matte medium to paint to achieve the desired consistency and effect. More medium will result in a thinner, more translucent mix and a more matte finish.
- Testing: Always test your mix on a scrap surface before applying it to your final artwork to ensure you get the look you want.
- Surface Prep: Ensure your painting surface is clean and non-greasy for best adhesion and application.
Matte medium is a fundamental tool for acrylic artists looking to control sheen, extend materials, or create specific effects like smooth washes with translucent colors.
