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Experience with over diluted acrylics

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Pat Harrison

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Posted
Someone suggested on youtube that you should not add more than 30% of water to your acrylic paint. Now how do you judge 30%? The statement went on to say that over diluted acrylics would not stick to the surface of your chosen medium. Instead of using water one should use acrylic medium or gel or even varnish. What is your experience?

Syd Edward

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Hello Pat I seem to remember that all this was covered to exhaustion point not so long ago on a thread that attracted lots of interest. How you get back to the thread would be a small miracle but someone will know how i reckon. regards ...Syd
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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It's a fair old load of rubbish, Pat, frankly. Acrylic paints vary enormously between brands as to how much water will result in them being underbound; and the real key here is the surface on which they're painted. Wash your canvas boards if you see any sheen on them, and remove it - use mild soap and water, or just water if it'll do it on its own. It's here that the major problem lies, not in the extent to which you add water to the paint. The truth is that acrylic paint can stand a great deal of dilution provided the surface on which they're painted is stable. By all means use mediums instead of water, but they won't help if the surface is too greasy to take the paint - it'll just rub off.