Soraya French
One of the advantages of acrylics is that they give you the ability to create textures in your paintings to give them a tactile surface. Acrylic paint generally loses up to 30 per cent of its volume as it dries, so creating highly texturised paintings can be quite an expensive exercise. However, gel mediums are ideal for creating exciting, expressive textures, and they will make your paint go further too.
Gel mediums are made up of acrylic polymer and are available in different consistencies to create texture, extend the paint and change the sheen of the colours. The polymer (rather than the pigment) is the cheaper part of paint, so it makes economical sense to use gel medium for heavier paint applications. Golden Artist Colors offer gels in various degrees of viscosity, such as soft gel (slightly runny), regular gel (the same consistency as heavy body paint), heavy gel (heavier than heavy body paint) and extra heavy for a texture that holds a peak. These are available in matt, semi-gloss and gloss, so that you can choose the surface sheen of your painting. Gels are available from other brands but there may not be such an extensive choice.