Acrylic Texture/ Depth Enhancement

Post Reply New Topic

Everyone tells me that my paintings look 3D. I use some texture media, but the paintings are really quite flat, just a bit rough. I have a painting which I bought in Austria from a street artist. He has used something to make it almost like a sculpture, but still on a board. It's about 1 cm thick, at its thickest point. I should have asked him hat he used to create the effect, when I bought it. I had thought about using papier mache, but thought some of you guys might have better ideas.

Thanks

If you're looking to add some texture to your acrylic paintings, I recommend using either a gel medium or a molding paste, depending on how much relief you're trying to accomplish. Gel medium extends the body of the paint-- it's a great tool for artists who want to be economical about how much paint they use. Gels come in matte, semi-gloss, and gloss. Most of them are smooth. However, I believe some gel mediums are manufactured pre-textured, with things like microscopic glass beads mixed in to give the paint a rougher texture. If you're looking for a bit more sculptural consistency, though, molding paste is a good option.

I never had his classes, but there's a local artist here in Vancouver named Ben Reeves who also serves as an instructor at my alma mater. He paints really really gorgeous super-textural paintings, ones that blur the line between painting and bas-relief sculpture. He uses oil paints. Still, you can apply one of his techniques to acrylics too, especially if you use gel medium and/or molding paste to thicken the paint. His paintings go through a process of layering that can extend for months-- essentially, building up layer upon layer of paint, until the result is semi-sculptural. That process actually is much quicker for acrylics, because acrylics dry and cure so much faster than oils. Just make sure your last layer is dry before you begin painting the next one on top.