By The ARTnews Recommends Editors
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Acrylics carry their own natural luster, but you can easily boost their brilliance by adding a little gloss medium. A good-quality gloss bonds nicely with paints, extending their drying time and allowing them to flow with ease as you blend and build colors to produce luminescent effects. Glosses are also handy to keep around for use as a varnish; simply slick on a thin layer to accentuate final colors with extra shine.
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ARTNEWS RECOMMENDS Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Gloss Medium Sometimes the mark of a good gloss medium is the fact that it goes undetected in a finished work. Winsor & Newton’s Galeria medium’s consistency is between that of a lotion and a gel, and it appears translucent even before it dries, unlike the pasty white tone of lesser gloss mediums. It supplies paint with a subtle luminescence—like the original paint, only better.
Buy: Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Medium (Gloss), 500 ml $19.55 Buy it
WE ALSO LIKE Golden Gloss Medium Golden’s gloss medium is a no-nonsense option that adds a reliably beautiful sheen to dry paint time after time. It has a thick, resinous quality that can retain some brushstrokes; this makes it a good option for artists looking to extend and enhance their paints without thinning them significantly. When using this as a varnish, apply it in thin layers to avoid crazing, that unsightly cracking and rippling that can occur when put on too thickly.
Buy: Golden Gloss Medium $13.36–$82.24 Buy it
TOP OF THE LINE Grumbacher Artists’ Acrylic Gloss Medium and Varnish, 8 oz Grumbacher’s high-quality gloss is thin but mighty. The multifaceted medium can be used to prime, glaze, or varnish and can even act as an effective collage adhesive. Apply sparingly to maintain some of the body of unadulterated paint, or use more for clean and even glazes. You’ll be left with a subtle yet profound level of shine that avoids the plastic or oily effect of some gloss mediums and varnishes.
Buy: Grumbacher Artists’ Acrylic Gloss Medium and Varnish, 8 oz Buy it
EDUCATORS’ CHOICE Liquitex Professional Acrylic Gloss Medium, 8 oz Liquitex’s fluid medium used to be called a gloss medium and varnish; this is the same product with the same capabilities. The clear, flexible medium not only blends well and makes your paints flow more easily, but also adds a quick-drying gloss overlay that can unify the finishes of your paints and highlight brushstrokes. For students and others looking to get the most out of their products, this well-priced two-in-one is an effective choice.
ALSO CONSIDER Pebeo Studio Acrylics Pouring Medium Poured acrylic paintings have become extremely popular, and Pebeo has formulated an acrylic medium specifically for poured paintings. Obviously, flow is the top consideration in a pouring medium, but it also must not affect the luster of the paint, as a smooth, glasslike surface is often a major part of the appeal. Pebeo’s medium is always free from air bubbles and will not yellow.
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