Is Water Using With Acrylic - Good or Bad?

There seems to be a myth that you are not supposed to use water with acrylic, and there's another one that you should always use water. This issue with water was something that really complicated me when I first started using acrylic paints. Let me clear this up.

Basically water is not a bad thing to add to acrylic. However, there are some basic issues that when understood will help you decide when to use it and when not to use it.

First let's look at what makes paint. Generally all paint is made of 2 basic components: pigment (for colour) and binder (to make the pigment usable as a paint). So there's pigment and binder, then there's the solvent. each medium has a solvent that will break it down. For acrylic the solvent is water. The water quickly evaporates and only the dry medium and pigment are left behind.

Acrylic without water will produce a paint film layer that looks juicy, glossy and substantial when applied over any surface. You can add up to 20% water to acrylic paint, and it will still have that juicy, glossy paint film, it will just get a bit thinner. And when you add 50% or 80% water to acrylic paint it is called as overdiluted. It looks totally different when it is overdiluted. It will give a watercolour effect.

So here are some key ideas:

1. Use acrylic without any water at all for a rich, juicy, glossy , plastic, high coverage layer.
2. Use up to 20% water to acrylic to get slightly loosen paint.
3. Adding up to 30% water will give the paint a more matte (flat) appearance and lighten the intensity of the colours.
4. Add 80% water to 20% paint to get an overdiluted wash to get a specific effect (a kind of watercolour effect).
5. Having a little spray bottle of water handy allows you to add a mist of water as you paint to prevent the acrylic medium from drying before you are ready.Acrylic paint dries very fast, and once happens, remember, it is permanent. Asprayer can keep the paint liquid a bit longer. Do not use the water all over your palette to slow the drying or you won't be able to control how much water is going into your paint.

Of course, you can use no water at all.

This will give you the brightest colour, fastest drying time, and easiest use. Even the brush wetting can be skipped entirely, as long as you rinse the brushes with water once done (remember, it dries fast).

Again, the most important thing to remember is determining how much water you want in your paint depending on the type of effect you are looking for.