Acrylic have become over recent years the globes most popular media. Water-based acrylic paint is composed of paint particles dispersed into an acrylic polymer emulsion. There are three main components in all acrylics; namely:
- Pigments
- These are granular solids which give the acrylic paints their colour. They are usually milled to very tiny particle sizes and they do not dissolve, but usually remain suspended in the paint. Pigments can be either inorganic, organic, natural and usually synthetic. They have no or very little affinity for the surfaces to which they are applied.
- Binder
- This is a substance that keeps the pigments in place after the paint has dried. The acrylic paint has an acrylic polymer as its binder, and this then forms a thin film after the water has evaporated.
- Vehicle
- A vehicle in the acrylic paint refers to the part of the paint that carries the pigment and the binder. Water is usually the vehicle for water-based acrylic and when combined with the binder, it then creates the polymer emulsion. The paint will then dry once the water leaves the systems by either evaporation or absorption, and this created the stable clear polymer film full of the trapped coloured pigment particles.
- Another vehicle that is generally used by most acrylic fluid artist is called “Acrylic Flow Medium”. This is a liquid diluent and binder that is formulated for use in a variety of acrylic paints. When diluted in the acrylic paint this gives the paint the “fluid” dynamics for the creation of stunning fluid acrylic / pouring acrylic artworks. The Flow Medium prevents five types of cracking that Pouring Artists often battle with. The Flow Medium is fantastic as the super rubbery cohesion that it creates makes it possible to pull the entire dry pour off plastic with no damage to the dry pour at all. Flow Medium can also be added to acrylic paints that will be used for Fabric Painting – this increases the flow of the paint and helps it to bind onto the individual fabric fibers and the highly flexible nature of the Flow Medium makes the paint less likely to crack and more comfortable to wear on clothing.
To us the Flow Medium can be problematic as one has to get the correct flow for each specific pouring technique of the various skills that each artist needs to develop.
Should you be battling with getting your “Acrylic Flow Medium” mixing correct, you are more than welcome to contact me at candi@candiart.co.za for assistance.