Acrylic Mediums, Gels and Pastes

Choose the Right Acrylic Medium for Your Technique

Acrylic mediums allow you to change how acrylic paint flows, dries, handles and appears without simply diluting it with water. The right product can help you create smooth pours, transparent glazes, longer blending times, glossy finishes, fabric designs or heavily textured artwork. Global Colours acrylic mediums, gels and pastes can be used with compatible Global Colours acrylic paints to adjust their working properties while retaining the flexibility and durability expected from an acrylic painting system.

Fluid Mediums for Pouring, Glazing and Blending

For fluid art and marbled effects, Pouring Medium creates a smooth, self-levelling consistency that can be mixed with acrylic colour and poured directly onto a prepared surface. It dries to a flexible, transparent and high-gloss finish while helping maintain the strength and vibrancy of the colour. Keep It Simple Pouring Medium provides an all-in-one option for artists who want to create cells, swipes, flip cups, puddle pours and other fluid-art effects without combining several separate additives. Glazing Medium increases the transparency, flow and spreadability of acrylic paint. It is ideal for building translucent layers, soft colour transitions, washes and wet-look effects while allowing previously painted details to remain visible. Open / Slow Drying Medium extends the working time of acrylic paint, giving you longer to blend colours and create smoother transitions. It is particularly useful for wet-on-wet painting, detailed blending, antiquing, folk art and techniques where standard acrylic paint may dry too quickly.

Turn Acrylic Paint into Fabric Paint

Fabric Medium can be mixed with Global Colours acrylic paint to create flexible, washable fabric colour. Once the painted fabric has dried and been correctly heat-set, the design becomes permanent and resistant to washing and dry cleaning. It is suitable for creative clothing, textile decoration, costumes, bags and other ironable fabrics. Always follow the product instructions, test a small area first and confirm that the fabric is suitable before beginning a larger project.

Acrylic Gels and Pastes for Texture and Dimension

Regular Gel Gloss is suited to artists who want to increase gloss, transparency and visual depth while retaining a thicker consistency. It can be mixed with acrylic colour, applied with a brush or palette knife and used to build transparent layers or glossy textured effects. Impasto Medium has a firm, heavy-bodied consistency and can be mixed with acrylic colour to extend the volume of the paint while maintaining strong colour and coverage. Use it for visible brush marks, palette-knife painting and raised impasto effects. For more pronounced texture, 3D Modelling Paste can be used to build raised surfaces, sculptural details and opaque dimensional effects. Apply it with a spatula or palette knife, build deeper textures in layers and paint over the surface once it has dried completely.

Which Acrylic Medium Should You Use?

Choose your medium according to the effect you want to achieve:

• Choose Pouring Medium for smooth fluid art, marbling and high-gloss pours.
• Choose Keep It Simple Pouring Medium for an all-in-one pouring and cell-creation system.
• Choose Glazing Medium for transparent layers, washes and colour transitions.
• Choose Open / Slow Drying Medium for extra blending and working time.
• Choose Fabric Medium for painting permanent designs onto suitable textiles.
• Choose Regular Gel Gloss for glossy, transparent and textured applications.
• Choose Impasto Medium for thick paint effects and economical paint extension.
• Choose 3D Modelling Paste for firm, opaque and heavily built-up texture.

The products are available in a range of sizes, from smaller studio containers through to larger one, two and four-litre options. Available sizes vary between products, allowing you to select the right quantity for experimentation, regular studio use, teaching or larger projects.

Australian-Made Acrylic Mediums

Global Colours acrylic paints and mediums have been manufactured in Marrickville, Sydney since 1992. The products in this range are water-based, Australian made, vegan and cruelty-free, with options for professional artists, students, educators and creative makers. Use these mediums with Global Colours Professional High Flow, Professional Acrylic Flow, Fine Art or Student Acrylic Paints to develop a versatile painting system for fluid, traditional and mixed-media techniques.