Blending with Golden Acrylic Colors and Mediums 

Hello Mohammad, to get slower drying, absolutely use OPEN medium or Glazing Liquid. Most regular gels or pastes will dry at approximately the same rate as your paints, the OPEN and Glazing Liquid products will act as a retarder to slow down drying - without compromising the binding of pigments or leaving a tacky surface after they dry (as can happen when too much retarder is used)

Gabby P. Yes, you can mix with water, however that will accelerate drying and potentially weaken the paint film if too much water is used. For the techniques shown in the video, a slow-drying medium like Acrylic Glazing Liquid or OPEN Medium is recommended.

@@GoldenPaints can I use the glazing medium as a replacement for water for the whole painting? I paint in layers alot and I'm trying to figure out how I can thin my paint out without it drying too fast

The quick answer is yes, you can use Glazing Liquid as much as you like in and through the painting. High Flow medium won't slow drying as much, but it will slow it a bit with a lot of thinning capability and good adhesion. That's just another option to consider instead of water.

Hello Newbie, I don't know where you heard that, but it is incorrect. Glazing Liquid is a complete acrylic medium, Retarder is an additive. But all of our Gels and Pastes are acrylic mediums as are the GAC (numbered) products, even if "medium" is not part of the name or description. If you find "Made with 100% acrylic polymer emulsion" or anything to that effect on the back, that's acrylic binder. You won't find that on Retarder (or OPEN Thinner, or Wetting Agent) because they don't contain acrylic binder, and we recommend limits to the use of these products. Anytime you have a question, our product support folks are ready to answer it. Just call the toll-free # on our website or email help@goldenpaints.com

@@GoldenPaints You all are absolutely amazing!!!!! Always the best with technical product support. Leaving a comment on this specific video seemed appropriate and quicker than a phone call at the time. I was in grad school when I saved the customer support number to my phone. Your support team has helped me hold my own in several debates with students and professors. Thank you very much for helping and putting my mind at ease.

Very glad we can help you. I wish we were able to be as responsive in video comments as we are via phone or email, but we'll get there. Thanks!

Retarder does not contain any acrylic binder, so we recommend keeping additions to 20% or less or it can affect film formation. Glazing Liquid does have binder, so the benefit of using this one is you can use as much or little as needed for your application. It is easy going to use. That being said, the more Glazing Liquid you use the more transparent your colors will become. The benefit of Retarder is that it requires less product to get the same working time as Glazing Liquid so it will affect your colors less, but it requires being careful in how much you use. Both will get you around 10-15 minutes of working time depending upon you environment and surface absorbency.

@@GoldenPaints thank you...also in the Uk there is a product called Expandit. It gives a very nice unique texture to paper and Im sure more uses. It is not available in the USA. My UK friends swear by it and their art pieces show it...anything in Golden maybe?

Hello Janine - the difference between GAC500 and OPEN Thinner is significantly more than drying time. Most importantly OPEN Thinner is an additive that extends the drying time of OPEN paints and can be also used to remove OPEN paints in subtractive techniques. OPEN Thinner contains no binder, so it cannot be used to extend paints. GAC500 on the other hand is pure acrylic binder and can be used to extend paints as far as you like without compromising adhesion. It is also a normal, fast-drying acrylic so it won't alter the drying time of acrylic paints at all.

same i just went with acrylic i dont want the hassle of oil

Hello Apollo, we've heard this from a few artists. OPEN Acrylics give you some of the workability that oils have without oil or solvent - and you can mix OPEN with Heavy Body acrylics to adjust how much drying vs. working time you want.

Hello Lorrie, mediums should not compromise the lightfastness of the paint, but I don't think the testing protocol for ASTM lightfastness includes glazes, only tints.

@@GoldenPaints Thank you!

Thank you for your question. GOLDEN Glazing Liquid contains Retarder, so when estimating the maximum amount of additional Retarder that can be added to a mixture, it would be important to take into account the amount already in the Glazing Liquid. Using too much Retarder can create a situation where the paint remains sticky or does not dry for a very long time. It might be easier to estimate how much Retarder to add if a medium does not contain any. This would allow estimation of the ratio of Retarder to the entire mixture of paint plus medium. We have a Just Paint article about this topic that might be of use: justpaint.org/retarder-slow-drying-additive-for-acrylic-painting/

Thank you for this feedback.