If you have ever worked with acrylic paint, you know that it dries very quickly. For some techniques, this is okay. However, it is nice when there is more time to work with the paint both on the palette and on the canvas or whatever surface you are painting on.

In the video above you can see my recommendations. I have taken screenshots at different points and will put them below with each of the different ways I have tried to extend the life of the paint. 

I will be using four different fluids in this review:

1. Water
2. Retarder (Golden)
3. Glazing Liquid (Golden)
4. Soft Gel (Golden)

Before we get started let’s discuss a few things. Pure acrylic paint has three main ingredients: pigment, binder (or polymer), and water. Depending on the quality (and usually the cost) of the paint will determine exactly how much pigment and binder vs water is in the paint. By adding any of the fluids above, you are inevitably decreasing the amount of pigment and binder per volume of paint. As acrylic paint dries, it is simply the water evaporating from the mixture. The binder creates a space for the pigment to dry in and we get a nice looking finished dried paint. Our goal is to keep the binder and pigment together while still increasing the longevity of the drying time.

In this review I will be ranking two things from longest to shortest:

1. Drying Time On The Palette
2. Drying Time On The Canvas

Here is a disclaimer before we go any further. I am sharing with you my experience. I’m not saying it is the best or only way to do things. Art is very subjective in all terms and I want to share what I have seen. If something is different for you, please share in the comments so everyone can benefit!

Water

By adding water to the paint, the life is extended. I mixed eight drops of water but I have heard of many artists using a spray bottle and misting the top of the paint on their palette to keep it from drying out.

When you add extra water to acrylic paint, you are diluting the paint. If you start to add too much, the water overpowers the binder which will affect the pigment of the paint when drying. When this mixture dries, it will make the paint very thin or appear blotchy. Then when trying to blend with acrylic paint that has extra water in it, I noticed that it doesn’t blend very well. I felt as if the paint was being pulled around instead of blending.

In my trial, I didn’t add too much water but enough to see the effects. It did make the paint not dry out as quickly. On the palette, it actually came in second for lasting the longest before drying. On the canvas, it dried out much quicker than the paint that had other fluid added to it.

Drying Time Rank On Palette: 2

Drying Time Rank On Canvas: 4

Retarder

The life was greatly extended by adding retarder to the paint. I tried to mix an equivalent amount of retarder as I did the other fluids. I mixed it right in with a palette knife as I did the water.

The amount of time that the paint stayed wet on the palette and on the canvas was greatly increased. It also did better than the water in terms of looking diluted. It makes it easy to blend and work with other paints in a painting.

I did a fingerprint test on the paint as time went on and you can easily see that the Retarder fluid was the best for extending the drying time of acrylic paint on canvas.

Glazing Liquid

With the glazing liquid, the drying time was extended well. It did very well in terms of drying time on the canvas coming in second place. However, on the palette, I found that it actually dried quicker than every other fluid. This may have been because there wasn’t as much left. This surprised me. It was better for thin paint than the soft gel but not as good as the soft gel for a thicker paint. The coverage was actually better than expected. If you were to use the glazing liquid and try to paint over a darker colour, then it wouldn’t have as good of coverage as some of the others as it is more for glazing.

Drying Time Rank On Palette: 4

Drying Time Rank On Canvas: 2

Soft Gel

The soft gel or any other type of gel medium usually serves to thicken the paint or give it a certain texture. I found in this review that it is capable of extending the drying time fairly well. Since it thickens up the paint, it spread very similarly to just the original paint with nothing added to it. A gel medium is probably what I would recommend in order to extend the life of acrylic paint if you want the thick paint texture. I often use this when I mix a colour but then realize I might need more of it.

Drying Time Rank On Palette: 3

Drying Time Rank On Canvas: 3 (Although very similar to glazing liquid with thick parts)

After One Hour

Overall:

I find the best thing to extend the life of acrylic paint is Retarder Fluid. I use the Golden brand but I know there are many other brands. I don’t know of their success rates but they are probably worth a try too. Retarder allows better blending and workability on the canvas. It ranked #1 in both areas in this review.

The water actually held up better than I thought on the palette and it didn’t get as thin as I thought it would on the canvas. But be careful to not add too much water or else it will start to separate. As I mentioned before, I have seen people use a spray bottle to mist the top of their palette to keep the paint from drying. This could be a good strategy though I have never used it.

The glazing liquid dried faster on the palette than I thought it would but held its own on the canvas. It would be good for some blending work on the canvas.

The soft gel extends the life on both the canvas and the palette but just for a shorter time than some of the other fluids. If you are wanting the thick and textured look, adding some gel will definitely help extend its life while allowing you to keep the consistency.

I hope you found some of this information to be useful. If you have had different experiences, or have another strategy to increase the drying time of acrylic paint, just leave a comment below for everyone to benefit!