Can Acrylics Layer Like Oils? Testing Heavy Gel Medium
Since Powerwax is no longer being produced, I’ve been looking for another way to create that same layered, textured feeling in acrylics.
If you know my work, you’ll know I love surfaces that feel built over time… layers, texture, marks showing through, and that slightly worn look I also love in my textured portraits.
So in this experiment, I tested a heavy gel medium to see how it behaves in my layering process, and whether it can give acrylics a more oil-like feel.
My first impressions
The first thing I noticed was that the heavy gel medium felt thinner than Powerwax. It spread easily, but it also dried very fast.
That can be helpful if you like building layers quickly, but it also means you have less time to move things around, create texture, or scrape back into the surface.
I also found that it dries shinier than wax, which gives a different finish than the softer, more matte look I usually love.
What worked well
I did get some lovely textures with it.
Pressing paper into the wet surface worked really well, and I could already imagine using some of those pieces later in collage. I also found that when I applied the medium more thickly, it kept more of that layered effect, with the paint sitting on top of the texture instead of filling everything in.
That is important to me, because I always want some of the earlier layers to remain visible.
If you enjoy this kind of intuitive, layered way of painting, you may also like my acrylic mini-classes, where I explore similar techniques.
What felt different
The biggest difference for me was the scraping back.
With cold wax and oils, or with Powerwax, I love that stage where you can disturb the surface again and reveal what is underneath. With the heavy gel medium, that became much harder once it had dried.
So for me, this medium works beautifully for building layers and creating texture, but less well if you want that soft scraping-back stage later on.
So… can acrylics layer like oils?
I would say: yes, in some ways.
The heavy gel medium gave me some beautiful layered effects, and I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by the results. But compared to cold wax and oils, the surface is still different. It is shinier, and for me it does not quite have the same depth or softness.
Still, I think it is a very promising medium, especially if you love texture and want to keep exploring what acrylics can do.
If you’d like to keep exploring these kinds of materials and layered techniques with me, you can also take a look at my new membership, The Texture Lab!
If you’d like to see the full experiment, with all the little discoveries along the way, you can watch the video here:
And if you’re curious about other materials and approaches, you might also enjoy the free textured acrylics supply guide, which you can find here
