Textured Acrylics
Acrylics & Texture Mediums
Your complete guide to textured acrylic painting
Love the look of layered, textured paintings but prefer working in acrylics? Mix your acrylic paints with a texture medium — Heavy Gel Medium, Powerwax, or another acrylic texture medium — to build rich, matte surfaces with depth and movement.
Beautiful Texture
Creates layered depth and a soft, matte finish with heavy gel medium, Powerwax, or another texture medium
Fast Drying
Dries in hours instead of weeks — fast enough to build layers in a single session
Safe & Easy
No fumes, no solvents — just soap and water for cleanup. Perfect for home studios.
Endless Creativity
Mix with collage, pigments, inks, sand, or marble dust for unique textured surfaces
Getting Started with Textured Acrylics
Everything you need to know about acrylic texture mediums and how to begin
What Is a Texture Medium?
A texture medium is a thickening gel or paste that you mix into your acrylic paints to create body, depth, and a soft matte finish. Heavy Gel Medium, Powerwax (water-based cold wax), and other acrylic texture mediums all work beautifully for layered, textured painting.
Why Artists Love It
- No fumes or solvents — safe and non-toxic
- Dries in hours instead of weeks
- Rich, layered depth with a soft matte finish
- Works with stencils, collage, pigments, and drawing tools
- Easy cleanup with just soap and water
Free guide
Free Art Supply Guide for Textured Acrylics
Not sure what materials you need? Download my free supply guide with my personal recommendations for acrylic paints, texture mediums, tools, and surfaces to get started with textured acrylic painting.
Beyond Abstract
Figurative Textured Acrylic Painting
While many artists use texture medium for abstract work, I love painting figurative subjects — portraits, figures, and dreamy faces — on rich, textured acrylic backgrounds.
Free Videos on YouTube
Watch me paint with acrylics and texture medium — tips, techniques, and full painting demos.
Painting with Acrylics & Texture Medium
Layering Techniques for Textured Acrylics
Textured Acrylic Painting Demo
Creating Textures with Heavy Gel Medium
Learn to Paint Textured Acrylics
Step-by-step video classes where I walk you through colour, layering, and composition so you can create confident, expressive textured paintings.
PopularPowerwax & Acrylics — The Basics
The comprehensive in-depth class on painting textured acrylics with Powerwax, heavy gel medium, or another texture medium. Techniques, layering, color, and composition.
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FreeTextured Flowers — Free Class
A free class on painting abstract flowers with acrylics and texture medium. Perfect for beginners.
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A Figure in Acrylics
Paint expressive figures with textured acrylics and collage — rich layers full of character.
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Coming SoonTextured Mini-Portraits
Paint playful textured mini-portraits in acrylics — intuitive layers, soft colour, and expressive faces.
Coming SoonTips & Tutorials
Read more about textured acrylic techniques, supplies, and inspiration on the blog
A note on Powerwax
Looking for Powerwax?
In my classes I often demonstrate with Powerwax, a water-based cold wax made by Powertex. You can use it for the same techniques, or swap it for Heavy Gel Medium or another acrylic texture medium — whatever you already have or can find locally.
Where to Buy PowerwaxFrequently Asked Questions
Which texture medium should I use for acrylic painting?⌄
You can use heavy gel medium, Powerwax (a water-based cold wax), or another acrylic texture medium. I love Powerwax for its soft, matte finish, but heavy gel medium is widely available and works beautifully too. The techniques in my classes work with any of them.
What is the difference between heavy gel medium and Powerwax?⌄
Heavy gel medium is widely available from most acrylic brands (Golden, Liquitex, etc.) and tends to dry a bit more glossy and plastic-like. Powerwax creates a softer, more matte finish with better transparency — closer to the feel of traditional oil-based cold wax. Both work for the textured layering techniques I teach.
Can I use textured acrylics for figurative painting and portraits?⌄
Yes! Textured acrylics are beautiful for figurative work — portraits, figures, and expressive faces. I love building rich textured layers first and then letting the figure or portrait emerge from within them.
How long does a textured acrylic painting take to dry?⌄
Most thin layers are dry after an hour or two. Thicker layers with added sand or marble dust may take longer. This makes textured acrylics much faster than cold wax and oils — you can build several layers in a single session.
Do I need any experience to start?⌄
Not at all. If you're new to painting, my free class is the perfect place to begin. I'll walk you through every step, and the techniques are forgiving — if you don't love a layer, you can always cover it or scrape it back.
What are your favorite drawing tools for textured acrylics?⌄
I love Neocolor II water-soluble crayons, coloured pencils, and Stabilo All pencils for adding lines and details into and on top of wet wax layers.
What are your favorite texture tools?⌄
Stencils, embossed wallpaper, wooden skewers, stamps, silicone wedges, old credit cards, and palette knives. There are endless possibilities for building texture.
Ready to Try Textured Acrylics?
Join artists worldwide discovering layered, textured acrylic painting.