[Briguy9686]

My friend talks to me about "glazing" all the time, and not quite sure this is the correct term for what i'm trying to accomplish. What i really want to do is go over certain areas of my painting with a very sheer semi-transparent coat that allows you to see through to the detail created underneath, but overall just lightens or darkens a certain area.

I've tried mixing acrylic with water and also a "diluter" but when i apply to the canvas it goes on as kind of a streaky mess. It doesn't apply evenly all over.

Are there any thoughts here? Is there a certain compound i can put a small amount of acrylic paint in so that i can go over in shear / semi-transparent coats to build up lightness or darkness over a certain area?

 

[HaroldRoth]

Have you tried using glazing medium? Golden makes it in satin, matte, and gloss. I use satin a lot. You can really dilute the color down a lot and build it up very gradually. In terms of streaks, I usually counter that by kind of smudging the glaze with the brush. I put not much on the brush and then spread it out a bit like scrubbing.

The only way to lighten a painting is to do a zinc glaze, but that is going to interfere with details and look more like mist or dust than just brighter. To darken, you have your choice. Just select a pigment that is transparent and use that as a glaze. I usually do many glazes of the same color in order to very much control shading. A bigger brush is good for this, I find, esp. a bright, which has shorter bristles than a regular flat.