A tub of texture gel has the consistency of cooking lard: When you scoop out a lump with a palette knife, the medium holds its shape. It doesn’t drip or droop but stays put. You can create peaks and grooves with a palette knife, brush marks with a coarse-haired brush, press patterns into it, use it as glue to add collage items. It’s extremely versatile. Texture mediums come in white and clear, so if you have a preference, pay attention to the label. By the way, the word medium can also mean the type of paint, for instance, acrylic or watercolor. (You can usually judge what is meant by the context in which the word is used.) How do you know what it’ll be like? Read the label on the container, which should give you this information. If it doesn’t, see if there’s an information sheet available from the manufacturer, or test it before you use it on a canvas. Be aware that there are differences so that if a new tub of texture medium doesn’t act exactly as you expected, don’t panic that you’re doing something wrong. Whether it’s glossy or matte isn’t critical since you can change something from glossy to matte (or matte to glossy) when you varnish a painting relatively easily. Just add a varnish to give the finish you want. The opacity of the medium is important if you’re mixing it with color as it will have an impact on what the color looks like when it’s dry. Don’t get caught out by a medium making your colors appear lighter than you’d intended. It’s something you learn from a bit of trial and error until you get a feel for it. Remember, you can always paint over the texture medium, so if something isn’t the right color when it’s dried, it’s not a disaster. How long texture paste takes to dry depends on how thickly you’ve laid it down. Very thick layers will be dry to the touch in a few minutes but not dry all the way through, so if you apply lots of pressure it may flatten. Again, a little experimentation will soon teach you what to expect. Spreading texture paste with a painting knife is akin to buttering a slice of bread with a springy knife. The action is the same, and if you don’t like what you’ve done you can scrape it all up and start again. In some brands, you can use texture paste straight from the container, without mixing any paint into it. Some brands look very white when you apply them but won’t after its dried. You can also apply the paste right on top of some dried paint—as with all acrylic mediums, you can use it at any stage in a painting’s development. Texture medium is great for adding textures in skies, seashores, grasses, rusted surfaces, windswept hair. Don’t focus on getting a perfect end result when you first use texture paste, but play around and experiment to see what happens. By running a brush over the surface lightly, the paint hits only the top ridges of the texture. By pressing a brush firmly against the surface, it’ll go in between the ridges too. Another option is to use very fluid paint, which will flow off the ridges and puddle between them. If in doubt, remove the medium while it’s still wet and then think about what you’re doing with it. When it’s dry, however, you’ll have to take some sandpaper to smooth down the surface.
