Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists

Layering with Glazes

The term glaze refers to a t hin, transparent layer of paint
Glazes were popular with the old masters, who thinned
down their oil paints until they were almost transparent in
order to create subtle color through optical mixing- that
is, the colors are not physically mixed by the artist, but are
mixed in the eye of the viewer. A physical mix of blue plus
yellow can result in a very different shade of green from
one created by layering multiple glazes of alternate yellow
and blue.

Here is a list of transparent colors that make excellent
glazes. They can be mixed together to form dozens of
other hues.

Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide

Transparent Red Iron Oxide

Transparent Pyrrole Orange

Hansa Yellow Medium

Nickel Azo Yellow

All the Phthalos

All the Dioxazines

All the Ouinacridones

For a beautiful warm brown, try mixing Jenkins Green
and Transparent Red Iron Oxide. For a vibrant black, mix
Paynes Gray with Ouinacridone Burnt Orange.

Although they are not officially transparent, Paynes Gray
and Jenkins Green can be applied very thinly to make
them appear so. In fact, all colors can be thinned with a
fluid medium to increase their transparency.

72 I CREATIVE PA I N T WO RKSHOP

The Proposal, Ann Baldwin,

8" x 5" (20.3 x 12.7 em).

acrylic. found images on

paper. Private collection.

Even a very small painting

like this can be made into

something special with

transparent glazes of fluid

acrylic paint.

Thin layers of Transparent Yel/ow Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Red,

Ultramarine Blue, Jenkins Green, Ouinocridone Crimson, ond

Transparent Red Iron Oxide hove been laid down over waterproof

ink marks. Each layer must be dried thoroughly before the next is

applied, or the colors will mix physically. The paint would still be

transparent, but the colors would be changed.