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GOLDEN Gels are the undiscovered and under-utilized secret of acrylic materials. No other medium offers artists the incredible array of options in surfaces, viscosities, transparencies, textures, glazes and extending possibilities, while maintaining great flexibility and a relatively quick drying time.

What Are Gels?
Gels are thickened acrylic emulsion (acrylic binder), and the very same "stuff" acrylic paint is made of. Simply stated, gels are acrylic without pigment.

Gels are designed for use with acrylic paint to change the paint’s characteristics. They may also be used alone to provide a transparent layer or to provide texture. There are no limits to gel uses.

Luminosity:
Gels come in different surfaces: gloss, semi-gloss and matte (see below). Gloss Gels dry to a clear, almost glass-like luminosity. They have no matting agents added, and do not change the quality or color of paint to which they are added. The Semi-Gloss & Matte Gels have matting agents added, reducing luminosity. The matte version of Gels does not have the luminosity of the gloss or semi-gloss gels. Matte Gels are stiffer and appear a bit "cloudy" or satin-like because of the addition of matting agents. Matte Gels will affect the color of the paint. Other Gels like Fine Pumice Gel or Garnet Gel (Fine) have solids in them and dry to an opaque finish, not the clear, glass-like luminosity of Regular Gel (Gloss).

Consistency:
Gels come in a variety of consistencies - Soft, Regular, Heavy, Extra Heavy, High Solid, Pumice, Garnet and Tar versions. These varieties allow for self-leveling (Self-Leveling Clear Gel) or high peak thickness (Extra Heavy Gel or High Solid Gel) with many options in between.


Soft Gel (Gloss)	High Solid Gel (Gloss)	Extra Heavy Gel (Gloss)	Fine Pumice Gel	Garnet Gel (Coarse)

The basic gel, often called Regular Gel, is the same consistency as GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylics. Regular Gels are used for regulating transparency without changing the consistency or viscosity of the paint, and as extenders.

Texture:
Some Gels use particulate materials to vary texture. GOLDEN Garnet Gels come in Fine, Coarse and Extra Coarse. Garnet Gel (Fine) contains fine sand-like Garnet particles while the Garnet Gel (Extra Coarse) has chunks of Garnet.
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No Rules
Gels can be applied as thin washes over thick glazes, or as gritty gels over thin washes. Paint directly over gels using them as unique grounds or put gels over color or add them to each other. Get the idea? Almost anything will work!

The examples below are only a few ideas of how gels can dramatically change the appearance of the ubiquitous pear. These funky pears are only "a drop in the bucket" of the hundreds of variations on a gel and pear theme.

Painters traditionally think of glazes as thin transparent layers used by the old masters. Gels enable a painter to create thick transparent glazes that are luscious with a rich luminosity and depth. If you want to try to duplicate my gorgeous Thick Glazed Pear painting, follow these simple instructions. First paint an underpainting using three colors (Hansa Yellow Opaque, Turquoise Phthalo & Quinacridone Crimson). For this image the underpainting of the pear is Hansa Yellow Opaque. Keep the values light, because you are going to glaze over it. Mix your glaze colors using a larger proportion of a thick or heavy gloss gel to pigment. (10 parts gel to 1 part pigment) Go ahead, be extravagant with the gel. Apply this mixture (I used Heavy Gel Gloss mixed with Quinacridone Gold) very thickly with a palette knife, covering the pear. For the background I used a glaze of Turquoise Phthalo and for the foreground, Quinacridone Crimson. The painting appears very opaque while it is wet. As the gel dries and clears, the entire painting will brighten and the rich glazing quality will become apparent.

This is a simple way to experiment with using gels as grounds. For the Pear in a Wet Ground, I used Soft Gel Gloss that has a creamy, spreadable consistency. Using a palette knife, I applied the soft gel over an underpainting (similar to the first pear). While the gel was still wet I used a soft synthetic watercolor brush loaded with wet color. As I moved the wet paint into and through the wet gel, I created deep juicy brush strokes. I never added enough paint to opacify the gel, so I was left with mostly transparent glazes. It is nearly impossible to work with detail in this way, but it is guaranteed to loosen up your painting style. An added advantage of using gels in this manner is that it will keep your paint wet longer. However, thick applications of acrylic take a longer time to dry.

For the highly textured paint strokes in the Highly Textured Pears, I added Heavy Gel Matte (a very stiff gel) to all the paint. I used a palette knife to add the mixtures to the painting, then used a stiff bristle brush to create more texture while pushing the paint around. A great advantage to acrylic is the quick drying time. Imagine waiting for this thick painting to dry if it was in oil!

To the right is another way to use the Heavy Gel Matte. Begin with an underpainting. The paint should not be too dark in value, because you will be glazing over it with another color. When your underpainting is dry, use a palette knife to spread the Heavy Gel Matte over the entire surface. Now, while it is wet, draw or incise the deep texture lines with the point of your palette knife. Let this layer dry. Mix a glaze of 10 percent color and 90 percent Polymer Medium or Acrylic Glazing Liquid. You want this thin glaze to "puddle in the ditches", or settle out in the crevices that you have created with the gel.

Another example of this technique is the landscape pictured to the left. The difference is that we used Soft Gel Matte. The incised lines do not have the hard edges of the Heavy Gel Matte.