Painting Tools: Retarder
Retarder is a colourless medium which are added to acrylics to increase the working time of the paint.
Acrylic paints always dry fast as the water evaporates very quickly,
so artists often add an acrylic retarder to the paint to slow down the drying process.
Using a retarder also provide the artist with more time to layer and blend the colours
which is very useful when painting wet-over-wet or wet-over-dry techniques.
Retarders also affect the opacity of the paint and increase the transparency of the colour.
Using a Retarder is often preferred by artist who paint outside as the paint dries even faster in windy and warm conditions.
The retarder can be mixed with acrylic colour on a palette prior to application.
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