top of page

3D Acrylic Painting Techniques Blog

Blog > What is Super Heavy Gel Medium?

September 14, 2016 - by Ruth Collis

What is Super Heavy Gel Medium?

 

Super Heavy Gel Medium is the thickest medium in gel form that can be formed into sculptural effects that form shapes in a painting, especially when the paint is dried first, shaped, then placed in a painting. It dries flexible, clear, shiny, smooth, and has glue-like properties, which enables heavier objects and dried paint shapes to be adhered in a painting. It does everything Gel Medium does and a LOT more. It enables the thickest goopy fun painting strokes possible for palette knife painting.

So with the Liquitex paint manufacturer, there's Gel Medium which is the thinnest of the thick stuff, then Heavy Gel Medium for a medium viscosity, then Super Heavy Gel Medium being the thickest sculpting quality.

 

Gloss Super Heavy Gel dries very shiny, and Matte Super Heavy Gel dries flat. There are good uses for both.

Super Heavy Gel Medium Uses:

  • Transfer image to canvas

  • Transfer watercolor to panel

Transfer image to canvas with Gel Medium
Transfer watercolor paper to a panel
  • Low impasto height

Impasto painting
  • Glue

Gel Medium glues broken paintbrushes
  • Squeeze Painting

Squeeze painting
  • Palette Knife impasto painting

Impasto flowers
  • Cake Tip Painting

Squeeze painting starfish leg over template with paint
Squeeze painting texture on to starfish made of paint
Putting whole starfish made of paint in painting
  • Paintskins (Build up a palette of unused paint & turn to pipe corals)

Built up dried paintskins can be rolled into classy pipe corals
Turn Unused Palette Paint into Abstract Sculptures
  • Peel Painting

Peel Painting with paper
Peel Painting with a stiff surface
  • Fingerpainting

Fingerpainting with great impasto
  • Crochet paint into String Art

Crocheting PAINT!

Get Free Course

How to Paint a 3D

Simple Sculptural Rose

All this and more can be made with Super Heavy Gel Medium!


Where to Get this super gel medium: Sign up for this mini course on how to get triple the amount of gel for half the price as sold in stores. The course is free.

More on Acrylic Mediums: Acrylic Mediums Explained

To learn about Peel Painting, www.PeelPainting.com

To learn about turning unused palette paint into neat pipe coral sculptures, click here.

Ruth Collis, Sculptural Painting Instructor

Ruth Collis

Sculptural Painting Instructor

www.ThickPainting.com

To learn more, see how to transfer paper peels to canvas in the Peel Painting 1 online course for half off.

  • See how you can peel off the paintskin without it cracking or sticking to itself

  • Cut to shape

  • Transfer to canvas with archival glue to make a fine art painting like above

Benefits of Transferring Peels:

 

  • ​Be able to save unplanned peels when you have excess paint

  • Have paintskin uses for dried palette paint now

  • Save your dried paint without wasting it

  • Pick up thin paintskins otherwise wasted

  • Prevent cost of canvas until you are ready

  • Save our environment by using paintskins from a peelable palette

Some other things you can do with paintskins are to cut thicker skins into strips to basketweave, or cut into mosaic pieces for more art.

Peel Painting 1 online course by Ruth Collis
bottom of page