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I see lots of videos and forum posts with people thinning down their paints. But i cant really see WHY one would do it other than changing the transparency.

Anyone care to help me out a bit?

I'm not that great of a painter but I find it almost manditory for metallics or they dry up faster than ice cube in the middle of summer in Arizona. It clumps less and spreads more easily. I don't normally thin my other paints.

Its mostly to avoid clumps and loss of detail.

So instead of having one messy/streaky/clumpy coat, you can has a clean smooth coat that takes like 3-5+ coats.

I ususally thin most of my paints but it really depends on the color and brand.

 Desubot wrote:
Its mostly to avoid clumps and loss of detail.

So instead of having one messy/streaky/clumpy coat, you can has a clean smooth coat that takes like 3-5+ coats.

I ususally thin most of my paints but it really depends on the color and brand.

+1. This is specially true when using foundation and base paints from GW.

For me, it has felt like the natural evolution of my painting style. I started painting with a black basecoat, and one thick layer of paint. I have since moved to white basecoat, 4-5 thin layers per color, and washes. Yes, it takes longer, but produces a much 'prettier' result. And you can do it assembly-line style if you don't want to wait for each layer to dry.

 Desubot wrote:
Its mostly to avoid clumps and loss of detail.

So instead of having one messy/streaky/clumpy coat, you can has a clean smooth coat that takes like 3-5+ coats.

I ususally thin most of my paints but it really depends on the color and brand.

I find this especially true for white. It's better to do multiple thin coats rather than one or two thick coats. My white ends up looking chalky if I don't thin it.

You have to thin down paints cause they are too thick if taken directly from the pot.
This causes brush strokes, and can cover smaller details.

You have to thin down your paint to use the transparency of acrylics and so be able to blend your colors.


If you don't thin down your paints, then you are most probably a beginner and you are considering that the transparency of acrylics is a dis-advantage. Practice, thin down, and you'll understand that this transparency is a tool you can use.
The day I understood that, it was like a revelation. ^^

Yes, i am most certainly a beginner painter, its the part of the hobby that i very much dislike, but lately ive been trying to learn how to do it better, so at least if im torturing myself to do it, its decent.

I have found that a couple drops of acrylic matte medium makes the paint flow off the brush easier and makes for a more enjoyable painting experience. Dont think of thinning your paints as something you "have to do". Think of it as something you "want to do".

I started painting in 1985. I used to never thin down my paints either. The difference is night and day. Also, hate to break it to you, but you want to used distilled water, not tap or bottled water. I thought it was a load of painter elitist crap too until I tried it. I'm sold. On the bright side, you can get that at any grocery store for a buck or two and a gallon of it lasts about forever if that's all you use it for. It has to do with impurities in the water changing the consistency of the paint and surface tension....other people can explain it better than I can, but I've found out thinning the paint and doing 2 or 3 coats not only makes for a better paint job, but a less frustrating painting experience.

As for adding matte mediums and flow mediums, those can certainly help and depend a lot upon your painting style and the formulation of the paint you're using. There's a good tutorial on the whole subject somewhere in the tutorial thread.

Even if you're drybrushing, you want to thin the paint but not as much just to get all the particles to separate. The difference between a good drybrush job and grainy mess is getting all the clumps out so you're applying the smallest unit of paint particles you can.

 Minus wrote:
You have to thin down paints cause they are too thick if taken directly from the pot.

Or, more precisely, you have to thin down some paints because they are too thick if taken directly from the bottle.

Obviously, this is going to vary from brand to brand, and in some cases even between paints in the same brand.A lot of my Vallejo paints have never needed thinning (if anything, one or two have been too watery to begin with) while others need to be thinned considerably to be at all useful.


GW paints quite often don't need thinning if you score a fresh batch, but they thicken up over time, so the older they get, the more thinning they tend to need.

Yeah, I notice certain colors need more thinning than others too. GW Yellows for example, are the first ones to dry up right in the pot no matter how tight I screw the lid back on. I often take these stubborn colors and add a few drops of distilled water straight to the pot, just so if I take a 6 month hiatus they don't evaporate.

To prevent things like this:

Azrium wrote:
I see lots of videos and forum posts with people thinning down their paints. But i cant really see WHY one would do it other than changing the transparency.

Anyone care to help me out a bit?

Mostly its about having a smooth coat of paint with no brush marks, sometimes its about transparency for blending, but a medium works best for that tbh. The added transparency can help a fair bit with layering ontop of getting a smooth coat