As my most used art supply for mixed media, collage and acrylic painting, it makes a significant difference to my art supply budget to improve the economy of matte and gloss gel mediums.
Here I share the application tips and buying recommendations I use that have enabled me to save about half of what I was spending on these products. Here we will look at how to use less product, compare brands to get the best price, and how to use a combination of products to get the best value.
Product Saving Tips
- Use the right VISCOSITY for the application
Fluid medium is best for light materials and gel medium is best for heavier materials. So, if for example, you collage cardstock with fluid or soft medium instead of gel, it will work but you will use far more product to get a good result.
- Use the right QUALITY for the application
The quality of the medium matters when mixing it with paint or applying it on top of collage papers. So, for example, a lot of cost can be saved by using a cheaper adhesive medium underneath the collage paper (which is where you use the most product) and save a quality brand for the surface of the layer.
- EXTEND your good quality paints
Keep in mind that these mediums can save you money, as you can make your more expensive acrylic paints go further when mixed with matte or gloss medium, increasing the economy of your paints.
Brand Cost Comparison
Listed below are the range of mediums from highest cost to lowest cost, at time of publishing.
Observations and subsequent recommendations are beneath the list.
To level out the playing field for the cost comparison, price per ml or fluid ounce has been calculated based on the most common retail price across Australia, without any discounts. Naturally, this will be subject to change, however having bought these items over many years, I believe the scale of high to low would remain consistent.
Ordered from highest to lowest, price is AUD and rounding has occurred.
- Dina Wakley Soft Gel Medium (Ranger) – 24c per ml/$7 per fl. oz ($7 for 29 ml)
- Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium (Ranger) – 17c per ml/$5 per fl. oz ($15 for 88 ml)
- Dina Wakley Ultra Thick Gel Medium (Ranger) – 12.7c per ml/$3.75 per fl. oz ($15 for 118 ml)
- Golden Regular Gel Matte – 12c per ml/$3.80 per fl. oz ($30.50 for 237 ml)
- Liquitex Matte or Gloss Medium – 11c per ml/$3.25 per fl. oz ($26 for 237 ml)
- Liquitex Matte or Gloss Gel -Medium – 11c per ml/$3.25 per fl. oz ($26 for 237 ml)
- Mod Podge Matte or Gloss – 9c per ml/$2.62 per fl. oz ($21 for 236 ml)
- Holcroft Gel Medium Matte – 8c per ml/$2.38 per fl. oz ($20 for 250ml)
- Atelier Heavy Gel Gloss – 7c per ml/$2 per fl. oz ($17 for 250ml)
- Porta Craft Soft and Heavy Gel Medium – 6c per ml/$1.50 per fl. oz ($6 for 100ml)
Surprising Results
The Most Expensive
The top 3 most expensive products are made by Ranger, a company producing products for crafters rather than fine arts. As much as I like these products, by being sold in small jars they appear cheaper but for regular use this is false economy.
Golden has been widely recognised over many decades as the home of one of the highest quality artist grade brands world-wide, and having tried both brands extensively, my experience is that Golden’s superior quality is undeniable. I enjoy Ranger products, but it is difficult to understand paying more for Ranger than Golden.
The Least Expensive
Atelier and Holcroft are artist grade products, and yet they are a similar price to the cheapest craft grade products. Although they do not provide my favourite finishes, they are good quality products that don’t dry out as quickly as some of the others I have tried and would still give much better results than the craft products.
My Ideal Combination for Best Economy
- Liquitex Matte Gel Medium for collaging with heavy paper or impasto techniques. If I had to choose only one, this would be my favourite for performance, and I purchase the largest tub to bring the price down to 7c per ml/$2.18 per fl. oz (946ml/32 fl. oz for $70).
- Liquitex Matte Medium for collaging with tissue or making paint fluid
- Atelier Heavy Gel Gloss for less expensive applications such as underlayers, impasto techniques or when a gloss finish is desired.
Buying Tips
- Liquitex and Golden products become significantly more economical in the larger tubs. Consider the 473ml/16 fl. oz. tubs if using regularly.
- Atelier and Holcroft come on sale more regularly than some of the other artist grade products.
- Mod Podge is not designed for art applications involving acrylic paint; however it is included in the cost comparison to highlight that it isn’t much cheaper than an artist grade product.
- Derivan Matisse have great artist grade mediums. They haven’t been included here as I haven’t tried their matte or gel mediums, however I have been very impressed with several of their other mediums so am sure this would be another excellent alternative.
The information here is simply based on my own experience, and as art is all about exploration and there are many variables in methods, materials, and conditions, I understand this information may not be right for you.
