Going Matte: This Acrylic Paint is Oh-So-Flat in All the Best Ways

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Here are 4 application tips for using this matte acrylic paint to create large color-field paintings that catch the eye.

|Sponsored| What if you could paint immersive fields of color without the distraction of texture and glare? There’s a new matte acrylic paint on the scene; this paint has a flowing consistency, offering exceptional coverage and a leveling capability as it dries. This unique combination of qualities can be found in SoFlat Matte Acrylic Colors.

SoFlat is great for large color-field paintings; the small, intricate, and realistic details achieved by acrylic gouache; bright and bold graphic or Pop Art; an edgy street-art style; or simply a beautiful flat appearance without glare.

Here’s a little more about this matte acrylic paint, as well as four useful tips for an oh-so-flat application. Enjoy!

The Perfect Balance

If you’re an acrylic artist seeking to create large, graphic matte works of art, then you’re going to need a paint with excellent coverage, increased opacity, and a flat appearance. SoFlat is formulated to make it easier to achieve this vision, allowing artists to create uniform fields of rich matte color in fewer layers than our other color lines. SoFlat provides excellent coverage for large color-field paintings yet also works great for fine detail work.

Pairing the flowing, leveling consistency of SoFlat with increased opacity and matte sheen was no easy task. The components required to provide a high pigment load, opaque coverage, and flat finish tend to thicken paint; this is counter to the goal of flowing, leveling colors.

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4 Tips for Applying SoFlat

1. Use a large, flat brush with soft synthetic bristles.

Most paint brushes work well with SoFlat to distribute an even and smooth paint film, but the best results for flat, uniform color are achieved by using the largest soft, flat synthetic brush practicable for the application. The leveling and relaxing nature of the paint doesn’t encourage bubbles, even when stirring or shaking the paint before using (which is recommended, due to the fact that some of the colors will settle upon sitting). Generally speaking, soft synthetic bristle brushes work best with acrylics because acrylics are not kind to natural bristle brushes. Coarse bristle brushes will also leave more texture behind.

2. Use additives — not mediums — to slow down drying.

To slow down the drying, Retarder or OPEN Thinner is the best recommendation because these should not raise the gloss of the sheen. These are additives and not mediums, meaning they contain no acrylic binder. So, stick to a maximum addition of 15 percent Retarder or 25 percent OPEN Thinner.

Satin Glazing Liquid and Airbrush Medium could also be used to extend the working time, but it should be kept to small additions or it will raise the gloss level of the paint and add translucency.

To extend SoFlat without changing the drying rate, mixing with Super Matte Medium is the best choice. It will keep the flat finish and if adding in moderate amounts, should not change the consistency. Water can be used to thin SoFlat, but it is not recommended to use additions over 15 percent or the film can become water sensitive and some color lift may occur when layering with another water borne product. Adding water will lower the pigment load or increase translucency.

3. Use Fluid Matte Medium to reduce an oil halo in your underpainting.

While SoFlat can be used to create a flat and toothy underpainting or base layer for oil painting, some oil paints on top of SoFlat can develop a visible oil halo, where the oil spreads outside the paint application. Reducing the absorbency of the SoFlat matte surface by applying a thin layer of Fluid Matte Medium on top could eliminate this oil halo. Apply a minimum of 2 coats of Gesso or Fluid Matte Medium as a “Clear Gesso” to the canvas, panel, or paper before creating the underpainting with SoFlat.

4. Apply an isolation coat before varnishing.

Varnishing a painting made with SoFlat can certainly be done, but a matte varnish could raise the sheen and lighten the color a bit. The best recommendation is to apply an isolation coat on top of the paint and before the varnish. It may seem counterintuitive to apply a glossy isolation coat on top of a matte paint, but the isolation coat not only protects the paint if the varnish ever needs to be removed, it also helps the varnish apply more smoothly and evenly.

Gloss films are clear, which will saturate or darken color. Matte varnishes are hazy, which will lighten color. This combination of darkening then lightening cancels each other out, and the color should appear closest to the original color.

Varnishing is always optional, but if the painting is going to be hung in a dirty environment or with concentrated UV exposure and the protection of a removable varnish is desired, the isolation coat should be applied.

Try SoFlat for yourself!

Now that we’ve shared some application techniques, we hope you are inspired to give SoFlat Matte Acrylic Colors a go! Visit GoldenSoFlat.com to learn more.