Acrylic paints are a water-based paint.

This means that yes, you can add water to acrylic paints.

Some sources say you could add up to 50% water.

I say NO WAY.

This is way too much water for a good ratio for acrylic paints and will result in the paint pigments breaking down and resulting in a dry and dull painting.

So how do you know how much water you should add?

My simple and “unscientific” opinion after several years of working with acrylics is to go slowly. I use a mister bottle and will lightly mist my canvas before starting work. I also mist the acrylics on my palette just to keep them wet and workable.

I also keep several tubs of water around when I’m working. One I’ll use to keep brushes that I’ve used and need to clean. One is kept clean to add water to paint (if needed). One is usually for black or white paint.

For example:

If I’m done with a brush and know I won’t use it any longer that day before cleaning it, it goes in the first tub of water. You want to always keep your brushes in water (never let the paint dry in them - BIG MISTAKE). These should be kept in water until you clean them.

In the second tub of clean water, I don’t put any brushes as I’m working. I keep it clean in case I need to pour a little into a paint mix, etc.

In the third (black or white), I keep brushes that have been used to finish sides of paintings. I usually finish in black or white and once you’ve put of brush full of black (or white) paint into a tub of water, you’ll see that you don’t want to continue to try to use it. This is especially true of black paint!

If you are using water primarily to thin out your acrylics, you doing you paintings a disservice!

In my tutorials, I talk a lot about various mediums and what they and how I use them.

Mediums can add a beautiful luster to your paint, help thin out acrylics and also add various finishes.

For example, I use a lot of glaze mediums and I love these to thin out my acrylics and create layered paintings and paintings with translucency.

You can do this with other mediums, but glazes is my personal favorite.

I like the Golden brand glazes (again, just a personal favorite). I know they are archival and will give me a consistent finish.

Overall, I would suggest a water ratio of no more than 1/4 water to 3/4 paint and even less than that!

That would a lot of water, so I would suggest breaking down the water used to 1/2 water and 1/2 medium (still resulting in only 1/4 of the thinning agent to my paint).

1/2 water and 1/2 glaze / 1/2 water and /1/2 flow medium / 1/2 water and 1/2 GAC and so on.

This takes a little time to work out for your personal style and type of artwork, but once you get used to working with acrylics, you’ll know exactly how much water you should use in your own artworks!

To learn acrylic painting and get step-by-step tutorials, visit my site for Creators at http://www.101artists.com