How to Make Acrylic Paint Look and Feel Like Oil: My Exact Medium Recipe
At CMC Fine Art, I love exploring ways to push materials beyond their limits—creating art that feels soulful, tactile, and rich. If you've ever found yourself craving that buttery, blendable quality of oil paints but want the faster drying time (and easier cleanup) of acrylics, you're in the right place.
After lots of trial and error, I’ve discovered a medium mixture that transforms my acrylic paints into something luxuriously close to oils. Here’s exactly how I do it—and some helpful tips if you’d like to try it for yourself.
The Magic Mixture: My 1:1:1:1 Formula
I mix equal parts of the following:
Nova Color Matte Medium
Nova Color Acrylic Retarder
Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Medium
Liquitex Gloss Medium
This 1:1:1:1 ratio creates a custom eggshell-type finish—slightly soft and velvety, not completely matte, but not overly glossy either. It keeps colors vibrant during the painting process without the overly flat, dull appearance that pure matte mediums can cause.
The matte medium and blending medium combination gives the paint a texture I can only describe as liquid cupcake icing. It feels luxurious under the brush and looks smooth and natural on the canvas.
The retarder extends the open time, allowing for longer blending sessions before the paint starts to set.
The Technique: Dab and Blend
Using this medium does take some practice because as it starts to dry, the paint becomes tacky. If you want to keep your blends smooth, here’s my trick:
Dip your brush into both your custom medium and a moderate amount of paint.
Dab it onto the canvas to continue blending seamlessly.
Use a dry brush over the section you just painted to reduce the harshness of the edges of the lines you put down.
As the tackiness increases, you’ll need to work faster or mist the surface lightly with a fine water spray to rehydrate the paint. If the area becomes too dry to blend well, I simply let it dry completely, then layer fresh paint on top.
Tools I Use: Brushes That Can Take a Beating
This method is a little harder on brushes than standard acrylic techniques. The tacky paint requires a firmer, sometimes slightly rougher hand when blending.
To save my best brushes, I stick to:
Budget Filbert brushes
Hardware store brushes for heavy blending on larger canvases
Taklon bristle brushes for detail work and subtle blends on upper layers
Brushes wear down quicker using this method, but for me, the beautiful oil-like finish is well worth it.
Make sure you are cleaning your brushes with some dawn dish soap after your painting session. The medium can cake onto the brush if you’re not careful and ruin them quicker.
One Final Tip: The Magic of Varnish
Because this mixture includes matte medium, your painting might look a bit dull while it's drying. Don’t panic! Once the painting is complete, applying a final varnish revives the richness of the colors beautifully.
That tiny bit of gloss medium already helps during the painting stage, but the varnish is what truly brings your artwork to life—sealing everything in with a protective, vibrant finish.
Why I Love This Technique
Creating an oil-like look with acrylics lets me keep the mystical, earthy feel that defines my artwork—something between Restoration Hardware calm and a metaphysical store’s soulfulness, all to a soundtrack of folk metal and psytrance. (Seriously—if you haven't tried painting while listening to Wardruna or Hallucinogen, you’re missing out.)
This method gives me the freedom to work faster than traditional oils allow, without sacrificing the luminous, blendable beauty that I crave in my paintings.
If you try this technique, I'd love to hear about your experience! Feel free to reach out on Instagram @cmc_fineart and tag me with your projects where you used these medium combinations.
Until next time—stay inspired and keep creating.
