Tyra Smith Cloud9@netnet.net

1. Pearlescent Medium by Daler-Rowney
2. Iridescent Medium by Liquitex -- also called -- Iridescent Tinting Medium by Windsor-Newton

These items are "add ins".. they do not come in multiple colors, think of them as a "neutral"..a no color item. You add them to your existing paints to change the way they look and work.
For example: if you have watercolors, mix in a drop of the pearlescent medium and it will lighten the color (sort of turn it pastel'ish) and make it satiny in appearance..think "satiny" like the petal of a flower. If you put some red watercolor in a palette, mix in a drop of the pearlescent medium..you get a nice pink satiny color paint. If you want it darker red, add more red watercolor.
Now, if you want SHIMMER...use the Iridescent Tintinting medium the same way you used the pearlescent medium. Put some red watercolor in a palette, mix in a drop of the iridescent tinting medium....you get red shimmery paint. Want it darker red? Add more red watercolor. Want it thin for a wash? Add water and thin it down. You can paint, sponge, stipple, Direct to Paper with the ColorBox stylus, finger paint...ect etc etc
The pearlescent medium comes in a tube and runs about $4 or so per tube. (I got mine from RubberArt) The Iridescent medium comes in a jar. The iridescent medium comes in two brands that I know of...Liquitex and Windsor Newton...both work great and the only real difference is the price. (Windsor-Newton is more expensive, you can expect to pay about $5 or so this one) You can use these two mediums with any paint that is water based...artist acrylics, watercolors, craft acrylics.
As stampers we are always trying to get the most for our money. I think of it this way...if you have a set of watercolors you can spend about $10 for the two mediums and effectively TRIPLE your paint collection. You would have your straight watercolors (matte in appearance), mix in pearlescent medium and you now have a quick drying paint that is satiny in appearance, mix in iridescent tinting medium and you now have a quick drying paint that is sparkly in appearance. You can use these mediums with ANY paint that is water based, not just watercolors.

3. Acrylic Gloss Varnish Mediums:

Ohh did I just hear you say you want your watercolors to work and look like acrylics??? Ok..we can do that too. You need a medium called "Acrylic Gloss varnish/medium"... (which comes in four finishes: High Gloss, Gloss, Satin, Matte) Mix a drop or two of the gloss varnish medium with your watercolors..wallah..acrylic paints. The gloss varnish medium is also great as a sealant on top of your artwork...I use it a lot as a sealant on my cigar boxes. Or if you are into collage/decoupage...the gloss varnish medium is a great "adhesive and sealant" all in one. (use it like a glue) You can also use the gloss varnish medium to mix dry pigments into (pearl ex, powdered pearls and faerie dust) to create a paint. If you mix the powdered pigments with the gloss varnish medium, no need for either gum arabic or a spray sealant. The acrylic gloss varnish mediums (all of them are clear) are very inexpensive, very versatile and quite useful as an addition to your supplies. I use the Liquitex brand of the acrylic gloss varnish mediums, and I got mine at Michael's, but you could also get them from any art supply store or craft store that carries acrylic paints. I think Don and Linda/RubberArt might be able to get them for you too, if you can't find them locally.

4. Acrylic Retarder

Another very useful medium to have is called a "Retarder". This is something (clear in appearance) that you add to your paints to extend the wet time. If you have acrylics, you know how quickly they dry. If you mix in some retarder with your acrylics it will make them dry more slowly (called "extending the wet time") and give you more time to work with the paint while it's wet. I also use my retarder with my powdered pigments (pearl ex, powdered pearls, faerie dust). Just dip the tip of your brush into the retarder, then dip the brush into the powdered pigment..then paint. It's that easy. No need for a sealant afterwards either. I think the brand of retarder I have is Golden. Once again, a very inexpensive item (maybe $3-4 for a jar of it) and it's something I can't think of living without.

5. Gel Medium

I read this somewhere, but can't remember. You can use a brayer (sponge or hard rubber, both look different) and brayer the gel medium onto paper and/or cardstock (c/s). If the gel medium is too thick, thin it down with a bit of water (use the theory here that less is more when it comes to thinning it down. Only use as much water as is necessary) Now let it dry, maybe over night. You have a nicely textured background that will take lots of paints and different color mediums for DTP, sponging, painting, etc. OK..so we want to get wild...try this. Mix in paints to the gel medium to tint it. Then brayer it on your surface. I am thinking lumieres would be spectacular mixed into the gel medium. Or how about pearlescent liquid acrylics, Dr. Martin's Iridescent caligraphy color paints. More you say?? OK..toss in some pearl ex/FD or PP. If you have any of the Doc Martin's paints...try mixing them in. You got KOOL AID? Toss it in... :-) Will tint the gel medium and MIGHT smell kind of nice too. Coffee grounds or tea leaves?? Could be a pretty background. Let's see..what other ideas come to mind.... try sponging instead of brayering. Maybe try laying a pressed flower or leaf into the wet gel medium and let it dry...I bet it will stick there nicely. Or, lift the leaf/floral off while it's wet...you might get an imprint. Do you have a mouse or rat for a pet? Turn them loose to walk over your wet gel medium...cool mouse tracks for HM projects. I wouldn't recommend making your cat do this...they may not appreciate the humor of it. Try mixing in various spices you have in your kitchen. I'm thinking cinnamon, nutmeg...should look "interesting" and maybe smell pretty (like the holidays). What about bay leaves, ground or whole cloves....pepper seeds, parsley, oregano..etc.. What about mixing glitters into the gel medium? Or sprinkling the glitter on top of wet gel medium?

If you use any tool to spread, brayer, paint or sponge the gel medium on something, don't let the gel medium dry on the tool. Wash it off ASAP. Soap and water clean up...very nice. If you got the medium or heavy gel medium...it will hold it's shape nicely. Try "painting" swirls or stars...squares, circles..basic shapes ... with a paint brush on your paper or c/s. Let it dry. Work color by DTP, sponge, background wash, stipple..etc. Oh yeah..you CAN stipple that gel medium...I'm pretty sure that Somerset Studio had an article in one of last years issues about making paper with the gel medium and various paints and such mixed in..can't recall which issue it was though. If I find it later (ha) I'll chime back in with the info. Got a cool background stamp? (snakeskin one maybe??) Try sponging the gel medium (with a sponge brush) on your stamp and stamp on c/s...let dry. (wash off that stamp QUICK though OK) I don't know if this will work or not, but it's worth a try. ohh hey, try mixing in interference colors of paints or powdered pigments...(or those dr. martin's iridescent inkpak re-inkers) into the gel medium then apply the medium to black glossy or matte c/s. Could be kind of cool'ish. The Lumiere paints hold their color nicely on a black background.

The gel medium will act as an adhesive and sealant all in one.

Think about collage.

More on Iridescent Mediums:

I'll tell ya what I use them for! I have two brands:

Windsor Newton Iridescent Medium and Liquitex Iridescent Tinting Medium. Not really any difference, except in price. Liquitex being the less expensive of the two.

What is it? It's simply an "add in"...which can be added to any water based paint or product which you wish to give a bit of sparkle or shimmer to. You can use it as a paint: just add SOMETHING to the iridescent medium which will give it color and is water based. I've added it to watercolors, both in tubes and liquid. (you can even use those cheapo school watercolor paints for kids too!) I've added it to acrylic artist paints and craft acrylic paints. I've even used it alone, sponging it onto a surface for an interesting background texture. I've even used a dye ink pad re-inker to add color to the iridescent medium. As I said, use about anything that is water based.

How do you know if it's a water based product or not? Read the label. If the label tells you to clean up with soap and water, BINGO -it's water based.