Can Mica Powder be Mixed with Acrylic Paint?
Whether you are an experienced artist or a beginner discovering the magic of acrylic pours, creating custom colors or adding eye-catching metallic accents to your palettes probably sounds interesting to you. Mica Powders immediately come to mind, thanks to their versatility, shimmery effects, and metallic hues. So, to the question: Can Mica Powder be Mixed with Acrylic Paint? The answer is:
Yes! Mica Powders blend effortlessly into acrylic paints. However, translucent acrylic mediums are recommended because the pigment needs light to show its luster and metallic undertones. You can also mix these Pigments with pre-colored acrylic paints, but the original color of the micas might be affected or turned into a pastel.
Now that you know it’s possible to mix your acrylic paints with Mica Powders, you might wonder how your new paints would look like. Below you’ll find the answer to that question and more.
How to turn mica powder into paint?
Buying powdered pigments and a large container of a translucent acrylic medium instead of pre-colored paint in tubes or plastic bottles will allow you to:
- Experiment with a wider variety of custom-made palettes
- Make the amount of paint needed for each project cost-effectively
- Reduce the waste of plastic bottles along your creative journey
In addition, mica powder's fine particles do not dissolve in acrylics, adding tremendous depth and movement to the mixture. And finally, since a little bit of these powders go a long way, you don't need a lot of pigment to make unique and shimmery paints.
In the video above, we mixed MEYSPRING Pacific Blue Mica Powder with Acrylic Gloss Medium to create this gorgeous paint.
Adding Mica Powder to Floetrol
Acrylic pouring is a trending technique where colorful fluid acrylic paints are poured onto a canvas or another surface to create free-flowing patterns and beautiful cells. Most artists love to add mica powders to a translucent pouring medium, such as Floetrol or Liquitex, to add shimmer or metallic accents to their acrylic pouring projects, and the results are remarkable.
To create Floetrol paint with micas, just dilute the mica powder pigments in a bit of water first and add Floetrol to thicken the paint. The mixture should still be runny and easy to pour. It is also important to add enough pigment since Floetrol can sometimes lighten the colors significantly.
Adding Mica Powder to Acrylic Gloss Medium
Creating your own paint is a great way to cut costs while exerting greater control over your desired shades and paint consistency. Micas add that light-catching element to any acrylic medium and lots of special effects.
As an example, check the stunning abstract paintings below. Acrylic artist Julie Ahmad created her own palette using MEYSPRING pigments.
Creating your custom acrylic paint color from Micas
If you want to make your pieces more exclusive, try custom blending mica powders and see what cool colors and effects you can create.
Supplies:
- A minimum of 2 different Mica Powder Pigments
- Acrylic Gel Medium (matte or glossy)
- Disposable cups
- Wooden craft stick or palette knife
- Small plastic containers with lids to store your left-over paint (Optional)
Directions:
- Using the craft stick/palette knife, take the desired amount of dry pigment from each color and mix them thoroughly.
- Add 2x as much acrylic gel medium to the mixture.
- Add a few drops of water.
- Using the craft stick/palette knife, blend the mix into a smooth texture.
Final Thoughts
Creating your own acrylics with mica powders and translucent mediums is an excellent alternative to pre-packed paints. In addition, Mica Powders’ exceptional properties will make your palettes amazingly unique, and it is a genuinely satisfying DIY project before getting to the painting part. So, a classic win-win situation! Remember that even when you can mix micas with pre-colored acrylic paints, the results won’t be faithful to the original color of the pigment. That’s why clear mediums are always recommended.
We hope this article inspires you to create your own palettes from mineral pigments. Don't hesitate to try and let us know how you liked it in the comments below or on social media! Just use our hashtag #meyspringpigments for us to see the stunning paints you create with our micas.
If you are interested in other ways to use mica powders in your artistic projects, check this article and learn how to create 100% natural Watercolor Paints with Mica Powders and a few non-toxic ingredients.
See below a Pinterest friendly asset you can pin to your boards for future reference:
6 comments
So flotrol does not have binding, can you use some silicone with the flotrol to help on the binding issue, and how much water is to dilute the micas, and can you use more than one color on the micas?
Trying to make my own paint,but not for pouring. I have read several recipes, but NONE are artist painting a picture or even figures. Can mica only be successful to pour or bloom ?
Replying to Stephanie I use Golden media with great results!
Flotrol doesn’t have any acrylic binders, so if you add mica powder to flotrol and water, there is nothing that is going to hold the mica onto whatever you pour your mica mixture (apparently paint requires a binder- so the mixture is not a paint.)
Because your article came up when I was looking for information about which acrylic (heavy body, soft body, or fluid) is best to mix with mica without dulling or muting the mica powder, and I had seen your powders, even have a couple, so I read the article. I’m writing to see if I missed you adding a binder somewhere, like mixing the mica with gel or some other binder?
Can mica pigment powders be used with Cold Wax Medium? Thank you