Acrylics, because they are water-based, can be thinned with water to create transparent washes. But the pigments don’t tend to adhere very well once this is done, which is where glazing media come in.

Developed by Rohm and Haas in the 1940s, water-based acrylic emulsion technology filled a need for easy-to-use household paints for a growing suburban population in the United States following World ...