Acrylic Pouring – the New Trend in Painting
With fluid painting you can create fascinating and beautiful works of art. You will not achieve comparable effects with any classical painting technique.
01/08/2019
Acrylic Pouring is currently the most popular form of all existing fluid painting techniques. The varied design possibilities are absolutely fascinating. The pour painting process itself is great fun and has almost meditative features. The results only influence you to a very limited extent. In the end, a large element of chance and surprise are involved.
What is Acrylic Pouring ?
In Acrylic Pouring, various acrylic colours are mixed together and applied to the canvas. This is not done with a brush, but with a larger mass of paint directly on the canvas. You let the colours flow - in different directions and into each other. Depending on the technique, the colours are poured directly onto the canvas or mixed beforehand in cups and put onto the painting surface.
In order for the acrylic flow technique to work, the colours must be diluted. This is best done with special binders, which are offered for acrylic pouring. But also with home remedies, beautiful flow effects can be achieved.
Acrylic pouring with cell formation is in vogue: Silicone is added to each color to make the colors bounce and create great organic structures. It is precisely this process that makes acrylic Pouring so popular at the moment. The cell structures cannot be pre-planned, but are always new and different. All the more beautiful is the play with colours!
What you need for Acrylic Pouring
Everybody can achieve nice results with Acrylic Pouring. Only a few supplies are needed and you can start.
YOU WILL NEED:
- Acrylic Paint
- Pouring Medium
- Some
plastic cups
- Wooden mixing sticks
-
Silicone oil
- Canvas
- Gloves
Short Tutorial for starting with the Acrylic Pouring technique
We recommend that you always cover your worktable with foil if you are working directly on the table. It is even better to use a larger, flat box, cardboard or a larger plastic lid to work on.
Preparing your workplace
So that your canvas dries well and the paint drips evenly, it is advisable to place the canvas on a small elevation. You can easily do this by placing the canvas on four cups of the same height for working and drying.
Mixing paints
First you dilute the acrylic paint you want to use with the Pouring Medium. You can mix the medium with the paint about 1:1 - that means the same number of parts of paint as Pouring Medium. Some artists will add some water if they have already mixed the paint with the binder. However, a small amount is sufficient here.
The mixing ratios are only guide values and can vary depending on the consistency of the acrylic colours and the medium. Your colours will have the right consistency if they behave like honey. The paint should flow, but still pull fine threads if you let it drip from the wooden stick.
Forming cells
Now, if you want a picture with cell formation, add the silicone oil or silicone spray to your paints. One to two drops are enough per colour - or two to three drops for a spray.
Pouring
There are various techniques, the easiest technique is the flip cup technique. Here you mix 2-4 cups with different colours and pour them into one bigger cup. From there, you flip the cup onto the canvas and lift it. Now you can move the canvas to spread the liquid.
Sealing
When your image is completely dry, you can seal it to protect the colors and from external influences. A classic acrylic varnish is a good choice. Relatively new and trendy is epoxy resin, also known as "Resin" or "Art Resin". This allows you to provide your picture with a transparent, high-gloss and extremely stable protective layer, which gives it its very own character and noble appearance.
Recipe to start with paint pouring
Here is a good recipe to start with Acrylic Pouring:
• 50% High quality paint
• 30-40% Pouring
Medium
• 10-20% Water
• 3-4 drops
of silicone oil in each
• If necessary a few
drops of silicone oil for cell formation
Bottom line
Acrylic Pouring is fun! Everybody can achieve fascinating results without any talent in painting or drawing.