Fun DIY Pour Paint Canvas

Hi everyone,

Lekha here! Today I would be sharing with you a fun DIY project using Little Birdie’s Pouring Medium and the Acrylic Pouring Paints. Acrylic pouring or fluid art is a painting technique where acrylic paint is mixed with  pouring medium and then poured onto a surface in a variety of ways.  Sometimes colors are poured directly from individual cups, and at other times multiple colors are combined into one cup and poured together.

What makes every paint pouring project so much fun is that there is no right or wrong way of doing it, pour the colours onto the canvas and then let the paints flow.

The acrylic pouring paints are perfect for pouring when thinned with the pouring medium. These are highly pigmented so they remain true to the color even after thinning.

Lets start the fun technique. Before starting the pour painting, cover your work surface with a plastic/ paper sheet. Wear gloves if you wish to have clean hands at the end( though the fun part is getting the hands dirty with paints!!).

Lay the table, put all the supplies together including all the paints, paper cups, sticks (to stir the paint), pouring medium, canvas(or any base you would like to use).

I have used thumb pins at the back of the canvas, this set up allows the paint to drip off of the edges as it dries. You can also place 3 – 4 cups upside down on the table and set the stretched canvas on top of them. Also keep in mind to level your surface perfectly before pouring the paint. I have used a simple leveler tool(optional).

To begin, choose a color scheme. I have taken three colors for the main pour, Berry Blush, Plum Orchid, Pink Tango and mixed Black Pepper & Pearl White to get a grey tone for the base. 

Begin by pouring a small amount of paint into each individual cup. Make sure to shake each bottle thoroughly before pouring it. Next, add the pouring medium to individual cups. I have taken 1 part acrylic pouring paint to 3 parts of pouring medium (there is no fixed ratio, you might increase or decrease the quantity of pouring medium according to the flow consistency that suits you. Stir well all the paints and if any air bubble comes just wait for few seconds before pouring the paint on to the surface.

In two new cups pour (pour in for two identical paint cups) the grey paint and then layer the paints darkest to lightest. I have added the paints in the following order, Plum Orchid->Berry Blush->Pink Tango. Do not stir the mixture!

Prime the canvas with a coat of white gesso (if the canvas packaging says its been primed than ignore this step.) I have also painted the entire canvas with grey color, you can skip or take any base shade of your chosen color scheme.

Pour the paint onto the canvas on two opposite sides of the canvas. Once both the cups are poured onto the canvas, it’s time to start tilting the canvas back and forth. This allows the paint to flow back and forth and cover the entire painting surface.

Tilt the canvas in one direction at a time allowing the paint to flow towards one side of the canvas. Try to keep the majority of the paint on the canvas.The further you allow the paint to tilt the more variations in colors will appear.

If you are not able to cover the entire canvas you can always add more paint to the center or to the corners. If you have an edge that isn’t covered by paint, dip the palette knife or a finger into the paint and smooth on a small amount of paint onto the sides. Use a palette knife to clean up any paint drips on the backside of the canvas.

Can you spot the shine in the paints? The photos are not doing justice to the original piece. The pouring medium gives almost a glass like sheen to the final outcome. You don’t need any other additive to form these cells, the pouring medium is formulated to give a beautiful visual texture to your project.

Often, the mix in the cup remains or you do  not want to throw away the paint on the work surface, you can use this paint to make smaller projects like earrings, pendants, bookmarks, coasters(that is what I did from the left over paint). Let the project cure for 24 hrs. Later you can add gold foiling or use any metallic marker to add some interest etc.

I can’t wait to see what you make with this tutorial! You can find all of the supplies for this tutorial at Itsy Bitsy.

Supplies Used :

 

Paint pouring medium

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *