Reinventing Acrylic Pouring

Posted by faessi1 on December 26th, 2019

There are numerous techniques in acrylic pouring. Many of them are also just modified forms and adaptations of original techniques that lead to new results with new tools. The basic techniques I would like to introduce to you here.

In the first part I will concentrate on the methods which deal with different variations of pouring the paint. In the next section I will then deal with the further processing of the paint on the painting ground. So you can see different possible combinations. Of course you can also use several Acrylic Pouring techniques for one painting and just try out how the paint works.

Casting over objects

You can create unique effects by pouring your prepared cup over any object. Possible objects are for example the bottom of a bottle, which will give you a flower-like pattern, or a sieve, which will give you a unique mixing of colors through the many small holes. Just try it out.

For this technique you can also use a Dirty Cup again or pour the colours one by one over the object.

String - thread technique

The thread technique belongs to the superordinate area of fluid painting and not of pouring, as here the paint is not poured in the true sense of the word. For this technique you need a yarn or a cord which you dye with any colour you like. For this you can pour the colours on a plastic and put the cord into it, apply the colour with a spatula or put the cord into a cup and pour a Dirty Cup over it.

As a basis for the threads you pour the painting surface in a colour of your choice. A contrasting colour such as white is ideal here. You can now lay the threads on your surface and pull one end out of the picture over the surface. This way the colour of the cord is pulled through the base colour and mixes. Depending on how the cords are laid out and pulled out, different patterns are created.

Tilt

The simplest and probably most common way to spread the poured paint on the painting surface is to tilt it. Here you only have to tilt your painting surface to expand the paint. The idea is to pull the paint so far apart that the lower layers of paint are visible through the upper stretched layers and also to cover the whole surface with paint. So that you don't lose beautiful structures by tilting, it makes sense to pour in a base colour at the beginning. This will help the paint to run better and you don't have to pour off as much paint to cover everything. Take care to do this slowly when tilting, so that the paint has time to move and doesn't roll over itself. To better preserve your patterns, it can be helpful to let the paint flow back to the center after tilting the pattern to one corner. Only when the center of the color has reached the center, start tilting in a new direction.

Swipe - Wiping technique

With the Swipe a net structure is created with the goal to make as many cells as possible visible. White is often chosen as the color for this mesh, because the effects are easiest to achieve with it, due to the density of the white color. Basically you can use any color you like and just try it out.

For the Swipe you first need a surface of your choice. You can use a certain technique such as Dirty Pour or simply sprinkle a few colours freely.

Once the base has been poured, the Swipe paint or top coat is poured generously on one side. Using a flat tool, the covering paint is pulled very carefully over the base paint. It is important to exert only enough pressure to push the opaque paint over the base paints, but not so much to take the base paints with you.

Since the standard wiping technique starts from one side, it is completely normal that on this side the opaque colour takes overhand and on the opposite side the base colours appear more strongly. Alternatively, you can also do a center swipe by applying the topcoat in the middle instead of on the side and then wiping outwards on both sides. If the top coat is too strong or the result is not yet pleasing, you can wipe again in places or over the entire surface. Brushing in the opposite direction also helps to dampen the dominant topcoat.

All kinds of flat objects such as cake shovels, painting knives, thick plastic foil, Yupo paper, cardboard or moistened household paper are suitable as aids. It is advisable to make sure that the aid covers the whole side of the painting surface. So that the covering paint can be pulled over the whole picture with one pull. A stylistic device here is also to draw single lines with only a small tool.