When it comes to acrylic painting, there are a seemingly endless number of techniques to try. From classic applications to bold choices like impasto to create texture, there are many ways to make your artwork uniquely your own.
This includes acrylic painting fluid art. As the name suggests, this technique relies on pouring methods that allow the acrylic to flow and spread on a surface organically without sacrificing its vibrancy. This technique is perfect for abstract art and capturing the likeness of things like ocean waves, marble, or deep space.
Read on to learn more about acrylic pour painting, including some of our favorite techniques.
Tips For Fluid Acrylic Painting
Fluid acrylic painting is a fun technique for beginners and experienced artists alike. As you’ll see, it’s a fairly easy technique to master and creates stunning, one-of-a-kind artwork each and every time.
One of the benefits of this technique is that minimal art supplies are required. Namely, no brushes are needed for fluid paintings!
Here are some of the fluid acrylic painting supplies you should have on hand:
- Fluid paint or acrylic paint and a pouring medium (this is important to achieving the liquid consistency needed for a fluid painting)
- Containers like squeeze bottles, cups, or buckets
- Painting surface that allows the paint to flow, like canvas, wood, or board
- Stir sticks to mix everything together
- Acrylic finish to make your liquid art pop
While these are the basic supplies, you may also need others to try more advanced acrylic pouring techniques. For instance, drops of silicone oil are often used for cell formation. You may also want to use a hairdryer, torch, heat gun, or straw to create unique swirls and shapes in your fluid acrylic painting.
It’s also important to note that acrylic painting fluid art can have a longer drying time than your average painting. This ultimately depends on how many pours you do. Here are some more helpful tips to help you get started with fluid acrylic painting.
Fluid Acrylic Paint Techniques to Try
Now that you know what’s needed to create a fluid painting, it’s time to learn about the techniques. While it may seem like this method is just pouring paint on canvas, there are a variety of methods that can help you achieve different results.
Here are a few of our favorite fluid acrylic painting techniques ranging from simple to slightly more complex.
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1. Puddle Pour
This fluid acrylic painting technique is perfect when you want to showcase individual colors. Essentially, you pour each separate color into the center of the canvas sequentially. Then, tilt the canvas or use a hairdryer or straw to allow the paint to evenly coat the surface.
The end result is truly up to the color you choose and how you tilt the canvas for the paint to spread.
2. Dirty Pour
Alternatively, you can also try the dirty pour method. While you still premix each color in an individual cup like the previous technique, you then pour all premixed colors into one cup before pouring it onto the canvas.
This method can create more interesting swirls of color, but there’s also more risk of the shades bleeding together or becoming muddled.
3. Air Swipe aka Dutch Pour
If you want to create a swirly, ethereal look in your fluid art, consider the air swipe technique. This slightly more advanced pouring method started by premixing your individual colors and layering them in one cup.
Then, flip the cup on the canvas and let it sit without touching it. Then, pour the background color (negative color) around the cup. After, lift the cup and tilt the canvas to allow the colors to spread. You can use a hairdryer on the cold setting to blow the colors into the negative color to create stunning swirls.
4. Marble Pour
This fluid acrylic painting technique, unsurprisingly, mimics the look of marble. The step by step guide to this method is fairly straightforward but does require more attention than a simple puddle pour.
Start by choosing three colors and premixing them. Pour two of the colors into one cup and onto your canvas. Then take the third color to create lines like marble. A squeeze bottle can come in handy for this step!
Then, gently tilt your canvas to make the lines flow naturally with the other colors to create the marble effect.
These are just a few of the fluid acrylic paint techniques you can try at home. When it comes time to stock up on supplies, trust Nova Color Paints. We have a variety of acrylics and paint mediums needed for all your art projects.
Shop our collection of acrylic paint today!