So, I’ve recently made a technical, yet highly addictive new discovery of fluid painting. By the sights of it, it seems as though this wonderful method of painting has been experimented with for quite a while now. However, it has become more and more popular. I have to say so myself…it is fun, but does require a bit of knowledge and trial and error. When I say trial and error, it’s nothing more than knowing what you expect out of the results and playing around with a variety of mixtures and chemicals to get the overall effect you desire…Oh, and documenting the techniques and mixtures you used.
I looked at a few YouTube videos, looked up a few techniques, and saw some of the gorgeous paintings others have done. I quickly went to purchase some acrylic paints, small condiment cups, silicone oil, and glue as a starter. I began by filling each of my condiment cups, each with a different color of my choice (I filled these half way). I then poured regular school glue into the same cups (I’d say maybe a few spoon fulls). After that, I began slowly pouring water into my paint and glue mixtures and stirred them up. You don’t want to put too much water in your mixtures at one time or it will get too watery. This is bad because when you go to pour your colors onto your canvas, your colors won’t separate very well and could potentially result in a watery muddy mess….I mean, not unless you want that.You want the consistency to be like a semi thick soup.
After I mixed each color, I then poured each one into a large cup one by one. You can alternate the colors as you pour them into the cup. You don’t have to pour each color inside until it’s gone. The order and alternation depends on your preference and the order you want the colors to show. Lay your canvas onto your large cup with the colors inside (white side of canvas facing down on top of the cup). Tightly holding your large cup and canvas together, flip them over so that the cup is now facing downward on your canvas. I usually give my cup a few taps before lifting it up.
I should’ve mentioned this in the beginning, but this is a very fun but messy process so make sure your surface is covered with newspaper or plastic to protect your surface from what could be a beautiful disaster. After lifting your cup, the paint puddle will run over the surface of the canvas. I recommend moving the canvas back and forth slowly until you reach your desire design and cell formation.
This technique folks, is the dirty pour. You can also do the same technique, but replacing the glue with silicone oil like I also did for some others. The silicone oil worked out a lot better in my opinion. You only need a few drops in each condiment cup. Here are some examples below of how mine turned out:
Here is a little video sample of how I complete the dirty pour process:
The Final result:
Here are some examples below of me just pouring my colors directly on to the canvas, as a regular pour. I mixed these with acrylic, water, and silicone oil (for better cell formation).
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