Recently I had the chance to take her new course Secret Recipe for Fluid Art Success and boy was I impressed.

Olga Soby’s Secret Recipe course includes everything from the science behind cell creation, printouts you can use to get the perfect consistency, and multiple different example techniques using her recipe. My first pour after taking the course turned out way better than any attempt I had made in the past.

Use coupon code “DAVID” to get 10% off your purchase!

Why I Struggled Before Taking the Course

I am sure you have all had the same problem that I have when I watch an acrylic pouring artist on YouTube and try to replicate the type of pour they were doing. I have tried a dozen or more times to get my acrlyic pours to look just like Olga’s.

At first I tried with Floetrol and water. Then, I moved on to just using paint and water like she was doing for a while a few years ago. Neither resulted in me getting anything I would consider remotely like her results.

The colors either blended way too much or not enough. I rarely got cells and definitely did not get any like the delicate flowy cells Olga gets in her painting, especialy her latest ones.

On my own I learned to incorporate at least one metallic color which helped me get a few cells. Through my experiments I was also able to figure out how best to use a hair dryer for my acrylic paint pours.

Once I took The Secret Recipe for Fluid Art Success course I realized that Olga Soby had made some very specific modifications to how she mixes her paints, what mediums she mixes each type of paint with, and exactly how to get the specific consitency to get cells . . . lots of cells.

You can see me paint my first painting after completing the Secret Recipe tutorial in the video below.

Olga Soby Discount Code

Normally I am all for experimenting to try and figure out how someome gets the results they get with acrylic paint pouring. And as I mentioned above, that is what I had tried multiple times with Olga Soby’s mix and techniques. It wasn’t until I finished the course and followed her instructions that I created one of what I think is my best acrylic pours to date.

As a graduate of her course, Olga provided me with a discount code, “DAVID“, that will save you 10% on the purchase of her Secret Recipe course when you use this link.

This is only the third of the plethora of different painting courses I have taken over the years that I have recommended to my readers. The first one was the SheleeArt Blooms Course where you can also save 15% by using code “sheleeart15LBA“. The second was Chris Breier’s Color Mixing Course (great for people like me that never got color theory). You can also save 10% by using the link here.

Bare canvas spots showing through your acrylic pour are caused by the fluid paint being pushed away from the canvas by oils like silicone, dimethicone, or even natural oils from your skin.

While an acrylic pour with canvas showing through isn’t the end of the world, I have found there are a few things you can do to limit how often this happens with your paint pouring art.

Why do Oils in Acrylic Pours Cause Bare Spots?

Oil additives are used in acrylic pours to help cells form.  These cells are created when the lighter and less dense oils rise through the layers of paints and pull some of the colors with them creating multicolor blobs on the surface of the painting.

The problems start to happen on the outside of a pour where the paints are getting thinner as you have tilted off more paint.  The oils gather on top of the puddles of paint.  When you are tilting the paint flows over each other as you see in the picture below.

Ultimately the oil on top falls off the side of the puddle and meets the canvas before the paint does.  The paint on top is then thinned as the paint is tilted off the canvas.

The oil that has touched the canvas sticks to the canvas and as the paint on top of it gets thinner it repels the paint away from the drop of oil.  This causes there to be no paint on top of the oil and because the oil is transparent you see all the way down to the bare canvas.  

These spots tend to happen more often on the outside edges of a pour because that is where the oil is most likely to tilt of the top of the paint puddle and because that is where the paint on top is going to be thinnest.

Easy Ways to Prevent Bare Canvas Spots on an Acrylic Pour

The simplest way to prevent bare canvas posts on your acrylic pour is to remove the ability for the additive oils to touch the bare canvas.  If the oils never touch bare canvas first, they can’t repel the paint and create these spots.

Pre-paint Your Canvas so there is Always Color Underneath

The most straightforward way to prevent bare spots on your canvas is to pre-paint your canvas.  This way if the oils do touch the canvas first it won’t be white bare canvas but already colored canvas that potentially shows through.

Normally I recommend you choose the base or main color of your painting to do this pre-painting with but if you want to add some pop on the outside edges of your painting you can also use your complementary color.

You can leave this painted layer wet or dry, but I have found that painting the color and letting it dry gives the most consistent results and prevents any of the white or gessoed canvas from showing through.

Use a Base Layer or Flow Extender to Prevent Bare Spots

If you don’t want to paint your canvas beforehand another easy trick is to use a base layer of wet paint or flow extender around the outside of your paint puddle.

This ensures you have paint all around your main puddle that has silicone or other oil additives in it.  When you tilt your paint, you will be rolling over the base color or flow extender color instead of on to bare canvas. 

I recommend that if you use either of these methods, you allocate between 30% and 60% of your total paint as your base paint or flow extender.  The more of this paint you use the less you are going to distort the main design of your painting.

This happens because the main puddle of paint does not roll over itself and hide the outside edges of your puddle as it is slipping across the base paint or flow extender instead.

Thicker Paints do not get Repelled as Much by Oils

Another thing to note is thicker acrylic pour paint does not get pushed as easily as thinner pour paint.   That means you are less likely to get bare spots along the outside few inches of your painting as you would with thinner paint.

The sides and corners are always going to potentially be a problem even with thicker paints because gravity is always pulling your paint downward and thicker paint just won’t have enough bonding strength with the side to stay thick.

Oils from Your Hands Can Cause Paint not to Stick to a Canvas

The last thing isn’t as obvious as the others because most people don’t realize how much oil your skin naturally produces. 

These oils, while essential for good skin hygiene, can also cause the same problem with paint not sticking to your canvas, albeit usually at a much smaller scale. 

The easiest solution is to wash and dry your hands before handling a bare canvas or using latex or other sterile gloves.

Keep Stored Canvases Dirt and Dust Free

The last thing to consider when getting bare spots on your acrylic pour canvas is to eliminate the potential for dirt and other contaminants from coming in contact with your painting surface.

I try to keep my canvas stored in an elevated place, so they don’t gather dirt and grime from the floor or me walking past them.

Put them in a place where you aren’t handing them often, so they remain and clean as possible.

Also, don’t remove the protective plastic packaging to ensure they remain clean and dirt-free for as long as possible.

Michael’s craft store bundles of canvases come with every other canvas being fully wrapped in plastic.  I try to make sure a wrapped canvas is always on the top of the pile so any dust that drops lands on this protective barrier first. 

A simple sheet or other easily removable covering can also act as the first line of defense for dust and air pollutants.

Gesso Canvases that are Dirty or Being Reused

If you can’t ensure your canvases remain clean one option is to always gesso before pouring so you know you have a clean base layer to start from.  Gesso is more forgiving of dirt and oils than acrylic paint is and will help you to get uniform coverage on your acrylic pour.

When reusing a canvas that already has a shiny layer of paint or that has been varnished, a coat of gesso will help the second layer of paint adhere more readily to the surface. 

When reusing a canvas, I always recommend cleaning the canvas with slightly soapy water to remove all dust and oils that might have accumulated.

Having trouble getting cells with silicone? This post on Acrylic Pour Cells gives you all the info you need to get amazing multi-color cells with your acrylic pour.

Canvas Showing Through an Acrylic Pour is Not Bad

Keep in mind that acrylic pouring is the creation of unique and personal artwork.  Sometimes as artists, we think that everything should be perfect. 

Mass-manufactured art is perfect.  In my opinion, handmade acrylic pour painting pieces are unique because of their imperfections.

Don’t be too hard on yourself that you are seeing bare canvas spots on your art.  It happens to us all and some of those spots I have left because they add to the unique quality of the painting.

How to create acrylic pour painting on glass:

1. Select paints and glass object 
2. Combine acrylic paint colors
3. Prepare glass for paint and clear a work area
4. Pour paint onto glass in unique patterns
5. Let dry
6. Finish with sealer or varnish

Not only will we explain the best practices for cool acrylic pour painting results but share some interesting techniques to try on different glass materials. This style of painting is freeform, allowing you to be creative and giving you different results each time so that no two pieces will be exactly the same.

How to Make Acrylic Pour Paintings on Glass

The steps for acrylic pour painting are fairly similar from material to material. They all involve combining acrylic paints and pouring them in different patterns onto an object. In this case, we will be using glass as our workpiece. Glass is particularly interesting for this style of painting because you can see the patterns from all sides (depending on the shape and finish of the glass object).

You should follow these steps to create unique acrylic pour paintings on glass:

1. Select paint: The wide variety of acrylic paints can make choices more difficult. Because glass will allow light to shine through, you will want rich and vibrant colors that will properly cover the glass (unless you want a more opaque, or solid non-transparent, look). 
2. Choose glass objects: The glass you choose will be largely dependent on the project. We recommend using clear glass to get the most color visibility, but any colored glass will do based on your preference and design.  Mirrors also work well as a glass surface although they can only be view from one side.
3. Combine acrylic paints: Pour acrylic paints into a cup or any container that will be easy to pour. The colors you pour into the cup first will often be the last to show up on the glass. The proportions of colors will dictate how much of each end up on the glass. You will also want to add some water or a flowing medium to the paint to make it runnier and easier to spread on the glass.   See our article on Preparing Acrylic Paint for Pouring for additional directions.
4. Prepare glass for painting: To allow the paint to properly adhere to the glass, you will want to make sure that the glass has been cleaned and is free of any debris or dust. This will not only create imperfections but could result in the paint not sticking or flicking off in the future. You should also keep the glass raised (and level) so that the paint can drip off the edges so that it does not pool at the bottom or around the edges.  
5. Pour paint: Make sure you pour the paint slowly to allow for the most exposure of colors. There are multiple techniques for doing this that we will discuss later. Try to cover the entire area to maximize paint usage and complete the look.
6. Allow for drying: You will need to give ample time for the piece to dry properly. Acrylic paint pours are general dry to the touch after 24-48 hours but are not completely cured for 3 weeks or longer depending on the size of the surface.  Allowing the paint to fully cure before adding additional layers or sealing the paint will help prevent crack, crazing, and other imperfections.
7. Add a seal or varnish: Because the exposed paint may look unfinished or flake off with time, we recommend adding a clear coat to seal the project. This will provide the greatest durability and give the glass a ‘finished’ look.

The procedure is quite similar for all acrylic pour painting projects, with the primary concerns for glass being, (1) using a clean surface, and (2) choosing quality paints that do not appear too translucent (unless that is the preferred style).

Different Styling Techniques for Acrylic Pour Painting

There are different styles and techniques you can try for your acrylic pour painting on glass. These will allow you to create various patterns and cool designs that can make each piece unique from one another. Because not every pour of paint into your cup will land the same, you are going to get a new result every time, even if you use the same amounts of paint.

Here are some cool pour painting techniques to try for varied results:

• Individual color pour: Instead of mixing the colors in one cup beforehand, you can pour individual colors on top of each other to create more dramatic and block coloring looks. You can move the glass to spread these colors out.
• Dirty pour: This is a common technique where colors are combined to make a more mixed color pattern.
• Direct pours: Pour the acrylic paint in one location and let the pool expand or fall to cover the entire piece of glass (movement will be dictated by the shape of the surface). On flat surfaces, this may be more difficult as the paint becomes thick and may not naturally flow to the outer ends of the glass.
• Flip cup pour: This will require a flat glass surface, where you will place the cup (filled with different paint colors) directly onto the surface and then lift it so that the paint falls out and on top of each other for a stacked paint look.
• Patterned pours: Only cover specific areas of the glass and then shift the glass to move the paint in desired directions. You can add additional paint mixtures to the open areas once arranged for a wavy appearance. Or, if desired, leave parts of the glass exposed for a stark contrast between the bare glass and paint.
• Feathered pattern: In a cup, add your base color and then add additional colors to one side of the cup, for your feathers, swirl paint in the cup and then continue to add your base and accent color to one side. Pour onto the glass with a small side to side motion. You can check out a tutorial of it in this video.

There is no ‘right way’ to do any acrylic pour painting as there are so many different design ideas and ways of achieving cool results. Some of the techniques mentioned above will give you a unique variety of options for the application. Varying the orientation of paint in the cup will often result in a different pattern every time.

Additional pouring techniques can be found in our articles 5 Beginner Pouring Techniques and 16 Advanced Pouring Techniques. 

Project Ideas for Acrylic Pour Painting on Glass

Selecting the glass object, you will be using may oftentimes dictate the best technique based on its shape and ability to hold. Any glass surface will hold acrylic paint as long as it has been cleaned and is free of dust.

These are some popular ideas for projects you can apply the acrylic pour painting style to:

• Jars and vases: These are among the most popular to paint because they provide rich designs to the outside of glass containers with large surface areas. You’ll be able to catch the details of different colors and large patterns as they run down the surface.
• Slabs of Glass: A flat piece of glass will best mimic a traditional canvas, allowing you to experiment with many of the techniques mentioned above. On a large window-like piece of glass, you can create unique waterfall techniques that use gravity to draw out the different designs and colors.
• Glass figures: The pour painting technique looks particularly interesting on a glass figure because of all the ridges and edges that the pattern runs along. It can draw the eye to certain shadows and curves that add another element of depth to your project.
• Decorative containers: Similar to jars, try this technique on decorative dishes, bowls for holding your keys, and other containers that may be displayed around a home or office.
• Mirrors: Mirrors are excellent glass surfaces to paint on.  Many mirrors have interesting frames that can either be poured on or painting a complementary color to help the pour “pop”. 

We do not recommend putting acrylic paint on glass dishware as they are not safe to consume. Acrylic paint can be used on the outside of dishware where there will be no contact with food or drinks, but this is very difficult to achieve with a pour painting technique. Acrylic paints that contain oil or enamel are toxic, while water-based are not (but they will usually wash off).

Four Tips for Best Acrylic Pour Painting Results

There are plenty of opportunities for our artwork to end up much different than we had anticipated. While following the directions for acrylic pour painting, you may still find that the results aren’t like the examples you’ve admired. We have compiled some tips that will help you achieve consistency in your projects.

It is also important to recognize that results are going to vary when applying to glass versus other surfaces. If you find a pattern you like on fabric canvas, it will most likely look different when applied to a smooth and slick surface like glass.

Our tips are going to cover four main areas:

1. Color selection and theory
2. Worksurface conditions
3. Paint composition
4. Drying protocol

These are all important factors in making your acrylic pour paintings on glass really stand out.

1.      Color Selection and Theory for Acrylic Pour Painting

One of the best parts about acrylic pour painting is choosing your colors. While this is free form and highly customizable, there is some theory and technique around the best color combinations. These are merely recommendations, but they tend to achieve more desirable outcomes.

Here are some tips for choosing colors that work well together:

• Model eye-catching objects: If you see a painting or piece of art that draws you in, consider these colors for your painting on glass. This could also be something you find in nature, such as a peacock’s feather with its rich greens, blues, purples, and golds. Colors that you are drawn to often work well together, and you can achieve similar results for your art. This pleasing color effect is also known as harmony.
• Pre-made color schemes: In the event you are having a hard time coming up with a color scheme, there are many design programs that will do this for you. Start with a color that you love and let the program apply other colors that work well with it.
• Contrast: Applying colors that vary from each other (contrast) in pours will allow for the best visibility of different designs and patterns. This could be very stark differences in color or comparisons between dark and light. You can also contrast warm and cold colors against one another.

Your color preferences will dictate how you choose to combine colors, but providing these interesting juxtapositions between various colors will allow you to create really interesting pieces of art.

2.      Work Surface Conditions for Acrylic Pour Painting

Your work surface can impact the outcomes of your acrylic pour paintings, where the pour looks one way, and the end result gives you something else. This can make pour paintings rather unpredictable, especially when you fell in love with how the pour looked. One of the most important things to consider for your work surface is keeping it level.

Whether working with a vase or a flat piece of glass, if it is not straight or level, the paint will drive toward the portion of the pieces that are tilted slightly downward. This can shift the entire pattern in one direction and alter your results. Make sure you are keeping the surface level, with small stands, or ensuring that the bottom of the glass itself is flat.

We recommend using stands for your acrylic pour paintings so that the edges of your glass piece can allow the paint to drip off rather than to pool. This pooling may lead to some areas being thicker than others or creating clumps.

3.      Paint Composition for Acrylic Pour Painting

Your paint composition has a large impact on your results. Most acrylic paints are too thick to pour without some additives. Typically, you will want to add an acrylic medium or water to thin the paints to your desired consistency.

• Many acrylic pouring mediums should be used in a ratio of 2:1, with paint making up the smaller portion of the mixture.
• Add more as needed until you come out with your desired thickness. You can check this by letting your paint stirrer drip over the cup of paint. If it incorporates smoothly into the paint, it is the right thickness. If the paint is too thin, it will create a small depression with this same test and may not adhere properly to the glass.   For 3-d glass objects slightly thicker mixtures will help cover the more vertical oriented parts of the object.

4.      Drying Protocol

The paint composition will also impact the drying process. To properly dry your acrylic pour paintings, keep these tips in mind:

• Ensure paint is not too thick: Really thick paint will have a hard time drying and will result in different texturing on the glass surface. Make sure all the paints are the same consistency so that they do not run over one another, leading to longer drying times and changes in appearance.
• Keep out of direct heat sources: While this may speed up the drying process, if the surface of the paint dries too quickly, it may result in cracking as the top layer contracts more quickly than the bottom layers.
• Wait for drying before varnish: The paintings should be completed dried before you add a sealer. Otherwise, you are trapping wet paint inside of the sealant which may also cause cracking, crazing, or rippling of the varnish or underlying paints.

Acrylic Pour Painting on Glass

The acrylic pour painting technique provides a range of possibilities for unique pieces of art. With the smooth and clear surface glass offers, you can watch the patterns and colors make their way down the canvas and result in mesmerizing finishes that can be displayed on any glass object.

An easy way to prepare paint for an acrylic pour is to use one-part acrylic paint and mix it with two parts of Elmer’s Glue-All or Flood Floetrol.  Add water a few drops at a time until you get a consistency where when elevated with a stirring stick to 1” off the surface the paint drips it off and creates a mound and disappears within a second.

As you can see, mixing acrylic pour paint doesn’t have to be complicated.  We’ll go over everything you need to know including why we use more fluid paints, what consistencies are used in which techniques, common mistakes to avoid when mixing fluid acrylic paints, and more.

Why does Acrylic Pour Paint Need Preparation?

Acrylic pouring is an art style where non-viscous or runny acrylic paints are combined and manipulated on a painting surface.   The consistency of the paints allows for the paints to organically mix and meld creating a form of abstract art.

There are many different techniques to use with acrylic paint pouring including these basic and advanced techniques.

While there are some brands to do sell read-to-pour acrylic paints like Arteza and Artist’s Loft, many paints need to be mixed and prepared with water or other pouring mediums to get a consistency preferred by many artists. 

Acrylic Pour Paint Consistency

The consistency of your finished production is arguably the most important part of preparing paint for fluid art.  The right consistency has the most impact of how the paint will react and it one of the few things you can really control with acrylic paint pouring.

When you are first starting out, we recommend trying to achieve the same consistency of paint for all your first pours.  This will give you a perfect starting point to understanding how changing the consistency affects the outcome of your artwork

How to Measure Consistency

There are a few ways to measure the consistency of your fluid acrylic paint.  We’ll go over the two we think are the easiest to follow.  After a lot of paint mixing, many artists say they learn to feel the right consistency in addition to using these types of methods.

The Drip Method

The most common one that we have seen is to dip your paint stick into the paint and pull it out about an inch over the top of the rest of the paint in the container.  Too high and the paint will sink due to the increased height and too low will cause the paint to make a stalagmite/stalactite directly from the stick.

Let the paint drip back into the container and watch how it interacts with the top layer of paint.  We want the paint to drip off the stirring stick and create a slight mount and then immediately disappear.  That mound shouldn’t last for more than a second or two. 

If the paint is thicker the mount will create multiple mounts on top of itself, kind of like an ice cream cone, and then gradually disappear in 3 or 4 seconds. 

If the paint is too thin your paint streaming off the stir stick will look like it sinks under paint or it will immediately integrate into the surface without making a mound.

The Snake or Worm Method

This method is like the drip method in that you want to dip your stirring stick and pull it out of the paint to a height of about one inch also.

With this method, you want to weave a pattern like a work or a snake over the surface of the paint.  Be sure to keep your one-inch distance from the paint surface.

The snake/worm pattern should last at least two seconds before you can’t see any noticeably raised sections.

If the paint is too thick it will be 4 or 5 seconds before it disappears.  Too thin and it will almost immediately disappear.

Pouring Techniques by Consistency

Common Pouring Mediums

There is a plethora of pouring mediums that can be used with acrylic paint pouring.  A pouring medium is simply a liquid additive that you use to extend the paint to help change its consistency without sacrificing its bonding (think dried plastic) qualities.

For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on three of the cheapest and easiest pouring mediums to acquire: Elmer’s Glue-All, Flood Floetrol, and water. 

Elmer’s Glue-All is just that, glue.  The glue is white in liquid form but dries clear.  It also has the quality of being very sticky and strong when dried.  This paired with the fact that relatively easy to buy and it generally inexpensive is exactly the quality of a pouring medium that you should be looking for as a novice paint pourer. 

Additional information about using Glue-All in our blog post Can You Use PVA Glue for Acrylic Pouring?

Flood Floetrol can be found in most hardware stores in the paint department.  This product is mean to be used with paint to help cut down on brush marks and to thin out the paint slightly for use in a paint sprayer.  This also has binders like the emulsions used with acrylic paints and will dry hard and strong.

Finally, water can be used as the medium to help thin the paint the consistency that we are looking for.  Do not use more than about 30% water to paint ratio or else you will dilute the paint so much that it loses its strength and it will peel or warp when dried.

Beginner Pour Painting Recipes

Here are a few of the most common pour paint recipes we see with acrylic paint pourers today.   Read the next section to find out how these ratios may change based on the “body” or thickness of the acrylic paint used.

• Glue-All
  • Mix 60% Glue-All to 40% water.   Once
    complete mixed, use 2 parts of this pouring medium to one-part soft body paint
    (most tube paints are soft body).  In
    most cases, no extra water is needed.  If
    it is, only add a few drops at a time, mix, and re-check consistency.
• Floetrol
  • Mix two parts Floetrol to one-part paint.  Once fully mixed, check the consistency and
    then add a few drops at a time and re-mix until you get the desired
    consistency.
• Water
  • Slowly add a few drops of water per ounce of
    paint and mix.  Keep repeating until the
    desired consistency is achieved.

Paint Ratios for Different Body Paints (Heavy, Soft, Fluid, Craft)

Acrylic paint comes in four main types: heavy body, soft body, fluid acrylic, and craft paint.  Each one of the paint types might require a slight change to the recommended pouring recipes above.

Soft Body Acrylics

Most paints that come in metal or plastic tubes or larger containers are going to be soft body acrylics.  Sometimes these are referred to as medium body acrylics.  These look like warm honey went squeezing it out of the tube or scooping it out of the container.   The paint ratios above will work well with medium body acrylics.

Heavy Body Acrylics

Heavy body paints are more like cold honey or toothpaste. They retain their shape when taken out of the container and don’t flatten out much.  These paints usually have a higher pigment load (the amount of pigment per ounce of paint).  When using heavy body acrylics, you probably want to up your ratio to more like 3:1, 4:1, or more with Glue-All and Floetrol.

Fluid Acrylics

Fluid acrylics are specially made to be runnier than soft or heavy body acrylics.  Unfortunately for us, there are two main types of fluid acrylics.  There are those that are highly pigmented from high-quality brands like Liquitex and Golden, and there are those budget fluid acrylics that are soft body paints with more water added to them.

The more expensive fluid acrylics can be mixed with a very high pouring medium to paint ratio, generally, 4:1 or more, while the less expensive fluid acrylics, like Artist’s Loft, should maintain the 2:1 ratio.

Craft Paint

Craft paint is generally a cheaper version of acrylic paint that is not very pigmented at all.  We recommend cutting your ratios to 1:1 and with the glue mixture, upping the glue to water ratio to 70% glue to 30% water or ever 75% glue to 25% water. 

If you do keep a higher medium to paint ratio your paints will be a lot less vibrant and will seem very dull compared to other colors prepared with the recommended ratios.

Looking for more information about acrylic paint brands?  Read about the research we did to find the Best Paint for Acrylic Pouring?

Tips for Mixing Pour Paints

Here are a few tips that we’ve learned over the last two years to get the best acrylic pour mix as you possibly can.

1. Strain the Floetrol out of the bottle as it
   tends to get little dried pieces as it sites in its container.  Pantyhose or a very fine flour sifter work well
   for this.
2. When mixing thicker paints (heavy body and
   thicker soft body paints) don’t mix all your paint and pouring medium at
   once.  Gradually add a little pouring
   medium and stir and repeat.  This will ensure
   the thick paint gets integrated completely with the medium.
3. Don’t add water until after you’ve fully
   integrated the pouring medium.  Water
   should be the last thing added to get the exact consistency that you want.
4. Don’t mix too fast or you will create bubbles in
   your paint.  Bubbles in a paint pour will
   create pinholes when they dry which is one reason why we use a torch to remove
   as many as we can.
5. Take your time. 
   Mixing paint for an acrylic pour can be time-consuming, we know, but
   getting your mixture wrong is the single biggest failure point with fluid acrylics.

Don’t forget to review our 24 Acrylic Pouring Tips and Tricks that Actually Work article.

Why Use Distilled or Filtered Water?

You will see that many artists choose to use filtered or distilled water in their acrylic pours.  The main reason for this is the cut down the change microbes get introduced to the painting.

Mold and mildew can form if paints dry very slowly or in a place where there is lots of moisture in the air.  Any mixed paint that you store for later use will also tend to grow unwanted things more quickly with water from the faucet.

We don’t recommend you store any mixed paint for more than a few weeks, even when kept in airtight containers.

Get more details about things that can make acrylic paint go bad here.

Measure Your Ingredients

The last advice we want to give you when mixing your pourable acrylic paint is to measure your ratios, at least for the first few paintings that you do.

Measuring your paint will ensure that you are always getting the same consistency of paint and will be one less variable you need to worry about when trying to determine why one painting looked so different from another painting.

With experience, you might get to the point where you can mix your paints by feel, but until that time measuring is your friend.

Final Thoughts

Acrylic paint pouring is an amazingly fun art form to learn, even for those of us that are very left-brained and never thought we’d be doing anything remotely artistic like this.  However, not getting the results we were hoping for can be one of the most demoralizing parts of acrylic pouring also

Getting the even consistency paint from day one can really limit some of the beginner mistakes that most acrylic pour artists make and help you do more quickly appreciate the artwork that you create.

The beautiful look created by the swipe technique, also known as the acrylic pour and swipe,  can be achieved by following these simple steps: Gather Your Supplies, Mix Your Paint, Pour Your Base, Swipe, Torch, and finally Tilt and Add Paint to Cover. 

We’ll be diving into each one of these steps in greater detail below.  By following these 6 simple steps you should be well on your way to becoming an acrylic swipe painting master.

Gather Your Supplies (1)

The first thing we need to do when preparing for an acrylic pour swipe is to gather all the materials that we will need.  A paint swipe is different compared to many other techniques only in that you need a tool to do your swipe with.

Swipe Pour Materials

• Paint – Review our article on the Best Acrylic Paint for Pouring.
• Pouring Medium – Glue-All or Floetrol for beginners.
• Painting Surface – Canvas or wood board
• Mixing Cup
• Mixing Sticks
• Distilled Water
• Something to catch drips – This can be plastic sheeting, a silicone mat, a disposable cooking tray or multiple other items.
• Scale – for those of you like me that want to make sure our proportions are correct
• Swipe Tool – For beginners, we recommend a wet paper towel.  See section Swipe (4) for other options.
• Silicone or Dimethicone (optional)

Mix Your Paint (2)

This step is arguably the most important step when doing any type of acrylic paint pour.  The consistency of your paint can make or break your swipe pour painting. 

For a swipe, we want the paint consistency of the swipe color to be slightly thinner than a base acrylic pour.  This ensures that the swipe paint can easily glide across the base paint without getting too caught up in each other. 

If the paints are too thick, the swipe just pulls the base paint with it instead of creating a very thin layer of paint across the swipe surface areas.  There are some artists that use thicker paints for a paint swipe, but they take more than a little practice to master so we’ll be sticking with a more common consistency.

Two Acrylic Pour Mix Recipes

Here are two of the acrylic pour recipes that we use for our swipe pour paintings.

Floetrol – Mix 2 parts floetrol to one part paint.

Elmer’s Glue-All – Create your pouring medium with 60% Elmer’s Glue-All to 40% water. Once that is done, use one part paint to two parts pouring medium.

For thick paints like heavy body acrylics, you may need to add a little more water. For craft paints and soft body acrylics, they will be close to the right consistency already but may need a drop or two more water.

Small Mound and Disappear Consistency

To measure consistency, we are using our mixing stick and pulling a good glob of paint out of the paint cup and dripping it back into the cup from about one inch away from the rest of the paint.

This consistency we are looking for is for the paint to drip onto the surface of the paint, create a small mound, and then immediately disappear.  We generally use a double-wide popsicle stick. 

A small popsicle stick would create a very small mound and disappear.  A spoon or other stir utensil will not create much of a mound at all because more paint comes off at a time.

Swipe Color Should Be Higher Weight/Density

For a beginner, we recommend you use a titanium white as your swipe color.  This color has a higher weight/density compared to other paints. See our Acrylic Paint Density Chart to determine your paint’s density.

When you swipe a higher density of paint over the top of a lower density paint, it is going to try and sink into the “lighter” paint.  This is the key to creating cells and lacing that we see in an acrylic swipe painting.

Some other colors that seem to have a higher paint density than other colors that could also be used as a swipe color are the cerulean blues, yellow and red oxides, mars black, and cadmium colors.

Get a more details explanation on why paint weight/density matters when creating cells and lacing in our article Acrylic Pour Cells: Everything You Need to Know.

Add Silicone for Cells

Most artists use pure silicone or dimethicone to help facilitate the creation of lacing and cells in their acrylic pours. 

Silicone should only be used in the base colors and not in the swipe color.  The idea is that the silicone either sits on the surface of the base coast or is coaxed up through the base coat and breaks through the swipe color on top letting the base colors show through.

Our recommendation for beginners is to use 1 drop of silicone per 2 ounces of paint.  In a 4 oz cup of paint, you would use 2 drops of silicone.  A little silicone goes a LONG way and too much will ruin your painting.

If you do not use silicone or dimethicone in your swipe base colors, you will most likely get a ton of very small cells.  The swipe color will also stay on top of the other colors in your places making it look more like a wash over the top of your painting.

Pour Your Base (3)

There are many ways to pour the base of your acrylic pour swipe.  Almost any other acrylic pour technique can be used.

Our two favorite techniques are the traditional pour and a basic dirty pour. 

The straight pour we choose to do most is just rows of different color paints all along the painting surface.  This is a great base because once the swipe is done you can see the bands of each distinct color under your swipe color.

A dirty pour can be done as a flip cup or a straight pour and gives a little more depth to the design underneath your pour.

Cover the Painting Surface

One thing you do need to do at this stage is to make sure you’re whole painting surface is covered after you are done with the pouring the base coat.

When you do a fluid acrylic swipe technique, you will find that sometimes you don’t want to tilt anything off the painting surface after you are finished.  The swipe comes out exactly how you want it.

Because of this, you want to make sure that every part of the surface is covered before you even start the swipe, including the sides of the surface.  Those are the places most artists miss on a swipe pour.

Remove Excess Paint

As with coverage, you want when you finish with your base coat you want to make sure that you don’t have too much paint on that canvas.

Swipes usually have lots of cells and lacing and those get distorted when they are manipulated too much with tilting. 

If we make sure we have tilted off most of the weight of the paint before we move on the swiping step you can avoid the need for any more major tilting.

Where Will You Swipe From?

The last thing we need to take into account is where we plan on doing our swipe from? 

For beginners, we recommend choosing one of the short sites of your painting surface.  By choosing the smaller side we will be able to swipe all the way across the surface in one long swipe.

More advanced practitioners can decide to swipe from any side, from a line in the middle of the surface, or out from the center to create a starburst effect.

Swipe (4)

As was just mentioned, the swipe can be done from a myriad of different places on the painting surface. 

To begin, we want to pour a small line of our swipe color paint along the line that we want to begin our swipe.  This does not need to be a huge about of paint as we are only going to be pulling a very thin layer of paint over the rest of the canvas of painting surface.

We have found great success by keeping our swipe line of paint between ½” and 1” wide.  This way we don’t have too much of the swipe color left after the pour as it will end up being a solid line of the swipe color which isn’t always desired.

Paper Towel Swipe

Now it’s time to do your swipe. 

The easiest swiping tool we have found is a damp paper towel.  To use a paper towel, grab a sheet that will cover the entire length of the painting surface.  If your surface is too long on the swipe side, use the long edge of more than one paper towel.

Now either wet the edge you have chosen with a water bottle or a hand sprayer.  Don’t worry about wetting the whole thing.  We want the end that you hold to remain dry as it is stronger and less likely to rip that way.

Ring out any excess water so the paper tower is not dripping.  Dripping water in your paint will cause the paint to run and will most likely ruin your pour.

Swipe with a Light Touch

Now lay the wet end of your paper towel along the line of swipe paint that you have laid down.  Only allow the wet end of the paper towel to sit in the paint and make sure that the paint touches the paper towel along all the length of the painting surface.

Now with a very gentle touch pull the paper towel along the rest of the canvas.  Keep the side of the paper towel you are holding well above the surface of the paint. 

This keeps it from touching the paint and it keeps an upward pull that helps the side touching the paint from sinking down into the base coast and pulling too much paint with the swipe paint.

You want the paper towel to glide along the surface of your pour and to deposit a very small layer of swipe paint along the top.

Don’t worry if your swipe paint doesn’t fully cover.  You will be coaxing out your cells with the torch later or you can swipe again to get better coverage or change the pattern of the results.

Other Common Swipe Tools

As we eluded to in the materials section, there are a plethora of different tools you can use the do a swipe.

The most commons ones that we have seen are a long palette knife, a frosting spatula, a transparency sheet, wax paper, or plastic wrap (saran wrap). 

Each one takes a little practice to master so you aren’t pulling too much paint with your swipe.  Try practicing a few times with your swipe tool of choice to get a better feel for how it works for you.

Torch (5)

With acrylic paint pouring, torching is most often used to pop any air bubbles in the painting surface.  With an acrylic swipe pour, we also use the torch to coax additional cells out and to facilitate the creation of lacing.

Very gently use your torch or heating device to warm the surface of the painting.  This will allow the silicone to slowly work its way to the surface.

In addition, heating the swipe paint on top of the canvas will make it less viscous and allow it to move more freely.  With heavier paints, this heating causes the paint to converge on itself as it is pulled down through the lighter paint. 

This leaves a little bit of the swiped paint on the surface which is the reason for the webbing or lacing that you see in many acrylic pour swipes.   

There is lots more information about the effects of torching your acrylic pours in our blog post Why Do You Torch Acrylic Pours?

If you are still in need of a heating device for your acrylic pouring, we’ve also taken the time to test a few out and have our recommendation for you here. 

Heat the Paint Slowly

Be very careful when you are heating the surface of your swipe.  The idea is only to slowly heat up the paint to help facilitate different effects.  If you put your flame too close the surface or leave it for too long you will burn your paint and ruing your artwork.

Tilt and Add Paint to Cover (6)

The last step is to tilt any excess paint that the swipe created.  This will generally be the swipe paint on one side of the painting surface or a buildup of paint on the opposite side of the canvas.

If you do need to remove any paint, tilt your surface very slightly and let the paint take its time running off.  This way you aren’t disturbing the center of your fluid pour.

For those paintings that just aren’t what you expected, try tilting off the parts you didn’t like.  Just keep in mind that any cells or lacing will get deformed with said tiling if done for too long or at too steep of an angle.

Don’t Forget the Edges . . . Again

As always, check your edges before you call your piece complete.  If you have any bare spots, you can use additional paint from the drippings or any excess paint you have in your cups.

Take one of your stirring sticks or a palette knife to the underside of all the edges to remove the dripping paint.  Any paint that is dripping will gradually pull the on the sides which pulls the paint from the top also.

BONUS – Admire Your Work!

You’ve done it.  You now know how to do the acrylic paint swipe technique.  Now it is time to take a good look at your newest creation. 

If this was your first attempt at a swipe, it may not be the greatest thing you’ve ever created.  That is OK though.  We don’t learn by doing this perfectly every time.  We get better every time we paint and there is always something to learn.

Take a moment to reflect on what worked and what you wish you could change.   Write it down so you don’t forget the next time you do a swipe pour.

You came, you saw, and you created.  What more can you ask for?

David Voorhies

Can you use craft paints for acrylic pouring?  Craft paints can absolutely be used for acrylic paint pouring.  However, craft paints do not have as much pigment or as high-quality binder as artists’ acrylic paints, so don’t mix them with as much pouring medium.  The recommendation is to mix one-part pouring medium to one-part craft paints (1:1).

In this blog post we’ll review in more detail how craft paints are made, the most common craft paint brands, and some best practices when using them for fluid acrylic pouring.

What are Craft Paints?

All acrylic paints are made of three main materials: pigment, acrylic polymer, and water.   The pigment and acrylic polymer get mixed in with the water and create an emulsion (one substance suspended in a liquid).

The water in the paint is used to help change the consistency of the paints.  Heavy body acrylics have less water than soft body acrylics.  Craft paints generally have more water than other forms of acrylic paints.  This greater portion of water in craft paints tends to give them a runnier consistency.

Pigment Load

The ingredients used in craft paints are usually chosen based on their cost more than their quality.  This means that there is less color pigment, or load, than regular acrylic paint. 

Many of the pigments used are synthetic and do not create pure colors like some more expensive pigments would.  Many of the colors with “hue” in the name (eg. cadmium red hue) use synthetic pigments.

With less pigment, you can’t “cut” or add as much medium/water because diluting the paint will the vibrancy of the color.

In many cases, craft paints don’t use normal color names, like cadmium red, because in many cases craft paints are a combination of different pigments and they don’t want to misrepresent the colors they offer.

Binder Quality

The binder used in craft paints is also not of the same quality as they are in regular acrylics.  If you are going to extent craft paints, use a pouring medium that has its own binder like floetrol, glue-all, or any professional pouring medium.

Using too much water with craft paints will cause them to flake and peel when they dry because there is not enough binding power between the plastic polymer molecules after the water evaporates.

Cost

Craft paints are frequently sold in 2-ounce containers and are usually priced in the $50 – $1.00 per ounce range.   The cost per ounce generally goes down with the size of the container that you purchase.

Some craft paints meant to be used in educational settings like Mont Marte, Sax, and Sargent are also sold in much higher volumes. 

Using Craft Paints in Acrylic Pouring

As mentioned in the introduction, craft paints can definitely be used for acrylic pouring and are a great way to learn without breaking the bank.

When using craft paints for acrylic pouring, do not mix more than one-part pouring medium to one-part paint.  This will ensure that when the paint dries it will be less likely to crack, craze, or peel from the painting surface.

It is recommended that a protective coating that includes UV blockers be applied to any pour painting with craft paints to help keep maintain color vibrancy for as long as possible.   UV will degrade lower quality pigments, similar to the affect sunlight has on bumper sticker colors over time.

Review our blog post below about acrylic pour dry times to make sure enough time is allotted to drying and curing a painting before finishing with a protective coat.

Beginner Pouring Medium Recipe

If you are just starting out with acrylic paint pouring, try using white Elmer’s Glue all as your first pouring medium. 

Mix 70% glue to 30% water.  Then take one-part of this glue mixture to one-part of your favorite craft paint.   For more information visit our blog post about pouring with PVA glue or watch our video below.

Common Craft Paint Brands

There are quite a few brands that make craft acrylic paints.  We will be highlighting a few that are commonly used in the paint pouring community.

Apple Barrel

Apple Barrel paints, made by PLAID, are one of the most common craft paints in the United States.  They come in matte, satin, and gloss finishes and have a ton of different colors.  These paints can be found at Amazon and Walmart.

Blick

Blickrylic student acrylic paints are the craft/educational line of paints from Blick.  These paints come in over 30 different colors including metallic and fluorescent colors.   You can buy them in sizes from a pint (16 oz.) to a half-gallon (64 oz.) from any Blick Art retail store or on the Blick website.

Craft Smart

Craft Smart is another popular craft acrylic paint brand.  Their paint selections include matte, satin, and gloss finishes with a huge selection of colors.  Glow-in-the-dark, metallic, and fluorescent colors can also be found.  Purchase Craft Smart craft acrylic paints at Amazon or Michael‘s.

Darice

Darice is a wholesaler for arts and craft supplies based in Ohio, USA.  Paint pourers don’t generally need wholesale amounts of craft paints but you can purchase these paints on Amazon for a reasonable price.

DecoArt

DecoArt is a staple in the arts and crafts arena.  They have craft paints (Americana), enamels, pouring mediums, and so much more.  The DecoArt Extreme Sheen and Satin Enamels are frequently used by experienced pourers to create some of the beautiful artworks you see on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

DecoArt can be purchased from Walmart, Amazon, Blick and many other crafting retailers.

FolkArt

FolkArt is another brand under the PLAID umbrella.  These paints come in a variety of different colors and finishes including satin, matte, and gloss.  We highly recommend the Glitterific and the Metallic paints from FolkArt. 

Purchase FolkArt from Amazon, Walmart, and Michael’s stores. 

Martha Stewart

Who hasn’t heard of Martha Stewart?  And of course, she has her own brand of craft acrylic paint.  This paint is a little on the expensive side, but it does come in some colors that you don’t see from other brands.   

Mont Marte

We were recently introduced to Mont Marte paint by Julie on the Pouring Your Heart Out YouTube channel.  She creates amazing nature-inspired pictures with beautiful cells.  These paints come in larger containers.

Purchase Mont Marte craft acrylic paints on Amazon. 

Sargent

Sargent acrylic great beginner paints that come in larger containers at really great prices.  These are geared toward the educational space but are perfect for learning acrylic paint pouring.  One of the starter packs will have you painting for months.

Find Sargent craft acrylic paints at Walmart and Amazon.

Conclusion

Craft acrylic paints are a great introduction to acrylic paint pouring with an exorbitant cost.  They are easy to find, relatively inexpensive, and have there is a huge selection of colors.

Once a certain comfort level is reached with craft paints, we recommend you expand into artist level paints for even more depth of color.  For a list of our recommended paints to use for fluid pouring see our page for Best Acrylic Paints for Pouring.

Our top three best torches for acrylic paint pouring artists are as follows:

• SMALL AND CHEAP – Sondiko Butane Torch (Find on Amazon)
• LARGE SCREW ON – Butane Torch by FunOwlet (Find on Amazon)
• MINI HOT AIR GUN – ZeopoCase Mini Hot Air Gun (Find on Amazon)

For more information on each of these torches and our reasons for choosing them as the best, keep reading.  We will also be covering all the things you need to think about when choosing a torch, what works and what doesn’t, and a provide you with a few of the lessons we have learned over the years of paint pouring. 

If you want to skip to our recommendations for the best torch for acrylic pour painting, click HERE.

Why Use a Torch for Acrylic Pouring?

There are a few reasons why you might need a torch for acrylic pouring.   A more robust answer to this question can also be here in our article Why Do You Torch Acrylic Pours?

Pop Air Bubbles

The first, and probably most important reason, is to pop any bubbles that form.  The nature of mixing paints in a liquid form and pouring them onto a surface creates situations where air gets trapped in the paint.

Many air bubbles will pop naturally as the paint dries.  Some of them, however, will not and this will lead to small pinholes appearing in your painting.  These will accumulate dust and debris over and in our opinion are not very attractive.

Create Cells

Another major reason to use a heating device is the break the surface tension of the paint and allow cells to form more readily.  Cells are created when the different colors of paint rise and drop based on their individual weight and densities. 

For a more in-depth explanation about cells in acrylic paint ours please refer to our article Acrylic Pour Cells:  Everything You Need to Know.

If you are getting spots where you canvas shows through on your acrylic pour here are 3 Ways to Prevent Bare Spots on Your Acrylic Pour.

Different Types of Torches

You have a few different choices when it comes to heating sources for acrylic paint pouring including a butane torch, a stick torch, and a hot air gun.  Each one has its benefits and drawbacks. 

Butane Torch

The butane torch is by far the most common of the heating devices we see for fluid acrylic pouring.  These are hand-held, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain.

When using a torch for art, there are a few features that you want to look out for to get the most bang for your buck.

• Gas Type – The most common gate type for crafting torches is butane.  Butane is less toxic than propane and is more efficient.  Not to mention burning butane only produces carbon dioxide instead of the more harmful carbon monoxide like propane.
• Igniter – This is the button that creates the spark to ignite the flame.  This button should be easy to push but not too easy that it can accidentally ignite.  Most of these buttons are the back of the device convenient to where your thumb would be.
• Flame Intensity – The higher-end torches allow you to select the level of the flame intensity (weak or strong).  This is convenient when working on different size projects.   Acrylic paint can scorch so don’t get any size of flame too close or leave it for too long.
• Handle – The handle is where you hold the torch. Most handles are small cylinders that have a butane tank inside.  This should fit well in your hand, have enough grip to keep it secure, and feel comfortable.  Having the other features conveniently located for one-hand use is also a plus.
• Stand – When you aren’t using your torch, we recommend you keep it upright so there is no chance of any gas leakage.  A stand or a platform at the bottom of the torch handle is convenient for this purpose.
• Flame Area – Similar to the flame intensity, the area that the flame covers is very important.  The valve on the end of the torch determines how much flame is produced along with the intensity level guide.  Larger openings all the torches to cover more surface area and heat up the paint more quickly.  This is very convenient for larger paintings.
• Safety – Almost all torches come with a safety switch that must be pressed or pushed before the gas can be released.  This is the number one feature I would for in a torch.  No one wants rogue gas or flame in their home or studio.
• Refill Ability – The last consideration is if the torch is refillable or not.  Most torches can be refilled by turning the torch upside down and inserting a refill container into the opening at the bottom.  Additional instructions on refilling should be provided with the torch. 

When selecting your butane torch, you will want to check on how the torch works in each of these categories.  A torch without a safety shouldn’t be considered while one with a flame intensity lever may or may not be a requirement.

Stick Torch

A stick torch is a handheld flame device commonly used to start a grill, fireplace, or candle.  These are generally not refillable.   These can be used in a pinch to pop bubbles but because the flame is so small and not very intense, they don’t work very well for acrylic pouring applications otherwise.

Hot Air Gun

Over the last few weeks, we have seen several acrylic pour artists on YouTube take up the use of a hot air gun for their fluid pour projects.   You can definitely use a heat gun instead of a torch for acrylic pouring.

These hot air guns are normally used to heat up surfaces quickly and efficiently.   Here are a few of the features to look for with a hot air device.

• Power – Many hot air guns come with a
  setting to choose the power, temperature, or wattage.  This setting allows the user to change the
  amount of heat being produced by regulating the power/wattage.  For acrylic pour artists, you do not want
  very much heat so a low setting like 300watts or 150 – 200’ Fahrenheit.
• Recommended Use Time – Many hot air guns
  have a limit to how long you should use them at any one time to make sure the
  tip and the heating elements don’t get too hot. 
  Luckily for us pouring artists, we don’t usually use the heating devices
  for more than a few minutes.
• Blower Intensity – Some of the high-end guns
  allow you to control how hard the air is blowing through the heating
  device.  This is very beneficial for
  paint pouring as we generally don’t want to push our paint around, only pop the
  bubbles and promote cell formations.
• On/Off Switch – Kind of a no brainer here
  but having an on/off button instead of needing to plug and unplug the device is
  almost a must.

Our recommendation is to find a heat gun that is low power, at least for a heating device, and that doesn’t blow too hard.  We don’t want the blowing to move our paint.  We really want it to help heat up the surface of the paint and to allow the oils and less dense paints to rise to the top and create cells.

Top Recommended Torches

We have broken our recommendations down into three categories; Small and Cheap, Large Screw On, and Mini Hot Air Gun.

Small and Cheap

This category is dedicated to those artists that want a simple and small torch.  The Sondiko Butane Torch is a great option for the beginning acrylic paint pour artist.  It is a comfortable hand size, has most of the features we mentioned above, and gets great reviews on Amazon.   

Large Screw On

For those of you looking for a little more flame or who work on bigger painting surfaces you’ll want a larger head on your torch.  The best torch for acrylic pour painting on larger surfaces is the Butane Torch by FunOwlet. 

Rather than refilling the torch from a canister, this torch screws directly on to the canister of butane.  In addition, the torch heat is much larger and can heat a much greater surface area which can be a real time saver. 

Mini Hot Air Gun

The last of our torches for acrylic pouring isn’t really a torch.  The ZeopoCase Mini Hot Air Gun is a small hand-held hot air gun, otherwise known as a heat pen, that has just the right amount of heat and air flow for fluid acrylic art. 

This hot air device is generally used for embossing or to heat shrink wrap.  It also comes with a 100% 12-month money-back guarantee so if you don’t like it, you are only out a little bit of your time.  The one downside is it only has a 36” cable.  For those of you that need a little longer chord to work with try the Abunro Heating Tool with its 6’6” cable.

Problems with Torches

Over the last few years of paint pouring, we’ve had a few problems with the torches that we’ve used.  The main problems that we had were with reliability and button functions.

Moving Parts

With continued use, the most likely piece to break on any torch are those that move.  The intensity level, striker, and the safety get used the most.  Most torches, at least the ones that cost less than $50, will have plastic parts that will wear out over time.

For someone painting a few times a week, a torch will generally last two or three years.  That is just the normal lifespan of most plastic pieces.  Paying less than $20 every few years for such a useful tool really isn’t bad.   

The benefit of buying a new torch every few years is that you can also upgrade the type and fit based on the experience you had with the previous torch. 

Dirty Torch

Our latest torch died because we were doing a resin topcoat on our pour and forgot to take off our gloves before torching.  The resin got onto the safety and strength dial and sealed them both shut. 

If we would have had a model that allowed us to turn it on and then just hold the tool, this would not have been a problem.

We have had to clean our torch a few times from paint that accumulates on it over time.  We usually just use an alcohol wipe or swab to clean up as much as possible and then go over it again with a scrubby brush and hot soapy water.  Do not submerge the torch in water as it can get water in the gas tank and ruin it!

Torch Safety

The last thing we want to you to consider when working with a butane torch or heat gun is on your safety.  Anytime you are using a product that creates heat or flame, we recommend you take some simple safety precautions.

1. Follow the directions of the product.  Using your torch in the recommended manner will limit the potential for unfortunate events to happen.
2. Keep a fire extinguisher close by – A personal fire extinguisher like Fire Gone is an essential part of any art studio where flammable materials are used.
3. Let people know when you are using a torch – Just like with the buddy system, having someone else away or potential disasters can help keep them contained if they ever happen.
4. Use common sense – We really shouldn’t have to say this, but it is worth a mention.  Always think about what you are doing, especially when using an open flame or high heat device.

Conclusion

Every acrylic pour artist needs a way to pop bubbles and help the formation of cells in their work.  Whether you chose to use a butane torch, a heat stick, or a simple fire starter flame, do so with caution and care. 

We hope this article on the best torch for acrylic pouring was helpful.  If you have additional questions or comments please ask below and we’ll get to them as soon as we can.

To acrylic pour with negative space you create space around and inside that painting that helps the viewer focus in on the main, or positive, part of the artistic composition.   This negative space can be complimentary to make the composition pop, or subtle to limit distraction and provide the background for the main focal point.

In this post, I’ll dive into the definition of negative space, examine a few of the primary reasons acrylic pour artists use negative space in their works and highlight a few of the techniques that pair well with negative space.

What is Negative Space

Negative space is the area around the main focal point of the painting.  It is the light between the trees, the ocean behind the boat, the field behind the baseball players.

Many artists use negative space to accentuate where they want the viewer to look at in their artwork. This can be done by using complementary colors to make a deep contrast between negative and positive space.  It can also be done by using more muted colors to make the negative space blend in more and to not catch the eye as much. 

One of the most famous uses of negative space is Rubin’s Vase.  This picture shows two identical silhouettes of a person’s face staring at each other from the opposite sides of the composition.  The space in between the faces makes the outline of a chalice. 

In Rubin’s Vase, the picture has the faces either black or white.  The chalice is then colored the opposite.  Each viewer’s eye is attracted to one or the other image. 

However, with additional viewing, the opposite image can also be brought to the forefront.  This use of color and negative space allows the artist to help guide the viewer to see what they want them to see

A great explanation of the use of negative space can be found on the website mymodernmet.com here.

How to Use Negative Space in Acrylic Pouring

Acrylic paint pouring is generally considered an abstract art because in most cases fluid pour artists are not painting a specific scene, person, landscape, or object.  Pour artists are letting the paint do most of the work.

In most cases with acrylic pouring, the negative space is a solid color that is usually painted or poured onto the surface surrounding the main pour.  In both bases, once the pour is complete, this background or negative space is still present to some degree.

Even with abstract acrylic pour art, negative space can be used to help draw attention to a certain part of the painting, to balance a composition, or to provide proportion and a frame of reference.

Drawing Attention with Negative Space

The most common use of negative space in fluid acrylic painting is to help draw attention to the main pour area.   As the artist, you want to attract the eye of the viewer to the interesting parts of the painting. 

If the background of a painting is busy or garish it can detract from the overall look of a painting.  One the other hand, negative space that is too much like the primary interest area can also make the eye wander rather than stay focused on what should be the most interesting parts.

Balanced Composition

You have probably all seen a picture at one tie or another that just doesn’t feel right . . . unbalanced.  The overall feeling of a paint pour is also affected by balance.  Colors, weights, brightness, size, and quantity can all influence the balance of a composition. 

Balance does not refer to the different elements attracting the eye equally.  It refers to the desire of the painter to give emphasis on different parts of the composition.  Some painters want the view to feel off-center or unbalanced while others would rather the feeling of harmony and coordination.

For example, a truly balanced painting could have blues and greens on one side and reds and oranges on another with white negatives space in between and around the areas of color.  The negative space adds separation and brightness to two opposing temperatures of color.  The opposition is evident but feels centered and balanced.

Conversely, a small dark area with the rest of the painting being a different dark color can feel disjointed and unbalanced.  This unsettling phenomenon can be created with different sizes and different color combinations between the positive and negative spaces.

Provide Reference and Proportion

Negative space can also be used to help give a reference point or to provide proportions to a painting. 

Proportions refer to the relative size compared to something else.  With a pour painting, a common use of proportions is when the negative space is added to all four corners of a rectangular surface. 

This emphasizes that the positive space is smaller than the canvas rather than larger while the rest of the painting is unseen due to the limitation of the size of the painting surface.   

The use of a large swath of negative space and a small amount of positive space immediately pulls the eye to the main positive space.  The negative space acts like big blinking arrows on the canvas pointing to the place where you should direct your eyes.

Negative Space Colors

Using neutral or contrasting colors for negative space is a great way to direct the eyes to the designated area of the pour without causing undue interference. 

White Negative Space

Using white or off white as your negative space color evokes a feeling of brightness, cleanliness, or sophistication.  White negative space also gives airy feeling It goes will with more vibrant colors as it is also ads a bit of contrast. 

Black Negative Space

Black negative space brings out a darker side.  It provokes a sense of deep thought and a little bit of menace.

By using black with very light/bright colors you can also arouse the feelings of hope and wonder (think Nasa space photographs).

Contrasting or Complimentary Negative Space

On the color wheel, complementary colors are those on the opposite side of the color wheel.  Black/White, Orange/Blue, and Yellow/Violet.   Complimentary colors are also known as contrasting colors.

Negative space is the area between the primary focal point of the composition.  By using a contrasting color in your negative space, you make the two really stand out from one another.  Many complementary colors create dissonance and disharmony.

Black and white are a bit of an enigma as complementary colors because they can easily be both jarring, as they are with Rubin’s Vase, or they can be elegant and normal as they are with text on white paper.

Common Techniques Used for Negative Space Pours

Negative space can be used with all the different acrylic pour techniques.  However, some lend themselves more readily to applications with negative space.

More information about different acrylic pouring techniques can be found in our blog post about Basic and Advanced techniques.

Blown Pour (Dutch Pour, Blooms Pour)

A blown pour, otherwise known as a Dutch pour or a bloom pour, rare covers the entire surface of the canvas.  This pour relies on a small amount of paint being blow into a base coat. 

This base coat that covers a good percentage of the canvas is not the primary focus of the painting.  As mentioned previously, the color used for the base coat can help evoke different feelings.

Blown pours can be done with lines or squiggles of paint across the canvas or multiple small puddles of paint also.

Many blown pours are done on simple black or white negative space backgrounds although artists like SheleeArt are more frequently using other base colors with stunning results.

Ring Pour

The ring pour gets its name because it looks like the rings of a tree trunk when cut.  The ring pour often has a circular look although some waviness occasionally introduced due to tilting.

Because this pour is often circular and many painting surfaces are square, it presents an opportunity to leave some area of the surface unfinished. 

That unfinished area becomes the negative space of the piece and accentuates the difference between the shape of the composition and the shape of the canvas.

Intentional Pour (Wave Pour, Silhouette Pour)

With the save, silhouette, or intention pour the artist is trying to create a specific shape.  These shapes only cover a portion of the painting surface. 

Negative space is used to give provide an outline and a barrier that emphasizes the desired shape.

String Pull Pour

The string pull pour techniques requires that you pull a chain or string with a color on it through a different base layer color.  This base layer acts as the negative space which is behind and between the colors left behind on the string.

There are a few forms of the string pull that consume the entirety of the painting surface but those are much less common than those that take full advantage of negative space.

The string pull pour technique is also unique in that it can be used on top of a different kind of pour.  This creates negative space that isn’t all the same color as the underlying pour has its own color palette and texture. 

The designs created by the string pour become the focal point of the piece while the fluid pour behind becomes a compliment to that focus . . . thus negative space.

Traveling Flip Cup or Floating Cup

The floating cup technique uses a thick base layer of paint.  A small dirty pour cup of paint is then overturned on the base layer and the paint is slowly released from the bottom of the cup as the cup is moved in different directions on the canvas. 

The small cup on top of the base layer appears to float across the canvas as the paint is released underneath which is the reason for the floating cup moniker.

These techniques almost always have lots of negative space around the main areas of the pour.  These pours use full advantage of the ability of negative space to provide proportion and balance along with focus and reference.

Conclusion

The use of negative space in your acrylic paint pours bring lots of different perspective and possibilities to your fluid artwork. 

When painting, always consider what you want the beholder to see immediately, how you want them to feel, and where you want their eyes to wander.  This attention to both the positive and negative space in a composition can expand the depth of a piece and increase both its value and appeal.

Can you pour over an acrylic pour?  You can absolutely pour over an acrylic pour.  This can be done while the pour is still wet or after the pour has completely cured (usually 2 – 3 weeks).  Some additional cleaning and preparation may need to be done before re-pouring a painting.

We will be deep-diving into all the different variables that need to be taken into consideration before redoing a failed pour painting.

Why Reuse a Painting Surface?

We have found that one of the most expensive pieces of an acrylic paint pour is the painting surface.  Canvas, wood panels, tiles, etc. can be a good portion of the costs of a pour painting.  Re-using these materials can save quite a bit of time and money in the long run when done responsibly.

There are materials like paper (see our article on pouring on paper) that are not nearly as expensive and are probably not work the effort of waiting till they are dry to repour.  Re-pouring over a wet pour would still be a viable way to save a failed pour, even on paper.

Don’t feel bad about redoing your paintings.  Keep in mind that even artists of old, like Pablo Picasso, painted multiple different times on their painting surfaces. 

Pouring Over a Wet Painting

The easiest way to save a failed pour is to do so before it dries.  When the paint is still wet on the painting surface there are a few options that you can take:  scrape and repour, pour directly over the previous pour, or add paint to select sections.

Scrape and Repour

Scraping all the paint off the canvas or painting surface is an easy and effective way to salvage a failed pour.  This method does waste the paint that was used but allows you to re-use the canvas without needing to wait for the paint to dry. 

When scraping, use a palette knife, a cake spatula (offset icing spatula), or a drywall putty knife to pull all the material off the painting surface.  Make sure to get all the paint off the sides and the bottom also.  

Our paintings are generally on thumbtacks, cups, or ceiling hooks so the paint puddling underneath after it is scraped isn’t a problem.   If there is going to be to much paint left underneath the painting, consider moving it to the side or scraping up into a containing and disposing of it before re-pouring.

At this point, there is no need to let the canvas dry.  Some people prefer to wait an hour or two so the paint dries, but we don’t think it is necessary.

Pour on the newly “cleaned” painting surface whenever you are ready.  You might need to take some extra care to paint make sure the old paint stains are completely covered with the new paint if the color pallet is drastically different on the second pour.

NOTE:  If you had oil or silicone in your pouring mixture, you may want to review the Cleaning Off Oil and Silicone section below.

Pour Directly Over the Previous Pour

If you’ve finished with your pour and you decide you don’t like it, you can simply prepare more paint and pour over the top of your work.  The previous pour will essentially become your “base layer” and can be tilted completely off the canvas or select parts can be kept as a background to the new pour.

When you pour over a wet pour, keep in mind that the new paint will most likely react with the old paint on the edges.  If the new colors you have selected are of different densities, you could end up seeing some of the old paintings bubbles up through the new paint. 

You can Google “pearl cells” to see some paintings where the effect was done intentionally with some beautiful results.  These types of cells are less likely to be seen when using similar paints for both the first and second pours.

Don’t Wait too Long to Re-Pour

If you decide to pour over the top of a previous pour, make sure that you do it in a reasonable amount of time.  The sides of a pour painting begin to dry almost immediately.  Waiting even an hour after the first pour might result in a dried paint texture showing up on the edges and sides of your new painting.

Make Sure You Tilt Off Excess Paint

When you pour over an existing pour while it is wet, you are going to end up with double the amount of paint.  Leaving too much paint on a canvas will most likely cause it to crack and craze.  Additional information about cracking and crazing can be found in our post Why is My Acrylic Pour Cracking.

Add Paint to Select Sections

Another way to salvage a bad pour is to add small sections of additional paint rather than re-pouring the whole thing.  Pour over the areas you dislike and either tilt, blow, or scrape the new paint to create a new look. 

Try using complementary colors in this mini re-pour sections to add contrast and interest to a failed painting.

Pouring Over a Dried and Cured Painting

Sometimes you like the look of your acrylic pour painting right when it is finished but something happens during the drying process that ruins the painting.  Or it might be a commission that the customer ended up not liking.  Because acrylic paint is essentially plastic, once it is dried it becomes a great surface to paint on again.

When considering pouring over the top of a previously dried pour, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that that the paint has fully cured.  Sometimes the top layer of paint may be dried but the underlying painting may still be wet or still be semi-solid.

Pouring over a painting that hasn’t fully cured could cause the painting to peel or bubble as the underlying painting is still outgassing the liquids inside of it.  You should wait at least 2 weeks for smaller paintings and a few weeks longer for larger ones before re-pouring.

Our article How Long Do Acrylic Pours Take to Dry gives additional insight into this issue.

Cleaning Off Oils and Silicone

If any kind of oil or silicone is used in the painting, this must first be completely cleaned from the painting surface.  If these are not properly cleaned, the new pour will not adhere to the old pour and could cause peeling and flaking.

The steps you use to clean a painting would be the same steps we recommend before finishing a painting.  Read more about these steps in Ways to Finish an Acrylic Pour.

Filling in Cracks and Crazes

Any surface imperfection that shows on the original pour will more likely show through on the new pour.  This includes crack, crazes, slight bumps from a section where the paint was thicker when drying, and any air holes that developed. 

These surface abnormalities can be fixed in a few different ways.

• Add small amounts of paint into any crack, air holes or low areas.   Use thicker paint for cracks with some depth and thinner paints for small cervices.  Paint with or without pouring medium can be used.
• Modeling paste or thicker painting mediums can also be used.  These may require some manipulation to flatten the top surface after they are inserted into the cracks.

If you don’t mind the look of these imperfections or there aren’t any that are substantial enough to require remediations then go ahead and get your pour on again.  You will be able to see some of these imperfections through the new painting.

Do You Need to Gesso with a re-pour?

In most cases, gesso is not required for a re-pour.  The only exception we would give is for very glossy finishes.  These finishes may require a light sanding with very fine-grit sandpaper to give some texture to the surface or you can paint on a coat of gesso.  This will ensure that the new pour has something to adhere to.

Do you need to sand if you pour over resin or varnish?

If the painting you are going to pour over has a coating of resin or varnish you may want to scuff the surface of the painting and add a layer of gesso just to make sure the new pour doesn’t peel off of the old pour when it is dry.

You don’t need to stand much, just enough to dull down the shinny top coat, and you can use any grit above 100 or so to scuff the previous work. I think sandpaper between 100 and 200 work best.

Gesso really isn’t required as mentioned above but does give you a better surface for the new pour to stick to.

Don’t add pour layers too many times

That last piece of advice we would like to give on pouring over an acrylic pour is to not do so more than once or twice.  The more layers of paint that are added, the more likely there will be a problem with the finished result. 

Painting over an acrylic pour is a great way to save some time and money.  We recommend that you practice on some junk painting surfaces before doing any re-pours for pieces that are meant to be kept for long periods of time.