Acrylic Pouring Lessons

Last Tuesday was our third lesson on abstract art.  It was my first experience with acrylic pouring, although I have heard of it.  And what fun it was!  As the name suggests, this involves literally pouring a 1:1 mixture of acrylic paint and pouring medium, a gooey fluid solution used to create a thinner, flowing consistency in acrylic paint.  The result is an interesting fluid artwork through increasing the paint flow and reducing the viscosity of heavier paints without sacrificing colour, texture and opacity.

It is best to do acrylic pouring on a hard and solid substrate like canvas or a wooden plank.  Unlike paper, they take up a lot of paint and thickness.  We used wooden planks for our lesson and rolled on some white gesso on top.  Once dry, our instructor, Dieter, demonstrated.  We began mixing the pouring medium in a plastic beaker with acrylic paint with a 1:1 ratio, stirring briskly with a spatula till lumps disappear.  Separate beakers of blue, red, yellow, green, purple and white were created.  Then the fun begins!  We liberally poured one colour after another, watching in awe how the colours merged yet remained segregated as above.

Once in a while, we tilted our wooden plank in different directions and watched how the paint moved around to create interesting effects.  I love those marble formations!  We also swirled the paint around with a spatula to move the paints around further.  One of the cool things about the pouring medium is that it takes time to dry so while wet, you are free to shift the paints around.  Dieter also introduced using Ecoline ink which has a thin consistency and hence adds another interesting dimension to the painting.  I added some green in mine.  This is what I created thus far.

Unfortunately I was not able to take photos during the process of my own work as my hands got covered in paint!  But I love how it was all progressing.  The session was so exciting and as I was having a rough busy week with work, I felt it cleared my mind and helped release tension.  I even had so much fun getting all messy!   It brought me back to my carefree childhood, playing with a pool of paint with no care in the world.  Next week, I will be bringing home the finished result and be posting it up here.  It’s at the studio at the moment, since it takes some time for the paint to dry.  Can’t wait to show you guys!!