Acrylic paint is ideal for abstract painting. Fairly easy to use, it offers a host of creative possibilities! Color mixes are infinite, and techniques for creating depth are varied! Acrylic paint can be diluted with water and dries quickly, making it ideal for painting layer on layer, for example.

But what you may not know is that it can also be used for pouring!

What is acrylic paint & pouring?

Pouring is a rather unusual painting technique. It involves “pouring” acrylic paint, more or less diluted with water or silicone, onto a canvas. No brush, no spalter and no knife: you create an abstract painting by randomly pouring different colors onto a support. The result is surprisingly cosmic 🤪! Yes, you’ll see the appearance of cells of different sizes, similar to soap bubbles!

The effects depend on how you prepare the paint mixture beforehand. And therein lies the only difficulty: how to prepare the acrylic paint for to make a pouring painting !

Pouring: how does silicone work?

Silicone is a very useful medium for painting pouring boards. Silicone, like many oils, repels water. When added to acrylic paint, it doesn’t mix, but finds its way into the color, creating honeycomb effects. On the whole, the more silicone you add to the paint mixture, the more cells you get. These cells can also be obtained without the use of silicone, using other painting techniques.

How to pour: the material

To make an abstract painting with the pouring technique, you need :

• acrylic paint 😂;
• a smoothing medium. It delays the drying of acrylic paint. There are several commercially available products to choose from: liquitex “pouring medium”, for example, or the less expensive “easycryl”, which you can find in DIY stores such as Castorama.
• silicone ;
• a spray ;
• a small pipette ;
• small frames to start practicing this pouring technique;
• small glass cups (reusable after washing) to make the color mixes. You will need one for each color;
• a heat gun or kitchen blowtorch.

Making acrylic pouring: techniques

The preparation of paint mixtures will play a decisive role in the result. Pouring and the appearance of the famous cells depend on the fluidity and density of your paints.

By density, we mean the different percentages of products that will make up your paint mixtures: a certain % of paint (color), a % of medium and a % of water. In general, these proportions are balanced at around 30% each.

If your paint mixtures have different densities, the colors will “clash” on the canvas. High density versus low density: you’ll see the characteristic cells of acrylic pouring. The technique of different densities produces “large” cells!

The 2nd technique for easily creating paint cells is to use silicone. You don’t need much: just a few drops are enough. Hydrophobic, silicone won’t mix with acrylic paint, but will repel it and create superb effects, with smaller cells!

The different silicone oils for pouring

When it comes to silicone oils, the choice is yours!

• WD40 lubricating oil spray

It’s not necessarily the most appropriate, but it works well. WD40 is a multi-purpose product for the home and garden. It’s a spray lubricant in gas form, composed of silicone. To obtain “liquid” silicone, simply spray a small quantity into a glass, leave for a few minutes to settle and the foam disappears. Then, using your pipette, take one or two drops as required.

The disadvantage of WD40 is its composition: it’s not pure silicone, and its other components can yellow your painting over the long term. What’s more, it must be used with care: watch out for fumes when spraying!

• Pébéo silicone oil (or another brand)

It’s a pure silicone oil made for use in acrylic pouring paint. Pebeo oil is very easy to use: all you need is a pipette to take one or 2 drops, depending on your creative whims.

Of course, it’s more practical than WD40 because it’s ready-to-use, without “toxic” gas or other chemical components. So it’s better for the painter, for the environment and for the result too: it won’t yellow over time. The pouring silicone pouring silicone is also very economical: you need very little for a surprisingly good result. All you need to do is add 1 or 2 drops to your paint mixture, without mixing, and you’re ready to go 🎉!

And what about the flashlight?

Using intense heat for a very short time will increase the chemical reactions between silicone and paint! The heat of a heat gun or kitchen blowtorch will further force the cells to separate. You’ll see lots of new cells appearing, many of them but not necessarily very large!

⚠️ Absolutely no hair dryers!

How do I pour the paint for pouring?

Then, of course, there’s the fateful moment of applying the paint to the canvas to to create a magnificent acrylic pouring ! The visual effect is quite magical! Preparing your materials and work surface is essential. Pouring is a very messy technique, as the paint flows onto the canvas. It’s also a way of painting abstracts, but one that uses a lot of paint and wastes a lot of it…

And don’t forget the finishing touch: varnish your paintings to set and protect your creations, whatever they may be!