Acrylic pouring on (tiny) canvases

I jumped back into painting needing a hands-on outlet. A place to just play. Growing up I was drawn to specific artists: Rauschenberg, Pollock, Hirst. Their techniques fascinated me, and a lot of my work was rooted in that foundation.

But like my 2019 series, I kept circling back to the same familiar style. I loved it, but I felt the itch to try something completely new.

Enter: acrylic pouring.

Fluid acrylics poured directly onto canvas, creating abstract effects that are entirely unpredictable. A different kaleidoscope on every pour. I started small: three tiny canvases, three color palettes, just getting a feel for it. The results stopped me in my tracks. Even as the paint dried it kept shifting, settling into forms I never planned for. That part I did not expect, and it became my favorite part of all.

I love staring at the textures and hope some of that comes accross in the detail shots.

I will say - the hardest part of this set of paintings was the pour mixture. Theres a lot of different techniques out there to get the right consistency but I did use this link and video to guide me.

Here are the two basic mixtures that a lot of folks use:

• Liquitex Basics + Liquitex Pouring Medium: Liquitex states on their website that you should use about 5% paint and 95% medium. For example, if you’re using 10 total ounces of paint, you’ll want to use a half ounce of paint, and 9.5 ounces of medium.

• Liquitex Basics + Floetrol: You can use three parts Floetrol to one part Liquitex. For example, if you want four total ounces of paint, you’ll use one ounce of paint, and three ounces of medium.

Next time I'll experiment with a different mix to see what changes. Enjoy!