While the practice of pouring artist paints is certainly not a new way to apply paint, achieving consistent results can be frustrating and costly. However, it is vital to the process to conduct experiments to gain the knowledge of what are the most critical controlling factors which preside over paint pours.
Studio Preparation
One sure way to improve the odds for successful pouring is to start with a clean studio. Acrylic pours are relatively slow drying paint layers and dust can easily become imbedded into the film. Take some time to free the immediate workspace, sweeping the floor and wiping down surfaces around the studio. Next, be sure the table top or floor you are working on is also clean and level. Even slight angles can cause issues with pours. Put down fresh poly plastic sheeting on the surface which will protect the surface and help later on by preventing your artwork from becoming glued to the work surface, as pouring products creates puddles and drips that can travel off of the canvas or panel. Finally, control the temperature and humidity level in the studio as much as possible. Dry climates increase the chance of crazes developing – fissures resulting from liquid acrylic products skinning over during initial drying while the underlying liquid paint is still very fresh. The skin shrinks and tears apart resulting in unwanted physical textures known as a “craze” (see Image 1).
Painting Substrates
The most predictable painting surface for pours is a sealed panel. This surface is less affected by the weight of the wet product compared to stretched canvas. Of course, the panel needs to be resistant to warping from water, thus sealing the surface with one or more coats of acrylic medium (or paint) is helpful. Conversely, this advice may be counter-productive if your technique relies upon the surface absorbency and/or the ability to curve the substrate in order to control the paint movement. This is why testing is such a critical factor even when using products that other artists find successful. If working on stretched canvas is vital to your process, you may be able to eliminate the sagging by stretching over a wooden panel or using a cardboard block between the stretcher bars.
Paints and Mediums used for Pouring Applications
Free-flowing liquid paints and mediums are at the heart of the pouring process. Adjusting the viscosity and flow rate to work in tandem with how you want the paints to interact with each other is key. Obviously, products like GOLDEN Fluid Acrylics and High Flow Acrylics are more practical when doing pours than thicker Heavy Body Acrylics. This is not to say you cannot use Heavy Body paints, but they will first require thinning with water, acrylic medium, or both. A great approach for thinning Heavy Body paints without a loss of film strength is to first mix a thin acrylic medium such as GAC 100 with water (1 part medium to 1.5 parts water, and then use this mixture to thin the paints as much as desired). This mixture assures quick thinning but contains enough acrylic binder so that you still end up with a pourable paint instead of a color stain mixture. Since Fluids and High Flow Acrylics are already pourable, this step isn’t required to work with them, but sometimes it is necessary to adjust these paints as well. GOLDEN Airbrush Transparent Extender is also a valuable medium for adjusting paints. This product is a similar consistency to High Flow Acrylics, containing flow improvers and leveling additives.
Although most acrylic mediums are inherently pourable, some are better suited for pouring than others. GAC 800 is a medium specifically produced to modify paints for pouring, such as when pouring a puddle onto a paint surface. The GAC 800 mixes readily with the Fluid Acrylics and this combination is the least likely to craze during drying. It’s still possible GAC 800 may craze, but this is usually the result of too much paint being added and in turn, countering the acrylic solids level or the pour has been applied in too thick of a layer. A great starting point is to mix 1 part paint into 10 parts GAC 800 and limit the thickness to how far the product will spread. In other words, pour the product into a pancake puddle, and let it seek its own thickness without impeding its flow by use of a taped off or dammed edge. Once these tests are done you may want to try other paint amounts and use edges to control the flow, but be wary of too thick of a pour to start. The biggest negative attribute of GAC 800 is “dry state clarity”. This medium retains a slight cloudy quality making it a poor choice as a clear topcoat or even transparent color layer.
Other mediums to experiment with include GAC 500, Polymer Medium (Gloss), Fluid Matte Medium, Self-Leveling Clear Gel and Clear Tar Gel. One important note worth mentioning is that these products were not developed with defect-free pouring in mind, and although smooth thin layers are possible when using them, they are not free of issues and limitations. For example, a common misconception is that Self-Leveling Clear Gel can be poured liberally and spread around with palette knives, trowels and squeegees and level perfectly upon drying. This is not the case, and some tool marks, however slight, will likely remain in the dried layer. Tool shape and application technique are critical to their success, and artists who have mastered their use have spent many frustrating nights in their studio figuring out the best application method that provides the desired results. As a place to start, use clean, large tools with smooth edges and carefully spread the product in multiple thin coats until the desired effect is attained. Allow one to three days drying between coats to reduce the chance of crazing and don’t be put off if every layer isn’t a perfect epoxy like surface, as perfection is nearly impossible to attain in layers of air drying products.
Pouring Application Techniques
There are as many methods as there are product combinations to try. First, appreciate each paint color as its own unique formula and pigments vary in their density and ability to move and spread. The same is true for the many acrylic mediums produced. Now factor in the addition of water, Retarder, or diluted Acrylic Flow Release. Toss in the impact of the painting substrate and studio environment and suddenly, predictable pouring seems unattainable. The way to best describe the approach to pouring applications is the concept of setting the stage to allow the products to do what they want to do; in other words, controlled chaos. And if you don’t take good studio notes to identify how each painting is created then you’ll never be able to reproduce a great effect when they happen. That said, here are some common methods and beginning mixtures to try out:
- Thinned Color Washes – High Flow Acrylics are ready to use for this application. The colors will readily move and interact. Try them neat, mixed with mediums like Airbrush Transparent Extender or GAC 500 and let gravity move them around. Fluid Acrylics will require at least 10% additions with water to allow them to freely move about. Note: high additions of water increase surface tension, which can be countered by adding in 2 or 3% Acrylic Flow Release into the water prior to using it to thin paints. Do not over-add Acrylic Flow Release as it does not help improve flow, it’s intended to reduce surface tension which happens quickly.
- Solid Color Pours – As mentioned previously, GAC 800 is a great medium to use with Fluid Acrylics for making colored pours (see Image 2). Ideally start around 10 parts GAC 800 to 1 part Fluid Acrylic, mix and store the paint overnight in a sealed container. This allows the bubbles incurred during mixing to rise and pop, resulting in clean pours with sharp edges. These mixtures produce clear color edges. Solid color pours can be used over an entire canvas, but avoid damming up the edges during drying.
- Adding Isopropyl Alcohol into Acrylic Paint – Alcohol is less dense than water, and evaporates quickly once it hits the surface of a pour. Unlike other applications, the alcohol amount for this technique is relatively low because once the effect happens and it escapes the fresh pour, there needs to be sufficient time for the normal acrylic paint curing process to
Image 3: Pours of GAC 800, GOLDEN High Flow Acrylic & Isopropyl Alcohol create cellular patterns as the alcohol tries to escape the paint during drying. occur to avoid film formation issues. An effective starting recipe is 2 parts GAC 800, 1 part High Flow Acrylic, and 1 part 70% isopropyl alcohol. Create 3 or more paint mixtures in containers which can be shaken without spilling and carefully pour one color on top of another. Dense pigments like Titanium White should be used as the final layers so that the more aggressive colors below will push up through and create the cellular effects (see Image 3).
Conclusion
As with any new painting technique, do not be discouraged if the desired results don’t happen immediately. Good note taking is critical for successful pours of acrylic paints and mediums. If you find yourself at the crossroads and need additional guidance, please contact the Materials Specialists with your questions!
Great article with useful information! I was wondering how artists were achieving the cellular look. Going to give this technique and the others mentioned a try. Thanks so much!
Hi Christine!
I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Take notes and expect a learning curve!
– Mike
Mike when using liquitex pouring medium with fluid acrylics how much exact should be used? it seems it gets to thin. Can you use this with regular tube acrylics? What is best to seal the gesso befor pourings?
Hi Ginny,
We have tested Liquitex Pouring Medium with Fluid Acrylic and Heavy Body Acrylics, so they are compatible with one another. Using Heavy Body Acrylics should result in a thicker pouring mixture, assuming enough paint is added to factor in the overall thickness.
Sealing the Gesso surface can be accomplished with many kinds of mediums, gels and even pastes. I would use a gloss product, such as Polymer Medium Gloss, but keep the layer very thin to avoid crazing.
– Mike
Thanks Michael, lots of great info!
Diane
Hi! Thanks for the great post. I’m trying very hard to get large cells to form when I do pours. I’ve watched many tutorials and tried many paint:Flietrol ratios, paint:silicone ratios and am finally getting teeny tiny cells. But I want large ones. I live in a very arid, high altitude desert and my studio has been experiencing sub freezing temperatures. I can’t control those things. Any suggestions? I’m totally at a loss.
You are very welcome, Kathleen.
It sounds like you are in a very dry area with low temperatures. One of the things you may not have tried is to add some water into the paint mixtures to help make them a bit thinner, which can help the development of the cell patterns. Do some testing, where you add 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% water to the paints you are currently mixing up, and see if you notice any improvement of cell development. If you still don’t see any positive changes, repeat, but use a medium with retarder in it, such as GOLDEN Airbrush Medium and see how that does. IF that still doesn’t work, then you may need to switch the paint brand and mediums being used. – Mike Townsend
What does a “retarder” do?
Hello Cathy.
Thanks for the question. A “retarder” is a paint additive that “retards” the evaporation of the water in the paint, effectively slowing down the paint’s drying speed. In artist acrylic paints, this provides extra blending and painting time. It is important to be careful with using retarders in thick paint layers, because it is harder for the retarder to evaporate out, which keeps the paint sticky or tacky until most of it has gone.
– Mike Townsend
Rain X + floetrol + Liquitex pouring medium + paint = cells cells cells
that rain x is a game changer, trust. 😉
Hello Cara.
Thank you for commenting.
You may very well achieve some cells with this combination, but the question is whether the RainX will also create issues for the artwork long term?
It is unknown without scientific testing confirming if adding these non-painting products will create failure for the artwork in the future.
– Mike Townsend
Hello Cara
Can you kindly give ratios of the above recipe? Thanks
If you mix the silicone in the paint very little & gently, you should get larger cells. If you mix the silicone a lot & briskly, you will get smaller cells.
OR you can leave out the silicone and after you pour your paint, take a toothpick or or a wide-toothed comb, dip it in silicone and then dip it in your paint. You should get large growing cells. You can also tilt your canvas down and as the paint is flowing down, tilt your canvas side to side to kind of keep the cells from stretching too much in one direction & keeping the cells round.
iF YOU HAVEN’T WORKED IT OUT YET YOU NEED SILICON OIL, LOADS ON UYOUTUBE
Hi Katie,
At this point in time we do not endorse the use of silicone oil in painting mixtures that are expected to last. There are many reasons for this stance. Most silicone oils do not evaporate out of the paint, therefore they stay within the matrix of the paint and could potentially cause film formation issues. At the very least, the silicone oil will impede the intercoat adhesion between the surface of the pour and subsequent product layers, such as mediums and varnish. As an artist, you are free to do what you want to to make your artwork, but until we gather enough evidence that there isn’t any long term issues, we won’t suggest artists add silicone into paint. – Mike Townsend
The automotive silicone works beautifully! I made my own pouring medium with Elmer’s Glue All. Would love to try alcohol but concerned it might not work with my everyday craft paints.
Hello LAC,
Thank you for your comments. Artists are free to combine materials as desired for their artwork. Our job is to try and identify any potential permanency issues likely to occur when using products never intended to be added into paint films. Silicone oil is a non-drying, non-evaporating oil. Other non-drying oils like Mineral Oil, Olive Oil, and Motor Oil are all things best left out of paint mixtures. The use of Elmer’s Glue All as your base medium, poured thickly, is likely to result in adhesion issues and noticeable yellowing.
– Mike
I tried some pours wi elders & didn’t get any cells. Do you know at I could have done wrong? And you
Hello Shelly.
Please re-submit your questions as I’d prefer not to guess what you are asking.
Thanks
-Mike Townsend
Nice to know! I was thinking of stopping at the parts store to check for some since silicone oil for painting is not available in the town I live in neither is flood.
Hi, I have been using silicone in my mixes and in Reading this I am concerned…. The silicone tends to rise during curing and then gets washed off whien acrylic is dry. Would it still affect the film formation?
Hello, Emmanuelle. Thank you for your question. While some of the silicone rises out during drying, no one knows if ALL of it comes out and reaches the surface. I believe wiping down the surface is a good idea but it may require repeating several times as the films more fully cure. We have seen this happen with overloads of surfactants, which tend to rise and collect on the surface of the paint film. So to summarize, what is truly going on with the silicone during film formation and afterward still needs to be studied, but overall try to minimize the amounts until it’s shown to be either acceptable or not.
– Mike Townsend
You don’t need silicone for cells anyway once you learn about the different densities of the different paints and how they react with other colors. #stopusingsiliconeforcells
Agreed!
Thanks, Ryan.
– Mike Townsend
Michael and Ryan,
Totally agree with you both but I am having a heck of a time learning this information. I know that Golden has a chart of their densities but do either of you know of any resources that can teach me more in depth about this? Thank you in advance!
Hello Alana.
Yes, there’s a learning curve with this painting technique and the more you try to pinpoint a specific pouring method, the more testing you need to do. Work small, take notes, and don’t be afraid to fail! I will say that density is important for this level of control, and if you make a set of paint mixtures, use a little to create 2″ puddles of one color, and then drizzle a few lines of a second color across it. You’ll be able to use this as a guide to better predict how individual colors will behave based on the sequence of the order in which they are applied.
– Mike Townsend
I would be worried about toxicity, after reading the labels on silicone lube products. Did my first pour with WD40, which worked, but was very smelly. Now I use rubbing alcohol, acrylic gloss varnish and paint conditioner.
Also torching silicone products releases hazardous fumes.
I get my cellar patterns by mixing liquid silacone also known as a lubricant such as coconut oil in to one or more paint color then once finished I use a chefs torch in a circular motion to achieve cells.
Thank you for replying to Christine, Max. Just realize that we do not endorse the use of silicone oils, commercial lubricants, or other non-drying oils with acrylics, as we do not know what it does to the film formation process or long term stability of the paint layers. This also goes for the use of a torch. The high temperature may not adversely affect the silicones but may cause film formation issues of the acrylics.
– Mike
Michael,
I have been doing experimental silicone pours and there have been a few issues but the GAC 800 finally stopped crazing issues for me. What I’ve discovered is that the oil will continue to come out of the painting for a couple of weeks and during those couple of weeks while you essentially cure the painting, you keep wiping it thoroughly in circular motions and it continues to create a nice shine. If you want to epoxy one, wait 3 weeks, you don’t want any moisture at all in the painting.
I do one coat varnish when I feel it’s cured enough. The torch stabilizes the cells you are trying to preserve in the initial pour and it helps create texture, giving an organic look, and it works better than a heat gun or blow dryer which moves the paint to much.
Thank you Kim for your insight. There is much testing to do to learn how the silicone oils are affecting the paint layer, and if enough of the oil can be removed to allow for sufficient intercoat adhesion between the paint and the varnish or topcoat layers. In the silicone testing I have done, which isn’t very much to qualify me as an expert, the surface seems very slick and not likely to allow for proper adhesion. We follow the “ASTM Cross-hatch Adhesion Test” which is one we use for many kinds of adhesion testing between substrates and primers, primers and paints, paints and topcoats.
– Mike
have you ever tried this with Acrylic glazing liquid (gloss) by Golden
Great article!! The chemistry geek in me loves getting into what’s going on behind the scenes so to speak…how & why the paint is doing what it’s doing!! Thanks for the informative article!!
One question…I mix my paints ahead of time as I love having a collection of colors available…I mix large batches of white too…my white was getting low so I mixed up a new batch & I’ve been battling the white ever since. It is rising to the top. I tried making it a bit thicker still it is overpowering…any ideas why this might be happening? I’m wondering if I got my ratio wrong…your note taking advice seems relevant here LoL!! I thought I had it memorized but as I write this I’m having some doubts…any suggestions would be great!!
Thanks so much!
Interesting, Amber.
My experience has been that the Titanium White wants to dive downward in a pour, not rise. However, if the white mixture was thinner than the other paints it would likely stay afloat or rise upwards, trying to equalize. Try using the same amount of medium to paint, and see if this helps!
Regards, Mike Townsend
I do not want cells. Is there a way to avoid when using heavy body, regular, or liquid acrylics with GAC 800?
Should water be avoided during mixture? Can you pour color combinations in a cup or can the colors be directly poured onto substrate.
Great article and replies to questions. Thanks.
Hello Michelle.
Thank you for your questions. The Fluids and GAC 800 can produce smooth color fields without the creation of cells. The 10:1 ratio in the article helps to minimize the impact of the various paint formulas, which in turn reduces the differences of the color mixtures for pouring. It can also be helpful to keep the pigment density range close together. Density differences will cause some colors to sink and others to rise. The easiest way to do this would be to work with organic pigments (modern pigments such as Phthalo, Quinacridone, Benzimidazolone, etc.) and avoid most of the inorganic pigments(metal and natural earth pigments. At least try to use one type in a painting.
Please let us know if you have any other questions!
– Mike Townsend
Can one apply acrylic paint on top of the poured surface once dried?
Hello Natalie,
Yes, once you have allowed the poured layers to become solid (typically 3 days or so) then you may hand-paint over them as desired. It’s possible you may be able to paint sooner, but the timing changes based upon environment, poured paint thickness and what you’d like to do next. Multiple pours often take the most time to reduce the chance of cracks and other unwanted surface defects occurring.
– Mike
Michael Townsend is there a chance you could send me a paint density print out like you sent to Danny Clark?
Patricia