A couple months back, an artist in one of the many Facebook groups I’m in posted some samples of her work, and I was immediately entranced. I’d never seen anything quite like it. You can see and purchase her works on her website April Makes Art. I wanted to attempt something similar, but I didn’t even know what the method was called to Google it. Several weeks later, I finally stumbled upon a YouTube channel demonstrating a similar technique. The method is called acrylic pouring, or sometimes fluid painting.
Annemarie Ridderhof’s channel is a wealth of information. Her paintings are stunning, and she’s perfected her methods. I believe that April’s pieces are actually made with resin, but acrylic seemed much more accessible. So what did I do? I watched as many videos as I could, waited until I could combine a mega Michael’s sale with some insane coupons, and I bought I metric shit ton of paint and canvas. Go big or go home, right?
This video is my very first attempt at acrylic pouring. I most definitely made some mistakes, chief among them that I didn’t mix up enough paint to cover my entire canvas. That’s what I get for literally trying to “go big” and choosing such a large piece for my first try. But I did manage to salvage the painting, and I’m quite happy with the end result! I’ve since made about twenty more paintings, so there will be many more pouring videos to come as I try to master the technique.
Other artists that I’ve since stumbled upon and learned tips from are Mely D., Rio Saress, Caren Goodrich, DeliberatelyCreative, and Ann Osborne. Definitely go check out their channels if you’re interested in learning this technique, because they are all wonderful artists!
Materials used for this painting:
Liquitex Basics Unbleached Titanium
Liquitex Basics Raw Umber
Liquitex Basics Deep Violet
Liquitex Basics Phthalo Green
Artminds Metallic Copper
Artminds Brushed Metallics Peridot
Golden Gloss Medium
3-in-1 Silicone Drip Oil
Distilled Water
Culinary Torch
Canvas
Plastic Cups and Popsicle Sticks for mixing
