When I first discovered paint pouring on YouTube, I really wanted to get stuck straight in and create a painting, but I was so overwhelmed, I just didn’t know where, or how to start. Then I thought start at the very beginning with mixing some paints.
How do you prepare acrylic paint for pouring? The easiest way is to mix 70% craft glue with 30% water as a pouring medium. Then mix 1 part acrylic paint and 2 parts of the pouring medium you just mixed. the right consistency is when it runs off your stirring stick into the paint and leaves a small mound which disappears in a couple of seconds.
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If you feel it is too thick, then you can add more water, but just add a few drops at a time so you don’t end up adding too much.
HOW TO MIX PAINTS FOR PAINT POURING
How to mix your paints to the right consistency for paint pouring is a difficult subject to cover in the written form, purely because, different paint consistencies are used for different paint pouring techniques, and not only do different brands differ in consistency, but even colors of the same brand can differ too. So mixing your paints is what comes with experience and you get a feel for how the paints need to be.
But as a general idea, the most common way of describing the right consistency is that of warm honey. So think of warm honey running off the end of a knife and that is about right for most paint pours.
The pouring medium recipe above, of 70% craft glue to 30% water is just a starting point. and this is what we typically use for medium or heavy bodied paints. I will use approximately 2 parts of that Pouring Medium to 1 part paint, but then I will often need to add a little more water if the consistency is still a little thicker than I would like, but only a little drop at a time until I have the desired thickness.
I’ve tried to show the consistency for the paint as best I can here, but it’s very difficult to show it on a photo.
It is important to make sure all your paints are mixed to the same consistency as each other. If they are not all the same you may get problems when you are tilting your painting as the thinner paints will flow easier than the thicker ones and roll over the top of the thicker colours.
Another reason for making sure they are all the same consistency is because you will want all the paints to dry at the same rate as each other. If they dry at different rates, then it could well cause your painting to crack as it dries.
A really great way to see if you have mixed them all the same is to put a little blob of each of your colours onto a piece of card, then turn the card on its side and let the paint run down… They should all run at about the same speed.
Other Pouring Ways You Can Mix Your Paints
The glue and water is a great way to save money and still have a great paint pouring mix, but there are lots of other things. you can mix with your paints too.
Flood Floetrol
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This is an excellent pouring medium and works really well with all paint pouring techniques.
here in the UK it is very expensive, but if you are in the US or Australia, it is much more affordable and would be my number one choice if it was an option for me.
Flood floetrol is actually made for decorators to help the paint flow well and to eliminate brush marks, which is why it works so well for paint pouring, we really want our paints to flow well.
It also extends the drying time of the paint, so if you do use this, don’t expect your painting to be dry overnight.
Mod Podge
This is what I typically use, it gives a lovely finish and does make the paint flow really well.
I get Mod Podge Gloss Lustre from Amazon because they often have the gallon containers of it, which is better value for money, and I do get through a lot of it so I make sure to stock up when they have it in stock.
Ready Made pouring Medium
There are loads of pouring mediums on the market to choose from, just about every brand of paint manufacturers also have a pouring medium.
But one of the best and most widely used is Liquitex Pouring Medium.
This is really nice to use, but as paint pourers we do use a huge amount and it does get very expensive to buy the branded pouring mediums.
Another thing in favour of these branded pouring mediums is, they don’t create so many bubbles in the paint… It is mostly the water that adds so many bubbles, so that is another thing to take into consideration
Leave your Mixed Paint To settle
It’s really important to let your paints sit in an airtight container for at lease a few hours before you use them, but preferably overnight.
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The reason for doing this is because when you have stirred them and mixed in your pouring medium, it will have created lots of tiny bubbles. They will work their way to the top of the paint mixture and pop, but if you use the paint straight away, you’ll have all those bubbles in your paint pour painting.
You can use a torch to remove some of the bubbles once you have poured your paint, but you have to be careful not to over torch your painting because it can burn it and also dry the surface out too quickly which could go on to cause cracking in the paint.
Why Do We Need To Get The Bubbles Out Of The Paint?
There are two main reasons to get as many of the bubbles out of the paint as possible…
- If the bubbles pop during the drying process, then you will end up with little spots of the base color all over your painting, and the base color is often white (but not always)… and you could be very happy with your painting, and then come back to it and it has white spots all over it.
- If the bubbles don’t pop during the drying process, they will end up just below the surface of the paint, and instead of having a nice smooth painting, it will have pimples all over it.
Ready To pour Paints
If you’re just starting out, this is a really great option to try!
By using the paints that you can pour straight out of the bottle into your cups or onto the canvas, it takes out all the guess work of what paint consistency you need.
It will also help when you come to mix your own paints because you will be able to compare it with the ready to pour paints… For this reason, I highly recommend them.
A great set of ready to pour paints is this set of 32 from Arteza, these will really help you get a ‘feel’ for the paint consistency you’re looking for
Can I Mix My Paint With Just Water?
Yes you can, but with caution, only use highly pigmented paints and be aware that it can weaken the color. However, you can certainly practice with just paint and water, in fact I recorded a series of videos for you on YouTube showing you how to create some great paint pours using just paint and water which I hope you will find helpful.
A Paint Pouring For Beginners Kit
To help you get started with paint pouring, I’ve put together a beginners shopping list over on Amazon. It gives you an idea of a lot of the basic things you may need or want to get you off to a good start on your paint pouring journey. You can find the list HERE
There Is Such A Big Topic To Cover
How to mix your paints for pouring is such a big topic to cover, but it can get a bit overwhelming, so I have broken it down into its basic form here.
I hope that makes sense for you, I did say it was difficult to explain in the written form. I have made quite a few videos that you can find here on YouTube that will show it better.
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe