In this technique, fill a few small bowls with acrylic paint of differing colors.
10 Acrylic Pouring Techniques for Beginners (How-To Tutorial)
Acrylic pouring is one of the most rewarding forms of acrylic painting for creative minds and those who want to have a little bit of fun.
We’ve taken the liberty to show you a few fun acrylic pour cells techniques in this how to acrylic pour painting for beginners tutorial. Follow along step-by-step, photo-by-photo if you would like or use our guide as nothing more than a leading light and carve your own creativity into your canvas as we go
Different Acrylic Pouring Techniques
Learning how to acrylic pour is not really about mastering one technique but rather an everlong list of different creative uses of this medium. Simply put, there is no end to the imaginative creativity in acrylic paint pouring.
Thank you to Olga for her help in putting this tutorial on all the different acrylic pour techniques together. She is a great artist and excellent acrylic pour art resource. Please consider supporting her by purchasing some of the supplies you see in this tutorial with this link.
Here are just ten of the endless Acrylic Pouring techniques you can try:
Butterfly Chain Pull
Start with a chevron-type design. You don’t have to follow ours below exactly. Matter of fact, your background design can consist with whatever clever art you want. Just make sure their are several light colors that will mix well.
Use a spatula to smear the colors together.
Allow it ten to twenty minutes to dry before using a tube of dark colored acrylic paint to make a butterfly outline.
You may choose to follow up your outline with another more flamboyant color. This choice is up to you.
We added purple, too, for a creative touch.
Now, use a bead necklace for this next step — or a chain — or anything you can find that can create a precision drag.
Hold the chain above your painting and slowly allow it to trace your butterfly outline little by little.
Once you’ve reached a point in your artwork where you can easily pull the beads in one direction to create a consistent pattern, do so slowly as seen in the photos above and below.
Make sure you pull the chain to the center of your work, in this example, or if you are making several chain pulls in your art, make sure they all pull in the direction of one unique point. This will create a sense of preparedness and not random abstract.
For your butterfly, repeat this step for the other wings until you have your finished piece. You might find that rinsing your chain or beads after each pull creates a cleaner effect.
At the end, you’ll have a considerable amount of paint pooled in the center on your butterfly’s body. Consider doing something creative with this as we’ve done where we dragged it out with the chain.
Funnel Ripple Pour
For the funnel ripple pour, start by pouring black paint in the center of your canvas. The paint will automatically spread, so try to keep your pour centered the whole time.
Then, use a funnel to do the next steps. Start by blocking the hole of your funnel with the canvas. Do not let paint escape prematurely underneath. Keep it held firmly to your canvas.
Then, begin adding paints to the funnel. As you can see, we started with blue.
Continue adding various colors without rhyme or reason. We tend to stick to bright colors as it achieves the best effect in our opinion.
The colors don’t mix inside the funnel. This is because of their particular acrylic paint properties. Just be certain to hold the funnel still and flat against the canvas.
We like to add white as it is a good blending color.
Once you have all the colors you want added, raise the funnel just hovering the canvas. The action happens fast, so be ready.
Create different effects by raising, lowering, and dabbing the funnel to the canvas. But keep it centered!
You can raise the funnel the more the paint runs out of it. This will give you a fun ripple effect.
We’ve chosen to quickly add a black, thick coat around the galaxy-looking effect you’ve created.
Next, the choice is yours with what you do with it. We’ve decided to use a tilting technique to get the paint to run randomly to the edges.
To get a sliding effect all the way to the corners, we use our trusty painting spatula.
Expand Your Creativity with Paint Pouring & Wood Slices
One of the most popular trends in arts and crafts today is acrylic paint pouring. No other painting technique gives you the interesting and abstract designs you get with this painting method. Plus, it’s fun and easy to do and since acrylic pouring paints are highly saturated and dry quickly, beautiful creations can be made in a matter of minutes.
In this guide, instead of using a canvas, we’ve used wood slices. The artist in the video is using Arteza Pouring Acrylic Paint, a premixed, high-flow paint that is ready to pour. It comes in a wide range of colors, including metallics, neons, and pastels. She pours the paint on Arteza Wood Slices made from natural pine wood with a smooth, sanded surface, which means there’s no preparation involved, just take them out of the box and they’re ready to use.
List of Supplies
- Arteza Pouring Acrylic Paint, 60ml Bottles – Set of 32: A701, A101, A503, A502,A804, A901, A602, A605, A402, A301, A805, A402, A901, A202, A802, A502
- Arteza Premium Wood Slices – Set of 45
- Arteza Glitter (We chose silver and gold, but you can add any color you like!)
- Arteza Sculpting Tools (Optional)
You shouldn’t be afraid to try pouring — it’s easy! One of the things that makes it so great is that you don’t need to have any artistic training or skills to do it. The most important part of the pouring technique is choosing the colors and color combinations you will use. You don’t have to overthink this, though. No matter which colors you choose, you’re sure to end up with an interesting design. Just choose your colors and take your time. In fact, you might even find yourself in a meditative state as you begin pouring the paint and watching as the colors swirl around each other.
Here are seven different designs the artist achieved using a variety of acrylic paints and acrylic pour techniques. Some of the designs even use glitter! We featured color recommendations for each step, but feel free to use any color you desire! After you watch the video and see how it’s done, don’t be afraid to experiment and use your favorite colors. There’s no wrong way to do this.
Hint: Since wood is porous, it will absorb the paint, so you might want to prime the wood slices first. You can do this by using a thin coat of regular acrylic paint and letting it dry before starting the pouring process. If you like the look of the wood grain showing through, don’t prime the slices; instead, pour the paint directly onto them.
Design 1. The Drop Technique
To create this abstract design, the artist in the video pours each color onto the slice, making small drops here and there. These drops will spread out and mix together. She then adds a different color to these drops. You can experiment with combinations.
Next, rotate the wood slice and watch how the paints move around each other and blend together in a beautiful way. The artist uses a sculpting utensil to create a design by dragging the tool through the paint to create lines going in different directions. If you don’t have a sculpting tool, you can use a toothpick, or any item you don’t mind temporarily getting paint on that will create a line By starting each line from the same spot, she achieves a nice pattern as a result.
TIP: It is best to add black in small amounts to keep the paint from turning “muddy.”
Design 2. Start with Stripes
This time the artist pours the paint onto the wood in stripes using A101, A503, A502, A804, A901, and a drop of A701. Then she rotates the slice the same way she did in Design 1. Finally, she adds glitter into the wet paint to ensure it adheres and won’t flake off after drying.
Design 3. Use Smaller Drops
The third design is similar to the first, only much smaller drops are used. In this design, the artist uses similar colors A602 Carnation Pink and A605 Coral and then adds a complementary color, A402 Sea Green. Once again, she rotates the wood until she achieves the design she is most happy with.
TIP: Use a paper towel to blot the back of the wood slice after you have finished pouring and have gotten the results you want. This way the slice won’t stick to the surface of the table after the paint has dried.
Design 4. Pour in Circles
For the fourth design, the artist pours the paint onto the wood in circles, alternating between the colors — A301 Phthalo Blue, A805 Neon Blue, A402 Sea Green, A901 Gold, and A101 Titanium White. After that, she adds gold glitter and makes a motif in the paint with the pottery tool.
Design 5. Make a Rainbow
The fifth design is made by making a rainbow using the drop technique. The artist starts with the darker shades of purple and blues, next adding green, yellow, and orange, and gradually ending with red (A806 Neon Purple, A301 Phthalo Blue, A805 Neon Blue, A804 Neon Green, A801 Neon Yellow, A802 Neon Orange, A202 Vermilion Red). She finishes the design by creating a pattern with the pottery utensil and adding A101 Titanium White and A902 Silver.
Design 6. Start with a Solid Surface
In the sixth design, the artist fills the entire surface of the slice with A701 Mars Black. Next, she adds A202 Vermilion Red, A802 Neon Orange, and A502 Lemon Yellow. She then pours A101 Titanium White in drops and, using the sculpting tool, creates a design. If you don’t have a sculpting tool, you can use a toothpick, or any item you don’t mind temporarily getting paint on that will create a line. She adds gold glitter as a finishing touch.
Design 7. The Dirty Pour Technique
To make the last composition, the artist lines up three wood slices. She pours the paint in layers into a glass container using A501 Mid Yellow, A402 Sea Green, A202 Vermilion Red, A806 Neon Purple, A805 Neon Blue, and A301 Phthalo Blue, and adding A101 Titanium White last. Beginning at the end of the row, she pours the paint across the slices, covering them all with equal amounts. She then rotates each slice to make sure each one is completely covered and to achieve the design she desires.
Recommendations
- Paint pouring is a messy activity. Cover your workspace with a drop cloth and wear an apron or old clothes you’re not afraid of getting paint on before you start to pour, as the paint does drip and spill from the slice.
- To help keep your work surface clean between pourings, keep wet tissues and a cloth handy for wiping up the paint.
- It is almost impossible to foresee the final result. To get the results you want, our artist recommends that you don’t pour too much paint on the wood from the start and to work slow and steady.
- You may find it awkward to work with wood slices of this size. Pouring usually means working with broad surfaces, after all. Before you start, practice pouring on one.
- It is almost impossible to recreate the same design twice. But by using the same color combinations you can make designs that complement each other and work well as a group.
There you have it! We think you’ll enjoy hours of fun and creativity using these paint pouring techniques on wood slices. You’ll see that pouring is a quick method, which means you get to make spectacular designs really fast. Plus, the colors can be combined in an almost indefinite number of ways, so you’ll get a stunning result every time.
Now that you’ve read about the different ways to use acrylic pouring paint on wood slices, watch the video to see the artist in action.
