You can apply gesso smoother when you are doing it with the right tools. You can use a roller brush for easier yet even more smooth applications. It is easy to apply with a roller brush because you can do it effortlessly, and the gesso will spread all over the canvas evenly. You can Put the roller in a ziplock bag to avoid drying out. Also, you can use a store brought canvas, slightly sanding with sandpaper for this method.
Ways to Finish an Acrylic Pour?
About a month into my acrylic pouring journey, I was finally starting to think my paintings were worth saving. At that point, I had one of my paintings hanging in each of my children’s rooms and we had a larger piece on display in the family room. My siblings and in-laws were asking if I would pour a painting for them and just like that, I had an audience for my hobby. The only problem was, I didn’t know how to properly finish an acrylic pour painting. This blog post is the culmination of a fair amount of research and a lot of trial and error.
What are some of the ways to finish an acrylic pour? Acrylic pour paintings can be finished with oil-based, water-based, or resin finishes. A finish can add to the durability of the painting and protect them from environmental damage. The right finish can alter the look of a painting by making the colors seem brighter and more lustrous or they can mute the colors and give them a flatter appearance.
Acrylic pours don’t technically “need” to be finished as acrylic paint is a plastic derivative and dries into a durable hard substance. However, many artists choose to do so for a variety of reasons which will be explained in more detail below. Acrylic Paint Pour with Resin Finish
Table of Contents
Why Finish an Acrylic Pour?
Fluid artists have a variety of reasons for practicing their art. Creative pursuits allow a person to experiment and learn using the five senses. Some artists shape their works as a form of self-help; to calm the soul, to provide an escape, or to compose mind and allow for reflection. Many share their art with others. In most cases, artists want their work to last.
Finishing an acrylic pour can greatly prolong the potential lifespan of a painting. Finishing provides protection from the environment, allows the artist to control the consistency and uniformity of the surface of the painting, and provides a way to more easily maintain and clean the artwork.
Protection from the Environment
Unless your painting is being displayed in The Louvre in Paris or The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City it will probably be moved, stored, dropped, and manhandled many times over the course of its life. Adding a protective coat(s) over the top of your painting can help it to maintain its original beauty from environmental damage that can come from normal use.
Sun and UV Protection
Ultraviolet rays (UV) from both direct and indirect sunlight is one of the most common issues that cause damage to acrylic pour paintings. These UV rays can react with the color pigments in the paint, with the paint mediums, and even with some protective coatings. These reactions can cause the pigment colors to fade or mediums and finishes to yellow over time.
By adding a protective coating that is a UV blocker you can help mitigate the amount of damage that UV light does to your painting. Keeping acrylic pour paintings out of direct sunlight and using paints with a high lightfastness rating (I/II) will also help blunt the harmful effects of UV rays.
Prevent Dings and Dents
Acrylic paint, when dried and cured, turns in to a solid plastic-like material. One of the benefits of using acrylics over oil paintings is that once cured acrylic paints still maintain a small bit of malleability, or the ability to stretch slightly. This malleability keeps acrylic paintings from forming microcracks when it flexes due to movement or changes in temperature.
As with anything, frequent handling, drops or being and flexing can still cause acrylic pour paintings to crack or to separate from their painting surfaces. Adding an additional protective layer over the top of the acrylic paint can reduce how much the actual paint is subjected to these types of forces.
Add Uniformity to the Painting Surface
Another reason to add finishing to a painting is to change the surface of the artwork. Some acrylic pours dry uniformly flat across the whole painting surface. Others, especially those where additives are used, do no dry the same across the painting surface.
When the artist wants to keep the painting surface as authentic as possible, very thin layers(s) of protective coatings can be used. Spray coatings and very thin brushed-on coatings are ideal for this type of finish.
If an artist would like to flatten out the entire surface of the painting to make it more uniform, thicker coatings or multiple thin coatings are used. This thicker application of protectant allows the shallow areas, like bubble holes and dry paint density differences, to be leveled out. Thicker substances like gels or resins are ideal for making the surface of an acrylic pour uniform.
Allow for Easier Maintenance
As acrylic paint dries and the water and solvent in the paint evaporate, small pinholes can form. These pinholes will gradually accumulate dust and grime. Adding even a thin layer of a finishing material helps fill in these small imperfections and prevent this buildup.
A finish coat also protects the surface of the painting from direct contact when the artwork is being cleaned. This could be a rag or a dusting cloth that may have water or other cleaning substances on it. In the case of a very high-quality finish procedure, the whole top coat of the finishing product can be removed and reapplied as necessary.
Brighten or Dull Colors
When acrylic paints dry, their color changes slightly. This color change can be affected by the type of paints and the pouring mediums that were used.
In most cases, acrylic paints dry slightly duller than they appear when they are first poured and still wet. This happens because light reflects much better off of the surface of a wet material as opposed to a dry one. Even high gloss acrylics can dry less brilliant than they initially appear.
By adding a finish or varnish you can alter the look of your fluid painting. Finishes generally come in flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and high-gloss effects.
Flat, eggshell, and satin finishes will be slightly obscure and will dry with a grainy surface. This dull surface reduces the amount of light that penetrates the finish. This keeps the paint from reflecting as much light making the colors seem subdued.
A semi-gloss and high-gloss finish can help bring the “wet-paint” glossy look back to your painting. These help light penetrate the top clear coat and reflect off the painting thus making the colors seem more vibrant and alive.
Different Types of Fluid Acrylic Finishes
There are literally hundreds of different ways to finish an acrylic pour painting. Every artist has their preferred methods. These finishing methods can vary greatly based on the painting surface used, the type of acrylics in the pour painting, where the paintings will be displayed, etc. The most common types of finishes are water-based, oil-based (solvent-based), and resin finishes.
Water-Based Finishes
Water-based finishes are by far the most commonly used top coats for acrylic pour paintings. Because they are water-based, there are very few harsh chemicals in the solution. They are easy to apply, a cinch to cleanup, and have little or no odor as water is the only thing evaporating into the air during the drying process.
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean
- Quick dry time
- Low odor
- Remains clear with time
Cons
- Thinner coats
- Slightly less durable
- Can’t be removed later
- Humidity can cause drying problems
- More susceptible to heat and humidity
- Short workable time-frame
Hello, I’m David. I am a Computer Technologist by trade and I have always envied artistic people. For years I have been enchanted with all the amazing acrylic paint pours I see on social media. Come to find out, even a left-brained nerd like myself can create beautiful artwork with fluid acrylic pouring. I created this website to chronicle all the things I’ve learned on my pouring journey.
Painting edges
Painting the edges of a cradled panel is an important step in making a completed work for me. The process itself is slow and methodical and also bridges the space between a work in progress and one that is finished and that I am ready to let go out to a wider audience. I wrote more about this in a previous post which you can see here.
First I apply a coat of primer and then two coats of acrylic paint in a colour that complements the colours of the painting. Next I apply a coat of gloss medium to the edges.
Signing the work
I sign my work on the front with a paint pen or fine marker in a discreet manner so that my signature blends with the painting and isn’t obvious on first viewing. I like that someone who is looking at my work can see who made it without having to see the back of the panel, where I also sign my name. After my signature is completely dry I then put a layer of gloss medium over it to fix it in place.
Clear leveling gel
Once the gloss medium is dry, I pour on a layer of clear leveling gel over the surface. This medium is very thick and as the name suggests it levels itself to fill in any uneven sections. For me, it helps to unify the surface. I pour on a relatively thin layer and then brush it to the edges with a soft brush. Any excess medium I scrape back into the container. Sometimes bubbles appear, which I don’t want on the surface and these will usually come out as I gently brush the medium. A gentle scraping across the surface with a clean palette knife works too. A mist of rubbing alcohol on the wet surface will also help to eliminate bubbles. Then the painting is placed on a level surface, away from any drafts, to thoroughly dry. I like to give it at least a week so that I know it is fully dried before the varnish coat.
After some trial and error I’ve figured out how to achieve the sheen level that I like for my work. I use GOLDEN Polymer Varnish with UVLS in a combination of gloss finish and satin finish to achieve the sheen that I like best.
The first coat is gloss varnish. I let this dry for at least 6 hours and often overnight or for a few days. The gloss varnish is very glossy and it’s not the aesthetic that I want for my work. On the other hand, the satin varnish dulls the darks too much for my liking. So I’ve discovered that if I mix the two together, I can achieve the sheen level that I want for my work.
The second coat is a 50/50 mix of satin and gloss varnish applied in the same manner as the gloss varnish. I use a dedicated soft, wide brush and try to move quickly and methodically over the surface, always working with a wet edge trying not to go over a section more than once. GOLDEN has a comprehensive guide for using this product on their website.
Once the top surface of the painting is dry I then varnish the edges of the panel with the 50/50 varnish mix.
Airbrush with acrylic paint for extra smooth application
You might have heard about airbrush painting. It is one of the most popular techniques in the art world, automobile industry as well as in cosmetic industry. Airbrushing a painting helps very smoother paint application without any creases or unevenness.
Normally extremely low viscosity or thinner paints are used with airbrush. Therefore you need to thin the acrylic paint first. If you are using acrylic ink there is no need for thinning. But if you are using paint like soft body acrylics, you’ll need to thin them with airbrush medium, or else you can use 80% diluted flow to aid with soft body acrylic paint in a 1:1 ratio as recommended by Liquitex. If you’re using soft body acrylics, strain the colors before going through the airbrush to remove any lumps and pumps in paint and ensure smooth flow through the airbrush.
Even though you can thin soft-body acrylic paint to better flow through the airbrush, it is much more difficult to make a flowy mixture with heavy-body acrylic paint. Therefore go for low-viscosity acrylic paint when working with an airbrush. Furthermore, you should not airbrush or spray paint harmful pigment colors such as cadmium colors. Inhalation of cadmium could be detrimental to your health.
If you are more interested in the potentially harmful compounds in acrylic paint, you can read my article; Is acrylic paint harmful? (In different routes of exposure)
Apply varnish to make one cohesive painting
While working on your painting or before you begin, you can follow the above tips and techniques. You might wonder what you can do to get a smoother acrylic painting if you have already done your artwork. Varnishing is a great way to do that. Most artists think that varnishing paintings is only necessary for oil paintings. However, you can also varnish your acrylic painting and I highly recommend you do so.
Varnish acts as a transparent protective coat for the painting. Additionally, it can fill the dents and crevices in a painting, and provide one cohesive, smoother finishing to the painting. Varnish also helps to protect the painting from UV rays, dust, and grime over time.
The shine of the varnish may even help to hide the uneven patches of your painting if there are any. Apart from that varnish brings out the color in a painting. It gets all colors of the painting to the same level of color intensity and brightness, making a nice cohesion in every part of the painting.
Depending on what works best for you and your artwork, you can either brush or spray varnish onto your painting. For acrylic paint, be sure to use acrylic varnish. Before applying varnish to your work of art, read the labels on the varnish you purchase and test the material on a sample piece.
Conclusion
You can use these strategies if you are in the beginning, middle, or finishing stages of your painting to get a smoother finish. It is up to you to decide which technique is best for the problem or circumstance you are facing right now, using the information I have provided in this article. As Bob Ross said, “all you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.”
About
Painting Gal is a blog where painting or art-related articles are posted regularly. The aim of this blog is to provide complete and accurate answers to help solve art-related problems of its valuable readers. To achieve this aim, Painting Gal shares the experiences of the authors, expert opinions, and recommendations as well as the experiment results conducted by the authors of the blog posts.
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