Changing the shape of cells is no easy task. Because the nature of cells in acrylic pouring is based on so many different factors you can only create the best environment possible to get the results you are looking for.
Acrylic Pour Cells: Everything You Need to Know
What is it about cells in acrylic paint pouring that make them so special? Is it the compact layering of colors, the bold 3-d effects they make, or the eye-catching variations they bring to a painting? Whatever the cause, cells in fluid paintings are complex and sometimes enigmatic.
Acrylic pour cells come in many different shapes and sizes. They can form naturally, or they can be artificially coaxed from within a painting by using additives, exposing the paint to small amounts of heat, or by layering paints with different densities and textures. Creating cells can add additional depth and character to your paint pour artwork.
We here at LeftBrainedArtist have done some extensive research into acrylic pour cells and are sharing everything we’ve learned. We hope it provides beneficial and helps you get your cell-making-mojo churning. Acrylic Pour Painting with Multiple Cells
Table of Contents
What are Cells in Acrylic Pouring?
Acrylic paint pouring is, to define it as concisely as possible, mixing paint in a freeform fluid state to create art. As with many other liquids, when you mix fluid acrylic paints together, you get various effects including color mixing, layering, and cells.
So, what exactly are cells in acrylic pouring? As the name implies, they are effects in acrylic paint pouring that take the shape of cells similar in appearance to those you would see in biology.
To better illustrate the comparison between cells in biology and painting consider this: the nucleus contains the center color, the cytoplasm inner filling usually containing multiple combinations of colors, and the cell membrane is the distinct border.
The cells can take many different shapes and come in various sizes, which we’ll go into more detail later in the article.
Why do Artists Want Cells in Their Pour Paintings?
Many artists have a love-hate relationship with cells in their acrylic pour paintings. Cells can bring amazing eye-catching color combinations and variations to a painting. They can also cause unwanted distractions in a painting.
One of the true beauties of acrylic pouring is a randomness of how fluid paints interact. The nature of the acrylic paints and the mediums make predicting the outcome quite uncertain. Cells are a prime example of this uncertainty. There are ways to coax cells from a painting but some of their creation seems to just be dumb luck.
We believe one of the main reasons that cells are so popular in acrylic pouring is that they are loved by the audience. People that we have shown our art to seem always to be entranced by the arbitrariness and fine intricacies of acrylic pour cells.
Cells also tend to be micro-cosmic representations of the artwork. The underlying principles that direct how cells form inherently pull colors and textures from multiple different layers of paint and smashes them all together creating mini paintings in each cell.
What Causes Cells in Acrylic Pouring?
There are many ways to create cells in a paint pour. The most common ways we have found come from manipulating the density of the various paints, specific pouring mediums, various fluid pour techniques, and special additives.
Cells and Paint Density
Every paint has a different density based on the pigments that are used and the binder that those pigments are suspended in (this is how acrylic paints are made). These differing densities mean that each paint weights more or less than other paints when comparing the same volume of each.
An easy example would be to take a one-inch square of gold and a one-inch square of cardboard and compare the weight of each. The gold would weight more than the cardboard even though the volume (one inch cube) of each is the same.
In physics, the measurement of the difference in densities between two objects, or liquids in the case of acrylic paints, is called the specific gravity. In most cases, this comparison is done between water and another object. This way there is a common benchmark when calculating specific gravity.
Dense objects like a rock will sink when tossed into a body of water. Less dense objects, like a small piece of wood, will float on the water.
This exact same phenomenon happens with acrylic paints. More dense paints like titanium white will “sink” into less dense paints like charcoal black. This happens because the white is denser than the black and has a greater specific gravity. This interaction of materials with different densities is called the Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
To create cells, you can use this physical property of fluid acrylics to manipulate how the paints will rise and sink when combined by stacking more dense paints on top of less dense ones. When paints rise and sink, they gather small bits of the paint they are moving through. When bubbles of lighter paint move up to the top of the painting, they create cells.
Additional information about paint density can be found in our articles about the Origins of Acrylic Pouring and Muddy Paintings.
How to Measure Paint Density
To accurately calculate the density, you will need to measure the mass of the paint (weight in grams) and divide that by the volume (measured in milliliters). A quick explanation of this calculation can be found in this YouTube video.
Measuring the density of paint is a very painstaking process. It is not reasonable for most artists to figure these out for all their paints. However, we can get a general idea of the weight of paints based on this documentation provided by Golden Paints or use our Acrylic Paint Density Chart.
Use Alcohol to Create Cells
We mentioned using alcohol as a medium previously. You can also add alcohol to other paint mixtures and mediums to cajole cells to come out. You can use anywhere from a few drops to 5 to 10% of the total mixture.
Alcohol helps create cells because it “lightens” whatever paint it is added to. In addition, when the alcohol quickly evaporates from the paint it helps pull colors together in small quantities (a.k.a. cells).
Most cells created by isopropyl alcohol tend to be small and numerous.
Create Cells with Rain-X
Using the popular window treatment Rain-X has gained additional popularity of late. This product is a hydrophobic, or water-resistant, repellent. It essentially repels liquid molecules.
You can use this in small quantities while mixing your paints, but we believe it is better used by lightly spraying or sprinkling directly on to already poured paint.
When the Rain-X hits the paint it immediately makes the top layer of paint separate and shows the paint underneath it. This creates cellular formations.
You can find a small bottle of Rain-X at your local automotive store or at any superstore like Walmart of Super Target. You can also find it online.
Create Cells with Coconut and Other Oils
Many different common household oils can be added to your acrylic paint pours to help facilitate the creation of cells. 100 percent coconut oil is one of the others that we would recommend trying.
Keep in mind that ALL additives will need to be completely cleaned off your dried panting surface before you can add any topcoat or varnish. Failing to do so will cause the varnish to either become patchy or to not adhere to the dried acrylic paint.
Using Different Paint Types to Create Cells
- DecoArt Satin Enamel – When added in small quantities to some paint it does tease out cells. We don’t recommend using more than about 10-15% as it can cause your paint to crack. The cells that are created from adding this sating enamel general take the form of puffy clouds. Many artists that use it to create cells call the result “cloud pours”. You can find DecoArt Satin Enamel on Amazon here.
- Heavy density paint colors like titanium white and cadmium yellow – These are necessarily specific paint brands but because they are made of heavier organic, non-organic, or synthetic materials they “drop” through lighter paints and help create cells.
- Metallic paints – These paints are generally heavier than other paints and have the same effects mentioned above with the difference in densities.
- Flat paints – This can be things like house paint, or paint brands that don’t have a lot of shine combine with more traditional shiny paints have a good chance of creating cells.
Torching to Coax Out Cells
Another great method of creating cells is to use heat on the surface of your paint. When using heat as a cell creator you need to be very careful to not burn or dry out the paint or it will ruin your artwork.
Many artists use a torch to pop any bubbles that might be lurking in their paints. Besides removing pesky bubbles, torching a painting causes the top surface of the paint to heat up.
Warming up acrylic paint causes it to break the surface tension of the paint. This allows the paint to flow more freely and can allow the underlying layers of paint to rise through the top layer.
You can find more information from our article Why do you Torch Acrylic Pours and see our choice for The 3 Best Torches For Acrylic Pouring.
Paint Pouring with Cells
Make paint flow! Combine Vallejo Fluid Acrylics with Thick Pouring Medium and Silicone Oil Cell Medium on an Ampersand Gessobord. Learn a flip cup technique and watch stunning cell designs emerge in your artwork.
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Instructions
1. Mix one part Vallejo Thick Pouring Medium with one equal part Vallejo fluid acrylic paint in small cups. Mix the medium with the colors you’ll use in the painting, including a white mixture. Note: Formula ratios must be equal for cells to appear.
2. Add two drops of Vallejo Silicone Oil Cell Medium to each paint color mixture and combine thoroughly using a craft stick.
3. Prop the Ampersand Gessobord up on cups inside the Butcher Tray Palette.
4. Pour the white color mixture onto the Gessobord and smooth it over the surface with a paintbrush.
5. Pour and layer other color mixtures into a 8 oz cup. Do not stir.
6. Flip the cup onto center of the Gessobord, and hold it in place. Then, gently move the cup around the board without lifting it to help disperse color over the surface.
7. Tilt the board gently from one side to the other, allowing paint to cover the entire surface.
8. Use a craft stick to dislodge paint from the pouring cup and place additional paint where needed.
9. Hold the mini torch 4″–6″ from the painting surface and apply heat to reveal cells. Turn off the heat when no more cells appear.
10. Try an alternative swipe method to reveal cells. Pour and layer paint color mixtures into one cup. Flip paint onto the surface. Swipe away the top layer of paint carefully using a craft stick where desired. Use the torch to apply heat and reveal more cells.
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