The Art Of Acrylic Fluid Pour

A few years ago, I attended a class about acrylic fluid pouring. This free-flowing abstract painting technique has many positive effects on your creative side and mental side. From being very mediative to playfulness to letting go and embracing acceptance, there are so many positive outcomes from this art form.

A Little History

This creative art form was first discovered in the 1930s by a Mexican Artist named David Alfaro Siqueiros. He described it as an "accidental painting." This technique ended up being used by many famous painters through the years. Some well-known artists are Jackson Pollock, Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, and Rinske Douna.

A striking difference between this painting forms is that no paint brushes are used. As the title states, acrylic paint mixed with a thinning medium is poured onto a canvas by cup. Several types of pour techniques exist, such as dirty pour, Dutch pour, and puddle pour flip cup. The one that you will see in my artwork is the dirty pour.

What Drew Me To This

I was always an illustrator, photographer, and, in later life, a watercolor artist. Nowadays, I have dabbled in the world of AI art. At first glance, exploring my abstract side in art was very appealing. Then, when researching this art form, I found that I loved creating art that looked similar to an agate or marble painting.

Now, with digital art, I use my iPad Pro to create an acrylic fluid pour. As it's easier, faster, and less messy to do than the real thing. That will be another article!

Dirty Pour

The process was pretty simple. In separate cups, two paint colors were mixed with a thinning medium for a dirty pour. I had used Acrylic Medium from Liquitex and found it to work well. After the paint and Liquitex were well stirred, I slowly began my pour of paint onto the canvas.

Together with pouring, I slowly moved the canvas with my other hand. This was where I got to be playful and free! I went with the flow of the paint and my gut. I watched the colors slide on the canvas. Generally speaking, I wanted to cover the canvas with the paint as I saw fit. As time went by, colors and patterns began to emerge from my pour.

Some Benefits

Mediative

As I stated above, this art form is very meditative. Watching the paint colors pour onto the canvas and spread, seeing the colors and patterns begin to take shape, is as mesmerizing as watching moving sand art. You will always get a different outcome, and it's very relaxing and peaceful.

"Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it."

Danny Kaye

Playfulness

Once again, with acrylic fluid pouring being so freeing and meditative, you can tap into a playful side with this art. If you enjoy or love exploring colors, and patterns this would be an excellent technique to add to your creative passion. Having fun with the abstract element and breaking free from the traditional art that tends to have rules and precision and control, there are no rules, there are no guidelines. It's just you the paint and the canvas, be playful and unrestrictive.

"We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." — Bob Ross

Letting Go

When doing this art form, you have to give up something fundamental: predictability. The colors are gonna go how they're gonna go. They're gonna shape every pattern that works according to how you move your canvas, but ultimately, you have to embrace the unpredictable results that are going to happen. So you have to let go of that control. As with so much in our life, we tend to focus on predictability, feeling safe knowing the result. The outcome of acrylic fluid pour is going to be what it's going to be.

"I shut my eyes in order to see." – Paul Gauguin

Acceptance

Last but not least, you must learn to accept how your art turned out, a process similar to the causes and effects of life. You may have thought the paint would flow beautifully, but it didn't. Believe me, I have often thought two colors would look great together, and they looked pretty muddy on the canvas.

But I had to accept that that's what it is. And that correlates with letting go. It's learning to embrace and go with the flow of your results. Some pores may produce many patterns, and some may create just a little. But ultimately, accepting the end result and being happy and content with it is so important.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." ― Pablo Picasso

Conclusion

All in all, acrylic painting is a popular art form that continues to thrive. It certainly offers a great alternative to traditional art forms. I used acrylic paint to create iPhone Wallpapers, laptop screen savers, and iPhone cases.

These patterns have been used in my online print-on-demand shops as wallpaper, wrapping paper, blankets, notebooks, binders, etc. It's a beautiful medium to experiment with if you are artistically and creatively inclined.

I recommend you look online at the artists I mentioned above because what they've been able to create using acrylic fluid pours is genuinely magnificent. To conclude, Nick Bantock states it perfectly when thinking about trying your hand at acrylic fluid pours.

"Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up. It may be dark, but that's what comes up. You may want to keep some of it in a drawer... but never judge it." ― Nick Bantock