Dear Pouring Friends,
Hi! Welcome! This is
my new Acrylic Pouring blog!
I have so many people ask me questions, that I thought it
might be nice to put all my information in one tidy space.
So, let’s get right to it so that we’re all on the same
page and so that you know where I’m coming from. First, let’s begin with an overview of the
art of Acrylic Pouring.
Acrylic Pouring is a wonderful method of painting without brushes. Like the name implies, you pour the paint straight onto the canvas.
But there isn’t just one way to do this art form. There are many techniques under its large
umbrella. Too many to go into here! And most of them involve acrylic paint, a
pouring medium, and something to pour on.
Some of them also use an additive to make cells, usually silicone.
(The bloom technique, from SheleeArt in Australia, is a
whole ‘nother thing entirely. It is very
different from traditional acrylic pouring and won’t be addressed here, since I
have no experience with it. But if
people are using words like “pillow” and “cell activator”, they are using this
technique.)
Since we want the paint thin enough to be pourable, we
combine the paint with a pouring medium.
The pouring medium serves to dilute the paint instead of adding
water. If you used only water, you would
risk breaking down the paint’s binder and having your paint flake off years down
the road. (Yikes!)
There are several choices when it comes to your pouring
medium, but there seem to be 3 really popular ones: a commercially-made art product (like
Liquitex or Golden’s Pouring Medium), a homemade recipe using
Elmer’s Glue-All and water, and Floetrol (a paint additive found at
Lowe’s and the like).
Most of us choose our pouring medium with our pocketbook,
but actually, they each yield different results. And sometimes you use one product with a
particular technique and a different one with another. But in general, it seems to me that most
people have their favorite pouring medium and that they are very loyal to it. I love Liquitex Pouring Medium. (I just wish it wasn’t so expensive!)
I use silicone oil to create cells, the goal and
dream of most pourers.
Cells are little bubbles of color that are indicative of
this art form that create beautiful patterns in our pieces. I use a torch to heat the silicone oil, and
then it rises up through the paint to the surface, bringing the colors up with
it. And sometimes, if it’s a good day,
the cells will have beautiful multi-colored rings around them!
Again, there are many products out there, but 2 popular
choices are: OGX Coconut Milk Hair Serum
(dimethicone-based)
and Spot On Treadmill Lubricant (silicone-based). I use the latter.
As previously mentioned, there are several Acrylic
Pouring techniques for you to try and many directions that you can go. I love Layered Flips Cups, so that is what I
will be sharing about in my blog.
The pouring community is large and most of us are on Facebook
together in different Acrylic Pouring groups.
There are several groups to join, and the benefits are great. You get exposed to so much information and eye
candy! There are people creating with
all sorts of different techniques. You
can ask questions and learn from each other, share photos, and receive daily
inspiration from all over the globe.
Another thing that I want to mention: When I first started pouring, I found the
website AcrylicPouring.com and its 5 free lessons, which I signed up for. Then they offered me a good deal on their 17
video course, and I immediately purchased it.
While I do things a bit differently these days, I found it to be a very
systematic introduction to our art form.
You might want to check it out.
But the biggest place on the Internet that acrylic pourers
seem to frequent is YouTube.
There you will find more Acrylic Pouring videos than you could ever
watch! Explore and binge watch videos
until you find your favorite channels, and learn from these wonderful sharers.
I have enjoyed videos from so many people, but I mainly
watch Julie Cutts, of Pouring Your Heart Out, and Karen Durishin, of Waterfall
Acrylics. I have learned so much for these
two ladies! I heartily recommend them,
especially their videos that mention flip cups.
. . .
Okay! That is
pretty much it for the general information.
Now about my blog…
My hope for this blog is to give people a place to come
to for some pithy, written information (I’m a very visual person!) on
how I pour, not to write an entire encyclopedia on the subject matter. (As if!)
I want to address each step of my pouring process
systematically, but I will be sharing with you only what I personally do. I will not be addressing all the
possibilities out there. How can I share
what I do not know about?
I did feel like
a short overview to start off with would be helpful, but this blog is meant to
be a personal account of how I work.
And, of course,
this is just my way of doing things.
There are gobs of different ways, and you will find your own. And if I can be of any help to that end, I
would be thrilled.
Love,
Donna Livingston
♥
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