Summer is a great time to showcase the pouring trend – unstructured time lends itself to spontaneous art, and it is a project that works indoors or outdoors for kids and adults alike. We recommend merchandising several options of acrylics and pouring mediums to fit every budget in one location in your store. Check out videos on YouTube, which are easily shareable on your social media accounts, and don’t forget to provide finished examples next to the merchandise so interested customers can easily identify what they need.
Paint Pouring Demo
Materials you need:
- Surface: Primed Wood Panels, Canvas Panels, 3D objects (shells, bowls, balls).
- GAC 800, Liquitex Pouring Medium or DecoArt Pouring Medium
- Acrylic paint or ink
- Plastic Solo cups (other cups will work, but the Solo are nice and sturdy!)
- Squeeze bottles
- Palette knife for scraping the edges of finished projects
- Gloves [Link To AA Gloves}
- Plastic covers for your table and/or trays to catch excess paint; pouring can be messy!
Steps:
- Create a steady surface for placing your surface of choice on top of the solo cups. We use 3 cups for an 8” x 8” primed wood panel. This creates an elevated platform so that the paint can pour over the sides of your chosen surface.
- Prepare your paint with your pouring medium. Remember that each product contains specific instructions, and the ratio will depend on the thickness of the paint you are using! Typically the ratio is 30% paint to 70% medium.
- We like to use squeeze bottles to prepare plenty of paint for multiple pours at one time. You can also store the paint for an additional project in the future.
- To prepare your pour, select 3 – 5 colors and layer the paint in a small cup (you’ll need about 3 oz. of paint for an 8” x 8” panel). Place the panel on top of your cup and flip them together. Balance the panel on the other Solo cups and lift the cup straight up. Tilt and maneuver the panel to create effects as desired.
- Drying time is about 24 hours.
Extra Tips:
- Different consistencies in the paint will create cool effects!
- Many YouTube videos recommend the use of silicone. This product is not suitable for pouring with children, and safety precautions should be taken if used, including proper ventilation. The long-term effects of silicone in artwork is unknown, which may result in your artwork not having archival quality. Silicone may also affect the stability of the colors in acrylic paint. If a customer is looking to make “cell” effects, we recommend using a straw to blow and manipulate the paint or adding additional drops of color onto the pour before tilting and spreading.
