Acrylic paints have unique and appealing arts. However, acrylic paints typically combine several pigments with binders. In turn, this results in an increased thickness of the paint overall. While you can use acrylic paints without drying them, there is a greater risk of cracking and peeling off when the paint dries off. If you want to create permanent art on your canvas, you will have to dilute your paints. So how do you go about the dilution of the acrylic paint?
To dilute acrylic paints for pouring, you’ll need to add pouring mediums such as Floetrol, Elmer’s glue, or water. However, you should only use water when you have no other pouring medium – there are usually better options for thinning paint. So when diluting, you need to follow the additives label instructions to get a proportionate mixture.
Acrylic pouring is in high demand today among painters. Everyone, however, has their theory about it, with some following misconceptions about it. Make sure you read ahead for more reliable details on this unique form of art so you learn How Do You Dilute Acrylic Paint for Pouring?
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Is It Okay to Add Water to Acrylic Paint?
It is okay to add water to acrylic paint for dilution of the acrylic paint. Water can, however, react with polymers in acrylic paint, weakening its adhesiveness. Hence, make sure not to use it in proportion to more than 30% of the volume you intend to mix.
The fact that acrylic paint is water-based makes it soluble in water. However, water can have several undesirable effects that you should be aware of. It is possible to use some acrylic paint with water without any issues. However, it all gets down to the water proportion you use.
Here are some other factors that determine the amount of water you can use:
Quality of Paint
There are several colors and brands of acrylic paints to use. It might be somewhat of a challenge for beginners. Nevertheless, you should know the qualities are always in two states. They can either be those of an artist or that of a student.
An artist’s high-quality acrylic paint contains high pigment concentrations, whereas a student’s quality has filters and lower pigment levels (and very likely a good acrylic binder). So with professional quality, you can lower the water concentration by a third of the overall proportion you need.
Consequently, in the student’s quality, you may need to add only drops by drops until you attain a proportionate solution. Because its low pigments mean you might be tempted to add lots of water, affecting its color strength in return; it would not be fluid acrylic, rather coloured water.
The Surface Paint
The permanence of the paint anywhere you are using acrylic paints is dependent not only on the pouring ability of the acrylic paint. It also depends on the surface you use.
The most common material used for art is canvas, but other materials such as hardboard, watercolor, and acrylic medium are also acceptable. Water tends to loosen the adhesiveness of paint on many of these surfaces, so you may need to use additional additives to keep your art from fading
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Presence of Any Medium
Different pouring mediums having varying effects on water. Some manufacturers do not permit the use of water when using their pouring medium brands. This is due to the possible presence of bacteria and the water’s ability to break polymers that can react with different mediums destroying their compound nature.
How to Prepare Acrylic Paint for Pouring?
To prepare acrylic paint for pouring, you will need to check its dilution and consistency. By doing this you can determine the viscous ability of acrylic pour, resulting in a beautiful and uniform piece of art.
Before starting your acrylic painting, you need to gather all the supplies you’ll need for the procedure. These include the various acrylic paints you’ll need, appropriate pouring mediums, disposable cups, and primed canvases. You’ll also need a washable tray and nozzle containers just in case you have excess paints.
The supplies are essential because acrylic paint is all about combining non-viscous acrylic paints and applying them to a painting surface. Thus for your acrylic paints to yield beautiful art, you need consistent flow in your acrylic paints. You will therefore need to dilute them for easy control of the pouring.
So after mixing the paint, you’ll need to measure their consistency to be sure you have the perfect flow. Thus you can measure the paint’s consistency by:
Drip Method
This is the most common method in which the artist dips a paint stick in the container with paint. It is then pulled slightly over the top surface of the paint. Very thick paint will create a depression just at the point you lifted the stick off. It is because of the increased height. On the other hand, a dilute paint will form stalactites on the stick surface with the paint.
Worm Method
You will also have to dip the stirring stick in the paint and swirl it off in a snake-like pattern. Once the paint is in that stirring motion, lift the stirring stick at least for an inch above the surface. The swirling motion should continue for some seconds before disappearing.
Therefore, the pattern will appear for at least five seconds on thick paint. While in thin paint, the pattern will disappear almost immediately you lift the stick.
How Do You Dilute Acrylic Paint for Pouring?
To dilute acrylic paint for pouring, you will need to use pouring mediums that will enhance the flowability of the paint. However, your choice of the pouring medium determines the resulting concentration as well as the resulting art.
Diluting acrylic paints are getting more and more popular because of their color variations and consistency that create unique effects. So you can dilute acrylic paints by adding water or a pouring medium and mixing it to perfection.
Some of the characteristics of acrylic paints that you may need to know includes:
- Its fast-drying abilities
- Ease of application
- Little odor
- Non-flammable properties
These characteristics match different properties and pigments in paints. So should you apply any undiluted acrylic paints, you will be risking cracking and peeling off the canvas when drying. On the other hand, if you dilute them excessively, you will still apply the paint even with much ease, but they will fade off, failing the test of time.
So in diluting the paint, you can use water, or acrylic pouring medium , or both.
Thinning Acrylic Paints Using Water
Water is the cheapest and simplest medium to come across for thinning acrylic paints. However, it can have severe effects on your final art as I stated at the beginning of this article. But when it is the only way you have to use it, you should consider the following guidelines:
- Advisably, you should use distilled water. Tapped water may have dirt and other forms of bacteria that may react with the compounds in the paint. Any water can also seep into absorbent surfaces thus affecting the adhesiveness of your art.
- It may be necessary to test small portions of acrylic paint , as acrylic paint dries quite quickly. Therefore, diluting a large volume of it may waste it. Therefore, you should use small amounts to avoid waste.
- As long as you keep your diluted proportion under 30%, you won’t have to worry about water affecting the paint or the surface.
Thinning Acrylic Paints Using Pouring Medium
Are you a beginner at acrylic painting? It is best to start your practice using mediums in diluting your paints. As much as water is readily available, doing your first thinning procedures using water can be quite hectic because of the extra care that one needs to take to avoid spoiling the mixtures.
So to avoid wasting up the paints because of water’s reaction with the binding polymers, you should use other pouring mediums first and get used to the different mixing levels.
So here is what you need to know whenever you are using an acrylic paint thinner:
The pouring mediums vary from one brand to another so they may have different operational instructions. Therefore, you should always read the labels on respective medium containers for instructions on mixing the paints.
If you are unsure about some instruction, you should always seek online assistance from the relative brand.
The prices for these mediums also vary. And one of the reasons behind the variations in some brands produce low-quality mediums and sell them at relatively low prices. Therefore, unless you are on tight budgets, you should always go for high-quality pouring mediums.
While most of these come at a higher price, at least you can be sure of the compound concentration.
What Are the Different Types of Acrylic Pouring Techniques?
The different types of acrylic pouring techniques are the puddle pour, traditional pour, dirty pour, flip cup, and bottle pour. Various advanced pouring methods also exist, including the colander pour, string pull pour, and balloon dip pour.
As much as acrylic paints may seem to be somewhat easy to dilute, the task needs more skills than it may seem. Therefore, you need to do lots of practice for you to have appealing arts. But if you are a complete beginner, I got you. You shouldn’t worry.
Check out below for some of the best-advanced acrylic pouring techniques. Most of these are very basic and will take you no time to learn.
Traditional Pour
It is one of the easiest pouring techniques which as long as you follow its fundamental principles, you will be able to produce a masterwork.
- Preselect your favorite colors and have them set aside to avoid a mix-up of the colorings.
- Have each color on its open container where you can mix with the mediums effectively. It will give you acute efficiency in your final artwork.
- Pour the colors on your painting surface as you want them. Each one of them is in specific zones.
- When satisfied with the relevant composition, you can tilt your canvas side by side to let the paints flow over and cover every other region you may need.
- As the colors flow over, you should already see more interesting patterns forming on the canvas. One of the advantages of this technique is the freedom that you decide where and how the paints flow.
The Puddle Pour
With this technique, you will create series of puddles that include several colored drops beautifying your patterns. So after pouring your mediums and mixing them effectively you should:
- First, you need to layout your pattern for the puddles. These steps can include preparing your canvas with fluid bases for an easy setup.
- The first color you use starts the second layer on the base. Therefore, you may need to choose a color that matches the base color. However, it is best to use blending colors.
- Depending on what layer of colors you want, add another brighter color at the center of the already formed puddles. However, be sure to take your time when applying this to avoid splashes on your pour.
- You can repeat the step above by switching any colors that you need. When you are satisfied with the puddles you’ve made, you can tilt the canvas for a flow to any side you want. This technique allows you to match up and alternate various colors of your choice.
The Dirty Pour
Here you won’t pour the colors from separate containers. Instead of mixing the mediums in each color container, you will have to pour all your colors into a single cup for pouring.
- You must make sure the cup you pour all colors into is a clean paper cup. In addition, you need to pour the mixed colors into successive layers as you want their appearance on the canvas.
- Take your time when pouring the colors into the container. A quick pour will force each color to the bottom, but that’s not the point. So pour them slowly for them to form layers towards the top.
- When you have all the colors you need, you should notice the layers on the cup. Then pour the colors taking your time on the canvas. There is no specific pattern for the pouring, so you can use any style you wish.
- Once all the colors are on the canvas, you can tilt it off to make them flow to any side you need for an enhanced pattern.
- If you plan to use this pattern, you need to learn how to pour the colors into the container without mixing them. That factor will depend on the dilution proportion of each color.
The Flip Cup
This technique takes the same mixing procedure and pouring in a single cup like in the dirty pour. So the difference is, once you have your clean paper cup having the colors you need, you will not pour the cup’s content. Instead, you will flip the cup.
- So once the colors are in the paper cup, cover the cup with your canvas, making sure the cup is positioned at the center.
- Holding the canvas with one hand and the cup with another, flip both the cup and the canvas without letting any paint pour out. You may have to use some force to ensure they are both held securely.
- Pull the cup away at an angle rather than vertically upwards. Pulling it this way helps to reduce pouring.
- The resulting beauty is dependent on your paint layers. Depending on the colors you choose, you can create beautiful artwork here.
Sources
- 9 Basic and Advanced Acrylic Pouring Techniques to Try Today
- Thinning Acrylic Paint – How to thin Acrylic Paint correctly
- How Much Water or Medium Can You Add to Acrylic Paint?
