Maybe you’ve seen it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, but pouring acrylic paint on surfaces and letting fate decide the final appearance of your painting is a big hit right now. It’s fun, relaxing, and usually beautiful. Even the paintings that don’t turn out quite how you anticipated tend to be compelling and surprisingly interesting.
Abstract art has a history of being misunderstood and often considered “low effort.” Think about Jackson Pollock’s splatter paintings that perplexed many people due to the lack of the artist’s involvement. “He didn’t even paint it! He just splashed paint on a canvas! Anyone can do that!” But that’s precisely what make his work engaging: the introduction of chaos, randomness, and chance. All while tracing the artist’s movements across the expanse of the surface. And this is exactly what people are discovering when they try acrylic paint pouring. It’s a relatively simple process, if a little messy sometimes. One method involves mixing acrylic paint with a fluid medium, carefully adding different colors to a single cup (but don’t stir!), and then flipping the cup on to a canvas and allowing the paint to just flow from the center of surface to cover all four corners. It’s fascinating and has the potential to make beautiful works of abstract art.
So check out the new page in the Art Supplies section and see if acrylic paint pouring is for you!