If you haven’t seen an Instagram or Youtube video of pour painting, here is a peek inside the rabbit hole I got sucked down, using my own videos and photos from my experiments with this style.

Immediately I was mesmerized by the sheer messiness of pour painting. It’s the closest thing to finger-painting, which I hadn’t enjoyed since I was 4 or 5. I watched the video over and over, then went to the art store to get my hands on some fluid medium so I could start playing.

Parma, cornelius injury: right hamstring problem dianobol biceps – articles – mitchferniani.

It’s been 2 years since I made my first pour painting, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I love this style so much, that in addition to making and selling my fluid paintings, I now teach monthly workshops!

Today I want to elaborate on 5 essential supplies you need to make a successful pour painting at home!

Below is my complete pour painting supply list. This blog is part 1 of a 3-part series, focusing on essential supplies for any pour painting, #1-#6 on this list. In my next post I’ll focus on the optional supplies (#7-#10) that take your paintings to the next level. My last post will dive into my favorite pour painting techniques.

What You Need to Make Your Own Pour Painting At Home:

• Pouring Medium  

• Acrylic Paint

• Canvas, Cardboard, Panel, or any hard, thick surface

• Plastic Trifecta: Cups, Spoons, and Tarp

• Gloves

• Silicone Oil (optional)

• Blow Torch  (optional)

• Alcohol Ink (optional)

• Varnish (optional)

1. Pouring Mediums

What the heck is a pouring medium?

This is a magical liquid additive that makes your paint flow. It is essentially a paint thinner, but it also improves the consistency and overall integrity of the paint. That means your creation dries without cracking or fading!

Basically, your pouring medium is the secret sauce of pour painting!

Other perks of using a pouring medium are that they extend drying time to give you more time to play around with your composition, finish up the edges of your canvas, or perfect your cells. (More on cells in point #5)

I’m new to pour painting. Which pouring medium should I use?

For students brand new to pour painting, I recommend using Floetrol for your pouring medium. This is the biggest bang for your buck, and you can find it at Walmart or Home Depot (or order it online!). One gallon runs about 20 bucks, which you can turn into dozens of beautiful paintings.

The downside of Floetrol is that it mutes and darkens the colors of your pour painting when dry. There are a few ways you can beat this effect, which I’ll explain in point #9.

I like using Floetrol whenever I’m learning a new technique due to its cost-effectiveness. I find that when I’m not worried about “wasting” materials I can create boldly without my inhibitions holding me back. You can apply this mindset to all the materials above, opting for cardboard vs. a canvas and leftover paint vs. brand new colors.

I’m an intermediate or professional artist. Which artist-grade pouring medium is the right one for me?

For the majority of my own work, though, I use either Liquitex Pouring Medium or GAC 800, a Golden medium. Because these are high-quality artist mediums, they are more expensive than Floetrol (a gallon of Liquitex runs $70-$100 at most art stores), but the high quality finish is worth it for me, especially if I plan on selling my pour paintings.

Both Liquitex and GAC 800 differ from Floetrol in that they don’t dull the colors when dry. They have glossier finishes than the matte look of the Floetrol,

Liquitex is the best-known brand on the market for this styled and is geared intermediate to advanced artists. Because it’s the hottest brand, it’s often out-of-stock.

GAC 800 is essentially the same medium under a different brand name. The main perk of GAC 800 is the high pouring medium to paint ratio. You need 10 parts pouring medium to 1 part acrylic paint, which means you end up saving money if you’re using expensive high-flow brand name fluid acrylics.

So in sum, if you’re new to painting and looking to use the most affordable materials, go with Floetrol. If you extra cash to spend (happy birthday!), go for Liquitex or GAC 800.

2. The Best Paints for Pour Painting

What kind of paint should I use if I’m a beginner?

Any brand of acrylic paint will do for fluid painting (NOT oil, watercolor, tempera, or gouache paints!).

For beginners, I recommend Craft Smart Acrylics, which you can get at Michael’s. They sell starter packs of 24 for $14 ($0.50/paint), and they come in tons of beautiful colors and finishes. I personally LOVE the metallic colors and paints with glitter added (can’t say no to glitter!) and have yet to try their glow-in-the-dark paints (so fun!).

Which brand of paint should I use if I want professional quality paintings?

For more advanced students, high-flow Golden acrylics are my preferred paints. You can test out colors with their 4 oz sizes ($6-$10), or once you know what colors you love enough to use in large quantities, splurge for their 16 oz sizes at Michael’s.  The larger tubes range from $25-65 at Michael’s depending on rarity of color. I like to wait until they go on sale at Jerry’s Artarama.

What’s the ratio of medium to paint?

You’ll need a higher fluid medium to paint ration if using Craft Smart Acrylics, since they’re thicker than the high-flow fluid acrylics. A little goes a long way with the latter, which is one reason why I love them.

No matter which acrylic paint you’re using, when you add it to your fluid medium you’ll want the mixture to flow easily off your spoon. If there are any gunks of paint in it, keep mixing, and add more medium.

3. Canvases, Panels, and Other Painting Surfaces

What surfaces can I paint on?

Stretched canvases and artist panels are my favorite surfaces to paint on, but go ahead and try out any hard surface! Glass, cardboard, and even thick paper are worth trying to see how you like it. (The paper may warp, but cardboard is usually fine and good for testing out pouring techniques since it’s usually free!)

Canvases are the most popular surfaces in most pour painting workshops, but I personally like throwing in a few wood panels so students can compare the final looks. The harder and less porous the surface, the more easily the paint flows.

The best part about canvases is they come in SO many sizes and shapes. My Voyage Collection is a series of pour paintings on round canvases, which is a lovely, organic look for this style (no hard edges!).

Mini 3×3 or 4×4 canvases make adorable pieces of art for small spaces and are fun to practice on (and a stable of all my pour painting workshops!) So far the largest canvas I’ve poured on is 20×40, but I’m hoping to go bigger soon!

4. Trifecta of Plastic: Plastic Cups, Spoons, and Tarps

How do I prepare my surface for pour painting and mix the paint?

This is the cheapest part. You’ll need plastic cups for holding the mixture and spoons for stirring (or wooden popsicle sticks).

I like to use small clear plastic cups so I can easily see the paint color. I like the 9 oz Solo Brand since they’re small and easy to wash and reuse.

Wooden popsicle sticks are great for one-time use, but I prefer to use plastic spoons and reuse them.

Before you start pouring paint, you’ll want to make sure you have a plastic cover, newspaper, or tarp on your table (or floor) before getting down and dirty. Trust me, this is a necessity. I’ve spilled one too many cups of turquoise paint on my carpet.

How do I dry my pour paintings?

You’ll need a flat surface (like a tabletop or floor), leftover plastic cups for propping your paintings up, and a protective covering for the surface.

When I was painting out of my apartment, I didn’t have the luxury of letting my paintings dry on the floor since my fur babies loved walking all over them. If you have a garage or shelf high out of reach, I’d recommend starting there.

It’s important that the surface is level, otherwise the paint will pool onto one side of the painting, altering your original composition and exposing your canvas. The paint will clump in areas, ruining the smooth, seamless finish that makes pour paintings look so effortless.

For a protective covering, I use cheap plastic tarps from Home Depot. This pack of 6 for $6 is my preferred buy, since they are large enough to hold lots of paintings and can be reused.

But really, you can use any flat protective surface like newspaper or cardboard to let your paintings dry.

It’s also imperative that you prop up your canvases on cups, drying racks, or bottlecaps when they’re still wet, so that the paintings don’t stick to the protective covering when they dry. I just rinse my paintings cups and flip them upside down to dry my paintings.

5. Gloves

Do I really need to wear gloves?

Totally up to you! I encourage my students to feel one with the paint if that’s something they value. Part of the fun of this style is the sheer messiness. Who doesn’t wanna feel like a kid again? Floetrol isn’t toxic and washes off easily.

However, GAC800 and Liquitex are a bit rougher to the skin and dry funky. If you’re anal like me, you’ll be picking at your hands forever to get the dried medium off. I’ve gotten a few abrasions from scrubbing my hands too aggressively after using Liquitex, so I usually stick to gloves.

I know I threw a lot at ya, so let’s recap these pour painting basics.

For a basic pour painting, you’ll need these 5 items:

1. Pouring Medium- Floetrol for Beginners, Liquitex or GAC800 for advanced artists

2. Acrylic Paint- CraftSmart Paints for Beginners, Golden High-Flow Acrylics for advanced artists

3. Painting Surface- Canvases or Panels

4. Trifecta of Plastic- Cups, Spoons, and Tarp

5. Gloves

In my next blog in this series, I’ll walk you through additional ingredients that can take your pour paintings to the next level!

Now go forth and pour paint, and share your results with me! What are your favorite supplies for pour paintings? What questions do you have for me? Comment below!

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