I am experimenting with acrylic poured painting, a style of painting where the paint is poured onto the canvas and the paint manipulated by tilting the canvas. It’s different from painting with a brush in that the outcome can never be planned, and all sorts of interesting things can happen.  However, a downside of poured painting is that it can use up a lot of paint and that can get expensive when using professional quality materials.

Luckily, these poured paintings seem to work just as well with cheaper brands like Blick Studio and Amsterdam Standard Acrylics, generally marketed for the budget conscience student or beginner artist.

One of the first things I do when getting new paint is to make a color chart to see what is looks like on paper (it’s too hard to tell in the tube).  I paint a black line first, then over that, I paint a swatch of each paint color.  If the paper covers up the black line, then the paint is opaque.  If I can see the black line, the paint is translucent.  I use this information to know which colors will cover up other paint, and which ones will make nice sheer glazes over other colors.

It’s also an indication of density which is important in poured paints.  Opaque colors are usually denser and will “sink” while lighter translucent colors will float to the top of the paint pour on a canvas.  Stay tuned, as I will be posting some of these poured paintings in the weeks to come.