How To Do Fluid Acrylic Art

Hello!

Today I have some very exciting news, and a different kind of post for you!!

First the exciting news…

I have officially moved my Art By Bella Raine (Etsy shop) right here to my blog!

Since I started, I have been selling mostly through word-of-mouth, and local oppurtunites, using Etsy as my platform, but creating my own online store here on my website has been a dream of mine for a while.

It’s been a lot of hours staring at a computer screen, lots of monotonous work, lots of annoyance with technology, and but finally after all of that……. it’s here!! Click here to see it all!! I’ll wait! 😉

Art By Bella Raine

I’ve added many new pieces to my collection, so be sure to check it out! To celebrate the launch, I thought I would share with you a little bit of how I make my art with a how to do your own fluid art post!! Don an apron and let’s go!

Supplies:

• A Canvas (you can do any size, but in this one I’m doing a 18″x18″ stretched canvas. I don’t recommend starting with one that big though! 😉 )
• 2-4 Colors (plus white) Of Paint (you can use pretty much any kind of paint except exterior/interior house paint. I’ve found it doesn’t behave well. Here I’m using DecoArt paint, in metallic seafoam, metallic teal, navy blue, dusty blue, and white)
• Wooden Craft Sticks (for stirring)
• Small Plastic Cups (to mix paint in)
• A Trash Bag Or Dropcloth For The Space (you might want an apron or plastic gloves as well!)
• A Hairdryer Or Straw (to make the designs in the paint. Straws work, but depending on the size I’d use a hairdryer!)
• Pouring Medium (here I am using Floetrol, which can be found relatively inexpensively at your local hardware store)

Step 1: Mix Pouring Medium In Paint

The amount of paint and and pouring medium you’ll need depends on how big your canvas is, but these cups are 2oz, and I had plenty of leftovers! You want to do about a 1/4 to 3/4 ratio of paint to pouring medium!

Step 2: Mix

Take your craft stick and stir stir stir stir away!! I love the designs the paint makes as I mix!!

Step 3: Add Water

Again how much water depends on the size of project, but add water until the consistency is like warm honey or heavy whipping cream! Repeat the process for all colors of your paint, and then you’re ready to put paint to canvas!

Step 4: Add Your Base Layer

Add a good amount of your base paint color to your canvas! I normally stick to a white or black background but the possibilities are endless. Don’t worry about making it go to all of the edges, right now you’re just getting the paint on there! Note: I actually used probably 3 or 4 (2oz) cups of white, so be sure to make two or three times more of your base color. 

Step 5: Spread Around The Base Color

This is when your hairdryer comes in!! Use it (or a straw, or even blowing from your mouth!) to spread the paint around, as evenly as you can, making sure that the paint rolls off the edges and coats them nicely!

Step 6: Add Your Colors

There are literally hundreds of designs and methods of doing this, but for today I’m layering all of my colors in the middle. I tipped my cup and then let a stream of paint come out and I move it across the canvas. I did this for all of the colors.

Step 7: Create Designs

Now comes the fun part!! Use the hairdryer, straw, or your windpipes to move the paint around! I chose to create a wave effect, and blow the paint forwards, and then backwards, and then repeated all the way down!

And ta-da you have yourself a fluid acrylic painting!! Now you just need to let it dry (usually 12-24 hours) and then display it prominently in your house!! Often the design changes as it dries as can be seen from these pictures!

Right After Pour:

A Few Minutes Later:

Once Dried:

Well that’s it for today!! You can find this piece for sale on my store here! Thank you for coming along with me, and I hope that you have fun making your own art!

I’d LOVE it if you wanted to share this link with your friends and family to let them know about my blog and the launch of my store! I really appreciate your support!

Do you like doing art? Are you going to make your own fluid art piece? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!!

Until next time,

Bella