The dirty pour goes dirty on me - Learn acrylic pouring technique

I dare say…. Everybody besides me has already tested this technique, I am a late bloomer regarding the beautiful and messy acrylic pouring art. But now I know and I will not abate till I am famous and rich – ok rich would be enough. And how do you get rich: by making spectacular art in no time and with very cheap material. Here I am to teach you how! (beware I made some stupid mistakes on the way, please do not copy them)

I started out with a good friend who saw this nice video which explained how to make a dirty pour, or so I believed. In reality the video only showed how to pour acrylic paint, but did not mentioned which materials and additives are necessary. So, we bought some cheap canvases, acrylic colours, and silicon spray and on we went. We mixed 3 parts paint with 1 part water added two puffs of silicon oil and poured the pudding ähhhh colour on the canvas. And watch out: it did nothing. Ok next try we added more water, but the colours were to runny.

They formed a nice marbled pattern, but neither leaved a smooth surface nor formed big bubbles. We are not stupid, so we stopped our experimenting and went to the all-knowing youtube and were successful. There are thousands (ok maybe 20) videos about possibilities how to produce a fluid but not runny acrylic paint mixture. Sadly, all solutions called for expensive ingrediencies like varnish, resin, glue or Floetol. Although our plan was, as you remember, to become rich through buying only cheap materials, we grasped the nettle and bought varnish as an additive. It worked perfectly!

So, our first paint mixture in a 0,2 l cup was approximately:
1 part colour (Van Bleiswijck acrylic paint)
2 parts varnish (Boesner Transparent Lack)
1 part water
2 puffs silicon oil (Petec Silikon Spray)

First mix colour and varnish very well (stirring some minutes) and then add very slowly the water. You want a consistence like a thick vanilla sauce, thick but still liquid. When all is blended well add the silicon oil and mix again. Let’s go pour this mixture on the canv….nooooo don’t do this besides you want to renovate the room.

Before you try a dirty pour, you should line your working space with a water resistant and disposable sheet. Then prepare a big trough (dependent on your canvas size) with a grid. On this grid you will lay the canvas, so the excess colour runs in the trough not on the floor.

If you don’t like tattoo-like blotches of colour on your hands and clothes, you should also wear some thin gloves and a work coat.

Ok ready? Now prepare the colours you want to use. In my experience contrasting colours combined with black and /or white work very well. The classical pour is exactly this. You firstly mix all colours in separate cups and the pour all colour in one cup, but do not stir them. Now go to the canvas and flip the cup on the canvas, tear it softly to one side and let the colour pour out. Now you can tilt the canvas until it is completely coated in colour. But beware, by tilting the arising bubbles and cells will lose their round form. To avoid a painting with only marbled stripes and very small bubbles, use enough colour, so you do not have to tilt the canvas too much.

Inspired by a youtube video of a very beautiful woman (maybe her sparse clothes should have alerted me) I tried secretly at home on my kitchen floor again a technique without varnish or Floetol. I say it again … on my kitchen floor.

Maybe our previous successes made me reckless…. This woman used only colour, water, silicon oil and some drops of liquid soap and a blowtorch. I tried this – ok without a torch, but with a hairdryer :-D By the way it did not occurred to me, that burning silicon oil or acrylic paint may be dangerous. I produced three paintings which are not so bad, but neither had the beloved bubbles or cells. And it was impossible to distribute the white paint evenly. But the real setback is the foam ... Yes, foam. Probably because of the high-water content and the soap, the paint dried up with little foamy structures. Perhaps I should sell this as super special… or just throw it away.

Right now, I am not rich, but maybe I inspired you to try a fun artistic technique. If you liked this explanation, let me know and I will write down more secrets about the dirty pour (you will never guess there is a hammer technique)