33 unusual acrylic pouring techniques
Acrylic pouring techniques for beginners and experienced artists
For these techniques, I use different and often rather unusual painting utensils such as ladles, scraper sponges or funnels.
Let yourself be inspired by the 33 unusual pouring techniques or simply enjoy the many possibilities to create beautiful works of art.
Break the ring casting – unique pouring technique
I have extended the ring pouring technique a little by breaking the ring casting; the result is really impressive!
What exactly did I do?
I poured a ring cast onto my canvas and then took a paintbrush.
Now I ran the back of the brush through the rings and then this unique piece of art was created.
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Pour Painting with the three cup holder
This pour painting technique is very easy to use.
But so that you can pour three pouring cups onto the canvas at the same time, we need to build a cup holder.
I made a cup holder out of cardboard; I’ll show you how to do it and what you can paint with this special technique of mine in the video.
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Fluid art painting with a water bottle
The title of the finished picture, “Revelations of the Universe”, simply reminded me of this.
But how you create a work of art like this is rather mundane and really simple. You take a plastic drinking bottle and cut off the top part with the opening; now you have a funnel with a large opening.
Place the funnel on the canvas so that the paint you pour in cannot run out immediately. Fill the funnel with your paints and then tilt it slightly to the side.
The paint will now run out, turn the funnel slightly back and forth so that the paint runs out of the funnel opening on all sides, creating the beautiful painting effect later.
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The 5 Flip Cup pouring technique
Take five sufficiently large pouring cups, fill them with your favorite colors and place them on the canvas.
Place one cup in the middle and the other four cups at the four corners.
Now remove the cups one by one.
Now swivel the canvas and you have a unique work of art.
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Flat flip cup with an unusual result
For this rather unusual pouring technique, we need one or more shallow cups. The reason for this is that with a shallow cup you achieve much less color mixing within the cup due to the low height.
The end result is that the colors poured in are almost completely retained on the canvas and in full color brilliance. If I use a standard pouring cup, the colors mix much more when I pour them out. We avoid this with the flat cups.
Where can you get a cup like this? They are often sold for small salads or as fruit packaging.
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The other direction – modified fluid art technology
What is so unusual about this pouring technique?
I simply used the classic measuring cup technique and instead of pouring the measuring cup in one direction only, I poured in the opposite direction.
Sometimes it can be so simple!
In the video I show you three image compositions using this technique; be surprised by the results.
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The Black Hole pouring technique – unusually different
In this technique of mine you can see how you can paint something very special with a simple effect.
What did I do?
I poured the contents of a watering can onto the canvas.
I then poured a blob of black paint into this basic pouring, spread it all out by swirling the canvas and the black hole was finished.
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Acrylic pouring with a hair dryer and silicone oil
This hairdryer painting technique has been slightly modified or spiced up.
To add a little more excitement to the picture, I mixed a little silicone oil into some of the colors.
This ensures that isolated cells are created.
To make the colors flow a little better, I doubled the amount of water from my basic recipe.
However, it also works really well with acrylic paints diluted with water only.
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My hand – personal acrylic pouring technique
My most personal pouring technique, if you try this technique you will be rewarded with an absolutely unique picture.
And it’s so easy – simply fill your pouring cup with your favorite colors, preferably with several layers of paint.
Now take your hand and pour the liquid acrylic paint into it; depending on the position of your hand, the paint will fall onto the canvas.
And because every hand is different, as are the circumstances, the result is a unique, very personal work of art.
Be sure to try it out and use gloves!
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Throw your colors onto the canvas – unpredictable pouring technique
You can create truly unique pieces with this pouring technique.
Works of art that absolutely cannot be imitated, as there are no repeatable elements when painting.
The only thing that all pictures painted with this unique technique have in common … the colors are thrown onto the canvas.
I show you what can then be created in the video on the technique.
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Magic puddle pour technique
The puddle pour technique is one of the very first pouring techniques and is also very simple.
You pour your paints onto the canvas in several puddles, not just one, but at least two or three colors on top of each other.
Finally, you swivel the canvas to distribute the colors underneath and between each other.
To give the whole thing a special touch, you can draw lines through the puddles with a brush or a stick before swirling the canvas.
That’s all the magic and you’re sure to be delighted with the result.
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The Mikado chopsticks technique – Fluid Art
A lovely game from my childhood “Mikado” is fun to play and you can also use the Mikado sticks to paint works of art.
I show you how to do this in the video on the pouring technique I developed.
Incidentally, I simply used wooden barbecue skewers as Mikado sticks, so you don’t have to paint your toy sticks.
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The loop technique – unusually different
The looping technique is a modified pouring method; normally you pour the acrylic paint onto the canvas in puddles.
However, you can also make it more varied and pour the paint onto the canvas in loops or like a figure of eight, the result will be completely different to what you would expect.
The pouring technique works most reliably with paint that has been diluted with a pouring medium, but you can also achieve beautiful, unpredictable results with paint that has only been diluted with water.
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The holey cup – Pouring technique No. 14
One of my oldest pouring ideas from March 2019, simply take a drill and drill a hole through the bottom edge of your pouring cup.
To prevent the cup from resting on the floor, place a raised section under the cup, in this case a lid from a drinks bottle.
Now you have a rather unusual pouring idea with a very interesting result.
You can use the pouring idea with any paint thinner, whether with pouring medium or just paint diluted with water.
However, I would drill a hole to test it and see if my paint flows through well in the thinner of my choice.
That way you can use the right drill bit size later when you are actually painting.
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Painting flower blossoms with wet paper
I copied this pouring technique from somewhere, I liked it straight away and had to try it myself. Admittedly, the shape of the flowers could have been a bit more beautiful and symmetrical, but if you’d like to try it, give it a go.
The basic principle of this technique is quite simple. I just took acrylic paint thinned with water (should also work with a pouring medium), applied it to the canvas in a flower shape and then wet a napkin with a water sprayer.
The water stops the napkin from absorbing so much paint.
The damp napkin is now placed in the paint and then carefully lifted off again.
The result is a pretty little flower blossom. If you like, you could now paint a flower stem etc. into the picture.
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Pouring technique No. 16 – Cross pouring
Cross pouring is a rather unusual pouring technique that I developed, with a completely different result than you would expect.
The important thing here is to pour a background color – I chose white.
You then pour your favorite colors crosswise over it.
Give it a little swirl and your unique work of art is finished.
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Interesting pouring technology with a coffee filter bag holder
Now you have to do some tinkering to use this unusual pouring technique, but you will be rewarded with very special pictures that are only possible with this technique.
What you need is a construction in addition to the coffee filter bag holder to place the CFBH above the canvas.
I took two narrow strips and then attached them to wooden blocks/cups etc. with adhesive tape.
Now I had the right height and can also move the CFBH. What do I have to do next? Simply pour the paint into it and then be amazed at what comes out at the bottom.
My tip: definitely give it a try!
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Fluid Art technique with a sink strainer
In this video I show you an interesting pouring technique using a sink strainer. Since not all drain strainers are the same, you probably won’t get the same result, but a similar one.
And this is how this pouring technique works; simply place the strainer in the middle of the canvas and then gradually pour your colors into it. As soon as you have enough paint on the canvas, remove the strainer.
Now spread the paint either by swirling the canvas or, as I did, using a turntable to spread the paint.
I explain how to calculate the amount of paint you need and how to build a turntable without tools in my Pouring-course.
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Dipping technique with silicone oil and liquid acrylic paints
With the dipping technique, also known as dip-pouring, you pour the acrylic paint onto the work surface; I masked off an area with foil.
Now place the canvas in the paint and rub a little from behind so that there is paint everywhere on the canvas later.
To spice up this classic technique a little, I added silicone oil. But the silicone oil was only added to the yellow paint and only a few drops.
As the yellow paint is not spread all over the canvas later, there are no cells everywhere, which are created by the silicone oil.
And that should also be the desired effect, the dipping structure is retained and cells can only be admired occasionally.
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Liquid painting with a ladle
I found a ladle with holes in the side, which is great for fishing dumplings or other tasty things out of a soup, or you can use it to paint your own work of art.
If you would like to try this unusual pouring technique, I recommend that you do it in exactly this order: first eat delicious food and then paint it.
Have fun with it and as a little extra tip, for large canvases, simply keep filling up the small ladle with paint until you have the required amount of paint on the canvas.
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The double measuring cup – Pouring Technique No 21
Anyone can paint a picture with a measuring cup. You fill your liquid acrylic paints layer by layer into a measuring cup and then pour it over your canvas, very simple and also very cool results.
However, I have modified this technique and simply used a second, smaller cup. It is important that both measuring cups fit into each other.
Now fill the larger cup layer by layer with your paints. (Tip: test how much liquid fits into the cup with water beforehand and mark the spot) In the second step, it’s best to fill the smaller cup in a different color sequence or with completely different shades.
Once this is done, place both cups inside each other and pour them onto the canvas, swivel the canvas and you have a beautiful work of art.
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The hidden colors – unusual pouring technique
If you’re looking for an unusual pouring technique that hasn’t already been shown a thousand times, then my hidden color technique might be exactly what you want to try next.
And it’s as simple as this: glue three cups together, hot glue is ideal for this. Choose the cup sizes so that there is still space between the individual cups so that the paint can flow past.
Then remember that the color you want to see later on the canvas should be poured into the smallest inner cup. This color will be the last to be poured onto the canvas and will therefore be visible.
Now gradually fill the three cups with different colors and pour everything onto the canvas. I poured it onto the painting surface in a spiral and then evenly distributed the paint by turning the canvas.
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Fluid painting with iron scrubbers – the original
The original iron washer technique from Tiktus, to paint beautiful pictures with it, take a steel sponge or pot cleaner and pull it apart a little.
Now pour a color base on the canvas, I chose black. The steel sponge is now placed in the paint base and your acrylic paints are poured onto it from above, the paint flows through the sponge and comes out somewhere at the bottom.
The fact that you don’t always pour on the same spot and don’t use the same amount of paint creates a new, unique picture every time with this interesting technique.
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The milkshake cup – delicious pouring technique
Delicious to the eye only! As tempting as the colors may look, you can’t drink them, of course.
But it could be very tasty in preparation.
I don’t know if MacDonalds still has the cups, but they are often used for slush drinks. If you find them, enjoy them and then definitely give this pouring technique a try.
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Pouring technique with a color separator
We need a color separator for this pouring technique.
In this short video, I’ll show you how to make your own color separator and what you can paint with it.
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The four-spoon acrylic pouring technique
For the four-spoon technique, all you need to do is go to the kitchen and get four tablespoons. Then fill a watering cup with your favorite colors.
Now place the four spoons on the canvas, as shown in the video, and pour out the cup in the middle.
The paint will spread around the spoons, and when you take the spoons away, you will already have a beautiful drawing on the canvas. With a little skill when swirling the canvas, you will end up with a really beautiful and unique work of art.
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Magic Flip Cup – unusual flip cup pouring idea
What actually happens when you stick a small cup into a large pouring cup?
Paint is then poured into this small cup in which silicone oil has been added.
The result should be a picture where the cells created by the silicone oil only appear sporadically on the canvas and that’s exactly what happens.
Almost like magic.
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Two divided measuring cups – Pouring Technique No. 28
For this pouring technique, I use two measuring cups, which are filled with the same colors layer by layer. However, I change the order in which I fill both cups with the colors.
This way, I have different results for each measuring cup when I pour out the same colors later.
But to top it all off, I put a stirring rod or something similar on top of each measuring cup when pouring, so that the paint splits when pouring and, if that’s not enough, the two paint streams cross on the canvas.
All this effort then results in a really cool work of art!
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Painting with over 400 toothpicks – Pouring technique No. 29
It’s hard to believe, but there really are 400 toothpicks, at least in the container I bought them in.
Why should you pour paint over them?
Because the paint mixes and separates beautifully in the spaces between the tips, creating an unusual work of art.
A work of art where no one would guess that you used toothpicks.
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Fluid painting technique with a sponge
My wife always chases me out of the kitchen.
Every time I discover a new “brush”, this time it was the sponge, which I’d seen on JayLee, a drawing artist, and thought, hey, you can make a great acrylic pouring with that too.
No sooner said than done and I think the result is impressive.
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The kangaroo pour painting technique
Kangaroos are great animals, they always carry their little ones with them, which provides protection and body warmth.
I copied the pouch technique principle and developed my very own pouring technique from it, hence the name of the pour painting method.
Here’s how it works: take a small cup and glue it into a larger cup with a little hot glue, then fill the large cup with your colors layer by layer.
Finally, fill the glued-in small cup with a contrasting color, I chose white.
Now pour the kangaroo cup onto the canvas using gentle circular movements, spread the paint and enjoy the result.
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4 canvases one work of art – Pouring Technique No. 32
It’s not a special pouring technique, but rather a nice idea of how to pour acrylic paint on several canvases at the same time.
And if you ever wonder how to paint a triptych with liquid colors, with this method you will succeed.
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Pour acrylic with a dancing funnel
You can paint a fluid painting with a funnel either by filling the funnel with paint and then letting the paint run out of the bottom or you can extend the possibilities and lift the cup slightly while the paint runs out.
This creates very special drawings in the later picture.
My tip, definitely try it out!
It works better with paint diluted with a pouring medium, as this is somewhat more viscous.
If you only use paint diluted with water, the paint will flow out of the funnel too quickly and you won’t have time to make it really dance.
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