Spin & Swipe Acrylic Paint Pouring Technique
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Hi! As you already know, I LOVE ACRYLIC PAINT POURING, and one of my favorite techniques right now is the SWIPE Paint Pouring Technique. Recently I participated in a Facebook Challenge group, and the challenge was to use the colors Yellow, Pink, Orange, and an additional color as needed. Yellow must be the primary color. I could use any technique that I wanted on any size canvas that I wanted. I created three pieces on a 10″x8″ canvas, and I used my SPIN & SWIPE technique, which I absolutely LOVE! It is so much fun to watch the CELLS grow!
For the challenge, I decided to enter the second one (in the video below) into the challenge because of the Yellow is the primary color in the end result.
WATCH my SPIN & SWIPE Acrylic Paint Pouring Technique Video
SUPPLIES I USED FOR MY SPIN & SWIPE ART
- Artist’s Loft Neon Pink
- CraftSmart Orange
- CraftSmart Light Pink
- CraftSmart Yellow
- Floetrol
- Elmers Glue-All
- Treadmill Silicone
- 8″x10″ Canvas
- Dixie Cups:
- Stir Sticks
- Rotating Cake Stand (My Spinner)
MY PAINT AND POURING MEDIUM RECIPES
Paint Recipe: 2-parts Pouring Medium to 1-part Paint (add more paint or more pouring medium as needed.) Once mixed, I put lids on the containers and let the paint rest for 24 hours.
Pouring Medium Recipe: 3-parts Floetrol, 2-parts Elmer’s Glue-All, and 1-part Water
MY SPIN & SWIPE PROCESS
Once I mixed my paints and let them rest for 24 hours, I then added 3 drops of Treadmill Silicone oil to each color and mixed gently. It has been my experience to mix gently and slowly and not over-mix the silicone oil. Every time I over-mix the oil, the cells end up very small and will not grow. The idea is to mix the silicone oil through the paint while still maintaining the oil’s integrity (and making the oil angry, lol!).
For each piece in my video, I layered the paints in different orders and different designs. I just played around and had fun with it.
After the paints are layered on the canvas, I SPUN the paint using my rotating cake stand. Depending on how much paint is still on the canvas, I usually only spin one time.
TIP: If you have a hard time with your canvas staying secure on your spinner, try adding some paint, water, or pouring medium to the spinner surface before placing your canvas. The moisture will help secure the canvas to the spinner so it does not fly off when you spin.
After you give your canvas a good spin, it is time to place your SWIPE color on it. I usually use white or black as my swipe color, but this time I decided to use yellow as my swipe color in one of the pieces, “Desert Flame.” Since I put the silicone oil in the yellow, I am sure this is why that piece has all the smaller cells versus the other two pieces that I used black as my swipe color, which had no silicone oil in it.
Place your swipe color on the top of the canvas, on top of the existing paint color. To give you an idea of how much swipe color to use, the paint line I put across the canvas is about 1″x10″, and it is thick enough to cover the area.
I used a dry paper towel as my SWIPE tool. You can use any tool you readily have available. I decided to use a dry paper towel to absorb some of the excess paint I have on the canvas.
This is the SUPER FUN PART!!! Place the towel gently over the top of the SWIPE paint color without pressing down. Once it has absorbed some paint, slowly pull the towel down the canvas and watch the CELLS form and grow!
From here, you can decide if you want to tilt the canvas or spin some more… I decided to SPIN MORE, lol! Be sure to watch my video on this super fun technique, and Let me know what you think!
CLICK HERE to see “Marigold Safari” in the market!
CLICK HERE to see “Desert Flame” in the market!
CLICK HERE to see “Goldenrod” in the market!
In another project, I created some pieces using the SWIPE & SPIN technique. It is amazing how different the results can be by using the same materials but reversing the technique. Go take a look and let me know what you think!
A FREE RESOURCE TO ASSIST YOU: PAINT POUR CALCULATORS
Knowing how much paint to use can be a frustration to some artists. While it is best to mix more paint than needed for your project, mixing too much paint can be very time-consuming and sometimes wasteful. When I first started learning about paint mixing, I watched so many videos that said “use about this much” or “just eyeball it.” These learning techniques may work for some, but I had a hard time feeling confident to start learning until I watched more to learn what “just eyeball it” really meant.
It’s time to take the guesswork out of the mix!
I have created two calculators for you to use to help determine how much paint is needed for your project. These calculators are a FREE resource to assist you with your project. And they are simple to use! You will enter the height and width of your square or rectangle surface (or diameter if using a circle surface) and the depth of the side of your surface. The calculators will give you the approximate ounces of paint you will need to complete your project!
