A Twist on the Classic Flip Cup

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting again! 

Today I’m going to talk about the acrylic pouring technique: flip and drag style. I really think these are fun and I personally have better luck than just a flip cup. You can get more paint around that bigger canvas. When I did a regular flip cup it seemed I’d have a big spot I didn’t like or my favorite colors would be on the edge of the canvas. Sometimes I’d end up over tilting and my cells would stretch too much and become sloppy looking. My Goal is nice smooth cells of different sizes. 

Supplies I Used:

 

Color Selection

Start by getting your colors picked out, maybe five colors plus your white. Colors are very important, choose colors that compliment each other. My colors in the photo I’ve added cranberry to the pink to get it brighter and the small dark bottle is a glow paint. I didn’t choose it because it glows I chose it because I love the color. We’re going to use a lot of paint on this one. I fill a whole solo cup for a 10×20 inch canvas, we’re going to pour white in the cup first maybe a half inch or inch. Now, we’re going to layer colors in that cup by going back and forth with each color letting it sit on top of the last color, I chose purple next then Caribbean blue. Then go through each color moving your cup around, zig zagging your colors in your cup. Once you’ve gone through your colors do a zig zag of white and start your colors again. I think I went through three rounds of color and white in between each round. 

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Start the Flip 

Okay, now grab your canvas and flip your cup. Hold it down for a second while you put white around the edges of your canvas. Also, make sure your canvas is level. I didn’t put white in the center because that’s a lot of paint in that cup. I just want to get the edges wet with white so it will help the paint get to those corners. You can also run your finger around the edges if you want. You don’t have to be fancy with this step, just lift the cup a little and move the cup and put it back down. You don’t want all of the paint out of that cup at once. Lift the cup a little in a new spot, move the cup again and put it back down, I moved that cup a total of four times. 

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Patience Makes Perfect

Now that’s a lot of paint on your canvas. Wait and make sure your canvas is level, let that paint spread out. Now, grab your torch and lightly move it around that canvas, not too close. If your paint burns your cells are going to crack. Slowly tilt your canvas to your edges and corners and let it sit. Let your cells gather a bit and tilt again, slowly. You don’t want too much paint on the canvas. I try to save my favorite spot and let the opposite side go, but slowly. Tilt back and forth until you like the outcome, now place your art in a level spot so it can drip and dry level. 

Lessons Learned

When I first started pouring I really didn’t have much of a clue as to what I was doing. After practicing, asking questions, trying to get my paint mixture right I started noticing my cells looking nicer. This takes time. The bad pours have also taught me something, I have had more bad pours than good. It’s okay, you scrape it off and retry. There are days I walk away and it just wasn’t a good day for me painting. The next day will be better. I think even very famous artists have bad paint days. We’re all learning and that’s good. 

I hope you love your art and I’m so glad you’ve joined me in learning!

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5 thoughts on “A Twist on the Classic Flip Cup”

  1. Lynne Dewhirst

    Gorgeous cells! I was wondering if you used any 71% isopropyl alcohol or silicon added to your paint? If so, when did you add it?
    Thanks for the great idea!

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