Flip Cup and Two Dirty Pours

My first ever canvas to paint on. I can’t tell you how excited I was, and how nervous. Getting canvas imported here, with the overseas shipping and customs charges – well, it’s quite an investment. I had an idea for what I wanted to do. A three cup plan and as usual you can laugh along with me as those plans go completely awry again.

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Acrylic pouring flip cup and two dirty pours on video. Fluid acrylics, flow art.

How about I mix lots of different colors of blue and green, along with some white, and try to get a graduated effect on the canvas. Start at lighter colors, then more mid-tones and then darker.  OK, so that was the idea anyway. The center cup can be a flip cup and then the outer cups can be dirty pours.

As it turns out – what was I thinking! How big did I think that canvas was exactly? I had enough paint in those three cups to paint the entire desk. Twice at least!  You have got to laugh. So it was no surprise when the painting really didn’t come out as planned.

I do still like it, it’s pretty cool. I also had enough wasted paint left over all over the desk for my next project. In fact when you see how much I get out of all that wasted paint, you’ll laugh again. But the good new is, it’s really not wasted, and the whole exercise was another valuable learning experience in how NOT to judge paint volumes.

Do you have trouble deciding how much paint you need? Do you have any kind of handy chart you’ve drawn up to narrow that down? An area I certainly need to work on!

As usual, you can check out the slideshow below for images from this pour, both wet and dry, and close ups of the details.

10 thoughts on “Flip Cup and Two Dirty Pours”

  1. I am so happy that you got to experience pouring on your first canvas Deby, YAY. i really like the colors you chose and the final painting. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing that!!

    1. Even though it didn’t match my very ambitious plans for it, its my first ever canvas and will always be special 🙂

  2. I fell in love with your small tiles! I would like to try my hand on tiles, but I’m not sure what type to buy. I could not tell from the video if yours were glossy or flat tops. Then, do you do any prep work to the tops of the tiles, like gesso. I am thinking as lovely little gifts for friends.

    1. The tiles were just the regular budget glossy bathroom tiles. I use them a lot of practice and testing, and if they turn out nicely, they make cute mini artworks. Sometimes I will gesso if I have the time, but for testing, I usually don’t bother. They do make cute gifts – ideal for desks and small homes. I use these mini easels with them.

  3. What kind of prep work do you do on the tiles to keep the paint from peeling?

    On the subject of how much paint to mix….I have found it useful to use a glass vessel to pour my paints in and I keep a record ….writing down size of canvas and amount of paint in the pour ….1/2 cup etc.

    1. On my practice tiles I just pour the paint, but if I plan to make art on a tile, I will use a layer of gesso. I’ve really not found any difference in how the paints stick, if I use gesso or not. Both have been just fine on my tiles. I like the tip about making a note of how much paint. very handy.

  4. Sarah Mitchell

    I love how your painting came out. Love the colors and the diagonal. I have one question. I don’t understand why you are using Floetrol.
    On one of the list someone posted a picture of a chart a lady had worked up for all sizes of canvas but I didn’t save it and now I can’t find it.

    1. I use Floetrol because its the only locally available pouring medium – and I love it! The paint chart was created using the ArtResin calculator here – https://www.artresin.com/pages/calculator but I don’t have a link to the chart that was drawn up. At least you can create your own idea from this.

  5. I have tried different techniques and I really like these 2 the best. I think I like not knowing what it will like until on canvas. Also adding things to the paints can change the texture completely.

    When I was in college and had to take art history or drawing and composition, I took drawing. My dog and I ended up modeling for the class do to lack of drawing talent!

  6. Susan Shoemaker

    I love your work and colors. Great to finally pour onto canvas. I look forward to trying the tiles. Question is if I use a large tile, how do you hang them?

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