Recently I’ve noticed that some of my favorite pours out there have some kind of embellishment—whether it’s a landscape painted over sunset-like colors or some kind of silhouette, I just love the way they look. So I decided to give an embellishment a shot, but with a bit of a twist.
Supplies I Used:
- Artist’s Loft in turquoise, titanium white, emerald green and violet
- Black canvas
- Elmer’s glue
- Water
- Rubbing alcohol
- Painter’s tape
- Plastic cups and straws
I wanted to grate a geometric pattern that would kind of contrast the usually twirly patterns of an acrylic pour. So I dug up some painter’s tape and picked up a pack of black canvas and blocked off some clean lines. I chose to use a black canvas rather than a white one to make the bright colors I chose pop. The color scheme I decided to work with are some of my favorites, I like to think of them as the dark side of the rainbow. I’ve always thought that green, blue, and purple are such a classic and striking combination it seemed like the right choice for this little experiment.
I cut off one long piece of tape and then cut those in to strips of varying width so I would have some different sized lines when I peeled it back in the end. My painters tape was a little old, which made me a little worried about the stickiness of it and how that would affect the crispness of my lines. I tamped each line down with my knuckles and the handle of my scissors a few times before getting busy with my paint.
A flip cup seemed like the easiest way to get the swirls and cells I was picturing. Even as I was getting my cup ready I was getting excited for the result, the colors were mingling in the cup already and creating this little effect on the inside of the cup that reminded me of rain on a window.
After flipping and tilting and seeing how everything was spreading out, my attention was drawn back to my cup. It had these beautiful stripes of color at the bottom, I decided to dump a few of those color packed dots into a big swath of blue to liven it up a bit. I must have checked to see if this painting was dry fifty times throughout the day, but finally the time came to peel back that tape.
In the end, my painters tape didn’t completely protect the canvas from the paint but I don’t really think I mind. The way that the paint only faintly seeped through parts of the lines kind of reminds me of frost, how it creeps in with a kind of crystalline structure to it. Maybe one day I’ll go back in with some black paint and clean up those lines, but for right now I am too pleased with the look of my embellishment.
If you give this technique a shot let me know if you get cleaner lines! I’d love to improve and see how everyone else’s attempts went!
PS Koz is new to the acrylic pouring game but she’s diving right in and has no intentions of looking back! A student of the universe, there is nothing this artist loves more than learning and trying new things. Her other hobbies include reading, foreign language, and salsa dancing.
I LOVED were the paint went under the tape. That’s what made the whole thing for me I’m gonna put so tape aside to get old to get that look.
SUPER DUPER successful mistake. Aren’t they the best kind!!!!!
Good afternoon to you. My name is Kathy and I do paint pouring as well. I feel like I’m a hack compared to some, but as long as it makes me feel better it’s all good. It’s not I’m trying to be a starving artist or something. Any way, I just wanted to let you know that I tried this technique as well. I don’t think my lines are any cleaner. I really rubbed the tape down too. But I , like you, like the way it turned out. I’d attach a picture of my piece, but I don’t know how. Thanks for your time and inspiration. You do lovely work