This Flip Cup Runneth Over

This painting was so much fun to make, and I hope that comes through in the video! The canvas is really big—24 by 30 inches. That’s over four square feet of acrylic pouring!

The painting was a commissioned piece intended as a gift for a good friend’s mother. As you’ll see in the video, creating a painting on that large of a scale presented a few challenges.

Supplies I Used

• Paint by FolkArt. The six colors used were: Black, Teal, Wicker White, Platinum, Chick, and Marina Mist.
• Silicone by 3in1 (In the video I mistakenly call it “3in1silicone oil.” It is actually just silicone made by the 3in1company)
• Zinsser Paint Booster (a.k.a., Zinsser Flow Control Additive)
• Water (In Atlanta, I use the water right out of the faucet, but you may need to use bottled water.)
• 24×30 inch canvas

Typically I use a paint box to catch the paint that drops off the sides of a canvas, and most of my paintings are 16×20 inches or smaller, which cuts down on the mess. But for this big painting, I had to put down an extra covering on the floor and find a larger cup to pour my paints into. My usual 16-ounce red Solo cup was not going to hold enough for this big canvas!

I found a solid one-quart plastic container and began adding the colors. I really enjoyed using the colors my friend had picked out. They were a light, airy teal and blue with a shot of yellow.

All the colors are listed above, and I added several drops of silicone to all the colors except the white. I ended up using about 20 ounces total of paint.

One thing I didn’t anticipate was doing a flip cup on such a large canvas. Normally I would simply pick up the canvas and place it on top of the cup then turn the whole thing upside down. But this time the canvas was so large I couldn’t maneuver it around to do the flip.

So instead of the usual flip, I threw caution to the wind and did my first freehand flip cup. You can see in the video that it was a little messy, but I was really pleased with how much paint stayed in the cup.

When it was all over I was really happy with the pour. The torch brought up a few cells, but the overall effect is a lovely marbleized look.

The cells act as focal points, but I think the strength of this painting lies in its unified, marbleized serenity and calmness. I will let this one dry for a few days then seal it with epoxy resin so it will have the same shine and luster you see in the video.