Creating a Lava Flow With Acrylic Pouring

Last week I created a painting that reminded me of some pretty cool rocks and that gave me inspiration to build on what I already had. I’ve never re-poured on a canvas before, not even on one that I wasn’t super fond of, let alone one that I really loved. I was taking a real chance with this experiment.

I wanted to fill the white space from that last pour but I didn’t have enough of what I’d used before to clean it up, plus I wanted to make sure I wasn’t covering up the rings I’d managed on my first try. While the rings reminds me of copper, the black and grey swirls really reminded me of a cooled lava flow, when rock and ash are starting to settle. So what I wound up doing was playing off of that simple thought: liquid fire.

Supplies I Used:

• Folk Art in antique gold and rose gold

• Americana acrylic paint in alizarin crimson

• Plastic cups and straws

I wanted to keep that metallic theme with this follow up pour so it didn’t end up going flat. I dug up an old bottle of gold paint that had the strangest look to it, almost green in places, like it had oxidized from sitting for too long. I mixed my red with my rose gold so there would be sparkle everywhere and I didn’t mix it fully because I liked the way it swirled in the cup so much.

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I thought of doing this with a swipe but because of the borders of the first pour and my recent obsession I decided to go with more tree rings. I figured even if I do completely mess this one up I’ll at least have gotten some technique practice in! I loved the way my tiny puddle rings turned out, especially how different they all were. The old gold (the label is really worn down so unfortunately I don’t have a brand for you all, sorry!) had a really neat effect on everything that was going on, it was giving some really interesting and unexpected depth to the colors.

I wasn’t very invested in keeping the integrity of the rings intact this time so after a moment I started to tilt to cover the white up. Some of the red and gold started to go muddy, but because  this is a nature inspired piece I was actually glad to have some brown in the mix. Looking back now I might have outlined the old painting with more of that metallic to create a more gradual gradient but I do love the way the red pops against the rings. And maybe I would have added a bit of orange just for more of a magma feel, but there’s always room for improvement, next time!

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The juxtaposition of the colors is just what I wanted, it felt very much like a nature scene. Colors that you wouldn’t totally expect living together in one place and creating something truly interesting to behold. I am also interested in using this gold more in the future, it really put a sparkle in my eye.