In the video I released yesterday I was trying to emulate the swipe technique of the King of Swipes, Casey. His paints seemed much thinner than mine, so if I thinned mine to more like his, would I get the larger cells? Only one way to find out.
Today I’m acrylic pouring in a similar simple color scheme of Bahama Blue, Blue Bird, a little silver, plus black and white. And wow, when I do my first swipe, look at those cells pop up! After swiping with the black, I’m reluctant to add the white and swipe the other way. – but in the name of true experimentation, I do anyway.
It’s gorgeous! I’m very happy with the much bigger cells and I don’t even want to torch it in case I break them up with lots of little ones instead.
Video: Swiping With Thinner Paints, Does it Make A Difference?
So it does look like paint thickness can matter when you swipe. My thicker paint created a lot of very small and well-defined cells and I had to torch to get them. The thinner paint created cells much more easily without any torching, and they were larger.
But I feel that the cells weren’t so detailed, weren’t so well defined as they were in the red one with the thicker paints. What do you think? Especially looking at it after it was dry, it looks like the cells had a tendency to bleed and separate and they had much softer edges than when it was wet. Thinner paint leads to more changes while it dries and less defined cells?
Perhaps a third experiment with the thickness somewhere in the middle to try to find that perfect nirvana moment of large and well-defined cells in a simple swipe? There must be an ideal consistency where the cells are large and instantly created on swiping and yet hold the same definition of the smaller cells with the thicker paint. Any excuse to get back in the studio and paint some more 🙂
I used up my leftover paints to create a couple of matching mini 3 inch canvases and you can also see pictures of these below.
Check out the slideshow below for pictures wet, dry and some close-ups of the details. I’d love to hear your feedback so do leave me a comment on the video – do you like these cells better, or in the red and black one?
If you’re interested in learning more techniques other than the swipe, check out our acrylic pouring techniques guide and see what technique you can try next!
After being told in high school that she was so bad at art that she should switch to another subject, Deby didn’t paint again for 35 years. Then a stroke released a new wave of creativity and she began exploring with dot painting, abstract and eventually acrylic pouring, and at last the joy of working with color returned. You don’t need ‘talent’ to be an acrylic pouring artist – just enthusiasm, some basic instruction, and a willingness to try, fail and try again. Paint along with her and learn from her many mistakes, and you’ll soon make great art together.