5 Tips to be Successful at Paint Pouring with DecoArt

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Have you been guilty of binge-watching paint-pouring videos online and thought that looks way complicated?  I know I have!  Well, I dove into trying a variety of paint-pouring techniques, and then made ALL of the mistakes and had some victories, too!  Today I am sharing 5 tips to be successful at paint pouring with DecoArt® as well as the biggest lesson I learned!

One of my all-time favorite companies is DecoArt®.  I have loved their paints and mediums since high school and I won't tell you how long ago that was, but let's just say I am an OG user!

The newest release from DecoArt® is Fluid Art Ready-to-Pour Acrylics.  Available in 26 individual bright colors and 7 combination value packs and now for sale at Michael's!  This has been a GAME CHANGER in the paint pouring department for me, let me tell you why.

5 Tips to Be Successful at Paint Pouring

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Here's what you need to be successful at Paint Pouring:

• DecoArt® Fluid Art Ready-to-Pour Acrylics, Tropical Value Pack – Magenta, Lemon, Chartreuse, Tropical Blue
• Pink Flamingos, two – Dollar Tree
• Plastic Garbage Bags – Dollar Tree
• Mini  Plastic Cups, four – Dollar Tree
• Plastic Drinking Cup, one – Dollar Tree
• Tombow Xtreme Mounting Putty
• Cardboard – Recycled

Here are 5 Tips for Paint Pouring Success:

STEP ONE – PREP

TIP #1 – The proper preparation for paint pouring is just as important as the painting itself.  Start with a piece of heavy-duty cardboard that is larger than your 3D surface.  Mine is a pair of plastic yard Flamingos from Dollar Tree.  Layout a plastic garbage bag over the cardboard.  Make sure that you can easily access the front, back, and sides of your 3D surface.

Remove a section of Tombow Extreme Putty from the package, roll into a ball, and then stick it to the lowest points of the base of your 3D surface.  Use two points for each flamingo, but you could use more or less, depending upon the surface you select.

Firmly push the mini plastic cups into the putty.  Make sure that you have good adhesion and that your 3D surface is level and straight.  Place the prepared 3D surface on top of the prepared work area.

STEP TWO – DIRECT POUR

Tip #2 – Take your time!  This is not a super quick process, so don't rush it.  I allowed a full hour to paint pour my pair of flamingos. Gently shake the bottles of DecoArt® Fluid Art Ready-to-Pour Acrylics before using.  I tap the base of the bottles against the palm of my hand.  Shaking too hard will create bubbles.  Add layers of color directly from each bottle.  I always start with the lightest, Lemon.

Layer on a decent amount of Chartreuse Green, by again pouring directly out of the bottle.  Since we are pouring directly onto a 3D surface there is no need to tilt for coverage.  Let gravity do its thing!  If paint pouring onto a flat surface thin coverage is preferred because if the paint is too thick crazing (cracking of the paint) might occur.

It's a mesmerizing process as each layer builds depth and texture.  Add Tropical Blue next in a variety of drips and streams of paint.  Experiment with the quantity of paint added to create the lovely marbled as well as swirled effects.

Continue, by adding Magenta directly from the bottle.  If one area becomes saturated in a particular color, then include additional drops of the other three colors to break it up.  Tip #3 It's all about the layers! Once the surface is completely covered, the real trick is to add the least amount of paint in the most layers to create the fine detail of the swirling marbled effect.

STEP THREE – DIRTY POUR

For the second flamingo, I did a dirty paint pour. You can achieve a dirty pour by layering the DecoArt Fluid Art Ready to Pour Acrylic paint colors in a cup, so they will marble and swirl when you pour them from the cup onto the 3D surface. To experiment, in the base of the cup, I used quite a bit of each color, but as the layers filled up the cup I switched to thinner layers swirled on top of each other.

Pour the DecoArt Fluid Art Ready to Pour Acrylic paint colors out of the cup out slowly over the highest point of the 3D surface, going back and forth.  The thin layers will pour out of the cup first and create a subtle swirl effect, which I prefer.  The thicker layers pour out of the cup last and create a muddled effect because the colors mixed more completely as they were being poured.  Tip #4 – Create numerous thin layers of paint when completing a dirty pour to retain vivid colors and prevent over-mixing.

To correct this, drip and stream small amounts of each color directly from the DecoArt Fluid Art Ready to Pour Acrylic bottles of paint onto the 3D surface until the desired patterns and swirls are achieved.  The dirty pouring technique does waste more paint than the direct pouring method, as is apparent in the photo below.

STEP FOUR – DRYING

Below is a close-up photo of the patterns in the wet paint.  As the DecoArt Fluid Art Ready to Pour Acrylics continued to dry the paint flowed into the dimensional feather pattern in the plastic flamingo.  Wet paint clean-up is quick and easy with soap and water, but once dry, the paint is permanent. This paint remains bright and vibrant even when dry.  Tip #5 – Patience, patience, patience!  Allow your 3D surface to dry completely.  Depending upon your climate (I live in humid Florida) this could take up to 24 hours (which mine did).

And finally, the most important lesson I learned to be successful at paint pouring

Bonus Tip – Make sure that you have a secure place to allow your paint-pouring masterpiece to dry, free of pets and kids! You definitely don't want a bump or tumble to happen with the kids while your paint pour is drying.  Unwanted pet hair and paw prints would be heartbreaking as well, so secure your surface while it dries.  Don't ask me how I know, just trust me!

Select a room with a door that the family will never go into, like the laundry room for paint pour drying.  If you don't have access to a separate room, a large storage container turned upside down would also work!

Once the DecoArt Fluid Art Ready to Pour Acrylic paint colors are dry, just roll up the plastic garbage bags and throw them away.  No muss-no fuss!

Paint Pouring Tips and Tricks

The DecoArt® Fluid Art Ready-to-Pour Acrylics really are a game-changer in the world of paint pouring!  All the measuring, mixing, and mess is done for us, so we can get straight to creating!  To be able to be successful in creating things that we love for our home or to gift to family and friends.

Let's take a look at some of the other pour painting projects that members of the Laura Kelly Design Team created.

• Dinosaur Paint Pour by Laura at Me and My INKlings
• Birdhouse Paint Pour by Katie at A Sweet Berry Designs
• Easter Eggs Paint Pour by Blanca at Creativities Galore
• Dress Form Paint Pour by Debra at Debra Quartermain Designs

Tips and Tricks for an Easy Paint Pour

I hope that you will use this tutorial as a jumping-off point to create something amazing with the Ready-to-Pour Acrylics from DecoArt®.  If you do, please tag me @CreativelyBeth and @DecoArt on Instagram and Facebook.  I would LOVE to see what YOU create, the possibilities are ENDLESS!

I have been mildly obsessed with paint pouring this Summer, so I wanted to try Paint Pour Rainbow Rocks in 15 Minutes to see what the results would be. Crafting is all about experimenting.  Sometimes you have a winning project and sometimes you have a big fat craft FAIL, but it's all about the creative process.

My tutorial on how to Paint Pour an American Flag Plaque is perfect for patriotic home decor. I tried something new creating stars and stripes patterns within the pour, so let's get going and see how it turned out! DecoArt Ready to Pour paints and mediums make this an easy project to be successful at. The hardest part is waiting for the paint to dry!

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Too busy to Learn How to Paint Pour right now? Pin it for later!  I'd love for you to pin this project to your favorite craft board on Pinterest and then it’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.

Thanks for stopping by!