{"title":"How to Do an Acrylic Pour Painting","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/painting/how-to-do-an-acrylic-pour-painting","category":{"slug":"painting","name":"Painting"},"creator":{"name":"Kristen // k.becca","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64EVbnw2-dsPrdzisv5QXg","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYJtbZ0nPgk"},"tldr":"Acrylic pouring from scratch: mix your own pouring medium from glue and water, pour onto a raised panel, then tilt to guide the paint.","totalDurationSeconds":607,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["Shallow tray","Wooden craft sticks","Mixing cups","Shot glasses","Gloves"],"materials":["Craft acrylic paint","White school glue","Water","Canvas panel","Isopropyl alcohol"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Cover Everything","text":"Acrylic pouring is messy by design, so protect the surface first with a bin bag, drop cloth or old newspaper.Sit a shallow tray underneath the work as well. It catches the run-off and makes packing away far quicker."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Pick Your Paint","text":"Ordinary craft acrylic is all you need. Folk Art, Americana, Apple Barrel and Craft Smart all pour well.There is no meaningful difference in the results, so buy on price and pick colours you actually like together."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Make the Pouring Medium","text":"Rather than buying a dedicated pouring medium, mix your own from white school glue and water.It behaves the same for a fraction of the cost, which matters because a pour uses a surprising amount of it."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Mix It Four to Eight","text":"Fill your bottle to the 4 ounce mark with glue, then top it up to the 8 ounce mark with water.Cap it and shake until there are no streaks. Make more than you think you need - every colour draws on it."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Give Each Colour a Cup","text":"Pour each colour into its own cup and stir the medium in with a wooden craft stick.Popsicle sticks, wooden skewers or plastic spoons all do the same job, so use whatever you have."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Mix to Buttermilk","text":"Keep adding medium until the paint runs like buttermilk off the stick.It usually lands close to a one-to-one ratio of paint to medium, but go by how it flows rather than the measurement."},{"number":7,"title":"Step 7: Raise the Panel","text":"Set your canvas panel on four shot glasses, one at each corner, inside the tray.Lifting it clear lets the paint run off all four edges instead of pooling underneath and gluing the panel down."},{"number":8,"title":"Step 8: Pour","text":"Pour the colours straight onto the panel. There are as many pouring patterns as there are painters - stripes, puddles, a dirty pour from one cup.For a first attempt just lay the colours on beside each other and see what happens."},{"number":9,"title":"Step 9: Tilt to Guide It","text":"Lift the panel and tip it so the paint starts travelling. Work it toward each corner in turn until the whole surface is covered.You never fully control a pour. You steer it, and the paint does the rest."},{"number":10,"title":"Step 10: Spritz for Cells","text":"Spray isopropyl alcohol over any bubbles you can see. It pops them and leaves extra texture where it hits the wet paint.If you would rather not have that effect, spray the alcohol into the air above the piece instead and let it settle."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-08-19T17:12:38.306Z","published":"2026-08-19T16:57:27.067Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}