Become a family of abstract painters right at home!

My sister recently celebrated her birthday, and as a surprise, I wanted to bring a "paint studio" activity to the party at home! We had heard about acrylic paint pouring, and after I looked into it, I thought we could try it out. 

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What is acrylic paint pouring?

Have you seen those paintings where the paint looks like it has been poured on the canvas, and looks amazing because the colors haven't mixed together? That's acrylic paint pouring! It's a special mix of acrylic paint so that the various colors don't combine, instead they stay separated. This is key, because when you pour them, you want them to keep their own color.

Materials you need:

• Acrylic Pour Paints (you can buy a kit or individual paints at craft stores or online)
• canvas frames (we used mostly 8x10)
• plastic gloves
• plastic cups, cups with dividers work best
• work station, covered with plastic while you work and to let canvases dry
• cardboard 
• glitter (optional)

Steps:

1. Pick a few acrylic pour paint colors. Gently pour them into a cup - we realized a special cup with dividers would work better than the plastic cups we used. But also, it's harder to clean so be prepared for multiple cups.
2. We watched some videos online for various pouring techniques. We tried a few out and I liked pouring the paint in the middle of the canvas best.
3. Once the paint is on the canvas, move your canvas all around, as if you were balancing a marble on the canvas. You want the paint to reach all four side and corners of the canvas. This is where the cardboard comes in handy because the paint will pour off the canvas and it does get quite messy. 
4. When the canvas is fully covered, set it facing up on top of four plastic cups to let it dry. Sprinkle some glitter on the paint to add some flair.
5. Let it dry for 2-3 days.

Tips we figured out:

• Don't get too fancy with pouring the paint. One of us did a zigzag pattern but the paint wasn't able to spread across the canvas. Choose a technique where all the paint is mostly in the middle and can spread out to the four corners and sides.
• Have cardboard on hand to work over. It'll get messy, so be prepared to switch out the cardboard.
• Have a garbage can nearby to dispose of gloves and materials that get messy. 
• Some of our pour paints were runny, which caused them to mix with the other colors. 

This was an activity we did with kids from age 4 to 11 and adults. We all had fun with it and we all loved how it turned out! We each helped each other - as it's difficult to do this on your own. We want to have another night of paint pouring and see what else we can make with other techniques and tools!