Making Acrylic Pours Less Expensive

 I love playing with acrylic pours, but I don't like spending money. Here are some ways I try to cut my expenses.

1. I try to see if common household items can be used instead of 'made just for acrylic pour' items.  I've re-used kitchen utensils, plastic cups, straws, and popsicle sticks. I've repurposed a small glue dispenser and an eye cover. 

2. Some artists save the paint that has poured off the canvas and cut out pieces to be used elsewhere - I cut up some to make a zine for my art class.

"Sometimes the drop cloth
is more interesting than the painting."

3. Combine bits of leftover paint to be used to cover the edges or edges of the fresh paint (may want to strain before using). Now, I had always thought that "all colors mixed make black", but surprisingly most of my leftover paint is a shade of blue when mixed. If your drop cloth is clean, you can pour or scrape off the runoff paint while it is fresh to use for something else.

Mix of leftover paint

4. I wanted to try using a turntable to spin the canvas, but didn't want to spend money, so I made my own out of a small lazy Susan, popsicle sticks, and old soup containers. I gave it some height by gluing some pill bottle inserts onto the bottom. Using it hasn't produced any masterpieces yet, but it makes it easier to work on all sides of the canvas without having to touch it. 

Homemade spinner with cardboard wall around it.

5. Re-use canvas. You can scrape off fresh paint if you immediately realize you've made a mistake, or you can sand and clean the surface and try again after it is dry. After you've gotten too many layers down you run the risk of getting gouges or having the paint cracked, but 'dud' canvases are still good to use when you want to try a new technique.

When I poured multiple layers without sanding
the canvas smooth enough, I got a bumpy painting.

6. Use your hands or another tool to keep large amounts of paint from spilling over one side before the other side has adequate coverage.

7 Calculate how much paint you are going to use before you start pouring.  David Voorhies has a great article about this.

8. Try different brands of paint to find out what works best for you. I try to buy the best paint I can afford, and look for sales and specials. 

9. I keep notes on each pour - what method I was trying, the date, what colors and brand of paint I used, what formulas (proportion of paint to floetrol/water/etc...)and the layer patterns. I make sample 'drip' cards to check the consistency. This doesn't keep me from making mistakes, but I hope it keeps me from making the same mistakes over and over. I also take a quick photo of the result, even if I plan to scrape it off the canvas.

10. Ever have a tube of paint where no more paint will come out no matter how hard you squeeze? I have carefully cup off the end of the tube and mixed in a small amount of floetrol to get that last bit of paint. (I cut off the ends of toothpaste tubes, too, but don't add floetrol.)

11. Try new things. Here's a swipe I did using Elmer's glue as the flow medium.

12. Have a painting that is 'almost' right? You can use them as backgrounds for other projects.