Hello Helmar fans, Sarah here with you today to share my lastest love - acrylic pouring, or some may refer to this painting as 'flow art'. There are many clips on the internet to show you what this art form is all about, but today I want to share with you the 'blowing technique' to create a painting of your own using some fantastic Helmar products.
For this project you will need the following;
Helmar Tacky Craft Glue.. I have also used the Helmar Professional Woodworking Glue or Hobby & Craft PVA glue for this type of painting before also.
Canvas - I used a 25x30cm one for this project
Acrylic paints - I used white, turquoise, gold metallic and purple
Plastic disposable cups / popsicle sticks
A straw
Baby wipes (for wiping your hands) / Paper towel / Large tray for setting up canvas over
Helmar Crystal Kote Gloss Varnish
Step 1: Pour your paint into a disposable cup, then add in some of the Tacky Craft Glue - a 50/50 mix of paint and glue should do it. Mix very well with a popsicle stick. Add a small amount of water and stir until you get a smooth, runny consistency until it easily slides off the popsicle stick.
Step 2: Add approx 5 squirts of the Helmar silicon spray in to each colour, except the white. Stir lightly.
Step 3: Set up your canvas area - I have my canvas sitting on four plastic upturned cups over a large aluminium tray. I bought this from a discount store (it is actually a BBQ tray), but it great as it catches all the drips
Step 4: Pour your white paint on to the canvas. You can spread the paint out with a popsicle stick or tilt it around to evenly spread the paint. This white layer will serve as your basis.
Step 5: Pour your coloured paint mix on to the canvas - try to keep this close to the centre as you will blowing the paint out towards to edges
Step 6: Using a straw blow the paint from the centre to the outsides of the canvas. Keep blowing in what direction you wish until you are happy with the paint spread and patterning. You may tilt the canvas if you wish to move the paint around.
Step 7: Using a popsicle stick, tidy up the edges. I dip the popsicle stick in to the paint that has dripped into the tray to cover the sides.
Step 8: This is an optional step - if you have a butane torch (I use a stove ignition flame) you can run this over the painting. This helps to pop any air bubbles and brings the silicone to the surface to create cells. Put the painting somewhere flat and level to dry. In the climate where I live, it can take 3-4 days for a painting to fully dry. Once dry, spray Helmar Crystal Kote gloss varnish to seal the painting. Follow the instructions on the can to ensure the varnish dries appropriately.
Here is the finished painting (apologies for the darkness of the photo)
When I mixed the paint for this project I had some left over. I wanted to achieve the look of some more negative space within the painting so gave it another shot on a smaller canvas following the steps above and really liked the outcome. I controlled the paint more when I blew through the straw, so it left some plain white spaces. The finished piece is at the very top of this post. Here are some close ups of the finished painting...
Thanks for joining us here on the Helmar blog, I hope you enjoyed this project and will give it a go. I cant wait to see what you create!
