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Exploring the flowing charm of acrylic painting: how to create the perfect backflow technique?
Acrylic painting, as a form of artistic expression that combines flexibility and creativity, is being loved by more and more artists. This polymer-based pigment, due to its fast-drying properties, allows artists to create a variety of works in a short period of time. Compared to oil paintings, acrylic paintings can dry as quickly as ten minutes, which also means that artists need to react and operate more quickly when creating.
Acrylic paint has many advantages, including not requiring the use of turpentine and primer, and can be applied directly to canvas.
Although priming is not necessary, applying a coat of primer to your canvas will still help extend the life of your work and provide a smoother surface. Additionally, a variety of different brushes and a multi-color palette help artists find the technique that works best for them. In addition to producing concentrated colors, acrylic paint can also be diluted to a slurry suitable for pouring or filtering.
Prevent paint from drying
Acrylic paint dries faster on canvas than oil due to the properties of its polymer base. However, in some cases, an artist may wish to keep the paint wet longer. Applying a light mist of water can be a trick to keep the paint wet for a longer period of time. Adding professional-grade acrylic extender or homemade extender is also a good choice. Additionally, keeping a damp palette can further increase the drying time of acrylic paints, which can be replaced with a shallow palette, greaseproof paper, or wet watercolor paper.
Creating Fluid Paint
Fluid paint generally refers to a movable form of acrylic paint. It can be used like a watercolor, or for backwashing, filtering, and washes. To create a more fluid dilution, water or a backwash medium is often added to the pigment. The ratio of pigment to water or backwash medium depends on the desired thickness of the filter or backwash pigment.
Opaque filters or pigments contain more pigment and appear relatively more intense in color; transparent filters or pigments, on the contrary, appear softer and show the characteristics of the underlying color.
When performing an acrylic backwash, the consistency of the paint mix will greatly depend on the technique used. For example, a clean Dutch pour or pearl pour requires thinner pigment than other techniques like petal pour or ring pour. Artist Keri Ippolito advises that paint should not be diluted too much, otherwise the paint will not adhere to the canvas. Too much water can break down the pigment bonds in the paint. After mixing the paint, it should be left to sit for a while to allow the bubbles to rise to the surface. This is important in many techniques, especially the acrylic backwash technique.
Backflow Technique
The backflow technique is a very suitable method for both beginners and experienced painters. To begin, raise the canvas so it is flat and easy to handle and move. Place four cups in each corner of the canvas. Once the canvas is set up, feel free to choose the color you want and start pouring about an inch of your base color, such as white. Once your base color is at the bottom of the cup, begin layering your other chosen colors. When you are happy with the mixture of paint, quickly flip the cup over onto the canvas.
This backflow technique is very messy, so make sure you work in a well-protected area.
When you're ready, lift the cup to release the paint. Once the paint in the cup has flowed out and formed a puddle, gently lift the canvas and move it so that the paint covers the entire surface until you achieve the desired look.
Drawing Filters
The filtering of acrylic paint is often used to create depth in an image. When a filter medium is added to acrylic paint, the paint becomes more transparent, visibly showing the paint layer underneath, which can change the color. This is a common technique that is particularly effective for creating more realistic image effects. Bright filters also have a softening effect on dark or vivid images.
Before applying multiple layers of filter, it is best to wait for each layer to dry completely to prevent the paint from smudging or leaving unwanted stains.
Artists can mix their own filters or purchase pre-mixed acrylic filters. After multiple applications, the work can be lightly brushed or sprayed with rubbing alcohol to bring out the colors of earlier layers.
Backflow paint
Backflow painting is an innovative way to create with acrylic paint. This technique no longer requires the use of a brush or knife, but instead involves pouring fluid paint directly onto the canvas and tilting the canvas to allow the paint to flow freely. Simply put, acrylic paint flow is the process of flowing acrylic paint in different ways to create pleasing patterns, often in an abstract form.
This technique allows the colors to blend naturally, starting to blend as soon as they touch.
The backflow process can also choose a single color or multiple pigments at a time to maximize the mixing of colors. While this technique can be done with oils as well, it often takes longer to complete or must be painted on wet paint due to oils drying more slowly. However, subtle interactions between the different colors may be partially lost during drying.
These techniques demonstrate the diversity and fluidity of acrylic painting, providing artists with a variety of creative tools and expressions. Are you also inspired by these techniques and want to try them yourself?
