Huge 24"x36" Sunflower Swipe! Fluid Art / Acrylic Pouring Tutorial

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Here are my Keys to Success for a Flower Swipe:

1. For most swipes, the paints should be very fluid. They should not leave a trace or a mound when drizzled off of the stir stick. I was concerned about the blue and yellow mixing and turning into green, so my consistency for this swipe was just a touch thicker than normal. But still very fluid.
2. Let your paints sit for several hours before using them to reduce the amount of air bubbles when you pour. As a general rule, the thicker the consistency of your paints, the longer it takes for the bubbles to rise through the paint and release. For these thinner consistency paints, I let them sit (covered) for about 6 hours before using them.
3. Instead of trying to hand draw the center of the flower, I like to use something round, and either dip the lip in paint and then onto the canvas, or use a chopstick dipped in paint to draw the outline as I did here. It doesn't have to be perfect, but this gives me a reliable standard shape to work with.
4. I layered the colors from dark to light, starting with the center. So the Dark brown for the center, then orange, then yellow.
5. Another trick I used to keep the blue and yellow from mixing was to add a generous layer of white between them. This worked amazingly well as a buffer, and I believe it made the yellow even more vibrant having the white underneath it.
6. I often swipe with strips of paper towel, but it leaves a texture that I didn't want for this sunflower. So I used some cut up pieces of plastic - one larger than the other so I could vary the width of the petals.
7. HOW TO SWIPE: Gently place your swiping tool on the surface of the paint and gently pull it towards you. Do not apply ANY pressure - just float it on top. Surface tension will pull the colors over each other. It also helps (for some reason) to stand with one foot behind you... I find I get a smoother stroke with less wobble if I'm standing braced front and back.
8. MOST IMPORTANT - SLOW DOWN! If you think you are swiping slowly enough - slow down even more. Haha! Swiping too fast can leave gaps or skips and odd distortions, and can create large air bubbles that can ruin your design.
9. Layering - There are several ways to add depth and increase the 3D effect in a swipe: A. Vary the size of your swiping tool - B. Vary the length of the swipe - C. Use darker colors in the bottom layers - D. Use high-contrast colors (i used a bright vibrant yellow with a dark chocolate brown) and at least one tone in between, in this case the orange.

Colors Used:
Liquitex Basics Cerulean Blue Hue
Liquitex Basics Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue
Liquitex Basics Burnt Umber + Artist Loft Copper (equal amounts)
Liquitex Basics Titanium White
Leftover paints - dark orange


My pouring medium is equal parts Floetrol, PVA glue, and gloss varnish.

My paints are mixed 3 parts pouring medium to 1 part paint, and then I add small amounts of distilled water until I reach the desired consistency.

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