To start off my acrylic pouring color theory series, I started out on Day 1 with a swipe acrylic pour. During this series, I worked my way through the rainbow, ROYGBIV, and explored a different color scheme every day and a whole host of different techniques.
If you’re curious about colors and color theory as it relates to acrylic pouring, head on over to my post about Choosing Colors for Acrylic Pouring and grab your FREE printable Color Wheel and Color Scheme Guides.
If you would like to follow along with my 30-day acrylic pouring color theory video series, grab your very own color wheel and color scheme guides and some paint, and head on over to the color theory section of Homebody Hall!
If you’re pouring for the first time and would like more explanation on materials, processes, and terms, you can head on over to my Beginner’s Guide to Acrylic Pouring. You can also head over to my Comprehensive Guide to Acrylic Pouring Techniques for more information on all of the different techniques and my How to Thin Acrylic Paint for Acrylic Pouring post to learn all about pouring mediums!
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Color of the Day (Day 1 – Swipe Acrylic Pour Technique):
- Red
Color Scheme:
- Complementary – Red and Green
Shades Chosen:
- Light green
- Pink (a lighter shade of red)
- Red
- Green
Neutral Chosen:
- Black
Technique:
- Swipe
Paints:
All of the colors I used were mixed from the paint colors below. (Blue and yellow for green; green and white for light green; red and white for pink)
- Artist’s Loft Brilliant Blue
- Artist’s Loft Brilliant Yellow
- Artist’s Loft Deep Red
- Master’s Touch Permanent Black
Pouring Medium:
- Floetrol
- Water
Canvas:
Sealant:
- Rustoleum American Accents Gloss Clear (1 thin coat)
Swipe Acrylic Pour Step-by-Step
- Lay down the underlying colors for your painting. For this painting, I chose to do stripes across the width of the canvas with the different shades of red and green, but you can literally place your colors in any configuration you’d like.
- Place a stripe of the color you want to swipe with in the area where you’d like the stripe to eminate from. I chose to swipe from one of the long sides of my canvas with black.
- Drag a thin layer of your swipe paint across the other colors you have laid down. You can use any number of things to perform your swipe, such as a paper towel, plastic, babywipe, old gift card, spackle knife, really anything you want, and each will give you a unique effect. For this painting, I used a wet paper towel.
- Tilt your painting until you like the way it looks. This step is optional. If you like the way your painting looks right after swiping, then go ahead and stop at Step 3.
Other Swipe Acrylic Pour Paintings
One of the things I love about the swipe acrylic pour technique is that it is so versatile and can be used to create so many different effects and types of paintings. Check out all of the paintings I created below where I used the swipe technique. (You can click on each of the photos to see the full project.)
How to Make an Unicorn Painting with Acrylic Pouring How to Paint an Owl Painting with Acrylic Pouring How to Paint a Butterfly Painting with Acrylic Pouring Easy Acrylic Moon Painting with Acrylic Pouring How to make an Underwater Painting with Acrylic Pouring Paint a Waterfall Painting in Less than 10 Minutes
Go Forth and Paint!
I challenge you to take the simple swipe acrylic pour and make it your own! Use your imagination and make something fun!!
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