How to Create Fluid Art

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Have you seen fluid resin art?  Is resin a medium you would like to learn how to use?  Well, you have come to the right place!  

Here at Art ‘N Glow, we have an experienced creative crew that is here to help you create something incredible with resin.  The possibilities with resin are endless.  We have had customers make everything from fluid art to jewelry, we have even seen people use resin to add amazing finishes to guitars.  Whatever the end goal is, resin can take any art to a completely new level of intricacy.     

The best part of resin is, any type of pigment can be mixed into the medium.  You can mix glow powders into resin to make a beautiful glowing cast or fluid art piece.  There are many artists that even mix acetone with resin to achieve a very psychedelic piece of art.  Whether you are simply coating a painting to give a polished look or adding acetone to make a psychedelic fluid painting, resin is a medium that can be transformed and manipulated into some very fascinating pieces of art.

Now getting down to business.  Let’s focus on some ways resin can be applied to canvas.  Resin fluid art is a thing if you haven’t seen it… OH MY… it is beautiful. The current trend surrounding fluid art is still very fresh, so you can probably make your way into the scene very easily.  

There are a few ways of applying resin to canvas when creating fluid art.  

1.  Dirty Pour - This technique is simple and effective. 

• Pour all the colors of resin you want to use into one cup.  Then pour the entire cup onto the canvas!  Easy enough huh?

• This is the opposite of a dirty pour.  In a direct pour, each color of resin is poured individually.  

• Yes, acetone or alcohol mixed with resin causes a chemical reaction.  The end result is beautiful vibrant cells mixed with color.  Adding acetone or alcohol makes for a very beautiful and unique design to fluid art.

The intent when creating fluid resin art is allowing the natural flow of pouring colored resin onto a canvas and allowing the liquid to create its own natural patterns and cells.  Now the word cells may seem a little odd, let me explain!  

When acetone or alcohol is mixed with resin it causes a chemical reaction, making the resin separate.  The resin separates because the acetone thins some of the resin and causes colors to mix and slowly rise to the top of the canvas.    

Now that you know the basics, let's get down to it!

To get started mixing resin make sure you have these 11 necessities:

1. Safety first, Gloves and Eye protection, just to be safe!
2. Measuring cup that measures down to the ounce for resin and hardener.
3. Plenty of popsicle sticks or plastic mixing tools.
4. Multiple cups for mixing, depending on how many colors you want to work with.
5. At least one piece of canvas, wood, or even aluminum for the resin pour.
6. Some kind of shallow box, even a cardboard box works.  So that when you pour resin, it has a place to go rather than your table.
7. A stand to go inside of the shallow box so that your canvas is raised above the bottom of the box.  This allows the resin to flow off the edges of the canvas.
8. A carpenter's level to make sure your canvas is not uneven on one side so that the resin does not flow to one specific side of the canvas.
9. 16 oz or 1 gallon Art ‘N Glow Epoxy Resin Kit.
10. Select a few different Art ‘N Glow Neutral or Fluorescent Glow Pigment Powders so that your fluid art can be appreciated in the dark!  
11. Heat gun or a small artists torch to remove any bubbles from the resin. (not totally necessary)

Now Let's Try a DIRTY POUR!

1. Lay out your Art ‘N Glow Epoxy Resin Kit and Glow Powder
2. According to how many colors you want to mix, prepare that amount of mixing cups PLUS ONE.  
1. The extra cup is needed for this technique because you’ll need a plain mixture of resin.
3. This is where the fun begins, using a 1:1 ratio mix equal parts resin and hardener.
1. Make sure to mix the resin and hardener together for about 3-4 minutes until it is totally clear.
4. Once the resin cups are mixed, it’s time to add the glow pigment powder for some color!
1. Slowly add Art 'N Glow pigment powder to the resin mixture until you achieve the desired depth of color.  Make sure not to add over a 1:4 ratio of powder to the resin.  The powder mixes quick but spend about 1-2 minutes mixing to make sure there are no granulates of powder left.
5. Get ready to pour!  
1. Most artists begin by pouring one single layer of white on the canvas before the pour.  This can also be a clear layer of resin.  This is meant to allow the dirty pour to move more freely across the canvas.
6. Now to combine your colors
1. This is the point where we add all of our vibrant colors into one single cup.  Make sure when pouring the colors into the single cup to keep in mind weight and which colors you add first.  This is when you get to experiment!
7. Time to DIRTY POUR!
1. A common pour technique is to lift the canvas and place it on the top of the pouring cup.  So that you can flip the cup upside down on top of the canvas.
8. Go Ahead and Flip it!
1. Once you flip the cup and canvas over, allow the resin mixture to naturally cover the canvas.
2. If there is excess resin in the cup, pour it around the canvas.
9. Feel free to tilt the canvas to lightly push resin to the edges of the canvas. 
1. Try not to overdue pushing the resin, so the piece keeps its fluid nature.
10. Let it dry!
1. That’s how you make a DIRTY POUR fluid art piece, GREAT JOB!

Now Let’s Try a Direct Pour:

1. Lay out your Art ‘N Glow Epoxy Resin Kit and Glow Powder
2. According to how many colors you want to mix, lay out that amount of mixing cups PLUS ONE.  
1. The extra cup is needed for this technique because you’ll need a plain mixture of resin.
3. This is where the fun begins, using a 1 to 1 ratio mix equal parts resin and hardener.
1. Make sure to mix the resin and hardener together for about 3-4 minutes until it is totally clear.
4. Once the resins are mixed, it’s time to add the glow pigment powder for some color!
1. Slowly add Art 'N Glow pigment powder to the resin mixture until you achieve the desired depth of color.  Make sure not to add over a 1:4 ratio of powder to the resin.  The powder mixes quick but spend about 1-2 minutes mixing to make sure there are no granulates of powder left.
5. Starting at this step is what distinguishes a DIRECT POUR from a dirty pour.
1. Remember, you can start with a base white poured all over the canvas to add fluidity to the colored resin.
6. Start the DIRECT POUR!
1. Select which color you want to start with and start to pour.
2. Try pouring a small circle and add each color to the center.  Watch as the colors spread.
3. You can also try pouring in lines, then tilt the canvas to mix.
7. Do some experimenting
1. Try using a heat gun or kitchen torch to push around and solidify the resin.
2. For more experimental approach, try a blowdryer!
3. Whatever it takes, try anything!
8. Let it dry!
1. That’s how you make a DIRECT POUR fluid art piece, GREAT JOB!

Remember to Tag Us!

We would love to see what you create!  Tag us or email us your images or videos.  We are all over social media so tag us with @artnglow or #artnglow!  Also here is our email just in case you want to send us a more personal message, info@artnglow.com.  

We can’t wait to see what you have created.  Sign up for our newsletter to get dibs on coupons, tips, and tricks.  We want to be your source of inspiration and art products.  Let us know if you have a cool art project idea and we may just make a blog post about it!  We are excited to be a part of your artistic lifestyle and we can’t wait to see what you have created with our epoxy resin kit!