By Deby Coles
Ok, so that last test was a bust. It was clearly one of those days when nothing seems to go right. Not to be deterred let’s give it another try, this time with a swipe. So I’m comparing my ‘old’ recipe of paint, Floetrol, water and silicone on the one side and in the second pour, I’ve replaced half of the Floetrol with Liquitex Pouring Medium.
Will there be any difference? Will it all be one big mess again? Hmm, likely. Obviously, I start off on the wrong foot by using the same colors as before because I already had these mixed and left over from the last experiment. They weren’t pretty colors then so they aren’t pretty now either. But it’s not quite so bad to look at, because there is more whitepaint to break up the colors, as a swipe.
Recipe 1:
- 1 tbsp paint
- 1/2 tbsp Floetrol
- 1 tsp water (as needed)
- treadmill lubricant 100% silicone oil
Recipe 2:
- 1 tbsp paint
- 1/2 tsbpof pouring medium made up 50/50 between Floetrol and Liquitex
- 1 tsp water (as needed)
- treadmill lubricant 100% silicone oil
I layered up the paints on the tiles, swiped and let’s see what happened.
Hmm, well these two look very different. The one with Floetrol only created a gazillion beautifully defined cells, but they are tiny. The one with Liquitex created cells too, but larger and softer. On the other hand, I’ve done two side by side swipes before that turned out just this different. Take a look at my Dragon Scales swipes – one has large cells, the other has the tiny cells. Yet both were the exact same paints swiped the same way.
So again, I don’t think I can determine whether there is any difference in results when I use the Pouring Medium as well as or instead of the Floetrol. But I think I can say that from these two experiments I’m not seeing any immediate or obvious difference that would point me in any one direction to say it was or wasn’t worth investing in.
The only difference I’m seeing the pin holes. I’ve never had them before, but in both experiments with the Pouring Medium from Liquitex, all the examples had lots of little pin holes in them. Hmm, not so good.
My experiments have already used quite a lot of my precious bottle, so now I have to decide what to do next. Another experiment? More testing? More side by side comparisons or just use it and see if I can get a feel for how it reacts? I’ll be interested to hear if any of you have carried out any similar testing and what conclusions you came to.
As usual, check out the slideshow below for more pictures of these two swipes, both wet and dry, and some of the closeups of the details.
After being told in high school that she was so bad at art that she should switch to another subject, Deby didn’t paint again for 35 years. Then a stroke released a new wave of creativity and she began exploring with dot painting, abstract and eventually acrylic pouring, and at last the joy of working with color returned. You don’t need ‘talent’ to be an acrylic pouring artist – just enthusiasm, some basic instruction, and a willingness to try, fail and try again. Paint along with her and learn from her many mistakes, and you’ll soon make great art together.
