Easy Acrylic Pours With a Blow Dryer

Stephanie Abbott
by Stephanie Abbott
7 Materials
$15
30 Minutes
Easy

Guys, if you're looking for a fun, cheap, and fast DIY art project, you should try acrylic paint pours. I just finished 2 pours to use as a fun and colorful bottom for Entry Table Drawers. But these could easily be turned into wall art too. Check out the tutorial below. You can see more details and the products I used on my full DIY Acrylic Pour Tutorial here.

Don't forget to watch the pour videos, too. Watching how it's done is the best way to see how easy this project really is. :)

You can try this pouring technique on art canvases or 1/4" plywood. When pouring on a canvas, I always like to prep the canvas with a base coat of acrylic paint. When pouring on plywood, I always seal the wood with a coat of a latex primer to protect the wood from the water you'll mix with the acrylic.

This is the primed plywood I used over a drop cloth.

When doing a pour, raise the canvas or wood off the drop cloth or plastic a few inches to let the extra paint drip off the edges.

You'll need 4 to 8 acrylic paint colors to make a pretty pour. I usually mix 2 base colors, a light or white and a darker color to contrast. You'll want more of those 2 mixed. You'll need less of the other 2 to 6 colors.

Mix them in plastic cups or containers with a craft stick or something similar. You mix about 1 part paint to 2 or 3 parts water, depending on how thick the acrylic paint is.

You want the paint thin enough to kind of flow off the mixing stick. You can get a good idea of the consistency by watching the video above and this second pour video.

Start the pour by covering the canvas or wood in a layer of the lighter base color mixed with water. Then pour on the other colors in a random pattern. Make sure you use enough paint to cover your piece in enough paint. You can see how thick my paint is in the 2 videos.

Having thick paint is the key to being able to blow dry it around.

Once you have the paint on, grab that blow dryer, set it to high, and blow the paint into a pattern you love. Make sure to use a cheap hair dryer. It might get paint on it.

After letting my wood dry for 36 hours, inside the house. I applied a spray poly to seal the paint, then used screws to attach it to the bottom of drawers I built for a console table. You could also pour liners to drop inside existing drawers.

I went with drawer bottoms on this table since it doesn't store much and the bottoms are always visible. For drawers that are always full, this project wouldn't be very useful.

It's a fun pop of color in drawers that don't hold much. Like an entry table that you just store keys and mail in.


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Stephanie Abbott
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 9 questions
  • Susan Shea Susan Shea on Apr 03, 2019

    How did the cells occur? Was there an additive added?

  • Tracy Tracy on Apr 10, 2019

    Could this be done over a laminate countertop? If so, what would be used to seal and protect it?

  • Barbara Barbara on May 19, 2019

    You mentioned it could be used on floors. Could you do this on CEMENT???

    The cement under my carport has stains decades old and didn’t come of or didn’t even fade with bleach & pressure washing. Others have recommended a cement STAIN; which I’m looking into but I like results and effect of your project. Sooooo, I was wondering if it would work on cement???????

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7 of 19 comments
  • Joan Joan on Apr 08, 2019

    Loved it..I used to be an artist, but can longer stand up for longer than 10 minutes..this is perfect..and I believe will fill my creative soul..thank you for such a wonderful tube...no hiring a bus, to take me and my walker to the mall for wall etchings..I simply can make my own, and change them around as the season falls ...  colour is my grounding anchor...

    • See 2 previous
    • Joan Joan on Apr 14, 2019

      Me again Jewell..my beautiful cat stayed out all night - I feared he was taken by someone as he is so so handsome.. I was so distressed this morning..but he just came home after I called him from every open window in the house..we are so bonded he and I... just had to share my feeling with a kind person and at this early hour, you dear lady are my target..kindred souls if you know what I mean..I am on the computer early early each day as that is when my strength is highest after resting all night..are you the same..have a wonderful Sunday

  • Merelyn sale Merelyn sale on Jun 29, 2019

    Great idea turned out great.

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