It's pouring paint!

When paintings don't go too well, the trick is to move on to something nice and easy and satisfying. What could be more enjoyable than pouring paint?

I came across this little video, and it looked so simple! - Note that he doesn't show you the crucial bit - between pouring the paint and the first swooshing back and forth!

My first hurdle is that I didn't have self-levelling acrylics. But never fear - a quick mix with a dollop of Liquitex Pouring Medium and a dash of Liquitex Flow Aid, plus a little water, and I had paint more or less to the right consistency. It was a little too solid, to be honest, and my first draft showed patches where I'd had to push the paint along with a painting knife.

That didn't stop me, though. After taking a photo of my original attempt, I had another go, right over it. That's the beauty of acrylics. They're opaque and you can have as many layers as you want. I used the same ingredients, but this time with a touch more Flow Aid, and I had paint sloshing all over my canvas with great ease. A bit too much, even. In the end, my problem was that there was a dip in the centre where the liquid paint started gathering. But it's certainly given me the taste to do more. I've run out of Pouring Medium, though, so it will have to wait! And I must buy rubber gloves. It's very messy business!