Did you know that you can make your own pouring medium? While there are pre-mixed pouring paints and pouring mediums that make life a lot easier, we know that sometimes it’s nice to start from scratch and challenge yourself. So below we’ve shared our recipe for success, as well as a few other tips and tricks you can try.

First things first; you might be wondering what pouring medium is and how to use it. We get this question a lot and sometimes people don’t realise there are a few different ways you can use it. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Mix pouring medium with regular acrylic paints to increase their flow and convert them into pouring paints.

2. Mix a small amount into regular acrylic paints to create smoother brush strokes for continuous or more expressive lines.

3. Mix it with pre-mixed pouring paints to increase their flow even more.

Our pouring medium recipe is made by mixing PVA craft glue, Acrylic Gloss Medium, Acrylic Retarder and water together. Below are the ratios of each part so that you can make your own! You can also see how it’s done in our video tutorial.

Materials:

• PVA Glue: 3 parts

• Acrylic Gloss Medium: 1 part

• Water: 1.5 parts

• Acrylic Retarder: 37.5ml

Directions:

• Mix the PVA glue, Acrylic Gloss Medium and water together in a cup.

• Once mixed, it should be a similar consistency to pouring cream.

• If it’s too thick, add a small amount of water until you get it to a consistency you like.

• Keep any leftover medium in an airtight container and store it in a cool, dark place so that you can re-use it!

If you don’t want to go to the effort of making it from scratch, you can buy pre-made pouring medium to convert regular acrylics to pouring paints or increase the flow of pre-mixed pouring paints. We have one available in a 1 litre or 240ml size depending on how much you need for your projects.

The amount of medium you use with your paints may vary depending on the effects you’d like to create and the type of acrylic paints you’re using, but below is a rough guide.

DIY pouring medium

• Acrylic paint: 1 part

• Pouring medium: 2 parts

• Water: 1 part

Mont Marte Premium Acrylic Pouring Medium

• 25% acrylic paint

• 75% pouring medium

Note: If you want to increase the flow even more, you can add extra water until your paints become the desired thickness. For example, if you’re mixing pouring medium with heavy bodied acrylics, such as our Dimension range, you might like to add some extra water since they have a thicker consistency than standard acrylics.

Keen for some more pour art tips and tricks? Check out our fluid art video tutorial.

Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram or Facebook using @montmarteart so that we can show you some love.