Fluid Painting with Kids is an absolute joy! This messy painting idea is a clear win for adults and kids alike and with some supervision, can produce creative and hang worthy masterpieces! See below one of our parent/child fluid paintings and how we did it. To see another tutorial that breaks down how to fluid paint, read this Fluid Painting Tutorial here.
Easy and Beautiful DIY Contemporary Art: Fluid Dutch Pour Painting
Meet one of the easiest DIY contemporary art projects of all time: Fluid Acrylic Dutch Pour Painting. It requires no artistic skills other than the ability to pour paint and use a blow dryer.
Could it really be that simple?
Simply mix your favorite paint colors with water, pour on a wood panel or sturdy canvas, and then blow the paint into gorgeous swirls, patterns, and waves!
It may be the most fun you’ve ever had making a painting!
Watch the video to see the entire process, and be sure to check out the Helpful Tips below.
supplies you’ll need:
- a sturdy pre-primed canvas panel OR wood painting panel (prime the wood surface of the panel with a good quality primer before painting, for best results with this project)
- blow dryer
- Behr Marquee 8 ounce paint samples (from The Home Depot) in your favorite colors
- cups for mixing and pouring
- water
- Cover your work area (and floor). Acrylic pour painting is fun, but it can get messy–especially when you are using a blow dryer to blow paint!
- Choose primed wood panels or sturdy pre-primed canvas panels (the kind that are made specifically for acrylic pour painting). Cheap canvases can sag in the middle when paint is poured, causing paint to puddle and make a “pond”. A sturdy flat surface will support the weight of the paint so that your colors will glide across to make beautiful formations.
- Rectangular-shaped panels are fabulous for dutch pour painting. Long panels give the paint more freedom and space to stretch into amazing wave patterns. The canvas in the video is 12 inches x 24 inches.
- Make sure your work surface is level before pouring paint.
- Use a range of paint colors from light to dark—for contrast and interest.
- Combine water + paint with an approximate 1:3 ratio (about 25-30% water and 70-75% paint). You can use an old kitchen measuring set — about 1/4 cup water + 3/4 cup paint.
other projects to try
If you like this project, you might also like this ocean wave acrylic pouring project or this other post showing creative things to do with your fluid acrylic pour paintings.
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How to Fluid Paint with Kids
The first thing you need to do is make your paint mixture. Pour in a generous amount of paint into a clear cup. Now add another 25-30% of Floetrol (the percentage based on how much paint you poured). Add 4-5 drops of your hair oil. Mix all together until paint is smooth. Set aside and do for each color.
UPDATE: I have found that a 2:1 ratio works better. Less paint per Floetrol will help with the cracking/crazing of your finished product, as will a warmer temperature while drying. My current recommendation would be 30 grams Floetrol plus 15 grams paint, equalling 45 grams per color. I also recommend three colors, plus a white, all mixed at that 2:1 ratio, for best results.
- Parents: I poured all paint and mixtures
- Kids: My son mixed the paints until smooth
Now taking each color, layer slowly by pouring in a clean clear cup. Pour a layer, put down, pour another layer (start in middle) and keep going alternating colors until the cup is full to the top.
- Parents: I let my son pour but held onto his hand and directed when to stop.
Now add your canvas upside down on the cup and turn both so the cup is flush on the canvas.
Dirty Cup Pour
Now you can have your child LIFT the cup and quickly turn it right and set aside on your covered surface. One mistake we made here was I let Phoenyx continue to spread the paint from the cup into the pour and it left some weird markings in the middle. If you want to spread paint do it on the OUTSIDE of the canvas.
Fluid Painting: Spread the Paint
The hard part is done and now all you have to do is let your paint go from edge to edge. I let Phoenyx tip the painting to each side before I took over and brought it edge to edge.
Fluid Painting DIY Finished Project
We were super pleased with this pour and really love how it has rivers of color as well as cells. I think I would have loved it more had it not had that one extra streak in the middle, but this was our first one so we are happy! Unfortunately a day after this while it was drying, my cat jumped on it sooooooooooooooooooooo now it has a paw print too.
See our other project here.
