Pour Painting Supplies

Very often, I receive questions like this one:
“In your newer videos, you no longer use Floetrol, but in your older ones, you did. Why did you stop using it?”

Great question! Flood Floetrol was once a core part of my recipe for several years, especially when I was experimenting with different techniques earlier in my fluid art journey.

But over time, I learned a few important lessons that led me to stop using it.

Here’s a detailed look at why I made the switch.

1. Uncontrolled Cells in Blowing Techniques

As I started focusing more on blowing techniques like Dutch Pour, Dancing Flow, and Center Blowout, Floetrol just wasn’t giving me the control I wanted.

One major issue I noticed was that Floetrol created uncontrolled small cells all over the blowout, which, while I love cells in other contexts, wasn’t what I wanted for these particular techniques.

Instead, I prefer smoother, controlled gradients and transitions of color in some areas and selective cell formations in others, making a focal point. And this was simply impossible to achieve with floetrol.  

2. Dull Colors

Floetrol doesn't dry completely transparent. It leaves behind a semi-transparent, yellowish matte film, which made my colors appear duller than intended.

Since color vibrancy is critical in my art, this was a dealbreaker for me. While a glossy varnish can help bring back some of the life in your colors, it won’t completely revive the original intensity. If you notice your colors are less vibrant with Floetrol, this could be why.

3. Supply and Price Issues

At one point, finding Floetrol in Canada became a challenge, likely due to supply chain issues. Prices spiked, and even when the supply returned, the prices remained high. It stopped being that most-affordable-alternative for fluid painting.

4. Accessibility for International Students

I have many students in Europe who found it difficult and expensive to source Flood Floetrol, and I wanted to create a recipe that they could easily follow without the hassle of sourcing a hard-to-find product.

5. Short Shelf Life

Another frustration was Floetrol’s short shelf life. Sometimes, even just a few months after purchase, it would start smelling like rotten eggs, which meant it was no longer usable. That quickly became very expensive and wasteful, and I wasn’t keen on the idea of replacing it constantly.

6. Not Archival

Finally, Floetrol isn’t archival. It’s a house paint extender, not a product designed for fine art. As I began selling more of my art and taking on larger commissions, ensuring the longevity of my art became a priority. I wanted to use products that were guaranteed to stand the test of time.

In a nutshell, Floetrol was holding me back from achieving the specific effects I wanted; it made my colors look dull, became more expensive, had a short shelf life, and didn’t offer the archival quality I needed for selling my art.

But even with all of these reasons stacked up, I still hesitated to make the change. It was scary to transition away from something so familiar. In the end, though, it’s not about the mediums we use - it’s about the outcomes we want to achieve.

For me, it comes down to this...

Your pouring recipe, whether it includes Floetrol or not, is just a tool - a creative instrument. There’s no “right” or “wrong” recipe. What matters is whether it helps you achieve the artistic vision you have in mind. Always think about the results you want and whether your medium is supporting or preventing you from reaching that goal.

After I stopped using Floetrol as a core part of my pouring recipe, I decided to try mixing my paint with water only. 

Many artists do it, so why not... right? 

Using a water-only mixture for acrylic paint has been my preferred recipe for nearly a year. I loved the properties it produced, especially the flowing effect it created when using blowing techniques. However, I consistently encountered one major issue: cracking and crazing during the drying process.

The reason is that the acrylic binder (core component of acrylic paint) becomes compromised when too much water is added. This interferes with the proper drying process. While I discovered some acrylic paint brands that could tolerate higher water volumes and still dry adequately, most brands didn't. So mixing with water only wasn't a foolproof solution I was hoping for.

It felt like I was taking a gamble with my paintings. Sometimes they would dry perfectly, but other times I would encounter cracking, crazing, separation, or distorted cells.

This inconsistency led to frustration and, of course, wasted paint and canvases.

Driven by the need for a solution, I viewed this challenge as an opportunity to create my own unique blend of ingredients tailored to my creative needs. I established three key requirements for my new recipe:

• It had to be primarily water-based, as I loved the way my colors flowed when mixed with water. The simplicity and accessibility of water as an ingredient was highly appealing to me.

• The recipe had to enhance the drying process, eliminating the element of gambling. I aimed for flawless drying in every single painting.

• As a passionate fan of creating cells in fluid art, I wanted my recipe to help me achieve this captivating effect in my paintings easily.

I must admit, this journey has been lengthy and costly, both in terms of supplies and extensive testing. It had to overcome hundreds of failures along the way.

My husband jokingly suggests that I write a book about my relentless pursuit of success... Perhaps for a future retirement project :)

But for now, I'm fully immersed in creating art with my new recipe and ensuring that my students receive the utmost value from my Fluid Art Mastery course. 

You’ve probably seen artists online experimenting with pouring on ceramic tiles, vinyl records, glass, and other unconventional surfaces. And while it looks fun, there’s something important to keep in mind:

Acrylic paint is designed to adhere to porous surfaces – like canvas, wood, primed board, etc. These materials allow the paint to “grip” and dry properly.

Tiles, on the other hand, are non-porous. This means the paint can’t properly bond, and over time, it’s likely to peel or flake off, even if it looks fine at first.

So, unless you’re using special primers or sealers (and even then, it's not guaranteed long-term), I don’t recommend pouring on ceramic tiles or similar non-porous surfaces – especially if you want your artwork to last.