Acrylic Drip Paintings
I like drawing and painting in my free time. A few years ago I started doing action painting or drip painting. In case you don't know what that is, it's sort of what Jackson Pollock did. Like this:
Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) by Jackson Pollock (1950)
I'm obviously not on the level of Jackson Pollock – whose name is basically synonymous with abstract expressionist art – but I want to show you some of my paintings and the techniques I use anyway. That way, if you want, you can also make paintings like this:
Be warned, however, that this is not a step-by-step tutorial. Art is about creating something personal, something expressive. That unfortunately means you have to try a lot of stuff for yourself to find out what you like. However, drip paintings are pretty easy to get into, so have fun and enjoy!
Paint
I use basic acrylic interior paint. You can usually get this stuff from any hardware store. I like acrylic paint because it's easy to dilute with water and is quick to dry compared to other paints.
The thickness of the paint can influence what the final product looks like. Take a look at these two paintings:
The splotches in the painting on the right are much larger than the ones in the left painting. That's because I used thicker, undiluted paint (I forgot, to be honest). I stretch my paint with roughly equal parts water and some dispersion primer (I use Capaplex by Caparol, though that may not be available where you live). If you used only water, the paint might get too runny or crack heavily while drying. You should try out different ratios and see what you like!
Techniques
I paint with a little cup of paint and these little wooden popsicle stick-shaped spatulas. You can really use any kind of tool; I originally used a paintbrush handle whose head fell off. Just try stuff out!
I use two basic techniques that I call swings and flicks.
For swings I swing the spatula downwards like a clock pendulum with a fair bit of force behind it. This usually leads to a big splotch with a (sometimes pretty messy) tail; it looks a bit like a tadpole.
For flicks I quickly flick the spatula (relatively) straight downward. This is easier if your palm faces downwards. This leads to more irregular patterns.
Depending on the force and the amount of paint, you can achieve different effects, ranging from strong splotches, to smaller splotches with thin tails, all the way to thin dotted lines and just irregular paint dots. Again, just try it out until you get a feel for it. These techniques might not work for you, but you are sure to find some that do by experimenting yourself.
A swing…
…and a flick
Examples
You can use these methods to create wildly different pictures with incredibly varied vibes. Here are some examples of my favorite paintings that I did over the years.
You can also combine drip painting with other techniques.
The top painting was done using the techniques described above, using layers of paint of differing brightness to create depth.
For the middle painting, I diluted the paint pretty strongly and just let it drip directly from the spatula onto the canvas, no swinging or flicking involved. This created these nice round dots that remind me a bit of bubbles in a liquid.
The last picture was made by smearing white paint onto the canvas with a plastic scraper and adding some deliberately placed lines. it reminds me a lot of a cloudy sky with condensation trails.