Skip to main content

Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts - an acrylic pour painting tutorial

Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts
Cyndi Lavin, 2018

Like everyone else, I cried the day that seventeen lovely people were murdered at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  That is was Valentine's Day only made it worse.  Instead of celebrating young love, we mourned the loss.

I don't tend to make a lot of political statements, and I'm not usually one to attend protests or rallies.  I have nothing against these things, they are just not my mode of being.  Instead, I vote.  I pray.  I make art.  I donate money where I think it will help.  The piece above, Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts, came from my sorrow following that ugly day.

It's taken me two months to post it here, because I wanted to be able to share the materials and the process with you, but at the time it was just too raw.


1. I decided to use the pour and tilt method of liquid acrylic pouring.  Gesso your masonite boards and let it dry.  Place it inside an aluminum pan, raised up on small cups.  Make sure the surface is completely level. 




2. Mix your paints.  This is how I did it:
  • Small blob of heavy bodied paint in a small cup.
  • Equal amount of GAC 100 (a Golden product).  Stir well.
  • Add self-leveling medium or GAC 800 equal to or more than the total amount above.  Stir well
  • Water, added a small amount at a time and stirred in thoroughly until the mixture pours easily.  This is the hard part to know how much.
  • A shot or two of silicone.  Quick mix just before pouring.


3. The colors I used were Yellow ochre with Red oxide, Dioxazine purple with Titanium whiteRed oxide with Quinacridone burnt orange, Cerulean blue, Green gold with Sap green.  Make four puddles of ochre on the masonite board, and top each with a smaller puddle of purple, red, blue, and green.  Tilt the board and let the colors run.  I added more red and swirled a skewer through it.  Re-level it and allow the cells to start to form.



4. I used Faber-Castell Pitt pens to do the sketching after the piece dried.  You can see that more cells formed as it sat.

Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale

This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick

Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Comments