A Simple Tutorial For A Dirty Pour Painting
As we saw a few weeks ago, creating an acrylic pour painting can be a delightful and rewarding project. Today, I want to share with you another acrylic pour painting technique called a dirty pour. The dirty acrylic pour painting method creates impressive canvases, but fair warning – like all acrylic pours, this one is a messy make!
Acrylic pour painting feeds and soothes the artist within. I remember as a kid I taped together a couple of sheets of construction paper to create a folder.
I stuffed that first portfolio with oodles of drawings! When my aunt saw my portfolio, she enrolled me in art class one summer. It was only a week, but it was super fun (Thanks, Aunt Janice!). I added every creation from that week to my collection.
Today, I am adding acrylic pour paintings, including dirty pours to my portfolio!
What Is A Dirty Acrylic Pour?
Remember how we prepped our cups of paint in our basic acrylic pour painting? Each cup held one color, and we poured each color individually on the canvas.
In a dirty pour, each color is prepped in a separate cup. Then a bit of each color is poured into another cup, the ‘dirty’ cup. The colors are layered in a single cup, and the pour is made from that one cup.
Each color is layered – not mixed – in one cup.
Flipped Cup
When talking about dirty acrylic pour painting, you often hear the term ‘flipped cup.’ In this tutorial, we will be utilizing a flipped cup technique.
A flipped cup is basically just turning the cup with all the paints upside down on your canvas and letting all the color on your canvas in one fell swoop! This is where the ‘messy’ comes in!
Watch my video on Dirty Acrylic Pour Painting here:
For your convenience, I included affiliate links which means I may make a commission, but it won’t cost you any more. Read my entire disclosure here.
Materials and Supplies For A Dirty Acrylic Pour Painting
- Canvas(es), traditional (affiliate) and boards (affiliate)
- Acrylic paints, like this (affiliate) and this (affiliate) and this (affiliate)
- Medium like floetrol (affiliate)
- Silicone (optional) (affiliate)
- Cups (affiliate)
- Craft sticks (affiliate)
- Gloss (affiliate)
You can find a step-by-step tutorial with photos in my Maker Library (item #12). Join (it’s free!) today and have access to all my tutorials, SVGs, and patterns!
A Word About Canvases And Acrylic Pours
In our basic acrylic pour painting a few weeks ago, we used a basic canvas. In this tutorial, my big canvas is actually a canvas board (11 x 14). For the smaller paintings, I used a 4 x 4 regular canvas(frame) and a 2.5 x 2.5 mini-canvas.
Honestly, I’ve seen folks use lots of different things for canvases, even cardboard!
NOTE: Because of the amount of paint applied to my canvas board, it began to bow a bit as it dried. And the canvas pulled away from the board because of the amount of paint used.
The wet paint caused the edge of the canvas board to peel up a bit. 
This is the back of the canvas board.
Creating A Dirty Acrylic Pour Painting
Step 1 Preparing your space
First, prep your work area and yourself. I put down plastic on my work table and on the floor. If you have a plastic container, use it to pour over and corral the paint. I also wear an apron to protect my clothes.
This is a fun project, but you will have paint running everywhere!
Step 2 Prepping the paint for a dirty acrylic pour painting
Next, prep each paint color. Set up a cup for each paint color you plan to use. Pour a small amount of Floetrol into each cup.
Then add paint to each cup. I usually add about half the amount of paint as I did Floetrol.
Optional: Add 2-3 drops of silicone oil (I use treadmill oil) to each paint cup.
Mix each cup thoroughly.
Step 3 Prep canvas
Before beginning the pour, paint your canvas all over with white paint.
Step 4 Layer the paints
Now, begin layering each color into a new cup. Start with white and alternate white paint with each of your colors. I layered my paint colors 2 to 3 times. That is, I added white > copper > white > black > white > green > white > copper > white > black > white > green > white > copper > white > black > white > green.
Next, take a clean stirrer and move it no more than 3 times through the paint. I move the stirrer like I was beginning to draw a star. See the illustration below.
IMPORTANT: Do not MIX the paint colors. If you do, you will end up with muted colors, rather than individual colors.
Step 5 Creating the dirty acrylic pour
Time to pour! You can just begin pouring onto the canvas, but I think the flipped cup method is best. Place your canvas on top of your cup. Holding the canvas and cup together, flip so that the cup is now upside down on your canvas.
Wait a couple of seconds, then lift the cup off of the canvas.
Step 6 Tilting the canvas
Holding the canvas by the edges or underneath, begin tilting the canvas so that the paint runs in all directions. Let the paint completely cover the canvas and allow it to run off the edges of the canvas. Watch the cells begin to pop!
Step 7 BONUS (Optional)
Many acrylic pour artists use a small butane torch (like a chef’s torch) to add heat. This can aid the formation of smaller cells in the painting. You will move the flame over the canvas, 5 to 6 inches away, for a few seconds.
Be careful not to burn the canvas!
Step 8 Drying
Finally, place the canvas in a place free from drafts and potential bumping. The canvas needs to rest where it can dry for a few days (24 to 72 hours). The drying time is dependent on how much and how thick your paint is.
Step 9 Curing
Last, but not least, let your paintings “cure.” Most acrylic pour paintings take 7 to 14 days to “cure.” Once the painting has cured, you can add a gloss to seal the painting.
Step 10 Enjoying
Most importantly, display and enjoy!
Four Dirty Acrylic Pour Paintings
Acrylic pours use a LOT of paint. As a result, things can become messy or problemmatic.
For exmaple, during filming, I made three dirty acrylic pour paintings. I used both the flipped cup technique and just poured directly on the board. I love the results!
On my larger canvas board, I used two different dirty cups. At one end, I poured primarily blues and greens to mimic water, like the ocean. On the other end, I used primarily copper, black, and dark green to imitate sandy or beachy areas.
I love it!
But…as it dried, the canvas on one side pulled loose from the back. Heartbreaking, but I am not writing it off yet.
You do not have to make two dirty cups for your canvas. One cup per canvas is fine.
Surprise Canvas
But I also created a fourth canvas that ended up being a gorgeous surprise! As I was prepping for this tutorial, I was checking my canvases and canvas boards. One of my smaller canvases had a small cut in it, so I set it aside.
After filming the project, I wanted to use up the last bits of my copper/black/green dirty cup. I decided to use the damaged canvas, and I used black as my neutral instead of white.
At first, the paint closed up the cut, but it reappeared even bigger as the canvas dried.
However, the result was amazing and the canvas has a totally different look from the others. I love it, and while I won’t display it as it is, I already have an idea about how to use it in a mixed media project, so stay tuned!
Dirty Acrylic Pour Painting Takeaway
For those of us without formal training in art, acrylic pour painting is a path to creating beautiful and unique abstract works of art. To create wonderful paintings, remember these steps:
- Prep your workspace.
- Mix your paints and prep the canvas.
- Layer each color of paint in a cup.
- Pour the paint onto the canvas OR flip the cup onto the canvas to begin the pour
- Tilt the canvas until all parts are covered.
- Let the canvas dry and cure. Then add a gloss finish.
I still remember my first portfolio of drawings. I’m suppose they were awful, but I sure wish I had that portfolio today. Because I would add these acrylic pour paintings to the collection!
Please share photos of any acrylic pour paintings that you create. I can’t wait to see them!
Additional Reading:
How To Create A Fabulous Acrylic Pour Painting
How To Make A Tile And Vinyl Sign To Spruce Up Your Decor
How To Make Beautiful Letter Art With DIY Layered Paper Flowers
