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Tips & techniques for paint splatter art
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Painting can be a lot of fun, especially when you can let loose and color outside the lines. Painters of splatter or splash art forgo traditional brushwork, instead using brushes and other tools to fling, toss, or drip paint directly onto the canvas. Splatter painting is an easy and expressive way to create abstract art that simply requires a canvas, paint, and an open mind for disorder. We'll walk you through the splatter paint process step-by-step and explain the techniques with expert advice from artist Antoine de Villiers.
Paint Splatter Techniques
To splatter paint, load a paintbrush with runny paint and whip your arm toward the canvas to fling the paint off the brush. Or, use your wrist to flick the brush toward the canvas. Alternatively, put paint in a plastic spoon, bend the scooped part back, and let it go while holding onto the handle with your other hand.
Steps
Section 1 of 3:
Prepping Your Space
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Protect your clothing and workspace. When preparing to splatter paint, wear clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting paint on like an old t-shirt, work pants, raggedy shoes, etc. Paint splattering can get messy, so it’s important to find a work area that is open and contains very few objects that could get ruined by splattered paint. de Villiers advises that once you have the focal point of where the paint is going to be splattered, protect the area around your canvas from getting splattered with paint.
- Consider wearing an apron if you want to protect your clothing even more.
- You may want to wear protective gloves when splatting paint since the paint gets everywhere.
- Plastic tarp and drop cloths work well for covering large areas behind your canvas such as walls and the floor. [1] X Research source
- If you are working on a smaller canvas, consider laying out newspaper behind your canvas.
- If your canvas is positioned upright, rather than lying on the floor, protect the area behind the canvas, as well as below it. Paint will surely get on the floor when you’re splattering, and with gravity, paint may even drip down off the canvas onto the floor.
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Set up your canvas. There are many options for situating your canvas. As noted by de Villiers, you can lay your canvas on a table or on the floor, mount the canvas to a wall, position the canvas on an easel, or even prop the canvas on a chair. However you position your canvas, be sure that it is secure and won’t move.
- If you are painting an object rather than a canvas, make sure that the object is secure where you position it and won’t move out of place.
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Set up your paints and palette. Keep in mind that thicker paints, like acrylics and oils, work best for splattering paint. However, most of the time, splatter patterns turn out better when the paints are watered down a little bit. [2] X Research source Acrylic paint can be diluted with water, while oil will need to be thinned out with mineral spirits. de Villiers notes that when splattered onto the canvas, looser paint, such as watercolor or gouache will have more of a splatter effect, as opposed to gloopy blob patterns made with thicker paint.- To loosen your paints, simply pour out your paints and keep them separated using a paint plate or plastic cups. Be generous with the amount of paint you use, splattering tends to use up more paint quickly. Then add a small amount of water to acrylic paint or mineral spirits to oil paint (approximately 1 teaspoon) and mix the paint and thinning agent together. [3] X Research source Test the consistency of the paint. You can always add more paint to make the paint thicker, or add more water to make the paint looser.
- Make sure that every color you plan to use has its own paintbrush. This will ensure that the paints stay separate, vibrant, and true to color.
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Section 2 of 3:
Splattering the Paint
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Tape off areas you don't want to splatter. If you want your splatters to only be on a certain portion of the canvas, use painter's tape to surround that section, and cover up the surrounding canvas. [4] X Research source For example, if you want to make a painting where one side is splattered with reds and oranges, and one side is splattered with blues and purples, use tape to split the canvas in half, and then cover the portion you don’t want to work on just yet. That will leave the section of the canvas you do want to focus on as the available canvas space to splatter.
- Taping off your canvas is optional since you might not want to section off any parts, and just want to splatter all over the canvas.
- However, if you do want to focus on splatter a specific portion of the canvas, you first must restrict that space before you start painting.
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Dip your paintbrush into the paint. All the bristles of the brush should be saturated with paint. If the paint drips off the brush before you move toward the canvas, you may want to thicken the paint.
- Stand back from your canvas, once you get started painting, you can experiment with the distance you stand from the canvas.
- If you want thicker splatters, try standing closer to the canvas.
- If you want smaller splatters, stand further back.
- When you’re ready to splatter paint onto the canvas, pull your arm back near your head.
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Splatter paint using a variety of techniques. With a quick whipping motion, bring your arm down toward the canvas, and flick your wrist. [5] X Research source The quick movement will throw the paint from the brush onto the canvas, creating the splattered effect. Since splattering paint is free form, experiment with various ways of splattering. Stand at different distances from your canvas, use bigger and smaller brushes, move your arm at various speeds and directions, etc. [6] X Research source de Villiers says using your arm and wrist is a general way to create paint splatters, but splatters can be made in various other ways:
- Scooping: Scoop up a small amount of paint with a plastic spoon (don't use a spoon you'll eat with afterward, as even traces of the paint could be bad to ingest). Turn the spoon away from you, so the paint is facing the canvas. Hold the handle of the spoon with one hand, and pull back the top of the spoon with your other hand. Then let go of the top of the spoon to sling shot paint onto the canvas.
- Wrist flicking: Load an ample amount of paint onto the brush and simply use your wrist to flick the brush toward the canvas. This will create harsh, concentrated splatters rather than the spread out, looser splatters made by using your entire arm to splatter the paint.
- Straw blowing: Dip one end of a straw into the paint. Bring the straw over to your canvas, and place your mouth on the other (clean) side of the straw. Hover the straw about an inch above the canvas, and forcefully blow through the straw to transfer the paint from the straw onto the canvas. This method to splattering paint makes small, concentrated splatter marks, spreading outward from a focal point.
- Dripping: Start by pouring different colored paints into small containers. Use a paintbrush or an eyedropper to pick up the paint. Hold the brush or dropper vertically over the paper and allow the paint to drip down, creating splatters as it falls. Experiment with varying the height and angle to control the size and direction of the splatters.
- Toothbrush splattering: Dip the bristles of an old, discarded toothbrush into the paint. Hold the paint-loaded toothbrush over the paper or canvas. Gently run your finger along the bristles to create a splattering effect, adjusting the pressure and angle to control the intensity and direction of the paint splatters. Experiment with different techniques to achieve the desired splatter pattern on your artwork.
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Continue painting by adding more and more splatters to the canvas. Use various brushes, paints, and techniques to give your splatter painting the most unique outcome. de Villiers explains that you may want to consider allowing each layer of splattered paint to dry before adding on more paint, and possibly blending the colors.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionWhat kind of paint do I need?Community AnswerAnything that paints will work fine. Acrylic, for example, would be vibrant and colorful while watercolor would be lighter.
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QuestionWill a thin paintbrush or thick paintbrush work well for this?Community AnswerBoth thin and thick paintbrushes will work well for this, depending on the size that you want. If you want bigger/thicker stains, use a thicker paintbrush and vice-versa.
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QuestionDoes watercolor work?Community AnswerYes, you can create the splatter effect with watercolors. You may need to make it a bit more watery with panned watercolors, but it looks nice at the end.
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Tips
- Try dipping a piece of yarn in the paint and slap it against the canvas. This effect can make a splattered line.Thanks
- You may want to change how much paint you put on your brush/straw. Different amounts look cooler than just the same amount of paint the entire time.Thanks
- You can add designs and glitter for different effects. Also remember to use a variety of color.Thanks
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Warnings
- Remember to lay newspaper down! If you don't you will probably have more of a mess to clean-upThanks
- Be careful if you don't wear a smock! Some paints can stain. Be sure to wear clothes you wouldn’t mind getting paint on.Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- Paintbrushes/Straws
- Smock
- Paper/Canvas
- Old Newspapers
- Paints
- Brushes
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about painting, check out our in-depth interview with Antoine de Villiers .
References
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dapBBbNPQhY?si=H4rSlvY6lNMopvtd&t=128
- ↑ https://crate.typepad.com/cratepaper/2010/05/splatter-paint-tutorial-ronda-palazzari.html
- ↑ https://youtu.be/FwE8dCDoEiM?si=wxBaDlLMM2JbfVVZ&t=13
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dapBBbNPQhY?si=oAFe0dJu94dL8LZF&t=133
- ↑ https://youtu.be/FwE8dCDoEiM?si=G3G_bxvVdfM7rE_E&t=103
- ↑ https://www.weekand.com/home-garden/article/paint-celestial-art-stars-appearing-glow-18048061.php
About This Article
Article Summary
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Before you splatter paint, lay down some newspaper under your canvas so you don't make a mess on your work surface. Then, thin some paint with a small amount of water in a plastic cup so that it drips off your brush more easily. Next, dip a paintbrush into the paint, making sure all the bristles are saturated. Stand back from the canvas and use a quick whipping motion of your wrist to flick paint onto your canvas. Alternatively, try dipping the end of a straw into the paint, then blowing through the other end to spray paint onto the canvas. For tips on how to keep colors from running together on your canvas, read on.
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Reader Success Stories
- "It's so fun and easy. But you can also do the paint splattering with a toothbrush as well."
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"It's so fun and easy. But you can also do the paint splattering with a toothbrush as well."
"Yes, this was a very helpful article. I always use wikiHow. Thank you so very much."
"I'm just thinking of starting and this gave me some ideas."
"I wondered what splatter painting was, and now I know."
"Wow! Lots of good, solid information!"
