Skip to Content

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment

Here are some paint pouring tips that are great for first-timers to know before jumping into their first project! It’s a whole lotta messy, beautiful fun that you cannot mess up!

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: My Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment

Check out this quick time-lapse video that shows how I completed this project, including the paint pouring fun!

 

Paint Pouring Supplies

I recently turned a sweet note that my son wrote me into a piece of beautiful framed art (see the how-to!).

It included a colorful frame, which just so happened to be my first time trying out the hot paint pouring trend…so I’m sharing my tips from that experience!

Here’s what I used for the paint pouring portion of this project (that’s a lot of p’s!):

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

How to Make a Reverse Canvas

This project utilized the reverse canvas method, which has become a favorite of mine…they’re so inexpensive and easy to make!

You can check out my full tutorial for how to make a reverse canvas for all the juicy details!

 

The first step in making a reverse canvas is to remove the wrapped canvas from its frame.

I set the canvas aside and added a heat transfer vinyl decal later while the frame was drying from its upcoming paint pouring fun.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

The Paints & Pouring Medium

Next, I squirted a little of each of my four paint colors into their own disposable cups then added the pouring medium.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

I just eye-balled it and used roughly a 1:1 ratio of paint to pouring medium in each cup. In my final project below, you can see how the paints interacted with that ratio.

The pouring medium not only thins out the paint so it becomes pourable (hence the name), but it also helps prevent the paints from mixing. Instead, they remain independent from one another.

For example, instead of blue and yellow coming in contact and mixing to create green, with the pouring medium added, you’ll end up with streaks and blobs of blue and yellow instead. The more medium you add, the larger and more streaks and blobs.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

Let It Pour!

Before getting my pour on, I first gave the wooden frame a quick coat of the white craft paint, which I’d also be pouring later. This was just a little crafty insurance policy in case my upcoming pours and drips didn’t happen to cover every part of the frame.

Now, the painted white portions would blend in with the poured portions instead of having bare unpainted wood stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes it pays to plan ahead, y’all.

The frame was now ready to go, so after adding the pouring medium to each cup, I gave them all a good stirring until everything was thoroughly mixed. Then it was time to pour!

Even with only a 1:1 ratio, the pouring medium thins out the paint quite a bit, so it poured very easily (and quickly!). I did two rounds of all the colors, just randomly adding swirls, drops, blobs, and other streaky fun.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

Jiggle It, Just a Little Bit

After both rounds of pouring, I picked up the frame and gave it lots of little shimmies and shakes to help the paints move all over and around the white frame.

Have fun with this step because you truly cannot mess it up! The paints will do their thing, you (and gravity) just need to help them along a bit.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

No Drips for You!

Once I was pleased with the coverage, I set the frame back down on the painter’s pyramids for it to start drying.

As it was sitting there, little drops of excess paint began to form and then slooowly fall off into the catch pan.

In order to avoid having tiny dried peaks sticking out the back of the frame’s edges, I grabbed a stir stick and started running it along all the edges to scrape off the excess blobs. Your finger would also work too.

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

 

My Final Paint Poured Frame!

Here’s how my frame turned out! Quite pretty, huh?

Who knew something so beautiful and fancy-looking was actually so simple to DIY!?

How to Turn a Note or Drawing into Framed Art! | Where The Smiles Have Been #handwriting #kidsart #paintpouring #reversecanvas #HTV #Silhouette #Cricut

Add Pom Pom Trim to Shelves for an Inexpensive and Fun Update! | Where The Smiles Have Been #pompom #homeimprovement #DIY #craftroom #shelves

How to Turn a Note or Drawing into Framed Art! | Where The Smiles Have Been #handwriting #kidsart #paintpouring #reversecanvas #HTV #Silhouette #Cricut

 

Make sure you check out my full tutorial for how I turned my son’s sweet note into colorful framed art!

How to Turn a Note or Drawing into Framed Art! | Where The Smiles Have Been #handwriting #kidsart #paintpouring #reversecanvas #HTV #Silhouette #Cricut

 

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer

Now, this was just the first time I tried out paint pouring, so I’m certainly not a professional. However, here are some things that I learned that should be helpful for fellow newbs to know!

  • Experiment with your paint to pouring medium ratio:
    • More pouring medium = more independent paint colors (blobs and streaks)
    • Less pouring medium = more color mixing
  • It gets messy, so make sure you have a catch pan AND some cardboard, newspaper, drop cloth, etc. underneath, and don’t forget your gloves!
  • Paint your item with a light coat of one your paint colors first, just in case your pours and drips don’t end up covering every little inch of it.
  • You can pour one paint color at a time (like I did), or pour all the medium-stirred-paints into one cup and use what’s called the “dirty pour” method, pouring them all at once from the same cup.
  • Take a stir stick (or your finger) and scrape off some of the excess paint as it drips off the bottom edge of your item while drying.
  • Use painter’s pyramids to hold up your item as it dries so it doesn’t stick to the catch pan.
  • Use up the rest of your excess dirty pour or save it for later for other projects!
    • This would be great for painted rocks, ornaments, coasters, or other fun craft ideas!

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

How to Turn a Note or Drawing into Framed Art! | Where The Smiles Have Been #handwriting #kidsart #paintpouring #reversecanvas #HTV #Silhouette #Cricut

 

Yield: One Paint Pouring Project

How to Paint Pour: Tips for the First-Timer

Paint Pouring Tips for the First-Timer: Reverse Canvas Frame Experiment | Where The Smiles Have Been #paintpouring #tips #DIY #reversecanvas

Here are some paint pouring tips that are great for first-timers to know before jumping into their first paint pour project! It’s a whole lotta messy, beautiful fun that you cannot mess up!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Crafting Time 5 minutes
Drying Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 10 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $20

Materials

Instructions

  1. Prep work area for the upcoming messy fun.
  2. Have reverse canvas frame (or other item) painted with a light coat of one of the colors you'll be pouring.
  3. Pour each color of paint into its own container.
  4. Pour pouring medium into each container and mix with paint until fully combined.
  5. One by one, randomly pour each color of paint onto your item.
  6. Carefully pick up your item and give it little shakes and shimmies until you're happy with the coverage. (Steps 5 and 6 can be repeated as desired.)
  7. Set item down onto painter's pyramids and allow item to dry.
  8. Seal item if desired.

Notes

The longest part of a paint pouring project is letting the paint dry!

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

Share this idea on Pinterest!

Please leave a comment below or share on Pinterest!


 

 

If You Enjoyed This…

Make sure you check out my Project Gallery for lots of other crafty creations, tips, and freebies, like these!

Pretty Foaming Soap Dispensers with Etched Glass Vinyl + FREE Silhouette & SVG Cut Files! | WhereTheSmilesHaveBeen.com #Silhouette #Cricut #soapdispenser #freecutfile

 

Thinking of buying a WorkBox 3.0 to store all of your craft supplies? Here's what you need to know before adding one to your craft room! My WorkBox 3.0 Review: The Good, The Bad, & The WTF?! | Where The Smiles Have Been

 

The BEST Way to Organize Vinyl Scraps Plus FREE Cut Files! Whether you have a Silhouette, Cricut, Brother, or another die-cutter, this tool can help you get organized AND save you money! Via Where The Smiles Have Been

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Where The Smiles Have Been | Crafts. DIY. Home. Mom Life.

Skip to Instructions