There are so many things that I now know, that would have helped me out so much when I was younger!! Especially about how to decorate on a budget. Here is a really cool way to make DIY abstract art that is both beautiful and inexpensive. Not to mention how fun it is to make.
Recently, I did a post on alcohol ink projects. This process is very similar to using alcohol inks, but with acrylic paint and a pouring medium. There are a lot of ways to pour paint, but this is my favourite way, because it mimics the really amazing results that you can get with alcohol ink. It’s a quick and easy way to make some stunning art for your home.
Here are the supplies you will need
Supplies for your DIY abstract art project
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Canvas
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Floetrol
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Acrylic Paint
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Squeeze Bottles
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Butane Torch
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Blow Dryer with diffuser
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Scale
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Thumbtacks
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Torpedo Level
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Painter’s tape
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Plastic drop sheet
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Disposable Latex Gloves
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Spreader
Preparing your space
Make sure you take the time to prepare your workspace. You do not want to end up with paint all over your kitchen table or living room floor. I found it easier to work on a table but you could also do this on the floor if you like. First lay down a plastic drop sheet, because the paint can get a bit messy and it doesn’t dry quickly because of the additive. You can get cheap plastic tarps from the dollar store. Also gather up all of your supplies because once you get started you won’t want to stop part way through to run and get supplies (do I sound like maybe I speak from experience?) So take a few minutes and get your space prepared and your products ready.
Mixing your Paints
Before you start you are going to need to choose your colours and mix up your paints. You will want your paints to be fairly consistent. So that they mix evenly. For this project I used a little kitchen scale and the following ratio:
80 grams of floetrol
40 grams of paint
30 grams of water
150 grams total
Make sure your squeeze bottles will accommodate that much, or cut the recipe in half You are going to need more of the white paint.
Preparing your canvas
I just used a Walmart canvas for this painting in 11″ x 14″ size. I would suggest starting with a smaller one until you get a feel for the paint process. You don’t need to do anything to treat the canvas. But flip it over and tape off the back edge, so that it doesn’t get covered in paint. Also stick a pushpin into each corner so that the canvas is not sitting directly on your work surface. Also take a small level and make sure that the canvas isn’t too far out of level. If your pushpins are all pushed in all the way, it will probably be level enough. But you can always pop a small level on it to check.
Time to paint
If you want to see this on video click here to see my youtube video of this
Before you start slapping paint onto the canvas, get all of your supplies lined up and ready to go. I would suggest wearing gloves for this. Don’t go for the heavy rubber type this type
Next add a line of each of the colours that you have chosen to use:
And a splash of silver metallic for good measure.
Then add another line of the white paint to either side of the colours you have just added. Then used your blowdryer with a diffuser attached, to blow the white paint over the lines of colour. 
And then blow out the colour in the direction that you want your design to go. This isn’t hard, just let the paint flow and blow it in the directions that your want it to go.
Keep blowing the paint until you are satisfied with the way it is looking.
Blow with your breath
You can further expand on the design by blowing it using just your breath., or with a straw to achieve the finished product that you want. I added in a bit more colour and scraped away a small section to get it to where I wanted it to be. Don’t overwork it too much, or you will end up with a muddled mess. 
Torch
The reason for using a torch is two-fold. First it will get rid of any bubbles in the paint. You don’t want bubbles. Bubbles are bad :(. It also brings out the cells in the paint. You want some cells. Cells are good 🙂
Clean-up
Once your canvas has dried overnight. Remove the tape and pushpins from the back and get ready to hang that puppy on the wall. Beware that the puddles of paint that ran off the edge of your canvas may not be dry, so be careful when you are cleaning up.
Tips
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You don’t need to use expensive paint. You can use craft paints for this and they work well, I bought these ones at Walmart
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Don’t touch the canvas until it’s dry, It will need to dry overnight because of the floetrol
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A more powerful blow-dryer will move the paint around more
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Don’t forget to tie up your hair if you are blowing by mouth. I ended up with paint in my hair! Whoops!
And here is what the finished art work looks like
After I completed the one above. I did a second one, using the same colours, but replacing the silver paint with gold. Here is what the second painting came out like. I love the gold.
Here is a close-up detail of the second project. You can see the cells in this photo, if you look at the gold area to the left.
And here they are together. I think they go great together They have mostly the same colours, but with a bit of individual flair. I wanted some abstract art for this space, and now I don’t have to go out and spend my time and money hunting for just the right piece. The beauty of this is that you can choose whatever colours you want and build your abstract art around your decor.
So there you have it. A really easy and very fun way to create some really beautiful DIY abstract art for your home. Why don’t you go and make some today?
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