How to Make Amazing Ocean Art with Acrylic Pour Painting

This is potentially the EASIEST ocean art project ever. And arguably the fastest. And quite possibly the most fun.

Fluid acrylic pour painting gives you almost instant reward for your efforts. Just pour on the colors, tilt your canvas, and then watch in amazement as all of those ocean-y hues swirl and turn into a beautiful sea wave.

If you’re looking for a creative afternoon or weekend activity that requires less than an hour to finish, acrylic pouring gets 5 stars. And, in addition to the thrill and stress-relieving fun of pouring paint, you’ll end up with original coastal decor that would make just about any mermaid swoon.

Not an artist? No worries. This is the perfect “I’m not an artist” project. If you can stir and pour, you can create this beach wall art.

Scroll below to find the acrylic pouring recipe for this easy to make canvas ocean painting, along with step by step instructions and a video of the pouring process.

Choose your favorite coastal and sea-inspired colors and have fun!

If you enjoy this project, you might also like this other acrylic pouring project where a blow dryer is used to create amazing effects OR this project that shows creative ideas to try with acrylic pour paintings that don’t turn out as planned.

gather these supplies for your fluid acrylic ocean painting

• Floetrol (available in the paint section at almost any large home improvement store)
• Fluid acrylic paint (Golden fluid acrylics are used in the examples on this page)
• Dawn liquid dish soap
• A spray bottle containing Isopropyl Alcohol (70% alcohol or higher)
• Sturdy canvas made for acrylic pour painting, birch wood panel or MDF board to use as a base/surface
• Cups for mixing
• Measuring cup marked in ounces or milliliters OR kitchen measuring cups & spoons
• Sheet of paper (and optional dowel to create a handle)

Step 1: set up your work space

cover

Cover your work area with something waterproof and protective. This could be a plastic drop cloth, old shower curtain, vinyl tarp, etc. I used the slick, non-stick, removable backing paper from a couple of large, self-adhesive vinyl posters. (Local print shops throw this stuff away after installing adhesive vinyl graphics and decals on walls. If you ask, some places will save it for you and give it to you free of charge. It’s a great alternative to plastic, and makes a fabulous non-stick work mat.)

elevate

Elevate your canvas or wood panel. You can place a small container, box or other object to lift it off your non-stick work surface. This will keep the edges free of paint build-up as the fluid paint drips off your canvas or board during the drying process.

level

Make sure that your surface is level. Position the level horizontally to check that your surface is level from side to side, as well as level from top edge to bottom edge. If your canvas or board is slanted or tilted, the paint will end up pooling and pouring off the lower edge.

The 9 x 12 panel above is balanced on top of a plastic cup, set inside a painted birch wood panel (flipped over to the backside so that it becomes a “tray”). This tray will catch most of the spill over paint, and can then become another piece of fluid modern art. The lavender tape protects the edges from paint drips and can be peeled off after the paint dries for a clean framed edge.

Can you do this project without placing a wood panel underneath? Of course. The panel is simply a creative way to capture the fluid paint run-off and avoid waste.

create a dragging tool

Create a dragging tool by taping a sheet of paper to a dowel (or any other long item you have on hand). You will use this paper in the process of creating your ocean art.

Step 2: mix your fluid acrylic pouring recipe

first combine fluid acrylics + pouring medium

What’s in the cups?

Each cup contains a 10 to 1 ratio of Floetrol to fluid acrylic–so 10 parts Floetrol to 1 part fluid acrylic paint. I used Golden fluid acrylics Prussian Blue, Turquoise (Phthalo), Ultramarine, Teal and Titanium White.

Add the Floetrol to the cups first. Then add the fluid acrylic color and stir.

NOTE: Floetrol works better than Liquitex Pouring Medium for creating lacy, bubbly patterns–plus, you get way more product at less than half the price.

next add a secret ingredient

If you’ve seen fluid acrylic pouring tutorials before, you know that many artists add a few drops of silicone to their paint mixtures to get those dramatic cell effects. The drawback of silicone is that it leaves a dull, greasy residue on your finished art. And that residue is difficult to remove.

Dish soap is a clever alternative. It helps to break apart the bonds of the fluid acrylic color to produce the bubbly, lacy, foamy look of sea and surf—without leaving any yucky film on your painting.

So—-to get those nice special effects in your ocean art—-add a couple of drops of dish soap to each cup and stir.

For an 8 x 10 or 9 x 12 size board or canvas, the amounts below will give you adequate coverage without waste–

• 1.5 ounces of Floetrol (approx 45 mL). If you are using a kitchen measuring set, about 1/4 cup
• 4 mL OR about 1 tsp fluid acrylic color ( I used Golden fluid acrylics** Prussian Blue, Turquoise (Phthalo), Ultramarine, Teal, Titanium White)
• 2 drops Dawn dish liquid

**Golden fluid acrylics are worth every bit that you pay for them. They are highly pigmented, and that concentrated color, when combined with the Floetrol medium, will create some vivid acrylic pour paintings.

step 3: pour your fluid acrylic ocean painting

Position your cups of color near your board or canvas, along with a spray bottle containing at least 70% alcohol. You will use the alcohol to spray on your fluid painting near the end to break apart the colors even more for the look of sea foam.

Also position your paper dragging tool close by.

You are now ready to pour!

Watch the video below to see the complete pouring process–

Begin pouring your fluid acrylic paint on your canvas or board as soon as possible after mixing. The paint will begin to thicken the longer you leave it in the cups, uncovered and exposed to the air. Thicker paint will not spread or swirl together as easily.

When finished, you should have ocean art that looks like foamy beach surf or a swirling wave.

You can set your beautiful ocean painting aside (elevated on a level surface). Then use any leftover paint in the cups along with the run off from your first painting to create another work of art inside the birch panel tray.

Step 4: dry your fluid ocean painting

Allow 24 to 48 hours for your fluid acrylic ocean painting to dry. To keep dust from falling onto the wet paint during drying, you can cover it with a clean box or foam board (elevate your cover so that it does not touch or damage the painted surface).

A closeup of some of the cells and bubbly sea foam effects created by the interaction of the dish soap, alcohol, and Floetrol.

Below is another fluid acrylic pouring example: a mini-ocean painting on a tiny 4 x 6 inch canvas using teal, prussian blue, turquoise (phthalo), and titanium white.

Experiment with different colors and create a whole gallery of beautiful beach decor and ocean paintings!

other acrylic pouring projects to try

If you like this project, you might also like this other acrylic pouring tutorial showing how to create fun effects with a blow dryer or this post showing creative things to do with your acrylic pour paintings.

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