Acrylic Swirl Painting Techniques

Are you ready to take your acrylic painting to the next level? Look no further than the world of acrylic swirl painting! This popular painting style is both fun and easy and offers endless opportunities for creativity. Let’s explore 5 different acrylic swirl painting techniques step by step that will help you create stunning abstract designs on canvas. So grab your paint brushes and let's get swirling!

Overview:

• Before you start 
• 5 Acrylic swirl painting techniques
• Muli-colour swirl technique 
• Controlled swirl technique 
• Pouring swirl technique 
• Palette knife technique
• Fork swirl technique 

Before you start

Before you start creating your next acrylic swirl masterpiece, it's important to gather the necessary art supplies. Here's a list of basic supplies to get you started:

• Acrylic paint brushes, a palette knife for applying the paint
• A paint palette to mix colours
• A primed canvas, art board, or painting paper as your painting surface
• Acrylic mediums to create a textured effect
• An easel to hold your canvas in place while you paint
• Art accessories (apron, rags, paper towel)

Having these supplies on hand will help you create stunning acrylic swirl paintings with ease. So, grab your supplies and let's start painting!

5 acrylic swirl painting techniques

1. Multi-colour swirl technique

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The multi-colour swirl technique involves mixing several colours together to create a beautiful and vibrant effect. This technique is perfect for creating abstract pieces with an added burst of colour to your painting. You can explore different colours and swirl techniques to create different aesthetics with the technique!

How to do it:

1. To start, choose up to 4  acrylic colours. You may decide to apply a base colour to your canvas, if so, wait for that to dry before beginning the swirl painting. 
2. Blob thick amounts of paint (in different colours) onto random spots on your art page.
3. Using a circular motion or swipe technique, blend the colours together to create a beautiful, multi-coloured swirl paint with brush.
4. Pick up your paint brush after each swirl and begin another swirl paint on canvas. 
5. Make sure to not over blend the colour, so you can still see the contrast between paint. 
6. Repeat this process until you achieve the desired effect and have an equal layer of paint. 

2. Controlled swirls technique

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Swirl painting with a more controlled technique is a fun and creative way to make abstract designs on canvas or other chosen surfaces. With the option to explore two contrasting colours or many monochrome colours, the possibilities are endless!

How to do it: 

1. Map out your swirls with a coloured pencil, tracing out swirls around your page or canvas. 
2. Once your page is all mapped with thick swirly lines, begin painting with your chosen acrylic colours, one by one to achieve the swirling paint technique. We recommend using a thin paint brush and keeping a steady hand for this one.
3. Follow the single traced line with one acrylic colour, then use a different colour for the adjacent line. Just be extra careful to avoid blending the colours together. 
4. Fill in all the lines with your chosen paint colours and watch your swirly masterpiece form. 

3. Pouring technique

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The pouring technique is a popular acrylic paint technique that creates a stunning, fluid effect. It involves pouring acrylic paint onto the canvas and allowing it to flow and blend together to create a unique and beautiful pattern. This technique requires a bit of practice and patience, but the result is a stunning and one-of-a-kind piece of art.

How to do it:

1. Begin by pouring your desired colours into the same cup, one after the other. 
2. Add a pouring medium and water for a thinner consistency and more fluid art. 
3. Use a paddle pop stick to very lightly swirl the paints together to create an abstract design in the cup.
4. Pour the paint onto your painting surface, all over the canvas. 
5. Pick up your canvas and tilt it to spread the paint evenly and cover the whole canvas. 
6. Do not blend the paint, simply allow the colours to flow and mix naturally.

4. Palette knife technique

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The palette knife technique involves using a palette knife to apply and blend acrylic paint on the canvas, creating a textured and layered effect. The palette knife works perfectly for spreading the colours around and creating unique textures. And, not only does this technique create a captivating art piece, but also helps you to explore how multiple paint colours contrast each other, without blending them together. 

How to do it: 

1. Apply a base colour to your canvas and let it dry. 
2. Pick a selection of coloured acrylic paints for this technique.
3. Use a palette knife to pick up a decent amount of paint and blob it onto your art surface. Continue this with all the acrylic colours. Just make sure you’re adding thick layers of paint to properly achieve the textured effect. 
4. Drag the palette knife across the canvas in a circular motion, blending the colours together to create a stunning textured effect. 

5. Fork swirl technique

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Utilising things lying around the house can help you create one-of-a-kind masterpieces! Using the fork swirl technique will create a unique design that is different every single time. You can experiment with different colours to achieve different effects and explore different techniques and methods to develop different style outcomes. 

How to do it: 

1. To begin, pour different colours of acrylic paint into separate cups. Add some acrylic medium and water to the paint for a lighter consistency. 
2. Using the paint cups, pour each colour in a vertical line down the page. Make sure to put the contrasting colours next to each other.
3. Once the whole canvas is covered in paint, grab your fork and use it to create swirls and abstract designs. 
4. You can use the fork to go horizontally and vertically across the canvas to create new and exciting swirl designs.

Explore acrylic pouring techniques with Art to Art 

Now that you have learned these 5 acrylic swirl painting techniques, you have the perfect opportunity to explore and unleash your creativity. You can find all the necessary art supplies at Art to Art, like art mediums and acrylic paint sets. Orders over $100 online, receive free shipping with same-day dispatch available for orders placed before 11 am. 

More inspo & helpful resources

• Acrylic Painting Ideas
• Acrylic Painting Techniques
• Acrylic Paint Pouring Ideas