5 Painting Techniques Minus the Brush

The absence of a paintbrush should not stop you from expressing your creativity on a canvas. Although most of the paintings we see are made with a paint brush, not all artworks need to have it. Your imagination and hands are really all you need!

​In this article, we'll share with you 5 amazing painting techniques that do not require a paintbrush. We hope you can get to try these fun and experimental painting activities over the weekend! Ready? Let's get started!

Dripping

​Drip painting is a type of abstract art in which paint is allowed to freely drip when poured onto a canvas. It is believed that this technique was started in the first half of the 20th century by artists such as Max Ernst in his work entitled "Young Man Intrigued by the Flight of a Non-Euclidean Fly".

​Drip painting is also very much associated with the experimental workshop by Jackson "Jack the Dripper" Pollock in February 1956. 

History also traces the roots of drip painting to Japanese Zen Buddhist painters way back during the 15th century who exprimented with splashed ink on canvases.  

Check out these drip painting examples for some inspiration!

​For a fun drip painting session at home, check out this video as guidance. 

Pouring

Much like dripping, pouring is another non-brush technique where gravity moves paint across a canvas. Experts in this technique say that while pouring is a relatively simple in principle, it is not always easy especially if you're not familiar with the nature and quality of the type of paint you are using. 

When pouring acrylic paint (which we assume you will use as it is the most common type of paint to use), make sure you're knowledgeable about its two categories: coated pours and wash pours. 

What's the difference between the two?

Coated pours resemble oil paints. It has glossy binders making it reflect light and intensify colors. Little to no water is added in coated pours, hence the resulting look of poured paint is layered, fluid and with a high-gloss finish. 

So for coated pours, keep in mind these tips:

• ​Use a pouring medium and keep the addition of water to a minimum
• Before pouring paint, apply a stain sealer first
• Use a leveling device to be sure that the pour will remain leveled while drying

​Wash pours have the same properties as watercolor. Shades are often muted because of the heavy amounts of water added to dilute acrylic. For that reason, here are some tips you can follow when working with wash pours: 

• Do not use any mediums
• When diluting paint with water, always follow a 1:1 ratio
• If you want to change the absorbency of your canvas, consider adding acrylic paste or gel before pouring

​And for some poured paint inspiration, check out these mesmerizing installations:

Scraping

Scraping as well as pulling paint has long been associated with Dutch Expressionist, Willem de Kooning who achieves this effect with the use of a palette knife. The technique is also associated with German painter, Gerhard Richter, who uses a squeegee instead. If you want to create magnificent textures, illusions of density and movement on your canvas, scraping might be just the technique you need to try out. 

But more than a palette knife and a squeegee, scraping paint as a technique can also be done using a sponge or even your fingernail if you want to be eccentric about it. 

Check out these inspiring works of scraped paint:

Finger Painting

Finger painting is a technique where the full creative control lies in your fingers. We've covered finger painting as a topic here on our blog not a long time ago and we hope you can check it out! Teacher Aubrey even demonstrated it on Umagang Kay Ganda last year! (Didn't watch it? Click her live demo if you haven't!)

But of course, we've got you these finger painting artworks out for inspiration. And trust us, the dog painting in the middle was really made with just the artist's fingers! Amazing, isn't it? 

Body painting

Did you know that you can paint whole canvases with more than just your fingers? Body painting might be a bit extreme, but wouldn't it be interesting to see how you can create art using your arms, your legs or even your back if you're willing to give it a try? Let's reserve body painting for our future art explorations, but for now, you have tons of paintbrush-less art techniques you can give a go this weekend!

Want to learn more painting techniques?

Here at Art Smart, we'll make sure you are equipped with all the basic and advanced painting techniques you'll need to flourish as a young artist. Besides painting, we'll teach you how to draw, shade, do body proportions correctly, mix colors, do tile mosaics, paper crafts and so much more!

​Check out our 2017 schedule of art classes and reserve your slot by contact us at 0915-5948191, 0917-8784766 or (02)7886766.

Photo source: 
www.swarez.co.uk
www.etsy.com
www.stephaniecorfee.com
www.housingaforest.com
www.artpourings.blogspot.com
www.robinurton.com
www.pinterest.com
www.beacharts.ca
www.twistedsifter.com