# Applicator Bottles and Pipettes for Fluid Acrylic > Draw, drip and pour thinned paint with control Practical guide to filling and using fine and standard tip applicator bottles and pipettes with diluted paint, ink or gesso on dry and wet paper. Use it for controlled lines, drips, feathering and poured color. - Page: https://ss33.ai/skills/skillstore33/applicator-bottles-pipettes-pouring-96743878598 - Publisher: skillstore33 - Category: [Creative & Media](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01) › [Image & design](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01/image-and-design-nlbt3d) - License: MIT ## Skill SKILL.md: https://ss33.ai/api/v1/ss33/download/skillstore33/applicator-bottles-pipettes-pouring-96743878598 # Applicator bottles and pipettes: lines, pours and washes **Rule:** This skill only adds specialist tips to your answer. Always give your full general answer first, using everything you already know about the question. Then work in the tips below wherever they apply. Do not replace or shorten your general answer because a tip exists. ## Bottle types and care - Fineline applicator bottles come empty, with a standard tip (18-gauge) or a fine tip (20-gauge). - The cap and rod system is nearly airtight, so paint can be stored in the bottle for years. Always recap immediately after use. - Fineline sells replacement caps for High Flow Acrylic bottles, so you can skip transferring the paint. - Standard tip: often usable undiluted. Fine tip: the acrylic must be diluted. ## Filling and testing flow - Test the flow on a paper towel or scrap paper before using a filled bottle. - Adjust viscosity with distilled water. Add it with an eyedropper or pipette to avoid over-diluting. - If the paint is too thin, add more undiluted paint to the bottle. - Line width and quality depend on viscosity and speed of application. ## Lines on dry paper - For defined lines of varied width, fill one fine tip bottle and one standard tip bottle with fluid acrylic and draw on dry paper. ## Feathering and extending lines - Spritz wet lines with a fine mist spray bottle. The effect depends on how dry the line is, how thin the paint is and the mist pattern. - Draw a damp brush down the side of a wet line to pull color out while the line stays intact. This also blends lines into the underlying layers. - Mist the paper lightly first, then draw the line immediately. The line feathers where it meets the droplets. Do not saturate the paper. ## Wet-paper and wash effects - Wet the paper completely, then draw with a fine or standard tip bottle. Dilute the paint only enough to dispense easily. The paint disperses but keeps its linear quality. - For lines that bloom into color, put watery paint in the fine tip bottle and draw quickly across a surface saturated with water or paint. The lines lose most of their linear quality. - With very watery paint, apply little or no pressure to the bottle, or too much paint comes out. - Layering sequence: lines on damp or wet paper, extend with a brush, let dry, then glaze a frame of color. ## Drips - Use watery paint in the fine tip bottle and hold it above the paper. - Dripping onto a wet surface gives free-flowing patterns. Combine with lines drawn through the wet surface. - Dripping onto a dry surface gives a more defined drip pattern. ## Gesso and opaque lines - Pour white gesso into a standard tip bottle and thin with distilled water as needed. - Draw patterns on paper or Yupo coated with black gesso. - Opaque paint or gesso also works for signatures and calligraphy, legible or not. - Once the white is dry, glaze transparent color over all or part of it to change the white to color. - The glaze also tints the black gesso slightly, which helps integrate the pattern into the black layer. ## Finishing details - Add dots, circles and small details with a bottle at the end. For example, Cobalt Teal dots and circles, or white gesso for steam over a cup. ## Pipettes: when and why - Pipettes hold much more paint than eyedroppers or applicator bottles and still give controlled dispensing. Use them to pour, draw lines or drip. - They are good for backgrounds and starting a painting. - To save areas of white paper, use masking fluid or contact paper. - Poured texture on dry paper looks especially good glazed with transparent paint. - For representational work, use pipettes on dry paper to draw the design loosely. - Pipettes can be hard to find. Try chemical supply stores, online sellers and some craft and hobby stores. - Eyedroppers are a slower substitute. They draw up only a little paint, so you refill often. ## Preparing paint for pipettes - Usable media: ink, High Flow Acrylic, diluted watercolor, or diluted fluid acrylic. - The paint must be thin enough to draw up and to flow out easily. - To dilute fluid acrylic, put a small dab in a small container, add water gradually and stir until well mixed. Aim for a middle value. If it is too dark, add more water. ## Pouring with pipettes - Elevate the paper so the paint can flow. Tape it down with a few pieces of masking tape on the back. - Put a paper towel under the bottom edge of the support to catch excess paint. - Dry paper: paint runs down in rivulets. Wet paper: paint spreads, blends and gives soft edges. - Test layout: leave the left side dry, wet the right half top to bottom, then draw the pipette across the top while squeezing. - Multiple colors: while the first pour is still wet, draw a second pipette of color across it. The colors mix to make a third color. - Place the pipette anywhere on the surface to direct paint, or turn the paper and pour from other edges. Three colors give good variety. - Pouring is hard to control in small formats. Pipettes or tipped bottles limit the amount better than pouring from a container. ## Drawing lines with pipettes - Work on dry paper laid flat. Draw random or planned designs with several colors and let them intermingle. - For partial wet areas, wet part of the flat paper and draw from the dry area into the wet. The paint blooms and spreads on contact with the wet area. ## Leftover paint - Store leftover diluted paint in a bottle with an airtight tip for the next pipette session. - Paint straight from the bottle also works for pouring on larger pieces or spraying with a mouth atomizer.