# Pour, Mop, Glaze: Layered Acrylic on Paper and Yupo

> Pour thin color, then glaze and scrape to build an abstract

Walks through preparing paper or Yupo, masking, pouring several diluted colors on an elevated surface, mopping excess, then glazing, scraping and removing masks. Use it as a repeatable workflow for fluid abstract paintings.

- Page: https://ss33.ai/skills/skillstore33/pour-and-glaze-on-paper-and-yupo-48538607877
- 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/pour-and-glaze-on-paper-and-yupo-48538607877

# Pour and glaze on paper and Yupo

**How to use this skill:** It adds specialist tips to your answer. It does not replace your answer. Always give your full general answer to the user's question from your own knowledge, and work in the tips below where they apply. Do not drop or shorten general advice because a tip covers part of the topic.

## Choosing watercolor paper
- Use artists' grade: 100 percent cotton, acid free. Student-grade paper makes some techniques difficult.
- Weights: 140-lb. (300 gsm) or 300-lb. (640 gsm). Finishes: hot, cold, rough.
- A common choice is 140-lb. (300 gsm) cold press. Its semirough surface accepts water and pigment well and stands up to many techniques.
- Brands differ in surface texture and absorbency. Examples: Strathmore Aquarius, Fabriano Artistico Soft Press, Arches Cold Press.

## Yupo properties
- Yupo is 100 percent synthetic polypropylene. It is nonabsorbent, waterproof and stays flat however wet it gets.
- Dry watercolor washes lift with a wet paper towel.
- Dry acrylic can be removed with alcohol, but it often stains the paper.
- On uncoated Yupo, fluid acrylic stays floating on the surface.

## Heat warning for Yupo
- Never dry Yupo with a hot hair dryer. Never leave it in direct sun. Never leave it, or finished paintings on it, in a hot car.
- Heat makes it buckle and warp, and it cannot be flattened again.

## Coating Yupo with gesso
- Gesso (white or black) adds tooth and some absorbency, so you control the paint better. Good-quality black gesso gives a deep, velvety surface.
- Apply with a damp soft bristle brush over the entire surface. Use a dedicated old brush, especially for large sheets.
- Do not add water to the gesso. It becomes too thin to cover completely.
- While the gesso is still wet, roll it with a small foam roller. The roller must be completely dry.
- Keep rolling until most bubbles are gone. This removes brush strokes and leaves a smooth, even surface.
- Coat several sheets in one session. A roller washed in water must dry before it can be used again.

## Resist Pen line setup
- The Resist Pen was formerly the Masquepen. A dip pen and masking fluid is an acceptable substitute for any Resist Pen step.
- Materials: acrylic glazing liquid, fine mist spray bottle, fluid acrylics, white gesso, paintbrush, pipettes or eyedroppers, Resist Pen, rubber cement pick-up, watercolor paper.
- Draw the design in pencil on the paper, then apply masking fluid over it. Let the mask dry completely.

## Mixing pour paint
- Dilute fluid acrylic with water to a watery consistency. Use separate containers for each color, all mixed before you start pouring.
- Three colors suit a small sample. The demo used Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Anthraquinone Blue and Permanent Violet Dark.

## Pouring
1. Elevate the painting support and paper so the paint flows downhill.
2. Mist lightly with the fine mist spray bottle. Too much water makes colors blend and diffuse, and the paint loses its linear quality.
3. Pour the lightest color first. Load a pipette and pour across the top so it flows to the bottom. Put a paper towel at the bottom edge to catch overflow.
4. Masked lines may block the flow. Nudge the paint down with the pipette tip, or pour more directly on lower areas.
5. Pour the second color (Anthraquinone Blue) and the third (Permanent Violet Dark) the same way.
6. Do not cover all the white. The pour pattern shows best where color contrasts with white paper, so budget the coverage of each color.
7. If later pours bury the lightest color, reapply it. Place each new color carefully so it does not blend with the others.
8. Take the piece off the elevated surface and run a paper towel along the bottom edge to absorb pooled paint. This speeds drying and stops the back of the paper sticking to the surface.

## Drying
- Dry without heat, because masking fluid is on the paper.
- The piece must be bone dry before glazing so the glazes reach maximum brilliance.

## Transparent glazing
- Poured colors mingle into duller secondary colors. Glaze thin layers of the original colors over those areas.
- Glaze in order: lightest color first (Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold), then Permanent Violet Dark and Anthraquinone Blue.
- Use fresh paint, watered down as needed. Leftover pour paint gives no control over value and is often too light to be effective.
- Finish with a final transparent glaze. Put the lightest and darkest colors at the focal point, and place colors to lead the eye around the painting.

## Masking fluid timing
- Leave the masking fluid on until the whole surface is painted. The lines show through the poured layers and guide color placement.
- If you remove the mask early, you must paint around the exposed white lines. You can tint the lines later, but you can never recover the paper's white once it is covered.

## Translucent and opaque passages
- The poured lines make a busy background. Translucent or opaque areas contrast well with the vibrant transparent layers.
- Mix translucent paint in this order: white gesso first (sets the value), then glazing liquid (sets the translucency). Add it to the color, for example Anthraquinone Blue or Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold.
- Immediately after painting an area, scrape through the wet paint with the brush end or a palette knife. This lets the underpainting show through and integrates the layers.
- For the violet, mix white gesso with Permanent Violet Dark, then add glazing liquid.
- Keep the layer translucent enough to contrast with the transparent areas but thin enough that the texture below shows. You can make it more opaque with another layer later.
- Add layers as desired, then let the painting dry.

## Removing the mask and finishing lines
- Remove masked lines from fully dry paper with a rubber cement pick-up.
- To add white lines around shapes painted after the mask is off, trace them with white gesso from a standard tip applicator bottle. Once dry, they match the original saved lines.
- To tint the white lines, glaze over them with a fine brush and diluted paint (the demo used Cobalt Teal). You can tint all of a line, part of it, or use several colors.
- Add final details and let the painting dry. For more contrast, make the translucent areas more opaque.