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What is the Dutch Pour Technique

The Dutch Pour technique is probably one of my favorite fluid art techniques but also one of the hardest ones to master. Artists like Rinske Douna, Olga Soby, Erica Hughes, Kanella Ciraco, and Molly from Molly's Artistry are some of the artists that have mastered the art of creating beautiful Dutch pours!

So what is the Dutch Pour Technique?

It is a fluid art technique in which you use a blow dryer to move the paint around your canvas to create flower-like patterns with colorful ribbons, beautiful lacing, and cells. Some artists also blow through a straw or move the paint around by blowing with their mouth. 

How to do a Dutch Pour for Beginners

To learn how to do a Dutch pour right, you have to learn from the best... Rinske Douna!

If I am not mistaken, she is the original creator of this technique, so it makes perfect sense to learn from her.

By carefully observing all her moves, and taking into account all her tips and recommendations, I have been able to achieve some pretty successful Dutch pours. So here is what I have learned!

TIPS

  • Watch her videos and practice, practice, practice! The only way to get this technique right is to practice, so just go for it!
  • Use high quality acrylic paints like Amsterdam, and Winsor & Newton. These highly pigmented paints is what Rinske Douna uses. If you are looking for a slightly cheaper paint brand that could also work, give Liquitex a try. Don't use craft paints... the colors will look dull, muddy, and possibly even crack when dry!


  • Only use paint and water for your paint mixtures! Yes, there are artists out there using other recipes, but why overcomplicate it? The more ingredients you add to the mix, the harder it is going to be to pinpoint what is causing your pours to fail, so keep it simple! Also, the colors will stay more vibrant when you don't use a pouring medium or Floetrol. Rinske Douna only uses just high quality acrylic paints and water. That's it!
  • The consistency of your paint mixtures should be really thin... not as runny as water, but also not as thick as your normal paint mixtures meant to be used for other acrylic pours.
  • To test the consistency of your paint mixture, let a drop of paint mixture fall onto the surface of the paint mixture inside your mixing cup. Count how many seconds it takes for the drop of paint to integrate with the rest of the paint mixture in the cup. For a Dutch pour, the drop of paint should not create a dimple on the surface of the paint and should integrate immediately with the rest of the paint mixture inside the cup. If this sounds a little confusing, check out this video to see an example of how I test the consistency of my paint.
  • Choose 1 vibrant color, 1 complementary color, 1 contrasting color, and 1 metallic color. This is Rinske formula for vibrant Dutch pour paintings.

Steps to Create a Dutch Pour Painting

  1. Mix the base paint color and your other colors with water until you get the consistency previously mentioned. Expect to mix your paints with around 30%-50% water.
  2. Cover your entire canvas with your base color. This helps the other paints to move around.
  3. Layer your other colors in a puddle right on top of the base color on the canvas. 
  4. Pour more of your base color around the layered puddle of colors. 
  5. Use a hair dryer on the LOW setting to quickly blow the base color over the puddle of colors.
  6. Then blow back in the opposite direction to reveal the colors hidden underneath the base color.
  7. Use your mouth or blow through a straw to move the paint in the areas where you are not satisfied with the outcome or where you want to create more details. TIP: Leave a good amount of negative space.

Start Practicing

Now you have the SECRETS, best tips, and steps you need to start creating your own painting using the Dutch pour technique!

Here are 5 Dutch Pour Painting Ideas with videos to get you started!

And remember, if it doesn't work out quite right the first time... 

DON'T GIVE UP!

This is one of the hardest fluid art techniques because it not only requires that you use the right paint consistency but it also requires that you learn how to manipulate the blow dryer correctly.

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!

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  1. I am having trouble making large cells. Reading all of the info on how to mix your colors to get cells is overwhelming!
    I am (very) new at this and I am getting rather frustrated!
    If you want cells all over, do you mix your recipe in all the colors you are using??
    Thanks!
    PS..I love your videos!

    1. Easiest way to make cells is by using a few drops of silicone in your paint mixtures. You can put silicone in all your paint mixtures or just a few. You will get different results depending on which paint mixtures you use the silicone in.

  2. I started about 6 years ago using acrylic paints as I had taken a course in Zentangle learning to do many designs. Where I live there are a lots of rocks in the front and back yard, so I started painting the rocks and putting designs etc. on them. Then I gradutated to doing rock pours, and then onto canvas pours.I have done several mostly on 8×10 canvases using different ways to pour, but have never tried to use to use a hair dryer which I have recently purcased. along with a heat gun. Did not want to deal with propane. My big problem is where I live as now probably many other places it is very hot out and I have done the majority out side. and the some at the kitchen counter
    Would like to set up a table in the garage but it is way too hot here! as it usually is this time of the year. I have now learned at lot of things I could have been doing wrong on my pours, but I thought most turned out pretty good. I also decided to up them a notch and add a small piece or two of art work pasted in using the same colors so they are kinda lost in the colorful pour.
    I found your information very helpful,so that means I have to learn how to properly use a hairdryer and quickly a heat gun! I really can not afford the paints that you recommend, But I do use differnt kinds, one being my favorite has been Folk Art. But I always used floetrol and sometimes silicone. Was not aware that I could use water which would probably make it flow a lot easier. Thanks Ellen
    I

    1. Thank you Ellen for your message. Glad this post was helpful. I haven’t done many rock pours but it looks like fun. Dutch pours are kind of hard for beginners but with practice, I am sure you will get it. I do my paintings in my kitchen because I have no where else to paint. Hope you find a good spot to paint.

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