A Double Flip Cup on Valentine's Day! Fluid Art / Acrylic Pouring Tutorial

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Flip cups are the perfect choice for beginners! There's so much to learn - paint consistencies, densities, layering, how the paint moves and stretches. If you are new to fluid art, I highly recommend that you start with this technique. Once you've mastered it, learning other techniques will be much easier.

Here are my Keys to Success for a Flip Cup:

1. The ideal consistency for a flip cup is thick enough to leave a mound on a mound when drizzled off of the stir stick, and your stir stick should stand up on it's own in the cup. If your paints are thicker than this, you won't get the soft blending that this technique is known for and it will be difficult for natural cells to form. Too thin and the paints will blend too much and the cells will lost their shape.
2. Let your paints sit for several hours before using them to reduce the amount of air bubbles when you pour. As a general rule, the thicker the consistency of your paints, the longer it takes for the bubbles to rise through the paint and release. For these thicker consistency paints, I let them sit (covered) for about 24 hours before using them.
3. I used a full base coat on this piece, but it is not always necessary. In this case, I wanted to make sure my two sections of paint had some negative space between them, and using a base coat makes that easier. Also, a base coat helps my other colors float around when I'm tilting, so it gives me more control over the composition. You can flip your cup and then add a flow extender afterwards.
4. When flipping: Grip your cup on the bottom so that one edge is resting on the ridge where your fingers meet your palm, and then wrap your fingers around the cup. Tuck your elbow into your side touching your ribs, take a deep breath and flip. It does not matter if you splatter a little.
5. When dragging: Put one foot behind you for extra leverage and balance, grip the cup firmly, and then tilt and pull in a smooth motion towards you. This takes some practice.
6. White paint has the heaviest density and tends to sink through the other colors if layered in the bottom of the cup. Adding some pearl white increases the likelyhood of lacing and cells. And to increase the chance of more cells, I tend to layer metallics in the middle of the cup so they move through the other colors and create those beautiful natural cells - no silicone necessary!
7. The biggest mistake you can make with this technique is to not have enough paint. This canvas is 18"x 24”, which would normally only require about 15 ounces of paint. But I layered 18 ounces in my cup, and used a full base coat. You want some extra so you have options when it comes to creating your composition.
8. A lot of paint gets tilted off, so if you are like me and do not like to be wasteful, here is a very useful tip: Scrape up your runoff and use it again! I was able to rescue about 8 ounces of paint from my table after I was done tilting, and will strain it and use it as a base coat or flow extender for another pour.

Thanks to my husband Ben who humored me for Valentine's Day and made this painting with me!

Colors Used:
Amsterdam Titanium White + Amsterdam Burnt Sienna (base color)
Amsterdam Titanium White + Amsterdam Pearl White
Amsterdam Van Dyke Brown
Amsterdam Sap Green
Arteza Pearl Pistacchio
Jo Sonja Pale Gold
DecoArt Extreme Sheen Copper
Golden Phthalo Turquoise
Atelier Payne's Grey


My pouring medium is equal parts Floetrol, PVA glue, and gloss varnish.

My paints are mixed 3 parts pouring medium to 1 part paint, and then I add small amounts of distilled water until I reach the desired consistency if necessary.

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