Marbled Pumpkin with Acrylic Paint Pouring

This project was inspired by a YouTube comment on a paint pouring video. Can I do this technique on a pot or a lampshade are the two that come to mind. Honestly I’m not sure and in this post I’ll share my thoughts as well as how I ended up with a marble-y pumpkin for my table!

First off, pour medium is FUN. I did a video a while back for a pencil box (that I’m super proud of) here if you want more “101” coverage of this topic. Basically, pour medium helps those paints get more blendy and cool marble and funky looking effects. It’s available in several brands and from many art stores. I am loving the Dina Wakley medium and cell creator. Looking for some? Here’s an affiliate link to Scrapbook.com – often they have it on sale! 

The basic rules are that you want some contrast in colors, you want something light & dark not just “close together” tones, and you want to go easy on trying to meddle. Let it do its thing!

For this project I had white, gold, green, and a custom made orange that went kind of more coral… but I still dig! I poured the paint bit by bit, let it run… and this is what I got. Now the top was pretty ugly – but that is OK! Why? Because my plan had been to make this into a table decor with ‘topper’ of artificial greens & flowers!

If you’d like to see my creative process for this project you can check out my YouTube video here. Essentially I just kept hot glue going and adding bits and pieces until I was happy with the end results.

Verdict? Oh YES, you can do paint pour on a surface such as this pumpkin. The key is to use smaller amounts of paint at a time – don’t go too crazy dumping at first. Also, use a heat tool to partially dry so that the paint doesn’t just keep running and running. This helped me get some of the cool effects towards the top that you see because it paused paint that might have otherwise just kept running down. I didn’t use the heat tool for long – just a few short sessions maybe 3-4 minutes at the very most total.

I am totally in LOVE with this pumpkin, and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! If you have any questions or there is anything else you’d like to see me try with pour mediums – well do tell! I’m always happy to share my ideas and to try new things as well.

4 thoughts on “Marbled Pumpkin with Acrylic Paint Pouring”

  1. This is so stunning May! At my LSS last week, the sales person was making some gorgeous canvases also using the Dina wackily medium – they were so lovely though that other customers had bought up all the bottles!!! Do you think it would work on a small scale on a card background?

  2. This is so eye-catching! I love that it shows the softer tones of autumn–it doesn’t all have to be harsh or dark. Lovely work!

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