[Whitney]

Hey there! I’m attempting an acrylic resin pour and I have failed miserably!! I was hoping someone could offer some insight to where the process went wrong! (I think I bought too thick of acrylic)

I poured the acrylic in cups (it was from a squeeze tube)
Put spray paint in a separate cup
Mixed my resin
Applied resin to all the different paint mix cups
By the time I went to pour on my canvas It was all too thick and not fluid at all! My guess is I bought the wrong acrylic paint…any suggestions? Thanks so much!!!

Also – side note – is it a must to gesso your wood board canvases before an acrylic resin painting or dirty pour? Thanks so much!

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Whitney,

For clarification, did you use acrylic or an epoxy resin? Was it a two part product? When you say squeeze tube, was it a plunger apparatus with two separate parts on each side?

[Whitney]

Hi Katherine,

I used acrylic paint and mixed it with epoxy resin (total cast after I mixed the 1:1 ratio) and intended to pour it over the canvas (sort of like a dirty pour)

[Aram Friedrich]

Hi Whitney,

What has happened here is what we call exotherm. It is a rapid heat buildup which starts as soon as you mix the totalCAST components. You need to mix for no more than 2-3 mins, add pigments, then pour immediately ( within seconds ) so that it is spread over a flat surface.

If you leave the mixed resin in a small volumetric space ( like a cup etc ) for more than a few minutes, the heat buildup will be sudden as the chemical reaction is magnified in an enclosed space, and it will start gelling and seizing up on you immediately.

totalCAST is a quick-setting resin system designed for clear coatings over existing artwork and although you can use it for pigmented resin art ( if you work quickly ) but is not ideal because of the short pot life ( working time ).

Can I recommend you switch over to MasterCast 1-2-1 next time ( also available from R-O ). This formulation has a far longer working time which more forgiving and is better suited to the adding of paints, pigments and other diluents.

I hope this info is helpful !.

-Aram

[Whitney]

Hi Aram!

Thanks for getting back to me! That is very helpful and now i see why it hardened up so quickly! Thanks for the advice! One more last question – are there certain paints that are better? As far as consistency wise do the paints need to be thinner? Thanks so much!

[Katherine Swift]

This article walks you through the steps you need to create a resin painting: https://www.resinobsession.com/resin-art/epoxy-art/

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