marbled acrylic painting

One of my most popular posts of all time is my spray paint marbling tutorial back from 2014. I've received all kinds of questions about this process and recently I received an inquiry about how to marbleize a canvas. I am sure there are a variety of different ways to create marbleized wall art - technically you can frame marbled paper but I thought it would be fun today to share a long time painting trick of mine that creates the look of marbling.

After spending over half of my life painting, I've got a lot of tricks and short cuts that I have discovered through experimentation. Today's trick is something I stumbled upon years ago. Since I typically paint on large surfaces, in lots of layers, I am always looking for ways to quickly fill a surface with color and texture. One day I discovered that when you smash a wet surface (like canvas or wood) into wet paint you can create a fast beautiful and blended abstract surface filled with color that has a marbled look to it!

I start by laying down plastic or even a drop cloth on the floor. Next, I squirt, drop, splatter and spill paint onto the plastic. Then I grab a paint brush and move the paint around- just a little bit.

Then I grab a spray bottle filled with water and I "spritz" the paint, enough to get things a little watery.

Next I press my surface (in this case I used a light weight wood panel) into the paint.

I pull my wood panel away to reveal a colorful, blended surface. Depending on the result I may press my panel back into the paint or add more paint and water to the plastic to achieve a more marbled look.

TIP- For a little more of the marbled effect, scrunch up the plastic letting the paint run and mix together.

The final results will NEVER look exactly like marbled paper but I actually like it better! There is something so yummy about layers of thick juicy color, blended and dripping together.