I tried to do...

...one of those acrylic flow paintings. But I wasn't in the mood to start until late afternoon.

I rigged up a tray with pieces of wood across, to hold the canvas. I had realised I didn't have the dexterity to try it with thick paper, so went straight to a cheap canvas from the £1 shop.

I mixed up the paints in cheap small disposable shot glasses. A little bit of isopropyl and then half acrylic to half water. The acrylics were just cheap Royal & Langernickel ones. There was no way I was using expensive acrylics for an experiment which looked like it could use a lot of paint.

The first one I did was the one on the right. I had this idea of putting the colours I had mixed into three small shot glasses, instead of putting them in one large container.

I should have thought before I started. It had taken me an hour to mix up all the paints because some were a bit bitty, particularly the yellow. The pale blue and purples mixed smooth as single cream, but not the other colours. Then I had carefully put each layer of colour in the shot glass the same way as I put double cream on the back of a spoon into coffee so it floats on the top.

I now had three shot glasses full of layers of colour. Then it dawned on me. How on earth do I place the canvas face down on the top of the glasses and turn all three glasses of paint over at once? I found some very thick card, but it was only small so I put each shot glass as near to the edge as possible, put the canvas on top and turned it quickly. There was a possibility of paint flying everywhere if it slipped.

Luckily it didn't, but I don't think I will be doing three again. Because I wasn't sure of my paint spreading easily when I lifted the shot glasses, which are now upside down on the face of the canvas, still holding all the paint, I then spread some white (between the shot glasses) which was already mixed as one of the colours and poured it on the canvas. I spread it with my fingers (which were wearing rubber gloves) on the canvas and round the edges.

Then I lifted each little shot glass in turn, and I am thinking my oh my goodness...too much paint...but there wasn't. There were all these beautiful little cells, which is one of the aims of this flow painting. However, before my eyes, the cells pretty much all vanished. The next step was to tilt the canvas and spread the paint by tilting. And this is the painting on the right.

But I still have a wee bit of paint left, enough for a smaller square canvas. I just need to mix a bit more white. So I do the same again, but just one little shot glass full of different coloured acrylics this time. A lot easier to turn the canvas. And I did the same as before, spread white paint round the canvas up to the glass and round the sides. And then I lift the shot glass.

The paint spreads...there were loads of cells again, but very quickly they vanished again...this is the top pic on the left about a minute after I lifted the glass (that was the time it took me to wipe my rubber gloves and grab my phone to take a pic), but I hadn't tilted to spread yet.

The bottom pic on the left is the same painting, but tilted each way to spread.

I want to try this once or twice more. I will finish off those cheap paints I have. The next one I would like to do it so I leave more white and not tilt and spread the paint all over.

There was a bit of excess paint in the tray, and so I got a small piece of photographic paper and dipped it in the tray face down. When I lifted it up there were cells on it, only a few, but the cells were still there a few minutes later.

I might have another experiment with photographic paper with this flow paint.

These paintings could look completely different tomorrow when I peek at them. For all I know, they could just go into mud!

So this is my effort for today for my challenge to myself of a pic every day in 2017.