I've tried different mica powders and one thing i've learned is after you mixes them in your choice of medium is to let it sit for awhile then come back and stir again. Some mica's take longer to dissovle then others.
I agree. I think the transparent mica mixes work best as a glaze embellishment on top, not as a paint to pour, because their effect comes from light reaction on the surface; deeper paint with them is just lost.
Suggestion: With each color, make enough paint to color about 1/2" (12mm). Then color the top of each cap. Makes it so much easier to find the color you want, and to get the right cap back unto the right bottle. Personally I buy white dot stickers to put on the caps and the paint the sticker.
You are one of the most informative and helpful artists on UA-cam. I appreciate you sharing all your painting videos and especially the testing videos. You are awesome. Thank you.
Thanks. I just make videos on all the questions I ask myself (and from my audience). Regardless if the results are amazing or not. I feel like people can learn way more from an imperfect results than a wow painting every time.
About a year ago I bought these micas because of this video. Such a good price!! Now after having viewed the video again I am finally building the courage to try them! Thanks so much!!!
Hello. Thank you for continuing to make these comparison videos. I have enjoyed many of them and learned a lot. A little over a year ago one of your instructional videos was the one that pushed me over the edge into pouring my first painting. I was addicted immediately, and it has only gotten worse for over a year now. But truly thank you again and more for being the catalyst that helped me find my ultimate hobby and low level business that could become more important later. I have dabbled in mica powders and also pigments (so far just Color Art but soon to try TLP pigments as well). The best deal I've found on mica is at JoAnn's fabric, they have a 6 pack of Color Pour brand (1/3 oz. each) for 9.99 that is about 5.00 with a coupon, I've been working on my first pack for months, but have gotten another that I haven't opened yet. I think your find is a better deal that I may need to get, but I have also seen some pretty expensive sets out there. On Color Art and TLP the price is about even, so I will have more to go on there once I've tried TLP pigments (I've watched many artists use TLP, and they look similar to CA), I do so love Color Art pigments. So far I have just used the house paint and Polycrylic mix, but have gotten some JoSanja and plan on trying that as well. I do use (a few drops per oz. of paint) Liquitex Gloss PM and GAC800 to stop crazing/cracks etc... but so far to me it's just too expensive to use as a full fledged PM on their own and use mostly Floetrol. Again thank you so much, I have an actual studio in my studio apartment now and fluid art has become an important part of my life! Talk to you soon.
Hi David, thank you so much for explaining and testing micas using different pouring mediums. I love watching your videos because you explain things very well. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤️
I'm new at fluid art and you have taught me a lot and always make the right video for every question I have lol. Thank you so very much for your time and advice to others.
I decided to start making my own homemade natural acrylic paint; I chose Mica of course for my colorant and I've tried 2 different types the first one which came in pouches was well decent, but pretty much just gave me one helping of the color. While the second Mica I got came in jars and I'm more pleased with it! I use Earth Pigments Acrylic Gel Medium for my Medium
Thanks for suggesting the use of a mask when using mica powders. Even with non-toxic pigment, the powder can irritate your lungs and airways, especially if you already have respiratory problems.
Can't thank you enough for such informative video's, I have learnt so much from watching & understand paint pouring concepts much better to the point that I know where I've been going wrong. Thank you so much 😍🤩
I bought this exact same mica kit about 2 weeks ago. I haven’t tried using them yet, so I was very excited to see you doing a video on the product. Great video as usual!!!
Thank you for your time sharing with us how to use mica powder. I am relatively new to paint pouring and just ordered some mica and undoubtedly would have used it wrong. Your tutorials are so good that I may get some good results. You may be referring to your channel by left brain, but obviously your right brain is in on the action. You're a great teacher!
So I watched your video and as always I love how you explain things so simply. I didn’t have any mica powder. However I have a bunch of eyeshadow that I don’t use anymore. I mixed it as you explained and it worked great. It’s still wet so it we will see. Thanks again!♥️
I had used mica powder in a paintings before with premixed pouring paint and it was super bumpy in my finished result and I was so disappointed. I just mixed a big old scoop right in like 1oz of paint and it didn't mix well at all so I haven't touched my mica powder since then. I am now confident enough to retry introducing my mica powders to my paintings after I got some useful knowledge from this video and the comments. Thank you so much!
I love adding a little sparkly to my paintings and this gives me the ability to do it at a much cheaper cost than premixed paint. It does take some extra work though for sure.
You need to mix mica powder with water first (small amount like tea spoon or less can be enough) before putting it directly in the medium + painting. Mica powder doesn’t dissolve well in Piti g medium.
I have used mica powder with resin before to make coasters. Didn’t know one could do acrylic pour as well! Learning something new everyday 😀 Good experiment, might give it a try.
Ohhhh ok, when I tried pouring w/ mica powder (before seeing your vid) I was mixing them into my paint/pouring medium, so not just mica/pouring medium. It made the mica effect almost non-existent. Soooo gotta go try this method!
The most vibrant beautiful colors I've ever seen is the primary elements.. you should definitely look into those. But you definitely worth the price, you would definitely not be disappointed. But those aren't bad. 😊
@@LeftBrainedArtist Yum!? Is it edible? Teaching preschool, art eith 3-5 yr olds was EZ... but art with 2yr olds a challenge cuz' they still put things in their mouth - even paints! I used to have them finger paint with puddings -- could put color in the vanilla, other "color" was chocolate. They love to fingerpaint & pudding is slippery fun. I did not encourage eating the "paint", but no worries when they put it in mouth.
"I want to do a bunch of tests & I'm gonna' take you with me." I just love that sentence, that idea & concept is so exciting!😁😉😁 With paints, it's also fun & colorful!
I just love you! You are so informative and easy to watch, you answer questions I did not even know I had and you have made me a better artist. Thank you!
I recently bought a set of mica powders and I am seriously regretting my choices because mine are all in grip-seal bags. Total nightmare! They are great fun to use though 😊
That was really cool. I didn't know Mica was used in so many products. When I was a kid we used to collect Mica from, where else, Mica Hill. I loved playing with it. I enjoyed separating the layers. Anyway, I love the shiny paints. Thank you David.☮️💖🎶
Thanks for sharing Marcey. That sounds like it was a blast. I loved looking for cool rocks when I was a kid and taking apart cool rocks was even more fun. It was sandstone layers here in Utah.
As a kid spending the summer in the mountains, my brother & I ran across piles of mica dust. We were convinced it was gold. We both took double handfuls and ran back to dad claiming we're rich. He kept trying to tell us it wasn't gold, and we kept trying to convince him it was. Short story: we didn't get rich. :-)
I am an engineer. You so speak to my brain!!! Thank you! I enjoy the other artists, too, but you answer my questions in a way others don’t. (Proving there are many methods of learning!) I have two questions I have not see address, please. 1) Micas, or at least my micas, are translucent. How do I make them less translucent without dulling their color? I have tried adding a little titanium white, but that negates much of the reason I want to use the mica. 2) Do you have a ratio of mica to pouring medium at which you would recommend starting? I seem to make mine too concentrated, but I cannot tell until the painting dries. Thank you for your channel!!!
1) You can't without adding a ton more pigment. Or at least I haven't found a good way. My favorite thing to do is add a TINY bit of regular acrylic that is about the same color. By TINY i mean a pea size for two ounces of paint. It brightens up the pigment but still lets them shine quite a bit. 2) I use maybe a 1/2 teason per ounce of medium. Each pigment is different though. These are the lesser quality from Amazong. I haven't tried this little piggy or anything like that yet but I assume it would be slightly less.
I did a search for mixing pigment prefers and found this video. I came across the same set you reviewed so snapped it up. Now i need to watch the party where you mix it again. 😊
Thank you so much for this! I bought a big pack of powdered mica pigments and I thought they were useless. I kept trying to mix them with floetrol. I used a ton of pigment, but they would never incorporate. I just bought liquitex pouring medium today and the difference is night and day! I hardly needed any pigment and it readily blended to a beautiful, smooth consistency.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I bought some about a year ago …I just added them to my acrylic paints ..didn’t really know what to do with them ..lol I’m going to give them another try after watching you today ….thanks again for you time showing us different ways to mix them ! Enjoy the weekend ❤️
Oh god.. I am going outside to pour before I get anymore more crazy ideas from these video's. I love mica rocks. I love working with them. I am not debating about making my own mica pigments. ;) Pray for me bahahaha.
David ,Thanks for this video . I make soap and have tons of mica. I'm thinking I'll try to use it for paint pouring. You've got my wheels turning 😊With the Polycrylic the color really glitters and pops.
Thanks so much for this video. I have some different colours of mica powder and have wanted to use them in acrylic pouring but didn't really know how. I will now have a go!!
Thank you so much this was extremely good information and a wonderful experiment good to know thank you for taking the time to do this experiment and film it
Thank you for all the info you always share in your videos. You're always so helpful and explain things in such a good that my brain understands them. I really appreciate you and the content you provide!
Again, thank you for saving me from myself. Who knew to check and see if the mica powder was water soluable? Not me, for sure. I'm not quite up to speed yet to start on mica powders, but I already have some from a previous life. All set to go when I finally get there. Your help has been invaluable to me in getting started.
Mica powders were always a bit of a mystery to me. I've seen other people's video where they use them but not really with an explanation as to what they are or how to mix them. So this video goes straight to the top of the tree. Many thanks. With regards to your merchandise - any chance of a shirt with your picture or your artwork and the words 'Hello Pouring Nation"? That would be cool.
Yeah those are in the works. We have some ideas of some sarcastic pouring related ones too. That first one was just to get all the integrations working. It took weeks to make it work and I was out of time with the summer. More to come for sure Hawk.
You remind me of my step dad. And myself! I’m beyond sarcastic. Gets me in trouble REGULARLY. I am a huge introvert. And I hate People! My stepdad is in I.T. So I can see you two getting along well! Cept he would have no idea about painting!
I'm so happy you reviewed these on your podcast. This is the brand I was looking at. Now I know how to use the powders. Thank you! I really love your tutorials! Thanks again!
Not sure why but thought I had to mix pigment powder into untinted paint 1st then medium so good to know I can skip that step! Think I commented b4 but thanks again anyway! lol😁
My mom accidentally sprinkled mica on her pour, instead of glitter. It's beautiful! She thinks it's better than glitter. I had bought her chameleon powder by Let's Resin. She used the olive thinking it was gold glitter, and it turnout to be a happy accident! Not sure if everyone is already doing that.
I just did a pour using the red gold as one of the colors, and liquidtex. The gold is beautiful. It is the exact same kit you recommended. Also, I use these pigments for watercolor and they are pretty good. Of course you use a different medium to mix. Thank you so.much, this helped so much!
I am intrigued by what you showed us with the mica powders...but I am a long way from ready to try it yet, since just starting out trying "paint pours". But am ok with that ~ still like you experimenting & me just checking it all out. I really like "experiments" of things, generally. Raised my niece same way I guess, or so my brother tells me. I only "helped out with her" a whole lot until she was 6 & they moved to Idaho. Lived at my house more than 50% of time from age 2-6 & she took to, "maybe we can try something & see what happens" thing quite naturally. Very smart kid, like her Dad when he was a kid. But HE got me in trouble alot doing that! I had no teaching degree yet - went better when I did it with his child, years later. Started NO unintended fires inside or out, like he did! LOL "What happens if....?"
@@LeftBrainedArtist absolutely! Will do. After watching your video I may have to get some liquitex medium. I will try with floetrol first because thats what I have on hand 😃
I've tried TLP and others. I found eye candy mica pigments and wow!! I will never buy the way expensive ones again. Your painting is great! I dissolve my pigments in liquitez pm or my favorite, Blick brand mediums.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I have some chrome powder for nails 💅 and some mica powder from Island Mina's and More. As soon as I go to Lowe's for more tiles I'll give it go.👍💕
Thanks for the video. I’ve been wanting to play with mica pigments, but the brands I see used by other artists are too expensive. I just ordered these! Can’t wait to start experimenting
I have already purchased a lot of pigments from eBay however have not used them yet would be very interested in finding out how to make my own paints like you described thank you so much for all of your informative videos they have taught me so much God-bless
Use acrylic gloss medium or matte medium to make your paint then add your pouring medium. Acrylic medium is the actual base with which paint is made so you will make real paint. I would even suggest buy the clear base paint. That may be more cost effective.
You could always use Acrylic Binder as well. Pebeo do one called "Bindex" (which is about half the price of PM) and Amsterdam do one also, which cost wise in on par with a litre of Liquitex PM/GM,
Thanks! Good intro to mica powder. I hate mixing paint, but I REALLY want to try this. Tomoko Fluid Art has a really good tutorial on mixing the paints. She uses Polycrylic and a housepaint. You might want to check that one out if you're still interested in powders.
A very interesting and informative video. I'm looking forward to seeing if making your own paints with the mica powders work. Thank you and missed having one of your videos last Saturday to watch.
I see in the comments that people have mentioned eyeshadow, which is a great idea. I've thought about using nail varnish pigment and micas, but was put off by how to mix. However watching this doesn't make it look too hard. Thanks very much! Also in your video, I noticed a lot of air bubbles in the glue mixture, which might account for it's funkiness upon drying.
The bubbles were totally the problem. Glue and Floetrol does get rid of some of the luster and shine. Doing some more experiments with those this week.
Thank you for showing the pro and con with all the different mediums with mica. Do you ever work/experiment with resin & mica, or with resin, mica & paint. ?
Opaque? The reason the tube blue paint took over is because of the viscosity. Its thicker and heavier than the others so it repels (pushes) them away. They all need to be the same consistency to flow evenly.
Thank you. I am so pleased that u r playing with micas. U explain things so well. Getting mica to show up and dry smoothly in paintings has had me stumped. I found they mixed nicely with a clear pva but paints seem to overtake. I heard u can mix with transparent paint so may try that next
Can I use the pigments with either Liquitex or Polycrylic as mediums in other paintings besides the blooms? And do I need to add water or anything else? Blooms have not worked for me yet and I have some beautiful pigments I want to use! Thanks!!!
Thank you for this. I have a question for you which had nothing to do with his video. I have just started pouring and I use both canvas board and framed canvas to pour on. How do I preemptively stop the bowing of the canvas? All of my artwork ends up pooling in the centre. Thank you and I look forward to your hacks.
The only way is to completely seal your canvas board before pouring. Maybe putting down a thin coat of glue-water mixture and let it dry and then pour over that with the back taped off. If water gets in to the cardboard center it is going to bow Stella.
![(69) [4K] How to use Arteza Mica Powders - Acrylic Pouring - Get Colour Shifting / Chameleon Cells](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pd76WzQvNy0/mqdefault.jpg)
Here is Mica Powder kit I am using in this video. So far, for the price, it seems like a great deal - Mica Powder 36 Color Set - amzn.to/3sEodif
Just got different brand going to mix with what I have thankyou for doing this very happy you shared this :)
@@blankandfriends6606 Good luck. Let me know if you find some tricks of tips while working with your Mica Powders.
I’m 2 years late to this party, but thank you for this video. It is the most comprehensive I’ve seen on micas. I learned a lot 🎉
No problemo. Glad you found it useful.
I've tried different mica powders and one thing i've learned is after you mixes them in your choice of medium is to let it sit for awhile then come back and stir again. Some mica's take longer to dissovle then others.
That is a great tip. Thanks Terry.
Thanks for that tip! Prob also helps decrease bubbles i'd assume too!
For what?
I use mica powders mixed with water to “brighten up” some pours that turn out dull.
I just paint it on in appropriate places and it is very effective.
Ooh, I hadn't even thought about doing something like this Bernadette. Thanks!
I agree. I think the transparent mica mixes work best as a glaze embellishment on top, not as a paint to pour, because their effect comes from light reaction on the surface; deeper paint with them is just lost.
Im def trying that thanks!!!!
Suggestion: With each color, make enough paint to color about 1/2" (12mm). Then color the top of each cap. Makes it so much easier to find the color you want, and to get the right cap back unto the right bottle. Personally I buy white dot stickers to put on the caps and the paint the sticker.
Great idea Tom. I was thinking about turning them upside down or something. That would work way better though.
Great idea! All of mine are currently upside-down or have funky stickers that I colored myself. Silly me. Thanks Tom!
You are one of the most informative and helpful artists on UA-cam. I appreciate you sharing all your painting videos and especially the testing videos. You are awesome. Thank you.
Wow, thank you Margie. I really appreciate that.
I love how detailed you explain everything. Thank you
You are so welcome!
Wish i could "like" this one twice! I mixed my powder with liquitex and it cane out BEAUTIFUL! TY
Wonderful! Glad to hear it.
When it comes to "UA-cam Best Experimental Channel" competition, you are very high on the list for me.
Thanks. I just make videos on all the questions I ask myself (and from my audience). Regardless if the results are amazing or not. I feel like people can learn way more from an imperfect results than a wow painting every time.
that is gorgeous. Thank you for all of the work you do so we can collectively make fewer mistakes.
You are so welcome Carrol. Hope it is helpful in your future pours.
About a year ago I bought these micas because of this video. Such a good price!! Now after having viewed the video again I am finally building the courage to try them! Thanks so much!!!
Glad I could help! I really love how they have worked for me.
have had mica powder for awhile and have never thought to mix it with polyacrylic so thank you so much for this fantastic experiment!
You are so welcome! It really is pretty amazing if you get all the ratios right. Still testing for that but I bet every powder will be different.
Hello. Thank you for continuing to make these comparison videos. I have enjoyed many of them and learned a lot. A little over a year ago one of your instructional videos was the one that pushed me over the edge into pouring my first painting. I was addicted immediately, and it has only gotten worse for over a year now. But truly thank you again and more for being the catalyst that helped me find my ultimate hobby and low level business that could become more important later. I have dabbled in mica powders and also pigments (so far just Color Art but soon to try TLP pigments as well). The best deal I've found on mica is at JoAnn's fabric, they have a 6 pack of Color Pour brand (1/3 oz. each) for 9.99 that is about 5.00 with a coupon, I've been working on my first pack for months, but have gotten another that I haven't opened yet. I think your find is a better deal that I may need to get, but I have also seen some pretty expensive sets out there. On Color Art and TLP the price is about even, so I will have more to go on there once I've tried TLP pigments (I've watched many artists use TLP, and they look similar to CA), I do so love Color Art pigments. So far I have just used the house paint and Polycrylic mix, but have gotten some JoSanja and plan on trying that as well. I do use (a few drops per oz. of paint) Liquitex Gloss PM and GAC800 to stop crazing/cracks etc... but so far to me it's just too expensive to use as a full fledged PM on their own and use mostly Floetrol. Again thank you so much, I have an actual studio in my studio apartment now and fluid art has become an important part of my life! Talk to you soon.
Thanks for the comment Ed. I see you caught the bug as hard as I did. So much fun to be had with pouring.
Hi David, thank you so much for explaining and testing micas using different pouring mediums. I love watching your videos because you explain things very well. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤️
You are very welcome as always Sunita. Happy Saturday.
I'm new at fluid art and you have taught me a lot and always make the right video for every question I have lol. Thank you so very much for your time and advice to others.
You are so welcome again Christyn. Thanks for watching.
I decided to start making my own homemade natural acrylic paint; I chose Mica of course for my colorant and I've tried 2 different types the first one which came in pouches was well decent, but pretty much just gave me one helping of the color. While the second Mica I got came in jars and I'm more pleased with it!
I use Earth Pigments Acrylic Gel Medium for my Medium
Awesome!
Thank you David. You are an excellent Tatcher! Making it clear to me how to use pigments. I was struggeling with that.
I'm so glad it helped Lydia.
I love the way you teach! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome my friend. Glad the way I learn helps others.
Thanks for suggesting the use of a mask when using mica powders. Even with non-toxic pigment, the powder can irritate your lungs and airways, especially if you already have respiratory problems.
Yeah, and I have heard once it attaches to your lung tissue it is almost impossible to get back out.
Real good down to earth common sense tutorial.
Good for you 👏👏👏
Glad it was helpful!
Can't thank you enough for such informative video's, I have learnt so much from watching & understand paint pouring concepts much better to the point that I know where I've been going wrong. Thank you so much 😍🤩
Wonderful! So glad to hear that. Good luck and Happy New Year!
I bought this exact same mica kit about 2 weeks ago. I haven’t tried using them yet, so I was very excited to see you doing a video on the product. Great video as usual!!!
Ooh, nice Rebecca. Let me know if you find some cool tidbits when you use them.
Me too. I bought the same ones.
Thank you for your time sharing with us how to use mica powder. I am relatively new to paint pouring and just ordered some mica and undoubtedly would have used it wrong. Your tutorials are so good that I may get some good results. You may be referring to your channel by left brain, but obviously your right brain is in on the action. You're a great teacher!
Thanks so much Peggy. I hope your pours turn out amazing.
So I watched your video and as always I love how you explain things so simply. I didn’t have any mica powder. However I have a bunch of eyeshadow that I don’t use anymore. I mixed it as you explained and it worked great. It’s still wet so it we will see. Thanks again!♥️
Wow, I would have never thought of that. I don't see why not. If it was for use on skin it seems like it should work find in painting.
@@LeftBrainedArtist if you ever in a pinch find some eyeshadow. Thanks for the info. I always learn more from you than anyone!
@@kimbrown6562 I’ve bought the eyeshadow from the dollar store for other projects and it’s worked. Do you think the cheaper kind will work?
Thankyou so much your videos always teach me so much😊
You're welcome Maria. Happy to help. Have you used Mica powders?
I had used mica powder in a paintings before with premixed pouring paint and it was super bumpy in my finished result and I was so disappointed. I just mixed a big old scoop right in like 1oz of paint and it didn't mix well at all so I haven't touched my mica powder since then. I am now confident enough to retry introducing my mica powders to my paintings after I got some useful knowledge from this video and the comments. Thank you so much!
I love adding a little sparkly to my paintings and this gives me the ability to do it at a much cheaper cost than premixed paint. It does take some extra work though for sure.
You need to mix mica powder with water first (small amount like tea spoon or less can be enough) before putting it directly in the medium + painting. Mica powder doesn’t dissolve well in Piti g medium.
So glad I found your channel.. I like the way you explain things, thanks.
Glad you enjoy it Gloria. Happy pouring!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have spent the whole afternoon watching your videos.
let me know if you have questions. I am alwasys looking for new ideas for videos.
I have used mica powder with resin before to make coasters. Didn’t know one could do acrylic pour as well! Learning something new everyday 😀 Good experiment, might give it a try.
It is worth the try for sure. Might be cheaper than buying the different pearlescent and metallic colors too. We'll see after some more testing.
Ohhhh ok, when I tried pouring w/ mica powder (before seeing your vid) I was mixing them into my paint/pouring medium, so not just mica/pouring medium. It made the mica effect almost non-existent. Soooo gotta go try this method!
Oh no! Glad to help there. I can't say I've mastered this yet but I've learned a lot on the way.
Thank you for this information
My pleasure Carole. Thanks for watching.
The most vibrant beautiful colors I've ever seen is the primary elements.. you should definitely look into those. But you definitely worth the price, you would definitely not be disappointed. But those aren't bad. 😊
Thanks Christina.
Love those "drips"!
Have you seen my BBQ drip pour?
@@LeftBrainedArtist Serious? No. What a cool idea that is! Really, or are you teasing?
@@LeftBrainedArtist Yum!? Is it edible?
Teaching preschool, art eith 3-5 yr olds was EZ... but art with 2yr olds a challenge cuz' they still put things in their mouth - even paints! I used to have them finger paint with puddings -- could put color in the vanilla, other "color" was chocolate. They love to fingerpaint & pudding is slippery fun. I did not encourage eating the "paint", but no worries when they put it in mouth.
Thanks. Very helpful!
You're welcome!
"I want to do a bunch of tests & I'm gonna' take you with me." I just love that sentence, that idea & concept is so exciting!😁😉😁 With paints, it's also fun & colorful!
Very helpful. Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thanks David for the useful information. I just bought some mica powder and I'm going to experiment as well.
Best of luck Diane.
Very informative! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Just today i was wondering about this and whaddya know? You did a video about it 2 years ago! Thanks so much 😊
Glad to hear it is still helping people. Thanks for watching Kris.
I just love you! You are so informative and easy to watch, you answer questions I did not even know I had and you have made me a better artist. Thank you!
Glad I could help Vicki. Thanks for watching and the lovely comment.
Thank you so much for showing this. I am new to this and this is helpful. I did sign up for Shelee course.
You are so welcome! blooms are pretty amazing.
I'm really surprised you didn't also show it mixed in with an untinted base paint in your comparisons. I like that you do experiments.
Ooh, I didn't even think of that Lexie. I normally don't use those except for the blooms technique but that is a great idea!
This is great I just bought these and was not sure how to use them so thank you very much
You are so welcome Pam. Glad to help.
this is great, thank you
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching Chris.
Excelente video !!!!
Thanks so much.
Great Review .. Thank You ❣️
Glad it was useful Erin. Thanks for watching.
I recently bought a set of mica powders and I am seriously regretting my choices because mine are all in grip-seal bags. Total nightmare! They are great fun to use though 😊
I totally agree Mary! I can't ever go back to zip lock. Too much mess.
That was really cool. I didn't know Mica was used in so many products. When I was a kid we used to collect Mica from, where else, Mica Hill. I loved playing with it. I enjoyed separating the layers. Anyway, I love the shiny paints. Thank you David.☮️💖🎶
Thanks for sharing Marcey. That sounds like it was a blast. I loved looking for cool rocks when I was a kid and taking apart cool rocks was even more fun. It was sandstone layers here in Utah.
As a kid spending the summer in the mountains, my brother & I ran across piles of mica dust. We were convinced it was gold. We both took double handfuls and ran back to dad claiming we're rich. He kept trying to tell us it wasn't gold, and we kept trying to convince him it was. Short story: we didn't get rich. :-)
Nice job - very helpful! I love pigments! Thank you.
You are so welcome Marna. Glad it was useful.
I am an engineer. You so speak to my brain!!! Thank you! I enjoy the other artists, too, but you answer my questions in a way others don’t. (Proving there are many methods of learning!)
I have two questions I have not see address, please. 1) Micas, or at least my micas, are translucent. How do I make them less translucent without dulling their color? I have tried adding a little titanium white, but that negates much of the reason I want to use the mica. 2) Do you have a ratio of mica to pouring medium at which you would recommend starting? I seem to make mine too concentrated, but I cannot tell until the painting dries.
Thank you for your channel!!!
1) You can't without adding a ton more pigment. Or at least I haven't found a good way. My favorite thing to do is add a TINY bit of regular acrylic that is about the same color. By TINY i mean a pea size for two ounces of paint. It brightens up the pigment but still lets them shine quite a bit.
2) I use maybe a 1/2 teason per ounce of medium. Each pigment is different though. These are the lesser quality from Amazong. I haven't tried this little piggy or anything like that yet but I assume it would be slightly less.
I did a search for mixing pigment prefers and found this video. I came across the same set you reviewed so snapped it up. Now i need to watch the party where you mix it again. 😊
They mix retry well. Leaving them to sit a it seems to have the best results.
Thank you so much for this! I bought a big pack of powdered mica pigments and I thought they were useless. I kept trying to mix them with floetrol. I used a ton of pigment, but they would never incorporate. I just bought liquitex pouring medium today and the difference is night and day! I hardly needed any pigment and it readily blended to a beautiful, smooth consistency.
I'm so glad to hear that K C.
Thanks for taking the time to do this informative video ! ❤️
Glad it was helpful Cathy. Have you tried Mica Pigments before?
@@LeftBrainedArtist I bought some about a year ago …I just added them to my acrylic paints ..didn’t really know what to do with them ..lol I’m going to give them another try after watching you today ….thanks again for you time showing us different ways to mix them ! Enjoy the weekend ❤️
Your work is beautiful Congratulations
Thank you so much!
Oh god.. I am going outside to pour before I get anymore more crazy ideas from these video's. I love mica rocks. I love working with them. I am not debating about making my own mica pigments. ;)
Pray for me bahahaha.
Rock on! 😅😉
Thank you very much for the education.
Glad it was helpful Marie.
Thank you
You're welcome as always Jeff.
David ,Thanks for this video . I make soap and have tons of mica. I'm thinking I'll try to use it for paint pouring. You've got my wheels turning 😊With the Polycrylic the color really glitters and pops.
It totally does Frances. Going to do some experimenting with my glue mixture to see if I can make it work and still get the bling.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I'd be very interested to see the results.
Thanks, David. Useful and informative lesson, as always !
My pleasure Suzanne. Any additional questions? This week's video will show mixing mica with opaque and transparent paints.
@@LeftBrainedArtist Thanks, David. I have a question about the difference between Mica powders and pigments, like Colour Arte.
Thanks so much for this video. I have some different colours of mica powder and have wanted to use them in acrylic pouring but didn't really know how. I will now have a go!!
Wonderful! Let me know how it goes T.
Thank you so much this was extremely good information and a wonderful experiment good to know thank you for taking the time to do this experiment and film it
You are so welcome
Thank you for all the info you always share in your videos. You're always so helpful and explain things in such a good that my brain understands them. I really appreciate you and the content you provide!
Happy to help Jaime.
Thank you for this, I just went ahead and ordered some! I can't wait to try the bloom technique.
Hope you like it! Let me know if you find out some cool tips and trick.
Again, thank you for saving me from myself. Who knew to check and see if the mica powder was water soluable? Not me, for sure. I'm not quite up to speed yet to start on mica powders, but I already have some from a previous life. All set to go when I finally get there. Your help has been invaluable to me in getting started.
Glad I could help. Let me know how they work when you start.
Mica powders were always a bit of a mystery to me. I've seen other people's video where they use them but not really with an explanation as to what they are or how to mix them. So this video goes straight to the top of the tree. Many thanks. With regards to your merchandise - any chance of a shirt with your picture or your artwork and the words 'Hello Pouring Nation"? That would be cool.
Yeah those are in the works. We have some ideas of some sarcastic pouring related ones too. That first one was just to get all the integrations working. It took weeks to make it work and I was out of time with the summer. More to come for sure Hawk.
You remind me of my step dad. And myself! I’m beyond sarcastic. Gets me in trouble REGULARLY. I am a huge introvert. And I hate People! My stepdad is in I.T. So I can see you two getting along well! Cept he would have no idea about painting!
I'm so happy you reviewed these on your podcast. This is the brand I was looking at. Now I know how to use the powders. Thank you!
I really love your tutorials! Thanks again!
Glad to help Debra. They work great for all the uses I have had so far.
I have this same set of Micas. This was really helpful Thanks!❤😊
Let me know if you find some awesome color palettes with these
Fantastic as always!!!
Thanks again Cynthia.
Not sure why but thought I had to mix pigment powder into untinted paint 1st then medium so good to know I can skip that step! Think I commented b4 but thanks again anyway! lol😁
You can totally use that too. I was just experimenting with things I had on hand.
My mom accidentally sprinkled mica on her pour, instead of glitter. It's beautiful! She thinks it's better than glitter. I had bought her chameleon powder by Let's Resin. She used the olive thinking it was gold glitter, and it turnout to be a happy accident! Not sure if everyone is already doing that.
Ooh, that is a great idea. I will have to try Rhonda.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I look forward to the video!
I just did a pour using the red gold as one of the colors, and liquidtex. The gold is beautiful. It is the exact same kit you recommended. Also, I use these pigments for watercolor and they are pretty good. Of course you use a different medium to mix. Thank you so.much, this helped so much!
Thanks for letting me know. For the price I think they are great.
I am intrigued by what you showed us with the mica powders...but I am a long way from ready to try it yet, since just starting out trying "paint pours". But am ok with that ~ still like you experimenting & me just checking it all out. I really like "experiments" of things, generally. Raised my niece same way I guess, or so my brother tells me. I only "helped out with her" a whole lot until she was 6 & they moved to Idaho. Lived at my house more than 50% of time from age 2-6 & she took to, "maybe we can try something & see what happens" thing quite naturally. Very smart kid, like her Dad when he was a kid. But HE got me in trouble alot doing that! I had no teaching degree yet - went better when I did it with his child, years later. Started NO unintended fires inside or out, like he did! LOL
"What happens if....?"
Those are some of my favorite words.
I just bought a set on Amazon yesterday! Happy I stumbled across your video because I will be doing my own experiments soon!
Good luck! Let me know if you find any awesome nuggets of info while testing.
@@LeftBrainedArtist absolutely! Will do. After watching your video I may have to get some liquitex medium. I will try with floetrol first because thats what I have on hand 😃
Great something else I need to buy. Lol
Nah. Start with what you have. Master one technique and color palette and then move on to the next.
I've tried TLP and others. I found eye candy mica pigments and wow!! I will never buy the way expensive ones again. Your painting is great! I dissolve my pigments in liquitez pm or my favorite, Blick brand mediums.
Thanks for sharing Leah!!
Thank you so much for teaching us. Love your videos
You are so welcome Diane. Thanks for watching. Glad they are helping.
@@LeftBrainedArtist can you mix the ColourArte pigments with Flotrol or does it have to be mixed with Vivid Enamel?
Thank you, this has been so informative!
Glad it was helpful!
. I'm looking forward to seeing if making your own paints
Very soon for sure Jeff.
Had to buy it thanks for sharing
Hope you enjoy it! I am totally digging making my own metallic/pearlescent colors.
Great video! Very informative, I may look into Mica now. Thank you 💕
You should for sure. Trying to see if I can make my own shimmer paints for cheaper.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I have some chrome powder for nails 💅 and some mica powder from Island Mina's and More. As soon as I go to Lowe's for more tiles I'll give it go.👍💕
Thanks for the video. I’ve been wanting to play with mica pigments, but the brands I see used by other artists are too expensive. I just ordered these! Can’t wait to start experimenting
You are so welcome Victoria. Let me know if you find some hidden secrets.
Polycrylic #1 & Liquitex #2
I have already purchased a lot of pigments from eBay however have not used them yet would be very interested in finding out how to make my own paints like you described thank you so much for all of your informative videos they have taught me so much God-bless
Let me know if you find some cool tips and tricks with your pigments Cheryl.
@@LeftBrainedArtist I will
Use acrylic gloss medium or matte medium to make your paint then add your pouring medium. Acrylic medium is the actual base with which paint is made so you will make real paint. I would even suggest buy the clear base paint. That may be more cost effective.
Clean base paint? Not sure I have ever seen. I tried looking for it last week but wasn't successful.
Or do you mean the house paint base? That I know people use for blooms. I was thinking there was something specific to acrylic paint not latex.
You could always use Acrylic Binder as well.
Pebeo do one called "Bindex" (which is about half the price of PM) and Amsterdam do one also, which cost wise in on par with a litre of Liquitex PM/GM,
Oh wow now I’m confused!
Oh I'm def going to have to snag me some mica powder!
So cool looking. Now to get the ratios with the paint and different mixtures right.
Thanks! Good intro to mica powder.
I hate mixing paint, but I REALLY want to try this.
Tomoko Fluid Art has a really good tutorial on mixing the paints. She uses Polycrylic and a housepaint. You might want to check that one out if you're still interested in powders.
I am looking right now. Thanks Ron.
A very interesting and informative video. I'm looking forward to seeing if making your own paints with the mica powders work. Thank you and missed having one of your videos last Saturday to watch.
Me too Mary. So many great experiments I can try now.
I see in the comments that people have mentioned eyeshadow, which is a great idea. I've thought about using nail varnish pigment and micas, but was put off by how to mix. However watching this doesn't make it look too hard. Thanks very much!
Also in your video, I noticed a lot of air bubbles in the glue mixture, which might account for it's funkiness upon drying.
The bubbles were totally the problem. Glue and Floetrol does get rid of some of the luster and shine. Doing some more experiments with those this week.
Thank you great info
Glad it was helpful Belle.
Thank you for showing the pro and con with all the different mediums with mica. Do you ever work/experiment with resin & mica, or with resin, mica & paint. ?
I have but not very much. One day I'll get more in to that but there is so much to do still with pouring on my channel.
Opaque? The reason the tube blue paint took over is because of the viscosity. Its thicker and heavier than the others so it repels (pushes) them away. They all need to be the same consistency to flow evenly.
🤔
Thank you. I am so pleased that u r playing with micas. U explain things so well. Getting mica to show up and dry smoothly in paintings has had me stumped. I found they mixed nicely with a clear pva but paints seem to overtake. I heard u can mix with transparent paint so may try that next
My pleasure M S😊. I'll definitely be doing some tests like that soon.
As an aside I noticed that the Liquitex seemed to result most free of air bubbles.
It totally did. The others would too if I let them rest longer but liquitex does by default cause it is so freaking sticky.
Amo que dejes en el video tus errores pues aprendemos todos también de ellos!!!
Gracias Ruth. Por nuestros errores aprendemos.
This video is great! I wonder if Vivid Enamel Totable Base would work as well or even better than the Liquidex?
I assume better since it was made for these as I understand it.
Can I use the pigments with either Liquitex or Polycrylic as mediums in other paintings besides the blooms? And do I need to add water or anything else? Blooms have not worked for me yet and I have some beautiful pigments I want to use! Thanks!!!
Yes you sure can Alicia. Add water for consistency just like with any other method.
Excellent as always! If you are not an instructor you have missed your calling.....
I am not. In the technology field. My mother was a teacher for years. I blame her for my teaching abilities.
@@LeftBrainedArtist well she should be proud, you do a great job. If it matters I have a masters degree so I’ve had a lot of instruction lol.
Hi, David. Good to see you again. Mica powders confuse me.
Hopefully this gives you some info for better results Novalla.
Thank you for this. I have a question for you which had nothing to do with his video. I have just started pouring and I use both canvas board and framed canvas to pour on. How do I preemptively stop the bowing of the canvas? All of my artwork ends up pooling in the centre. Thank you and I look forward to your hacks.
The only way is to completely seal your canvas board before pouring. Maybe putting down a thin coat of glue-water mixture and let it dry and then pour over that with the back taped off. If water gets in to the cardboard center it is going to bow Stella.
@@LeftBrainedArtist excellent. Thank you. Do I just add water to thin out the glue or should I be aiming for a ratio?
Liquid glass works with mica powders also
Liquid glass? I haven't heard of that. Time for some more research. Thanks Julie.