Easy DIY Wall Art Idea: How To Make Acrylic Skin Artwork

Here is how to make a beautiful, colorful acrylic skins with paint and pouring medium that you can turn in to interesting artwork for your wall.  It’s so fun and easy that your kids can get in on the fun as well.  Keep reading for this easy DIY wall art idea.

What is an acrylic skin, you might ask?  Have you ever let acrylic paint dry on a plastic surface and then pulled it off?  Well, you have made an acrylic skin.  That’s what it is – dried paint.  Oh, but it can be so much more and it can be so much fun to make.

I have done this several times with my kids and they love to make acrylic skins.  What’s not to like, really?  You get to spread paint around and what kid doesn’t love that?

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Well, here is what you will need to gather up. 

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS EASY DIY WALL ART IDEA

1.  Acrylic paints.  I have a bunch of Artist’s Loft paint that’s not expensive.
2. Pouring Medium.  I used Liquitex, but there are others.  I found this at Michael’s with the paint supplies.
3. Matte or Glossy Medium.  Also Liquitex and found with the paint supplies.
4. Foam Board.  Just happen to have that laying around.
5. Plastic.  I used a plastic drop cloth that I got at Home Depot.
6. Plastic wrap like Saran Wrap.

EASY DIY WALL ART IDEA

STEP ONE: FOAM BOARD

You will need a flat surface to move your paint around on.  I use a piece of foam board.  You will need to wrap your foam board with plastic so the paint will slide around and you will be able to peel it off when it is dry.

STEP TWO:  MIX PAINTS & MEDIUMS TOGETHER

Choose your paint colors.  We generally stuck with three to four colors per skin.  Squirt dabs of paint onto the plastic covered foam board. Then squirt some matte medium or gloss medium on your paint blobs.

Next, squirt a good bit of pouring medium on top of all of your paint.

Next, mix each pile together trying not to mix the colors together just yet.  The first time we did this, we used tooth picks as mixing sticks.  Most recently, though, we used chop sticks.  I just mixed in the matte medium and pouring medium into each separate blob of paint until the paint was fairly liquid.  Here is a video of how I did that.

STEP THREE: SWIRL COLORS TOGETHER

Once my paint is pretty liquid, I sort of swirled the colors together.  Here is a video of how I did that.

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STEP FOUR: MOVE THE PAINT AROUND ON THE BOARD

Then the really fun part … I picked up the board and moved the paint all around by shaking and hitting the board.  You can just let the paint run.  It is so fun to watch how the colors mix and marble together.

STEP FIVE:  LET DRY

When you think it’s perfect, set it somewhere flat to dry.  In my house, that’s usually on top of the dryer because the cats don’t go in there.  If it’s not flat, your paint will run and might even run off the board.

STEP SIX: PAINT WITH MATTE MEDIUM AND WRAP IN PLASTIC WRAP

Now, here is where it can get tricky.  So, it might take a couple of days for your paint to dry completely, but when it does, you can peel your acrylic skin off the board.  Be very careful because it will stick to itself.

You can paint the front and back of the acrylic skin with matte medium to make it less sticky.  You might want to paint the top of it with matte medium before you try to peel it off.  When the matte medium is dry, be ready with a large sheet of plastic wrap and place it face down on the plastic wrap.  Then paint the back side with matte medium and cover that side with plastic wrap when it is dry.

I have a collection of acrylic skins the kids and I have made and that is how I store them, wrapped in plastic wrap.

STEP SEVEN: CREATE WALL ART OR CRAFT

Use your acrylic skins in a brilliant craft or wall art idea.  I have used these to create some fabulous wall art that I have in my foyer.  Just recently, my kids and I glued acrylic skins to some pumpkins.  We still have a little work to do on that before we reveal them.  You can use these for many ideas and even if you don’t, you had a blast making them.

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For this artwork, I used two canvases and painted them with a watered down parchment and gold paint mix.  Next, while my skins were wrapped in plastic, I placed them on the canvas to figure out how I wanted them.  Next, one by one, I unwrapped and glued them to the canvas and to each other with matte medium.  Some of the skins I used my children made.  They loved seeing their work all put together and hanging on the wall.  I get lots of compliments on this pair since they are hanging by my front door.  These are so fun to make.

Here is my artwork.

If you thought this was fun, check out this idea about decorating pumpkins with acrylic skins here.

All of my paint and mediums came from Michaels.  I use mostly Artist’s Loft because its inexpensive and perfect for crafting.  You will also need Liquitex Matte or Gloss Medium and Pouring Medium.

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