Not what I was hoping for...

I initially thought I could water down acrylic paints to achieve the same flowing strokes as Pollock, but I quickly realized that approach was misguided. Acrylics just don’t have the right viscosity for this technique. Instead, I’m planning to switch to BEHR Premium Urethane Alkyd Semi-Gloss Enamel paint. I’m hoping its consistency will allow me to “drag” lines of paint across the canvas effectively—something I couldn’t achieve with the acrylics. No worries, though; it's all part of the process!

Here’s a look at the first two layers I’ve completed in black and white, applied over a base coat of BEHR “Beach Grass” latex paint—the same color used on the walls of my home. My thought was that by incorporating the wall color as the canvas base, the finished piece would blend seamlessly with its surroundings when displayed. What do you think of this concept? I haven’t come across anyone discussing this approach online, but it feels like a unique way to connect the artwork to its environment.

Notice how the painting mainly features drips with very little line work. I do like how the tan "Beach Grass" color and the white sections of the toned canvas work together. Also, check out the cracked white areas—pretty intriguing! This snapshot was taken the day after I completed that layer.

Now, here’s my plan for creating custom colors using BEHR PREMIUM 1 qt. White Urethane Alkyd Semi-Gloss Enamel paint. I’ll use a printed "Supplies Status" page from my color printer, which includes Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta as the primary colors. I’ll bring this page to Home Depot and ask them to mix one quart of paint for each of these colors. Their system should be able to scan the page to match the colors accurately—or maybe they can directly add the pigments from their mixing station. That’s definitely something I’ll need to ask them about, though I’m not sure they’ll have an answer since their expertise is more in selling paint than in color theory.

By using Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta—the fundamental colors for mixing paints, just like in printers—I’ll have the right base to experiment with layering and blending. Here’s the printer Supplies Status page I’m referencing so you can see exactly what I’m working with.

The blue and red in this photograph is not true to real-life colors. Here’s a look at my current painting setup in the attic: