Easy Resin Art Project for Beginners

Here at Pour Away Fluid Arts we know that it can be a bit daunting to get started in resin art.  So for this blog I wanted to show you one of our easiest resin art projects using our resin art templates and other products.  For this design you’ll see a photo of the finished piece, a list of products that you will need to create it and a brief description of the process you should follow.  Of course each of our templates has a video showing an example of it being used, so I have included  that as well.

Easy Project - Flowers and Circles

You will need

12 inch diameter acrylic panel with stand – Available from Pour Away Fluid Arts
Flowers and Circles Template – Available from Pour Away Fluid Arts
Epoxy resin – your favorite brand, or if you don’t have any yet search for table top epoxy on Amazon
Gloves and other Safety Equipment – follow the directions on the brand of epoxy you purchase
Paper cups – widely available
Stirring sticks – widely available
Resin Dyes – Decorom UV Resin Dyes from Amazon are a good starting point
Optional  - Torch or other method of popping bubbles

*For a more detailed list of equipment have a look at our other blog posts.

Method

An example video for this piece can be found here.  The steps below are  optimized to include lessons learned and so differ from the video slightly.

1. Take your panel and peel off the protective film from one side.  Place it on a flat level surface.
2. Make sure you are wearing gloves and following the safety instructions on your resin.
3. Mix a small amount of resin and cover the panel with it.  Less resin is best, just cover the panel and no more.  There is a tang on the panel that fits into the stand - try not to get resin on this area as it makes fitting the base difficult.
4. Position your template onto the panel and give it a wiggle to ensure it is contacting the resin everywhere and that there are no gaps.  Orientation isn't super important for this template, but make sure your butterfly is the right way up.
5. Leave to cure. (overnight should do it)
6. Next day -  Mix around 2 oz of resin and add a few drops of light blue transparent resin dye.  Thoroughly mix that into the resin.
7. Start in the center of the piece and add a few drops of the colored resin to the innermost circle.  Use a stirring stick to do this if you aren't comfortable pouring it from the cup.  Target filling the recess to just flush with the top surface of the template.  If you overfill, remove some resin with your stirring stick and wipe it on some kitchen paper.  Wipe up any drips with kitchen paper as you go.
8. Now add a few more drops of the same light blue dye to the same cup of resin and mix that in.
9. Fill the next ring as before and continue to add dye, mix and fill the next ring.  
10. After 3 or 4 rings, switch to a deeper shade of dye and add only a drop or two to get the color for the next ring.  Then continue as before until all the rings are colored.  You are targeting a gradual gradient, but you can also do whatever pattern you like.
11. If you run out of resin before finishing the rings, mix some more (quantity depends on how much you have left to fill) and color it a little darker than the last ring.  It can be hard to color match perfectly in the cup so add a few drops to the next ring and check the color density before committing to filling the whole ring.  If it needs to be adjusted then remove the test resin using kitchen paper and add some more dye to the cup.
12. Burst any bubbles using a torch.  
13. It's probably a good idea to take a break at this point.  Tired hands and minds tend to lead to errors.  If you can, let this section of the design cure before starting on the flowers or butterfly.  With the rings cured it will be much easier and less risky to pour the yellow for the petals.  Any drips or overfills can just be wiped up rather than having to fix areas where different colors of uncured resin have mixed.
14. When you are ready to start on the flowers, mix up another 2 oz of resin.
15. Pour about a quarter of this resin into another cup and dye it red.  Dye the remaining resin yellow.  Mix both cups well.
16. Fill in the flower centers and the butterfly with the red resin leaving a little bit in the cup for adding some texture to the petals.
17. Add a drop or two of the red resin to the root of each petal.  Do this before adding the yellow.
18. Fill in the rest of the petals with the yellow resin.
19. Where the yellow and red resin meet in the petals they will mix a little bit.  Use your stirring stick to help this process and make the petals look more natural.  Add more drops if required to achieve the look you want.  You can drag some lines of the darker color along the petals to give the appearance of creases or shadows.
20. Burst any bubbles again and leave the piece to cure.
21. Once fully cured remove the protective film from the back and fit the base.
22. Place it in a window and stand back to admire your work.

I hope you found this walk through useful.

I’m Jonny Nelson, ex engineer and now full-time Resin Artist and Creative Director for Pour Away Fluid Arts.