Dendritic Painting is one of those things that can go so many ways. The amount of paint, the pressure being used and the temperature of the glass.
But wait? what the heck is “dendritic?” For this specific use, it’s creating a branching form using paint. Applying paint to glass, placing another sheet of glass on top, using gentle pressure and carefully lifting the top sheet of glass creates really interesting dendritic painting prints and patterns.
Introduction to Dendritic Painting
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I got my inspiration for Dentretic prints from AtomicShrimp who posted a video about 4 years ago. Here is the link to his video titled “Dendritic Painting – A really simple way to make amazing patterns.”
Supplies:
Background Type:
- Any type of surface that will accept acrylic paint such as:
- Rice Paper
- Book Paper
- Deli Paper
- Dictionary Paper
- Vellum
- Watercolour/Mixed Media paper
- etc. etc.
Palette:
DecoArt Americana Acrylics
- Teal Mint – DA332
- Mustard Seed – DA264
- Blue Haven – DA318
- Peacock Teal – DA328
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics
- Pyrrole Red – DMFA18
- Hansa Yellow Medium – DMFA50
- Cobalt Teal Hue – DMFA10
DecoArt Traditions Artist Acrylics
- Chrome Green Hue – DAT18
- Permanent Alizarin Crimson – DAT51
- Aquamarine – DAT29
Prep and Mediums
- DecoArt Media White Gesso – DMM18
- DecoArt Media Matte Medium – DMM20
Accessories
- 2 sheets of glass (I used picture frame glass) or 2 sheets of plexiglass (doesn’t work as well)
- Brayer
- X-Acto Knife
- Rubbing Alcohol
Brushes:
Royal Soft-Grip
- #8 Bristle Bright – SG1425
Royal Aqualon
- 1/2″, 3/4″ & 1″ Glaze Wash – R2700
- #12 Shader – R2150
General Supplies:
- Royal Brush Square Brush Basin – RD325
- Royal Essentials Palette Paper – RD358
- Unstick Reusable Arts and Crafts Sheet*
- Mister Bottle Filled with Water
- Paper Towels
- Baby Wipes, Kitchen Wipes or Kitchen cloths (for dry rub application)
- Heat Gun
*do not place glass sheets on the Unstick sheet, otherwise you may tear it. Use newspaper or other table protector for this technique.
Manufacturers
- DecoArt – DecoArt.com
- Royal Brush – RoyalBrush.com
- Unstick – Unstick.ca
Time for some honest feedback.
Now that you’ve seen what a dendritic painting is, what do you like and dislike about the technique? Share in the comments below.
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