Using the base design of my LEGO-inspired minifigure pop-art illustration from 2023, I’ve created this painting by projecting the image of my minifigure onto an abstract acrylic paint pour on a 20” x 24” canvas. This is the third painting in the series, and is a more advanced version of parts 1 and 2 which simply use black outlines painted on more subtle poured backgrounds. Therefore this is the first full-size canvas painting of the series in which the minifigure is colored-in.

I’ve been tinkering with acrylic paint pours since fall 2023 for a guerilla art project, and as of 2024 I’ve been honing my skills and using new chemicals for better pouring techniques. For this particular paint pour design, I wanted to specifically use the four main colors for CMYK printing – so my chosen paints were neon blue (in lieu of cyan), neon magenta, neon yellow, black, and titanium white paints from Blick Art Supplies mixed with Floetrol latex paint additive. This created an abstract swirled design onto the large canvas, and some of the colors bled together wildly with some cell patterns.

After the poured paints dried, I used a small projector to trace the outlines of my minifigure artwork with white paint primer, and then I went over the shape with black acrylic paint for the outlines. After the black lines dried, I then filled in the blank white areas of the minifigure design with Liquitex neon paints and fine-tipped brushes. I chose neon pink for the torso and neon green for the legs. Next I used a combination of white and neon yellow paints dabbed around the outline of the minifigure to create the effect of glowing.

The majority of the colored paint in the artwork actually glows under a blacklight – the exception being the white areas, since titanium white is not UV-reactive. I did manage to get some special  UV-reactive white paint which I eventually painted over top of the white areas, but sadly the glow wasn’t as intense as anticipated; it does glow, but more of a dull purple rather than a true white glow. Finally after all of the painting was done, I added coats of Liquitex high gloss varnish.