Chain pulls are WAY harder than they look! 

By popular request here are the liquid droppers that I used - amzn.to/3B2e7fa

I’m not going to lie, I’m glad to see more established artists struggle with certain techniques. While I never want anyone to fail, it makes me feel better about my own difficulties with chain pulls! They’re my white whale, as it were. But, this is great information to have. I’ll have to revisit this after I get to the reverse flower dip.

This technique is so much harder than people like Olga make it look. You did a great job of something that's really challenging and the final painting is still great even if it didn't exactly like you planned it to :)

Please don’t be hard on yourself you have taught me so much thank you

That wing is glorious!.

And that's how mine turn out too! Olga makes it look so easy!! Hahahah.

This is a wonderful composition! Love your color choices! Nature is imperfect; not symmetrical as our eyes generally lead us to believe. lol

Thank you for sharing this, we see so much of the stunning successful pieces across social media and it’s refreshing to see you working through the creative process and sharing the not quite so perfect moments with us.

I learn sooooo Sooooo much from you

I think that replication is a big challenge, requiring bravery lol. As I think about it, I might try a repair by using small thin swipes. To do it again I might use metallic peacock colors with more cell activity in a few of the colors. I still like it the way it is. I am a conventional realism portrait artist but I have have recently learned that this artwork is no cakewalk requiring abundant practice. Kudus to you.

Olga is who got me into fluid art, I love her work! I don’t have any problems doing chain pulls, but anything else like galaxy or nebula pours forget it. I think you did really good here!

Thanks for sharing.

Props to you for even trying! I'm not ready yet! Maybe I never will be...lol

Good job David! Yes we learn from our less than perfect pours. I appreciate that you gave us tips to try to get ours better. Thanks for sharing!

My right brain is looooving this, so delightful! Now my left brain thinks a way to make a better mirror the images; star with even base paint on both canvases (use way less black), then place first round of dots outlining the wing on one canvas, then "kiss" the canases together, and use the imprrint on both to continuing layering the dots of color. Your steady hand pulling the chain is spot on! Please try again as this could get really cool!

Beautiful!

I started playing with chains and string with paint thinned with floetrol years ago and found it amazingly easy, even taught my grandsons to make simple flowers and butterflies. I am finding acrylic pouring much more challenging because I have no control over the outcome like I do with the chains.

I can't believe you I just bought a chain and I was going to ask you to do a teaching vedio with this Yeah ‼️ Can't wait to watch

Try a chain with larger diameter balls on it. Love watching the experiments!

I like the two much paint side better. Looked cool!

Thought the chain pull would be easier but know different now! Still going to try it!

Its beautiful ,i call that experience ,but still wow 😊

As artists I think we're always hardest on up on work. And I'm laughing seriously out loud because I think everybody feels that way on their first run of these butterflies but truthfully it turned out much better than you're giving yourself credit for. I like your style it was a very good video. Loved all the shout-outs to Olga she deserves them

Thank you for sharing

I think it still turned out good. I have a brand new package of chains, still unopened. I eventually want to try a chain pull, but pretty sure it won't be a butterfly first! Maybe a squiggly snake!😂

The dried results are amazing, beautiful sharing... Thumbs up.

No lie the pull chain technique is my favorite and it’s one of my mastered techniques. Good job and love your videos. Your videos really help me with my run in problems of my pours. 😁😁😁

Butterflies done with chains looks very tricky. I have watched other painters do it and there is always something they would do differently. It's a good learning experience. Getting it symmetrical is a common challenge. I liked watching you do it. I think the "two canvas method" is a great idea. Thank you David.☮️💖🎶

This is a wonderful tutorial, thank you!!!

Absolutely stunning and gorgeous! Your work is very impressive! You are blessed with magical hands for your beautiful creativity! Stay blessed and happy

I really want to try this thank you for your info

LBA, .. Thanx For the materials/Tools list, & Each ART Project/Attempt is an "Experiment'" In Itself. Friends The paint Goes where it wants to not necessarily Where We "Aim" It. Some Artists Have better dexterity & Experience to make things Look easier. Friends don't Give up, Just Buy More canvases or Use Old plywood Pieces or Thick card-board to Further "Experiment " On

I think it looks cool. Nice job and recovery

Looks so good to me ! You're talented ... I'm a newbie... making a mess and wasting paint

Absolutely a technique that takes much practice. You did a good job and I think this came out pretty...reminds me of a colorful moth even though it's a butterfly.... love your videos you are a good teacher.... 🥰😍🥰😍

good morning David watched your butterfly again I really am trying to find my way in all this painting You are such a good person..I can draw a great butterfly but I wanted to do a butterfly but I am going to take some painting lessons from a young lady I met at art store..Try to find what my style is instead of trying to reproduce someone else style..You are great at most every thing..I wanted to do something for my granddaughter.. I don't know how to send a painting photo..Take care

Haven't tried the chain pull yet, but I'm going to. 🦋Thank you for your video and all the information. I really appreciate it.

When you're at the point where the paint isn't "grabbing" ,grab the other end of the chain and slowly pull both sides.

Thank you for sharing. I’ve tried this technique twice. I made flowers I was told they looked real good but I knew better. Maybe my son thought I’d disown him if he said something negative. 😂 But as the saying goes beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I've been hesitant to try this, especially with 2 canvases...I found myself holding my breath as you pulled and pulled again. Well done and appreciate the tips about paint quantity. 👌

Thanks for sharing this fail, I am a beginner in acrylic pouring because of you I started to try to do this with some acrylic paint that I had buy the rest but sometimes it didn't look great after dry. Watching this video give me the information for doing this technique. Thanks for your help today.

I noticed that when you did the first side you were holding the chain down towards t hff e table & when you did the other side it was slightly up higher. I only noticed that because I have done the same thing & didn't like the results. You have to make sure the chains are pulled exactly the same way to get matching sides. I love e chain pulls & do alot of them now. Hope that helps because you have taught us so much. Love your videos.

Not bat at all, in fact a Great Painting. Why? We learn a lot from You in this case and you are a Great teatcher. Showing us what went wrong and How to fix it. Telling about the Gold and That you have to make It a Bit Ticker so It Don,t disapeare. Thank You so much Gone try this one to But I gone use a Christmas Tree chain Thats a size Ticker maybe That helps. I am only afraid of the colour Its red and That can Go off.

You did great as usual. I checked Olga’s video and she made a lot of embellishments before it was that beautiful. You are right also, the base needs to be thin, really thin. I only tried chain pull on black base with dipping the chain in the color silver, and afterwards pulling it on the canvas (in a kind of artistic mess 😅). Now, I see you have problems with yellow too. I can’t find any all made ones that are nice, they all are so too much. I got to soften them with white or pearl light colors. Makes I nearly never use yellow and absolutely never on a black base. But that’s me 😉. Thank you David for this tutorial, you show its not that easy as some show it to be. I learn so much more with your videos than I did in a course. Sure I am not alone.

You did better with the outlines than you thought you did. I've watched Olga's butterfly videos extensively over the past year and from my point of view as I viewer I thought your technique went really well. You're giving me the confidence to try again, at any rate. (I bought butterfly stencils with a plan to drop them onto the paint and lift up, but I haven't tried it yet.)

Thanks for sharing. You did a heck of a lot better than I did trying to replicate that 🤣

Thanks for trying this and sharing with us! I was chuckling when you were talking about not being to draw because that's me too! 🙋‍♀️ I recently got a commission request to make "anything with a cat or dog". I was like "umm, I do abstract art" ... but then about an hour later, I was like "OK, challenge accepted! Lol) After several attempts, I finally was able to draw a very minimalist looking silhouette of a cat and I actually taped it to my canvas to get the outline! Lol Then I just did a string pull to color it in. It was very challenging, but I'm thankful that I at least attempted it!! Lol UPDATE: The video was posted 6/25/22, titled "A Cat's Moonlit Night".

I really like how it looks. Olga goes much slower when she pulls, I think.

Don't be so hard on yourself. I think that turned out great! I really like it.

LOOKS Beautifull!!!, LBA,

I've watched Olga and she does make it look easy but I've still not plucked up the courage to try myself. I do some things with beads/chain and find if I need a certain shape I'll put the chain in place first so I can move it if I need to. Then I add paint around the chain before pulling. Where did you get the eye droppers please? They look just perfect for certain jobs. Great video again and your result really wasn't too bad. You're too hard on yourself.

What I feel helps is marking the base coat with a piece of string or something else that will go from edge to edge. It just gives you a guide to get your design more symmetrical 💡

I paused where you started putting down the chain, to say first off, I notice your chain is a lot smaller than the beaded pull chain or Mardi Gras beads I've seen used. I just got some fan pull chains and going to try this weekend...maybe tonight. I've seen Mardi Gras beads too. Seems the bigger the beading of the chain, the more defined it is when pulling....and the more it seeps between the beads, thus letting the paint not back up as much in one place. Larger beading lets it distribute excess paint more efficiently. At least it looks to me that way.

David, you’ve got to look at AB Creative’s process of creating feathers. In the end, she used a fluffy feather to paint a wonderful feather. Pleease tell me what you think. Babbie Jensen or LeAn Jensen.

If you want to use a old painting that you really don’t like, how do you fix it so you can paint over it, like a new canvas??? Also I follow you and absolutely love all I have learned from you! You are definitely one of my favorite artist!!! Thank you so much!!

Hi David can I use Gesso for coating my canvas and paint on the Gesso? Or should I let it dry then wet the Canvas with acrylic paint?

"Let's see if I can't replicate that over here..." - Every woman who has ever done eye liner.

would it help to use a larger sized chain?

good Sunday everyone. Hello i have been seeing in some pour groups that people are using Acrylic House Paint (interior). Does that work better than using Art Acrylics?

Definitely a technique that takes practice! Ask me how I know! 😂 I like your butterfly attempt, I'm not brave enough for that big of a chain pull! 😳

what size ball chain do you use

I learnd much from your videos. I pour since 08.21 i have so much fun to experimenting and trying new things. Do you have a favourite technique?

I love that you found something you love about the end product! Personally, I don't think it's that bad as a whole. I don't know what you were going for, but this says butterfly. Yes, I agree, there was too much black in places. And you could have kept fussing over and over ... but then it would have been a blob of nothing. Yes, chain pulls are not a beginner project at all. It takes finesse in a way that's more intuitive than teachable. You'd think it would be simple (and for some folks it is), but it's not for the majority of folks. It's an intuitive process, which some folks like yourself who are left-brain dominant can't see fully. I have an ambidextrous brain. Honestly. i know of many things in physics, chemistry (math I hate ... but higher math makes total sense), and I still have the ability to freely throw myself out there and create without fear. Do I fail? Sure, all the time, but I have both sides of my brain to figure out the solution to just about anything. My point is ... try. Allow yourself to fail, and then try again. Edison did this, what, a hundred times before he was successful? Every time you "fail" you learn. That is the result of trying. Failure is education and shouldn't be feared. There is this total misnomer that we only use 10% of our brain. We use 100 percent of our brain. Science can only account for 10 percent of that because at this stage of humanity, we're still stupid as to how we work. Rely on your gut, because that's a signal from our brain that we know more than we think. The mind-body connection is no joke. So, in art, if your gut says ... then do it. If you "fail" , regroup and try again. NO harm, NO foul. And don't ever say to yourself that you're not an artist. EVERYONE is, from the time you could finger-paint. Art is subjective. People like what they do. NO matter what you create, there will be someone who loves it. I did an experimental piece with all kinds of stuff I put on a canvas. I thought it was absolutely horrible ... and yet someone absolutely loved it. So, I gave it to that person for free because I felt it was total crap. I was rid of it and she was happy with it. No harm, no foul. And we were both happy.

What if you let the black dry completely then go back and do the chain pull?

Oh man!! Perfect timing. I tried this last week with horrific results 😂🤣😂 yours is so much better. & I was only using 3 colors. I have a commission for a friend. She even bought me the chains. My paints were way too thick, my base was way too thick… absolute disaster. I scraped the whole thing. I did notice that you pull “down”, I tried that at first, trying to keep more level with the canvas. I had more “limited” success or luck if I pulled up. Does that make any sense? I am going to attempt this again. Seeing your work showed me my mistakes… I like symmetry too. I will probably cut a template out of wax paper. I have used this in the past. Just placing it one the base coat & then carefully removing it leaves an impression to follow… Thanks again for all you do & share!! You are the best.

❤❤

Would it be possible to put the black paint down and let it dry and then put the color on the canvas because you really don’t need the black in the color I would put more the gold but I think I would try it with a dry canvas in black and see where that gets you… I know I haven’t done this I haven’t tried this I have no clue what the hell I’m talking about but to me the logical thing would be to have the black dry

Chain pulls - or rather string pulls, which are definitely a different technique all together - were some of the very first fluid art I attempted - and I was excited by how well they went. (Not well enough that I kept them. Someday. ) Good thing I didn't see your video first; it might have scared me off. (Dont get me wrong; you are still my #1 go-to guy for education. That hasn't changed a bit.) I am still doing a lot of "firsts." Right away I thought it looked like a lot more than a "thin coat" in your base (and I was kinda smug to see how right I was). I wondered: why not use a brush? You sometimes do. Even in your summary, it wasn't mentioned.

It's better to use party beads for pulls. The Mardi Gras type.

It is hard, I am just curious, its been a year it says since you did this, do you feel you have conquered pulling chains yet? I know for me, its been a challenge. But you offered some great tips. Thanks.

I have been trying to get this technique down. But for the life of me just can't do it.. I get too much paint and it turns to mush.. So I try to get some paint off only to put more paint on..Oh Lord I gave this up for a while Maybe I'll give it another go..

I actually liked the black centers but I get that's not what you were going for. It's very pretty but she makes everything look so easy!

Olga uses a bigger ball chain. I think 4/6mm. It's not a case of too much paint, you just need a bigger chain. No never call yourself an idiot! I've experimented, a 5mm ball chain worked well! Try again!

Don't call yourself and idiot! Not true. Have you tried pulling both sides of the chain together, and make sure put the chain on the outside of the paint of the butterfly. Thanks for making for making the boo-boo for me!

Also don't put gold on all the dots. I hope these help you!

Artists are their own worst critics It is very pretty to me 🤷🏼‍♀️

It looks like you put too much paint down as the base.