Explore gravity with drip painting on a DIY easel. It’s a fun process art activity for kids with unique results every time.
Updated March 2024
Drip painting is an art technique that was popularized by Jackson Pollock (you can see footage of him drip painting).
We’ve done lots of splatter painting, but drip painting is a totally different but equally fun way to paint!
Drip painting is super easy and a great way to learn about viscosity and gravity while making some interesting artworks.
Plus, it’s a lot more controlled (read: less messy) than splatter painting and results in a completely different experience and effect.
We love to do drip painting at a DIY cardboard easel, which is super easy to make and provides just the right angle for lots of drips!
Drip Painting at a Cardboard Easel
MATERIALS
- 3 pieces of cardboard to make a quick DIY cardboard easel*
- Tape
- Paper
- Tempera paint
- Spoon or brush
*You can do this at a regular easel or simply prop a piece of cardboard up against a wall outside or something inside. We made simple cardboard easels by taping three pieces of cardboard (saved from paper pads) together into a triangle.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Set up
Tape paper to one or both sides of your new double-sided tabletop easel.
If you’re doing this activity inside, we highly recommend placing the cardboard easel over a tray or mat to catch the extra paint that drips down.
Choose your paint colors and put them into paint cups or dishes along with a spoon or brush. If your paint is thick, you may want to water it down a bit, so it drips and runs better.
- Drip paint
Drip paint from your spoon or brush onto the paper.
Encourage your kids to drip their paint along the top of their paper/easel so that they could watch the paint drip down the angled paper.
- Let dry
Let your new paint drip paintings dry, then admire and display!
You can also use them as the base layer of a multi-media artwork or cut them up and use them for collages.
Dripping paint is fun!
Kids can experiment with small drips, big drips, and different color combinations. It’s interesting to watch the colors drip into each other and mix.
How about you? Have you tried drip painting art with your kids yet?
More Painting Ideas for Kids
- 7 Fun Painting Ideas for Kids to Try
- How to do Splat Painting for Kids
- 11 Painting Art Activities for Preschoolers
- How to do Splatter Painting with Kids
- 14 Easy Dot Art Ideas for Kids
- Painting with a Kids Art Easel Outdoors
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