Joanna Carver, reporter
Think you need talent and training to become a painter? Just by exploiting the physics of paint, you can create eye-catching, abstract images.
"Accidental painting" was invented by muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1936, but now Roberto Zenit and colleagues from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City are reproducing the technique to investigate the fluid dynamics involved. Using a glass panel as their canvas, they observed how patterns emerge from spreading paint, as seen in this video. They used acrylic lacquers because they dry quickly, allowing a pattern to be preserved. "If paint dries too quickly, patterns won't emerge," says Zenit. "But if it takes too long, the paints will mix and the painting becomes a slab of grey."
Different colours of paint have different densities because of the pigments used, which results in pretty patterns when they interact. The team found that the bottom layer must be heavier and darker than the top one: for example, white on black creates an interesting effect whereas black on blue doesn't work.
Jackson Pollock, famous for his drip painting technique, was present when Siqueiros discovered the method. "It's very sure that he gathered some ideas from Siqueiros," says Sandra Zetina, Zenit's co-author.
The research was recently presented at the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics conference in San Diego, California.
If you enjoyed this post, check out how bubbles behave in a kettle beyond boiling or watch exploding bubbles create violent jets.
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