How To Crackle Paint With Hide Glue

 In this step by step demo I'll show you how to create an interesting border for your paintings. This technique can be used for a  variety of things, such as tree bark, barn door or an old clay pot, as shown in this picture of my painting.

What is hide glue? Hide glue is made from animal hides. It's used by wood workers and furniture builders. You can find it at your hardware store or home improvement stores. Here is a photo of the kind I use.

The supplies I used for this demo are all here in the photo below. The canvas size is 11x14 but you can use any size you want. I Purchased the hide glue and blue painters tape at my local hardware store. For this demo I chose yellow and red as my underpainting and lamp black as my top coat. You can use any contrasting colors for this technique.

Cracking paint using hide glue is a three step process and it will take two days to complete due to the drying time of the glue.

Step one. First measure and drew lines two inches from the edge of the canvas on all four sides. Then use the blue painters tape to protect the inside part of the canvas, this also creates clean straight edges. Next applied the yellow and red acrylic paint, allowing the two colors to blend here and there. Then let it dry completely

Step two. Now  add the glue in a thin line all around the canvas. Then take a wet brush and smooth it out evenly until the entire painted areas are covered. Thinning the glue with water will create smaller cracks. Leaving it undiluted will create larger cracks. It will take 12 to 24 hours for the glue to dry.

Step three. Now that the glue is completely dry apply the last layer of paint with a 1 inch wash brush or larger. Thin the paint with water before brushing it on. Use varying brush strokes to help make interesting cracks. The cracks happen immediately and it's fun to watch. Cover the entire area quickly, let dry then remove tape.

I created a video showing how the crackling works and put it on YouTube. Click this LINK to see it. While you are there give it a thumbs up.

Here are a few paintings I've done using this techniue.

If you have any questions or like this demo post a comment. I'd love to hear from you. Oh and hit the Facebook and Twitter buttons to share this with your friends.