Introduction: How to Paint a Butterfly With the Pull Chain Technique!

By Birdz of a Feather
About: Like Birdz of a Feather, let's flock together to create sustainably. After all, good planets are hard to find! We're a husband/wife team that takes our inspiration from everything around us; especially things …

You may have noticed stunning examples of acrylic pour painting on Pinterest! I’ve always wanted to try some of these art techniques. But I’ve never really seen it done with chalk paint. So today I have an acrylic pour for beginner project that’s as easy as it is beautiful! And it’s all done with chalk paint instead of the traditional acrylics.

There are so many acrylic pour techniques; you can really get caught up binge watching them on YouTube. One that caught my eye is how to do a beaded pull chain butterfly. These beaded chains can be found as pulls on lamps, roller blinds and even on sink stops. Because I happen to have a whole spool of bead chain to upcycle, it’s the one I immediately want to try out first.

Be sure to watch the video above to see first hand how it's done and then read on for the I'ble!

Supplies

Finally, after finding a whole spool of beaded chain at our local ReStore, I have a use for it! Cut four pieces into 18″ lengths.

When you’re ready to start, fill a container with water to drop the ball chains (and eye droppers) into as the work progresses.

This is my first time painting with a pallet knife; it’s great for quickly spreading the paint after pouring it on. But even a plastic scraper or credit card will do in a pinch. You really don’t need the fancy tools. As for me, I’ll take a new tool over flowers any day!

I have a gorgeous selection of rainbow colour chalk mineral paint. You really only need the smallest amount of paint for the size of canvas I’m using. So if you happen to have leftovers from another project, this art piece is a great way to use them up. The 8 oz. size is more than enough for this project. You’ll still have plenty left over for other fun art projects or more paint pours!

Materials

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Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paints:

Step 1: Mix the Paint

Mix all your paint colours at a ratio of 2 part Floetrol to one part Chalk Paint.

If you want a colour you don’t have (such as orange), mix red and yellow chalk paint together before adding the Floetrol.

I mix in a larger container, then transfer to air tight film canisters I’ve been saving. For all colours, except the black and white, I only mix an ounce because I’ll need only a few drops of each.

Mix at least double the quantities of Midnight Sky and Fluff for the outline and middle of the butterfly respectively. Because it’s nice to have more control over the flow, these two colours should go into a squeeze bottle, like the flux bottle shown in the last picture. The needle tip is handy for controlling the amount on paint.


Step 2: Cut Mask

Now we'll use a butterfly mask on the canvas made our of adhesive liner. You can draw it yourself or can find the free butterfly template in our Birdz on the Fly project library. If you’re not a subscriber, fill out the form at the bottom of this post for access :).

First, trace and cut the butterfly template. Then centre the butterfly onto the canvas and peel back the adhesive while sticking it down.

Step 3: Paint Background

Now, using a paint pallet knife to spread it onto the canvas, layer Fluff, The Gulf and Pure Ocean as shown. Use a water mister and mini angle brush to blend the three colours together. Adding a bit of water will help blend.

One thing I might change is to put the lightest colour at the top. I wasn't really paying attention but either way works!

Allow the paint to dry. Floetrol will slow down the drying time so I let it dry overnight.

Step 4: Painting the Butterfly

After letting everything sit overnight, I found that the colour mixes will tend to separate. When you uncap the paints, give each a gentle stir so you don’t incorporate air bubbles.

Peeling away the vinyl on the canvas and squeeze some Fluff paint into the centre of the butterfly.

Use the pallet knife to spread the chalk paint to the edges.

With the needle attached to the applicator of the bottle, outline the butterfly with Midnight Sky. You only really need to outline the wings; we’ll paint the middle later. When you trace around, it really doesn’t have to be perfect. 

Step 5: Fill in With Colour

Apply the rainbow colours using an eye dropper to form drops of paint.

Squeeze any excess paint in the dropper back into the container. Then, when all colours are complete, draw up some water from a container and let them soak until you’re ready to clean up.

In some instances, I’ll add additional dots of a different colour paint on top. For instance. on the red, I also drop on some orange.

Instead, if you like, you can do two rows of dots side-by-side. Then you won’t end up with quite as much white as I do if that’s the look you want.

All the dots are on! Now for the fun part.

Step 6: Bead Chain Technique

Work on one quadrant at a time (which is why I cut 4 pull chains). Carefully place the chain into the black paint around the perimeter of the butterfly.

Now, slowly pull the chain toward the middle. Keep pulling until you can lift the last little bit off the canvas in the middle.

Repeat the same process using a fresh chain in the next 3 sections.

By the way, if you do two rows of dots and find that too much excess paint is gathering in the middle, use a glue syringe, like this one, to suck up the excess.

The gaps between the dots will leave pretty ribbons of colour interspersed with Fluff.

Fill in the centre section of the butterfly/antennae with Midnight Sky to complete and let it dry. If you wish, you can even touch up after the paint is dry. Even though I have a few imperfections, I choose to embrace those and leave it as is.

Scrape off the excess paint from the stir sticks and let them dry. Now you’ll have a record of your paint colours! Just write what they are right onto the stick. 

To finish I’ll seal with a Gloss Clear Coat. That will really make the colours pop.


Step 7:

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure that chalk paint would work so I’m thrilled that it does! I love how this sweet little butterfly looks with our lampshade makeover DIY!

What do you think? Is this art technique something you would try?

Do you feel ready to try your hand at acrylic pour painting? If you like to learn new skills, don’t forget to get your craft mojo on at Birdz of a Feather and subscribe! You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

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