What is cell art?
Cell art is a type of fluid pour art that creates organic, bubble-like patterns called "cells" within the design. This style, known as the SheleeArt Bloom Technique, was developed by Australian artist Shelee Carruthers and has become a favorite among fluid artists worldwide.
This 3-step process begins with a base layer of paint, known as the Cushion or Pillow, which provides a smooth foundation for the colors to float on.
Next, acrylic paint and pigments are mixed with a pouring medium and layered into the center, followed by a Cell Activator—which, as its name implies, create the cells.
Finally, the entire piece is spun to spread the design across the panel surface. Spinning the wet paint creates a beautiful pattern and, as the Cell Activator reacts with the paint and pigments, it forms large, vibrant cells.
In this tutorial, Toronto-based contemporary abstract artist Ellice Yang demonstrates how to create your own cell art piece using the SheleeArt Bloom technique, finished with a glossy resin finish. Along the way, she shares her favorite tools and tips to help you achieve beautiful, professional results.
Let's get started!
Watch the full video tutorial:
What Do You Need To Make A Cell Art Painting?
- Plastic liner to protect your work surface
- Disposable gloves
- An apron
- An 18" circular wood art panel
- Masking tape
- Lazy Susan or a spinning cake stand used for cake decorating
- Black latex house paint. Ellice used Sherwin Williams Color-To-Go.
- Artist quality acrylic paint in Magenta, Teal, and Purple and Amsterdam's Titanium White
- Pigment powder by This Little Piggy in Ballet Slipper, Sequins, Lakeside, Velvet, and Constellation
- Behr Dynasty Paint & Primer
- Varathane Triple Thick Polyurethane
- Jo Sonja's Polyurethane Varnish
- Australian Floetrol
- Plastic mixing cups & stir sticks, 1 per color
- Level
- Hair Dryer with a flat face (Ellice uses a Yiiho brand hairdryer)
- ArtResin
- Graduated measuring cup
- Stir stick
- Heat gun or torch
- Dust cover
Step 1: Prepare The Paint
There are 3 main layers that work together to create the beautiful patterns and formations that Cell Art is known for.
1. The Pillow or Cushion Layer
The base layer, known as the Pillow or Cushion, is typically a thick layer of latex house paint. It provides a thick, smooth foundation that enables the other layers to float and spread during the spinning process.
Ellice suggests using sample sizes from the paint store. She finds that Sherwin-Williams Color To Go or Glidden Essentials Eggshell are the perfect consistency for the pillow paint. You can use it in white or have the paint store tint these sample sizes. In this tutorial, she is using Sherwin-Williams Color To Go, tinted black.
2. The Paint and Pigment Layer
Next, acrylic paint and powdered pigments are mixed with a pouring medium, one cup per color, and are layered in a puddle on top of the Pillow layer.
In cell art, it's important to use a combination of powdered pigments and artist quality acrylic paints. The varying opacities and viscosities react with each other and with the Cell Activator to form big, beautiful cells.
In this tutorial, Ellice uses a selection of This Little Piggy powdered pigments from Fluid Art Co in the following colors:
- Ballet Slipper – A soft pink.
- Lakeside – A deep ocean blue with a hint of gold.
- Constellation – A sparkly purple.
- Sequins – An iridescent pigment that shifts between pink and purple.
- Velvet – An iridescent pigment that shifts between blue and violet.
Acrylic paint can be added directly to the mixture and stirred thoroughly. For powdered pigments, Ellice recommends wetting them first with a few drops of Jo Sonja Varnish before mixing them into the medium. This ensures the powder blends smoothly and evenly.
TIP: There are many different recipes for pouring medium online, but a key guideline to remember is to adjust the consistency: the medium should be slightly thicker for powdered pigments and slightly thinner for acrylic paint.
The top layer is known as the Cell Activator and this is where the magic happens! Its job is to react with the colors beneath as it's gently spun or blown out, creating cells as it spreads. It has the thinnest consistency of all three layers.
The cell activator is made of acrylic paint mixed with Floetrol—most fluid artists specifically choose Australian Floetrol due to its thinner consistency which encourages better cell formation. You can use American Floetrol thinned with a little water, but you may not get the same results.
In this tutorial, Ellice prepares her Cell Activator by mixing Australian Floetrol with Amsterdam's Titanium White.
TIP: Instead of Titanium White, Ellice suggests you can use other opaque acrylics such as Lamp Black or Payne's Grey by Amsterdam or any of Atelier's metallic acrylics.
Step 2: Test The Paint
Ellice starts by doing a quick test piece on a tile to ensure that the paint consistency is good and that the cell activator is working as it should.
First she lays down a black pillow base on the tile.
Next, she drizzles Magenta in the center, followed by Ballet Slipper, Teal, Velvet, and Purple.
Then, she drops a small dollop of Cell Activator in the center.
Ellice uses her breath to blow the cell activator across the surface. It's important to note that she isn't blowing straight down, but instead, she blows across the surface, making her way around the tile. 
Once she is happy with how the cells are forming, Ellice tilts the piece to stretch it out across the tile. She starts in one corner, bringing the design back to the center, then tilts the opposite corner. Finally, she brings the pattern back to center once again.
Ellice repeats this step in the last two corners. She uses a gloved finger to encourage the paint to spread where needed and to fill in any bare spots with paint run off, before bringing the design back to the center once again.
Ellice is happy with her test results and is ready to start on her main piece!
Step 3: Pour The Layers
Starting in the center, Ellice pours the pillow coat of black paint over the base. She pours a generous amount, but leaves a little space around the edge.
TIP: If the pillow coat is off-center after pouring, Ellice suggests tilting the panel and adjusting the paint until it's centered.
Immediately after the pillow coat has been applied, Ellice starts layering her paint in the center, alternating between the thinner pigments and the thicker acrylic paints.
She begins with one of her pigment colors, Ballet Slipper.
Next she applies Magenta, one of her acrylics.
Then Ellice drizzles on Sequins, one of her iridescent pigments.
Ellice drizzles on a small amount of teal acrylic. She notes that, since it is an opaque color and can be a little overpowering, a little goes a long way.
Ellice then applies 3 layers of her pigment powder starting with Lakeside, followed by
iridescent Velvet, and Constellation.
Finally, she applies a generous amount of Purple acrylic paint.
TIP: It's important to finish off with acrylic as the last layer before the cell activator. The thinner pigment layers will absorb the cell activator, whereas the denser acrylic paint will carry it across the surface, resulting in very clear cell definition. 
The next step is to use a gloved hand to spread the paint out to the edges and sides of the panel so that the entire surface is covered.
Last step is to stir the cell activator well in the cup, and then to pour a small amount in the center of the panel.
Step 4: Spin The Panel
Use the hair dryer to move the cell activator across the paint, while slowly spinning the panel so it spreads evenly in all directions.
TIP: When it comes to cell art, the blowing technique is quite specific: the idea is to gently spread the cell activator across the surface without blowing down. A flat faced hair dryer like the Yiiho dryer works really well for this technique, but Ellice suggests you could also use a dryer without the attachment.
Allow the design to settle back into place. Next, use your breath to spread out large, concentrated areas of Cell Activator across the surface.
Tilt the panel until the design comes back to the center.
At this point, Ellice likes to use a palette knife in circular motions around the perimeter of the design, pulling curls of the paint out towards the edges. This step will help add detail and create beautiful patterns when you spin.
Now we’re ready to spin! Give the panel a couple of spins, pausing anytime you wish to check on it. If you see the design is leaning too much to one side, tilt the panel to adjust.
Then, give it another spin to spread the paint out a bit further, pausing to tilt and adjust as necessary.
Ellice gives the piece two more spins.
TIP: Ellice says not to worry too much if your piece has some black areas after spinning; the negative space can look really nice and help to balance the piece.
Ellice is really happy with how this piece turned out! You can see so many different details in the cells and the different colours peeking through.
The next step is to cover the wet painting to protect it from dust and allow it to fully dry for about 3-4 weeks. Ellice uses a large stretched canvas and props it up over the painting on 4 large paint cans.
Step 5: Prepare & Apply The Resin
After 3-4 weeks, the paint will be fully dry, leaving the surface with a flat texture and a matte finish. A topcoat of resin will restore the gloss and allow all of the colors to pop, especially those iridescent pigments.
TIP: To prep the painting for resin, Ellice varnishes the edges and lets them dry. She then tapes off the edges with high-quality painter's tape to keep them clean.
Next, she prepares the ArtResin.
If you're unsure how much ArtResin to use, enter your panel’s dimensions into our Resin Calculator. For example, Ellice's 18" circular panel needs 9 oz total resin, so approximately 5 oz of resin and 5 oz of hardener
Wearing gloves, measure equal amounts of resin and hardener into a graduated mixing cup. Stir well for 3 minutes, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the container to ensure thorough blending.
To ensure the resin is completely mixed, Ellice likes to transfer the resin into a clean cup and stir a bit more.
When pouring, Ellice recommends starting in the center of the panel, pouring as close to the surface as possible to minimize air bubbles. She saves a little resin in the mixing cup for touch-ups.
Once the resin goes on, you’ll see all of the interference shift colors just pop! Ellice spreads the resin out from the center to the edges with a flat-edged spreader, gently dragging it over the edges.
She uses her gloved hand to spread it out, ensuring the edges are covered.
With the remaining resin, she touches up any areas with bare spots or that look a bit thin. For Ellice, this is typically the edges.
Next, she uses a torch to remove bubbles.
TIP: After torching, we recommend you look for bits of dust particles in the resin, using a toothpick to fish them out.
Ellice covers the freshly resined piece with a dust cover and lets it cure for 24 hours. We can’t wait to show you the big reveal!
It’s been 24 hours, the tape has been removed, and our piece is ready to reveal!
Ellice says: "It looks so shiny! I just love how the resin is bringing out all the different interference colors and pigments. The resin gives your art pieces a professional finish. I just love how this has turned out!
Even if you use the same colours, the same pigments, and the same techniques, each piece comes out looking a little different, and that’s what I love about fluid art."
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial and decide to give Ellice's Cell Art a try! If you have any questions or comments, please drop them below.
A huge thanks to Ellice for sharing her techniques and tips with us!
To see more of Ellice's art:
Visit her website: www.elliceyangart.com
Follow her on Instagram: @elliceyang_art
Check out Ellice's other fluid art tutorial in our blog Dutch Pour Painting For Beginners.
ArtResin: The Original Epoxy For Resin Art.
