How to Create a Splattered Painting on the Walls

Lay plastic sheeting down on the floor in front of the wall you intend to splatter paint. If you do not intend to splatter paint the adjacent walls, windows or trim, tape plastic sheeting over them as well. If there are any areas of the wall that you don't want splatter painted, tape those off as well.

Dilute your paint to a thinner consistency. Annette L. Bach, Housing & Home Environment Specialist for North Dakota State University recommends using latex paint. Latex paint can be diluted with water. The amount of water needed largely depends on the consistency of the paint you start with. Pour 1/2 cup of paint into a container. Add 1 tbsp. of water to the paint and stir thoroughly to create a 1 to 8 water to paint ratio. Test the paint by dipping a small brush into the cup and splattering it on a sheet of paper with a flick of your wrist. The paint should come easily off of the brush and splatter readily. If it doesn't, add another tablespoon. Stir well after each addition. Keep track of the water to paint ratio.

Pour a quart of paint (or the measured amount that you think you might need) into a separate container. Dilute it with water at the same ratio that you diluted the test batch in step one. For example, if you added 1 tbsp. of water to 1/2 cup of paint, that will translate to 1/2 cup of water per quart of paint (a 1 to 8 ratio).

Dip the paint brush in the paint to cover the bottom inch or so of the brush. Wipe the end of the bristles with your finger to get rid of excess dripping paint.

Hold the brush in your hand and flick your wrist to splatter the paint on the wall. Short wrist flicks will spread a lot of paint in a small area. Extend your arm above shoulder height and flick downward to knee height to splatter the paint in longer trails. Stand closer to the wall for larger splatters in a smaller areas. Stand further back to spread out the splatter in smaller spots.