Spray Paint Art
By Al Mu
The process of spray paint art has come a very long way since the
days of its beginnings back in the beginning of the 1980s. Are you even
aware of how this very popular art form even got started? You probably
aren’t even aware that it got started when an artist in Mexico started
painting some pretty intricate paintings on wood, canvas and poster
board using nothing more than spray paints and a few specific tools;
most of them common to other art forms.
Well, exactly what tools are used? There are some pretty simple tools
that are used in the creation of some of the most intricate and thought
provoking art seen anywhere. Many people are surprised to see that no
paint brushes are used at all. Are you aware that you can use a magazine
page to help you in texturing your paint to set a lunar landscape? This
is only the beginning of the tools that you use in spray paint art. You
can also use round lids for soda bottles and small or large ice creams
tubs to create all sorts of round shapes in your paintings. You would
also be using stencils off all sorts to create the patterns that you
want when you are working on canvas. This is an easy way to control
where the paint actually goes. There are a couple of other tools that
spray paint artists use to texture their creations: a joint compound
spatula and different sizes of clay molding tools. These are also used
to create the textures that make the design what it will be.
The process of creating a spray paint art picture starts with taping
down the canvas or poster board that you will be using; making sure that
you tape all of the edges so that you end up with a pure white border.
This is the “frame” of the picture. You would then start with a base
coat of paint, like white or another light color. Given the fact that no
paint brushes are used in this process, you quickly learn that art of
color control in placing the colors where you want them and learn how to
use newspaper and magazines pages and paper towels to create the
different textures and parts of the designs that you are making.
Creating a very rough texture, like for a tree trunk or lunar landscape
is a matter of spraying down a layer of brown or grey paint and then
taking the magazine page and laying a small corner in place, then pull
it up quickly to create the texture that you’re after. You can use a
small ˝ gallon ice cream lid to create a very large planet or a sun by
spraying onto it the color that you want and pressing that down on the
picture in place. You can also use these to create the outlines that you
want for things like an all-seeing eye. There are two more thing to
remember: use latex gloves and a painter’s mask to keep the paint out of
your lungs. |
