11 February 2014

Spray Paint Art

Spray paint art is a newer style of art similar to graffiti; instead of on a wall or a building it is done on poster board or wood. This art form is usually done in a large city (New York City or Las Vegas) in front of a crowd. The main focus of the piece can consist of planets, comets, buildings, skylines, pyramids, or nature scenes. Along with a subject matter the background can be a one color background or a multicolored background, in the multicolored background, the paint swirls and/or fades together. 

Tools needed
  • Spray paint
  • Painters palette knife
  • Magazine pages
  • Paper towels or newspaper
  • Bowls, lids, cans or other circular objects
  • Respirator
 Process

The artist starts by mentally creating the picture. The artist needs to know where specific details will go (such as planets, trees, mountains, stars, haze, water, etc.)in order to layer the colors. This is almost like painting backwards; the paint for the foreground objects must be put down first.
The technique used consists of a series of well placed layers and textures, predetermined blocking and masking using the lids, bowls and recycled objects.
Ambient effects can also be added by using a painter’s spatula, a window scraper and a straight edge. The fingers in some cases are the best tool. This art style takes time and practice, but, like any other art form, it can become second nature to the artist.

 

4 comments:

  1. I've got tons of family in Vegas and every single time I visited as a kid we went to the strip. Folks are vending all sorts of little knick-knacks but my favorite was always watching the spray paint artists doing this on the street. The impressive part is that they take these pieces of paper and cardboard, fold them into specific shapes to block out a certain aspect, and then go crazy with layers and layers of spray paint. They remove the shapes and voila, you see all the layers working together to create this beautiful piece of art that took ten to thirty minutes, depending on the complexity of the design. Sure, it can be a tourist trap where Vegas visitors bring a little bit of flair from the city, but the art is still beautiful and interesting. Its definitely something to go and see if you're interested in it.

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  2. I've seen spray paint art being created a few times in New York and San Francisco and I think it's a really unique upcoming art style. At first I was skeptical because I don't like the grungy style as much, but after seeing more of it I've realized how refined and clean they can be. The video was really interesting to watch and see the process up close and how much detail goes into each piece.

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  3. It took him 6 minutes to do what would take any other medium hours of hard work to do to come even close. Now I'm going to need to go learn how to do this myself. The work that comes out is beautiful, the style has it's own elegance, and it must require either a lot of forethought to know what to make, or it requires impulse, maybe both. The understanding of the medium required is insane and I wonder how difficult it is to master. It is beautiful work and I love it.

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