juju's Spraypaint Art Tutorial (lots of pics)

jujumantb · **juju's Spraypaint Art Tutorial (lots of pics) -** 08-01-2007, 05:40 PM

Since a few people seemed interested, this is how ive been making my paintings. I'm sure there are lots more (probably better) ways of making these, this is just my way...

Stuff you need:
- 1/8" thick hardboard (like pegboard but without the holes... i use 2ft x 2ft and 2ft x 1 ft pieces, i suggest menards because they have precut pieces)
-2" painters masking tape (i use the delicate kind, DO NOT use normal yellow masking tape, it will rip the paint up)
- x-acto knife or any fine razor blade
- spraypaint, whichever colors you want... i like flat or satin finish
- pencil and sharpie marker

First, look for a photo, preferrably with some good shadows, I found this pic of bob dylan on yahoo image search, then copy it to your photo editting software. (i use paint shop pro, very similar to photoshop, im 99% sure photoshop has all the same features plus some)
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut1.jpg[/img]

Now, we need to convert it to less colors, you can make these paintings with as many colors as you want, but each extra color means lots more work...
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut2.jpg[/img]

Now this can be tricky, play with the settings a bit until you get something thats starting to look ok..
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut3.jpg[/img]

After applying your changes, you may want to remove background stuff you dont want in the painting, also, if the stencil seems too complicated, play around with blur and contrast settings- then re-do the the step above to bring it back to 2-colors total, this photo didnt require any of that extra playing...
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut4.jpg[/img]

Now, if you are an amazing artist, you can go ahead and draw this on your hardboard... but for accuracy, its pretty necessary to put a grid over it. Before we do this, we need to resize the photo to a smaller version of our hardboard. Since im doing this painting on a total of 2ft x 3ft piece of hardboard, I just divided those inch mesurements by 8 (to make it 1/8th scale) to get 3inches by 4.5 inches. Next, File -> New, and create the new dimensions as 3inch b 4.5 inch and copy the photo onto it as a new layer, then pull the corner to resize the layer to fill the 3inch by 4.5 inch image
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut5.jpg[/img]

Now we have a 1/8th scale of what our final product will be. The reason that is important it so that we can put a grid over it to make exactly 2" x 2" grid squares on our hardboard to make drawing the image WAY easier.
Now, in PSP, its View -> change grid properties.. and set them to 1/4" (which multiplied by 8 will eventually translate to 2")
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut6.jpg[/img]

View -> Show Grid
Now, since the image wont print with the grid, hit the print screen button on your keyboard and paste the screenshot into the program. select just the gridded photo and cut - paste it again, you'll end up with this...
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut7.jpg[/img]

Then print it...

Now for the fun part... first spray your background colors (im doing 2 separate ones for a more interesting look) mine is on two panels, you could cut your hardboard into one single larger piece, it think the panels make it more interesting to look at.
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut8.jpg[/img]

When dry, cover both panels in the 2" painters tape, then use a ruler to mark off a 2" by 2" grid over the whole thing in sharpie.
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut9.jpg[/img]

(im doing one panel at a time from now on)

using the grid, going one square at a time, draw out the negative space in pencil, then go over it in sharpie. Finally, go over it a third time with your knife.
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut10.jpg[/img]

Now, peel away all the areas that are going to the second color..
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut11.jpg[/img]

Spray over the whole thing, let dry, and carefully peel away all of the tape to get your finished piece!
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut12.jpg[/img]

Doing the same for the other panel..
[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/tut13.jpg[/img]

and... FINISHED!

[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/TerryBentley/dylan.jpg[/img]

looks cool eh?

If you had a third color, you would simply recover the whole thing in painters tape, draw the grid, and draw the next color layer the same way.

Let me know if any of that was confusing..

Proteus · 08-01-2007, 06:05 PM

That's fuckin cool dude. I would never take the time to do it though.

[DAS REICH] Blitz · 08-01-2007, 06:06 PM

the ultimate Introduce Yourself / Sig Test / Artwork thread

jujumantb · 08-01-2007, 06:12 PM

[quote="[DAS REICH] Blitz":7673e]the ultimate Introduce Yourself / Sig Test / Artwork thread[/quote:7673e]
as far as im concerned, this forum is the only forum on this site.

1080jibber · 08-01-2007, 07:02 PM

thats nice, i might try it

KTOG · 08-01-2007, 07:07 PM

Nice.

You ever consider dedicating one to multiple layers and extensive detail? These are good but I guarentee you could get some sick effects with more detail and time investment.

jujumantb · 08-01-2007, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KTOG

Nice.

You ever consider dedicating one to multiple layers and extensive detail? These are good but I guarentee you could get some sick effects with more detail and time investment.

thought about it, but i find im really liking the single layer look, the simplicity appeals to me

[DAS REICH] Blitz · 08-01-2007, 07:16 PM

you should make flags with art on top

Chronic Diarrhea · 08-01-2007, 07:38 PM

How long does it take you to draw that out on your hardboard as you're copying the patterns from your picture? Everything else seems easy, but that part would take me hours.

Coleman · 08-01-2007, 07:50 PM

real neat stuff. keep up the good work

Nyck · 08-01-2007, 08:46 PM

yea thats cool as hell, but I just don't think i have the time.

Gonzo · 08-01-2007, 08:52 PM

pretty flippin sweet

jujumantb · 08-01-2007, 10:55 PM

[quote="Chronic Diarrhea":ca64d]How long does it take you to draw that out on your hardboard as you're copying the patterns from your picture? Everything else seems easy, but that part would take me hours.[/quote:ca64d]
it depends on the complexity of course, but for this it took about 20-30 minutes to draw it, then maybe 10 to cut it out. using the grid, its easy to look at one square of it and see about where the line goes, its a quicker process than it looks

Sgt. Paine · 08-01-2007, 11:25 PM

you think this is a good picture to use?

[img]http://www.pinkfloydonline.com/downloads/RogerWatersPaper4.jpg[/img]

Tripper · 08-01-2007, 11:25 PM

Looking good

Why dont you just save time by printing a stencil onto card, cutting it out and spraying it? Then you could keep the stencil and use it again as well...