My first spray painted mural or street art

I very much enjoyed learning to do spray painting or street art from the well know street artist Crisp This was a collaborative effort with artists Crisp and Miko in Bogota Colombia. We had been invited to do some paint a mural of some ethnic Colombians, on the wall of project that assists children in a poor area in the mountains. I chose to do a Kogi Indian, as I had just seen some whilst hiking in the Caribbean. Crisp and Miko went back there a few weeks later and helped the children to do their own art on the wall also.

 Crisp taught me the process of making a stencil which involved choosing the photo, editing it and then making it into a tonal picture on the computer. I found this very was interesting. Then there was the tedious task of cutting the stencil out with a sharp knife and importantly leaving bridges, so the whole thing didn't fall apart. I had to be very careful not to accidentally cutting the bridges after cutting for hours and it was a test of concentration! Lucky I didn't have many layers of card to cut through like some of the experienced artists have.

Then of course there was learning to use a spray can in a way that gave the right effect. No drips, a nice clean line, shaking the can and moving it fast. What a challenge! I felt a great sense of accomplishment when the 1.5 meter Indian was finished. I will find a photo of the finished work for the next blog.

I would love to hear your ideas about street art. More to come in the next installment.

Work in progress. The black layer was done and now fixing the stencil for the next colour.