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