Spray Drawing
Spray Drawing is the technique with which I produce most of my paintings. It is a layered process that involves following a few stages as detailed below.
- Create a bright, block coloured background on your piece,
- Using spray paint in either a contrasting colour or in black, spray the outline of the object to be drawn,
- Working in layered colour, use different tones of the same colour to add detail and definition to the objects.
- Add a final black outline and dark shadows to complete the piece.
I mostly paint everyday objects that I pick up in specific locations. As such, this is a great project to introduce pupils to unusual sources of inspiration as well as original ways of using media. Pupils are often intrigued by my choice of inspiration as all too often the notion that artists paint the beautiful prevails amongst them.
At Belle Vue Boys School, I introduced my work with a PowerPoint Presentation, demonstrated my working technique and then aided pupils in creating their own piece in a similar style by following through my process. Pupils got the chance to pick everyday objects from a selection, spray draw and use layered tones of one colour to produce a finished piece. Each group had just over 1.5 hours to produce their piece and as such they worked on A2 card.
This project can also link well into existing schemes of work that focus on contemporary styles, such as skateboarding, street art, graffiti art and so on. At Belle Vue Boys, the project was integrated into a BTEC scheme of work based around skateboard art.
If you would like to find out more about having an inspirational workshop or project based around spray drawing then please do get in touch on sarah@sarahjanemason.com
Examples below come from Y9 pupils at Belle Vue Boys School, Bradford.