You probably won’t see the street artists do this, because they know very well from hundreds of paintings where the planets should be. We do it because it allows us to play around and find a balanced composition before we put all the paints down,
Spray Paint Galaxy Art in 30 Minutes!
Inspired by the street artists on our trip to San Francisco, I decided to try and paint a galaxy, something I always thought to be so magical and mysterious. In this little project, all you need besides spray paint and paper, are things you can find in your recycle bin, and no art training required!
The first part of this tutorial is here, where I listed tools and materials, and shared a simple 5 minute painting of some planets floating in space. Now you saw the warm up, let’s paint the real thing and amaze yourself at how fun and easy it is to create art!
We will be using a 22″x28″ poster board here and this 3M painters mask works great if you plan to do a lot of painting or other finishing work!
Step 1: spray paint the spiral galaxy
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Place an oval stencil (Covered Stencil Method, see a list of all the cool techniques at the end of this tutorial) in the center of the galaxy, and create a dark background covering half of the painting with soft mist of black and metallic blue.
Make 3 cut-out oval stencils, going from larger to smaller, lift them about 1″ to 2″ above the surface of the painting (Raised Stencil) and paint the center of galaxy from yellow, to pink, to white.
Cut out a couple of spiral forms in another piece of cardboard, and again use the Raised Stencil method to create several spirals going outward from the center of galaxy, using purple and blue paint.
This method allows us to create more accurate spiral forms with nice soft edges.
Step 2: how to spray paint galaxy planets
Place some of the circular objects where you want the planets to be, gently spray a little black paint to mark them, and remove the covers.
You probably won’t see the street artists do this, because they know very well from hundreds of paintings where the planets should be. We do it because it allows us to play around and find a balanced composition before we put all the paints down.
Start with the first planet, use 3-4 colors, and start with either the lightest color, in this case lime green, and quickly go to the next shade – metallic blue, and the darkest – black, overlapping the adjacent colors. Don’t be concerned about staying within the planet makings. You can also go from dark to light colors, which creates a lighter planet.
While the paint is wet, quickly crumble a piece of newspaper, open it, and lay it on top of the painted planet area, very gently run your fingers on top of the paper. This will lift some of the paints and create a cool texture on the planets. Lift the paper and here we have the start of a planet!
The colors for some of the other planets are white-purple-blue-black, pink-green-blue, etc. See final step for more tips on color harmony!
After all the planet areas are painted, we will cover them with those cans and lids, and create the space around them.
Step 1: Language of Spray Painting
In dance, when you really practice and know the steps, you can forget the steps and become one with the music.
The purpose of this section is to try to clearly define some useful methods and techniques unique to spray painting, which has not been written about widely. Some I learned from watching in the streets and on YouTube, some I figured out and modified through my failed paintings.
The ultimate goal is to forget the techniques and fly with your imagination.
Here’s a summary, and each is covered in more detail in the steps they are used.
- Soft Mist :after creating some uneven blobs of paint, I figured this out- it sounds so counter intuitive- instead of pressing the nozzle then start moving the paint can, do the opposite, get the can moving, then press the nozzle! This will create a even and natural looking mist, without a heavy starting point. See Step 3 & 5
- Newspaper :while the paint is wet, use newspaper to lift some of the paints and create a cool texture. Can be used to create planets, mountains, etc. See Step 4
- Covered Stencil : stencil touches the painting, creates defined shapes with sharp edges. See Step4
- Raised Stencil :stencil is lifted a couple of inches from painting, creates defined shapes with softedges. See Step 3 & 6
- Bounced Paint :spray not the painting, but a straight or curved surface perpendicular from the painting to create a very soft line. I used it to create the spiral galaxy in an earlier painting –see last 2 images in Step 7– but find method 4 easier and quicker. Still, this method has a lot of potential for sure!
- Star Clusters :spray some paint on a small piece of thick paper and tap with your fingers on the back of the paper to create clusters of stars. See Step 6
- Comet :a quick tap on the bottom of a upside down spray can will create a comet / shooting star. See Step 6
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Step 2: Materials and Tools
This painting will take about 30 minutes. If you feel nervous, you can follow along a simple 5-minute painting here which only uses a few of the techniques as a warm-up!
Materials and Tools:
- 3M Mask 5201– this mask is under $20 but works great, I can’t even smell the paint. If you plan to do a lot of spray painting or other types of finishing, it’s very important to use a mask!!
- Spray paints: I used Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch, and Metallic Blue which is widely available. In this painting I used black, white, pink, yellow, metallic blue, lime green and purple. See final step for tips on colors.
- Poster Boards: Target has a great heavy weight kind, 22″x28″ which is used in this painting. Make sure to use the glossy side for painting! Tape it onto your work surface, here i used a piece of plywood covered with recycle paper.
- plastic pots, cans, lids, of various sizes, anything with a round shape and a raised or hollow side so it does not touch the paint when placed over the painting
- newspaper, and a small piece of thick paper such as magazine cover
- cardboard for stencils
- gloves
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Step 3: Spiral Galaxy
Place an oval stencil (Covered Stencil) in the center of the galaxy, and create a dark background covering half of the painting with soft mist of black and metallic blue.
Make 3 cut-out oval stencils, going from larger to smaller, lift them about 1″ to 2″ above the surface of the painting (Raised Stencil) and paint the center of galaxy from yellow, to pink, to white.
Cut out a couple of spiral forms in another piece of cardboard, and again use the Raised Stencil method to create several spirals going outward from the center of galaxy, using purple and blue paint.
This method allows us to create more accurate spiral forms with nice soft edges.
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Spray Paint Galaxy
Create these awesome galaxy paintings just with some spray paint!
- Poster board (cut to your desired size)
- Masking tape
- Round lids from containers/jars, plastic bowls – These will get spray painted!
- Plastic bag
- Disposable gloves
- Spray paint in various colors – I used yellow, blue, red, purple, black and white.
Step one: Make sure you have a work space set up outside – Spray paint travels, make sure you have a lot of space away from everything! You will need tape your poster board down, Glossy side up! I used a piece of plywood to tape mine to, cardboard would work as well! The tape will hold your paper flat and still as we work and also create a white border on you paintings!
Step two: Add a little color to your poster board with some of your spray paint. I used yellow and blue (we still want to see some of your paper).
Step three: Place some of your lids/bowls on your slightly colored poster board. These will become our planets and moons! Then spray your paper with some of your colors – it doesn’t need to be super dark yet, however, we can cover most of the white! Once you have it colored then remove your lids!
Step four: Spray paint your planets & moons! I like to keep one side of my planets lighter and make one side darker – this makes them look more like a sphere!
Step five: You can also create texture on your planets or moons by layering some colors quickly, then crinkle your plastic bag up and press it into the still wet spray paint. Immediately remove the plastic carefully.
Step six: Once you have your planets complete, cover them back up with your lids and bowls. Now spray your paper with black! Add other colors too to create nebula! I used blues, purple & pink! Overall we want your paper to be fully colored and on the darker side!
Step seven: When you’re happy with your background we’ll add stars! Make sure you have gloves on for this part! With your white spray paint, spray some paint onto your gloved finger tips – flick the paint onto your painting! Keep adding more until you have enough stars! Let your painting dry!
Step eight: When your paint has dried, remove the lids/bowls to reveal your planets and carefully remove your tape!
Have fun making these awesome galaxy paintings!
