Spray Paintin' With Clay

Clay Butler is a skillful spray paint artist who makes a living teaching his spray painting techniques as well as selling supplies. Most of his demos can be seen on YouTube and he has his own website at http://www.claybutlermusic.com/artwork.html

His Supply List:

• Krylon Spray Paint
• White Foam Board
• A series of Foam Brushes
• Circular Pots, cups, etc
• Sponge or magazine paper

Clay first starts his paintings by spraying his underlying colors (in this case fushia and white). While the paint is still wet, he uses a ripped out glossy magazine paper and lays it over the paint, slightly twists the paper, and quickly takes it off to give the colors a jagged texture. He lightly sprays another color to surround his texturized moon. Lays a darker color on the lower edges of the moon to provide a contrast in colors and then covers the moon with a pot top. He colors the background with a series of colors. Once that is done, he uses a white Krylon Spray Paint and tilts it to the side in order to spray droplets of white (the stars). He continues spraying the rest of the page with a series of black, gray, and white; eventually, he uses ripped newspapers to give texture. Before he finishes, he uses foam brushed to create the forest of trees under the moon.
I chose this video because it relates to the additive/subtract technique we are using in class for our charcoal sketches. In addition, spray painting has always been in my interest and I have always wondered how artists could create such great portraits with such dramatic effects.