How to Make a Graffiti Stencil

Supplies:

• Paper
• Art board
• Yard stick
• Permanent pen
• Craft knife with snap-off blades
• Adhesive spray
• Hard squeegee
• Pizza box or cardboard box
• Tape
• Matte black spray paint

1. Draw or photocopy your subject matter on to paper whether it be text or image or both.(Hint: if your going to photocopy an image first, open it in an image editor turn it black and white and turn the contrast way up.)
2. Get a piece of art board that it would be a few inches larger than the subject matter on each side.
3. Spray the back of the subject paper with adhesive and place it glue side down. Wait for it to dry.
4. Cut out the black outlines and portions with a craft be sure cut through both the paper and the art board. When cutting be careful to leave ligaments of paper to connect separated shapes, this is VERY important otherwise the stencil will not stay together and will be useless. A trick graffiti artists use when the stencil is complex or fragile is to use undone paper clips or wire to reinforce these paper ligaments.   
5. Find a folder to carry your stencil in because after it has been used it will be covered in wet paint, a pizza box works great for smaller stencil or for stencils with pieces that would fit inside.
6. Finally find a place to apply your stencil and tape it to the surface. Then shake the spray paint can for 10 seconds.
7. Hold the spray can eight inches away from the stencil and spray back-and-forth across the cut-out areas in sweeping motions. Try not to spray any paint outside the edges of the stencil. Use as little paint as possible to avoid causing drips. Remove the stencil from the wall and place it into its cardboard folder.

Personal Hero

Micheal Larsen, known by his stage name Eyedea, was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. He originally planned to go the University of Minnesota to double major in psychology, and physics. At the age of 17 he was discovered by the local band Atmosphere and began touring. He had appeared as a solo artist, and as the MC half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities (along with longtime friend and collaborator DJ Abilities). He also released an album under the pen name Oliver Hart, the live band Carbon Carrousel, and Face Candy. Never before had I heard music even close to his before, including both musical style and lyrical content. From the first time I listen to him I was hooked it is classified under hip hop but his poetic verses, complicated subject matter was a new experience entirely. He talked about the things I thought about or things I had been through intelligent and original way. Unlike the “Mainstream” Hip Hop that I never listen to, Eyedea actually had things to say that went beyond the unoriginal, egoistical braggadocio that has become so common in Hip Hop today. Many his songs have underling themes of philosophy, and psychology.

What do you like/dislike about blogging? What problems have you experienced? What problems do you foresee happening in the future? How is this class better or worse than a traditional writing class?

I am indifferent to blogging; I don’t fully understand what I would use it for. The fact I could get paid pulls a certain amount of interest, for that reason I find it preferable compared to a traditional writing class. As far as the interface is concerned I find intuitive and easy to use.

What did I do last weekend and how does it relate?

Last weekend started reading Gravity's Rainbow, Which the TIME included in its "All-Time 100 Greatest Novels," and described as "a funny, disturbing, exhausting and massive novel, mind-fogging in its range and permutations, its display of knowledge and virtuosity—a metaphysical, phenomenological, technological Mad Comic. The author seems to have read and understood everything from quantum mechanics, probability theory and engineering manuals to the labels on bottles of 1920 Schloss Vollrads, Tarot cards and rock lyrics. This, and much more, Pynchon catalogues and tickles into fantasies so elaborately detailed that most of his readers will come away feeling illiterate in the terms of the 20th century" Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,903913,00.html#ixzz1XrBC1UHq

Dcals

How Do I connect to world through the internet?

I connect to world through the sites Wikipedia, YouTube, and Google at least that is where usually start. I go to YouTube to learn how to do different things or watch music videos. I use Google for things like research. Wikipedia is also great to learn new subject because it is constantly updated and has an extensive amount of subject matter. If I want to connect to friends I use Facebook. Facebook help me stay in contact with people who I do not live nearby or people I don’t see very often. Facebook also keep me up to date with my favorite band and local events. Other ways I use the internet to connect to the world is email if I’m doing something more formal or there is a situation were I need to send a text document, picture, or audio file. Last week I emailed a PDF file to my friend who wanted it.  

If you could take your blog in any direction, what would it be? Why?

If I could take my blog in any direction it would probably intertwine a combination of music, art, philosophy, psychology, and science. I find all of these subjects interesting and believe are connections and parallels between them. Some examples this could be psychologically what are the effects of music on someone who plays music versus just the listener. The same could go for art. How can music or art make us feel a certain way? Does the person who creates the art feel the same way about it as the observer?