How Futura Manages Spray Paint Levels

Leonard Hilton McGurr, commonly known as Futura, is one of the early forces of the subway graffiti art movement and a pioneer of abstract street art. His career has taken numerous turns, spanning the worlds of graffiti art, music, fashion, product, and formal gallery and fine art painting.

Born in 1955 in New York City, Futura gleaned early inspiration from the future-forward 1964–1965 World’s Fair and Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, the latter of which informed his nom de guerre. He began writing graffiti under the pseudonym Futura 2000, painting New York subway cars alongside his childhood friend Marc André Edmonds, a.k.a. ALI in the early 1970s. Futura and ALI would eventually form the Soul Artists, a collective that explored how graffiti would evolve as a new form of public art.

In the early 1980s, he also participated in The Times Square Show, proclaimed “the first radical art show of the ‘80s” by the Village Voice. His works were also included in group and solo exhibitions at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, Eric Firestone Gallery, the Galerie du Jour Agnès B., the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and the FUN Gallery alongside street art luminaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf. In 1997, he launched his own studio and brand platform, Futura Laboratories, to ensure that his work would continue reaching audiences beyond the canvas. The brand sells streetwear clothing, toys, and other collectibles, and opened a retail store in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2004.

Spray paints are liquid paints that are contained in an aerosol can. A can of spray paint comes with a button on the top that dispenses paint when you press down on it. Aerosol spray cans work by using compressed gas as a liquid propellant. Aerosol spray paint is an alternative method of painting to using traditional paint brushes and comes in many different colors and finishes, from high gloss to matte.

Spray paint cans typically use aerosol to dispense paint in a fine mist. Other products that use aerosol in a similar way include hairspray, spray deodorant, or insecticides. Aerosol products typically come inside an aluminum or metal can with compressed gas that becomes a vapor when the can's nozzle is opened and the air pressure inside the can is released. Here is an overview of how aerosol cans work, specifically when it comes to spray paint.

1. 1. The paint and gas are added to the can in liquid form. Inside a spray paint can, liquid paint is mixed with pressurized gas, which remains in liquid form when it is at room temperature.
   
2. 2. Shaking helps to mix the liquefied gas and paint together. Most spray paint cans also include a ball bearing inside. When you shake up a can of spray paint, the ball bearing rattles around helping to mix the liquefied gas and the liquid paint so that when the nozzle is opened, the gas carries particles of the paint up through the dip tube and out of the nozzle.
3. 3. Pressure is released when the nozzle is pressed. When you press the nozzle of a spray paint can, it opens the can’s valve system. Pressing the nozzle of the can changes the air pressure inside which causes the liquefied gas to boil and become a vapor. Pressing the nozzle also siphons gas through the nozzle hole, releasing the vaporized paint and creating the “spray” effect.
   

When you’re making a piece of street art, you may need to work with multiple cans at once to make your finished product. You should develop a system for managing the paint levels in these many cans, because different levels can help you achieve different effects. For some helpful spray paint tips from the artist Futura, see the list below:

1. 1. Check your can levels. “If you're having a studio practice and you're working with spray paint, you need to be aware of the levels of all of these cans,” says Futura. Whenever you pick up a spray can, take note of the fullness level. Brand-new cans offer lush color and high pressure, which is great for covering large swaths but risks pooling on the canvas if used at close range. A can at 100 percent full is best for covering large areas of space. Cans that are filled to 75 percent are best for general details, and a can that is half full can be used for techniques like semi-blending. A can that is 25 percent (or less) full doesn’t have much propellant in it, which means less air pressure and less paint. These cans are best to use for smaller dots and finer details are possible when there is less paint and pressure in the can. Depleted spray cans may be easier to use when creating concentrated details but will sputter and splatter as the paint and propellant run out (though an artist can also use this to their advantage).
2. 2. Organize your spray cans by fullness. Futura recommends organizing your spray cans by fullness. “This way, when you want to, you're not messing around with a full can,” he says. You can group your spray paints into four rough categories: 100 percent full, 75 percent full, 50 percent full, and 25 percent or less full. These levels are largely judged by feel, which comes with experience, but a full canister is noticeably weightier than an exhausted one.
3. 3. Shake the can thoroughly, no matter the level. “Shaking paint is probably the most important thing,” says Futura. “Shaking your paint mixes it with the propellant so that your spray can be a fine and even mist of color.” Even if you’re working with a can that is almost empty, you want to make sure that you’re shaking your can thoroughly.
4. 4. Turn the can upside down to control thickness. “This technique of spraying upside down is essentially how I'm able to control the width of my lines and the actual line, per se, that I would like to use,” says Futura. While you can use this with full cans and nearly empty cans, you’re more likely to get a thinner line with a can that is half or one-quarter full.

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