-Spray Paint and It's Properties-
Terminology
Graffiti would be nothing without the spraycan. To spray with skill you have to know your cans. There are many brand choices and every brand performs differently. It's best to know as much as you can about the paint you are using before you begin painting with it. This way you will know what to look for.
Can: duh.
Cap: For clarity, the "cap" refers to the piece that you push down on and the paint comes out of, not the big plastic cylinder that encases the top of the can on the shelf. We call that the "top". Caps, nowadays, come in a huge variety of styles and colors. They range from super-skinny that spray lines as thin as a pencil and super-fat that spray lines as wide or as round as a basketball.
Top: The plastic shell protecting the cap from being accidentally pressed.
Tip: A cap.
Nozzle:This term is ambiguous; don't use it.
Ring or Donut: Spanish Montana(as well as most other brands nowadays) has a color donut and Belton Molotow has a ring on the top of the can that indicate the color of the paint, designed to stay attached with the top removed so you always know what color you are using.
Valve: The valve is the hatch that opens when you push down on the cap. There are different valve systems with properties discussed below.
Propellant: Propellant is compressed gas in the can that makes it spray. More propellant means heavier spray or higher pressure while less propellant means lower pressure.
Base: The base is the liquid that carries the paint's pigment and attaches it to the surface. A base can be water, oil, latex, alcohol, acrylic or other things. Spray paint is usually oil or latex based. The newer brands of paint (German Montana, etc.) are acrylic-based. Markers are often oil or alcohol based, but some are also solvent-based. Water-based paint is good for the environment but not good for resisting drips, the buff or UV rays. Water-based ink or paint will fade faster than oil or solvent-based ink or paint.
Pigment: Pigment is the ingredient that gives paint its color. It is an insoluble powder, as opposed to dyes, which are liquid solutions. The finer the pigment is ground the better UV (fade) resistant the paint or ink is.
Pea: The industry term for the ball(s) inside the can that mix the paint when you shake the can. Also known as marbles or bearings.
Hue: The "color" of the color (light or dark red, light or dark blue, etc.).
Saturation: The "boldness" of the color, from pure color to grey.
Lightness (or brightness): The color's position on a scale from pure light to pure dark. On a modern computer monitor or color printer, it is thought that every visible color can be defined by its hue, saturation, and lightness.
Thickness: This is a general term for how "thick" the paint seems to be. It varies by the density and cohesion of the base as well as the amount of pigment in the paint. Paints that are too thin will cover poorly and tend to drip; paints that are too thick will clog your caps often and consume more paint than perhaps is needed.
Opacity: Similar to thickness, opacity is the opposite of transparency. An opaque line leaves no indication what color is underneath it, while a line with poor opacity will be tinted by the color below it. Opaque paint covers completely with one pass while semi-opaque paint may need 2 or 3 coats to completely cover the surface.
Paint Properties
Coverage: Some paints completely replace any color beneath them with their color. Other can let the undercoat show through. "Coverage" means how much area can be covered by a given amount of paint; which collelates to how opaque the paint is, among other things.
Coverage is important because a $3.00 can of Krylon is no better value than a $6.00 can of Molotow, if the Molotow can give you twice as much coverage (meaning you would need 2 cans of Krylon to cover the same surface space as 1 can of Molotow).
Within all brands, certain colors cover better than others.
Valve System: Fixed-Pressure vs. Variable-Pressure: There are two valve types; fixed-pressure and variable-pressure. With fixed-pressure valves (often called "high-pressure valves"), the can is either spraying or it is not; with variable pressure valves (often called "low-pressure valves"), the can may spray lightly or heavily depending on how hard you press down on the cap.
The technique for using fixed-pressure versus variable-pressure cans is a bit different; if you're used to one type of valve and try the other, take some time to get the feel of the other system.
High/Low Pressure vs. Fixed/Variable Pressure: Many companies garble the difference between these two classification of pressure systems. Variable/fixed pressure distinguishes between having and not having control of the can pressure as described above. High/low pressure simply describes how much paint will be coming out.
Pressure is determined by a few factors, including:
-The amount of propellant in the can;
-The amount of space for propellant in the can, left over from the space taken up by the paint; and
-The density (thickness) of the paint in the can; among other more technical ones.
High/low pressure varies from one product line to the next; for example, Rustoleum paint is more pressurized than Belton paint.
Also, pressure varies by the size of the can. Larger cans are usually higher pressure than smaller cans.
Can Sizes: High-Pressure vs. Low-Pressure: Spray paint is available in a wide variety of can sizes, all the way from 10ml to 750ml.
As can size increases, the unit price of the paint goes down, but the pressure goes up. With a tiny can, you will get less paint for your money; with a huge can, you will be unable to create detailed lines.
400 ml cans are most common size, and this is a good balance between value and can pressure.
With 600 ml cans, you get 50% more paint for only a dollar more. But, the pressure issue is a problem. In a 600 ml can, the spray will be very powerful for the first half of the can's life. Once the can is about half empty, the pressure eases up a bit. But since 600 ml cans generally only make wide spray, they're really only good for fill-ins. But most companies offer only black, metallics, and a few colors in the bigger sizes. Blacks and metallics are not popular fill colors, so your choices are limited.
With a little creativity one can find a good use for the large cans, but in smaller 400 ml cans are generally better.
Smaller cans have the opposite problem. You can do great work with 250 ml cans, but you get less paint out of them. The lower pressure means you will have more control over the spray (particularly with variable-pressure systems like Montana Alien Art Concept), and this yields a hidden benefit: with lower pressure cans, you can hold the can closer to the surface you're spraying, and thus lose less paint into the air.
Still, smaller cans are less paint for the money.
Conclusion: The 400 ml can is your workhorse, the 250 ml can is good for touches and effects, the 600 ml can is good for filling in large undetailed areas.
Paint companies determine how much propellant to put in the can by trying many amounts and choosing the one that is the best balance of desirable pressure, and balance of pressure. Balance of pressure is how even the pressure remains from a new can to a depleted one. As a can is used, the amount of propellant goes down as the space for it increases, so generally, a new can will spray more vigorously than an almost-exhausted one. There is a greater change in cans with less propellant than cans with lots of propellant, making higher pressure cans more desirable, but on the other hand, cans with too much pressure cannot do detailed work precisely.
So, companies try to make their cans with as much pressure as possible, without being too pressurized to use effectively.
It generally comes that larger cans have more pressure than smaller ones. Big cans are dynamite and small cans can do incredible detail work. 400ml is the most popular size because it seems to have the most popular balance of control and size value.
But remember, this is not the same as fixed-pressure and variable-pressure. F/V determines the user's amount of control over the flow of paint; H/L determines how much pressure is in the can. Please use these terms correctly even though the leading manufacturers of spray paint do not.
Working Temperature: Some brands of paint simply do not work in extreme temperatures. Montana MTN does not work below the freezing point, while Belton Molotow does. Check your can, most state their temperature range.
Pigmentation: Some brands use more pigment than others, and some colors have more pigment than others. Most pigments these days are synthetic, as opposed to the olden days when indigo pigment was actually harvested from indigo. Many colors are blends of different pigments, for example, MTN's Solar Orange is a yellow pigment mixed with an orange pigment. Paint companies use different amounts of pigment, and the ones that use the most generally have the brightest colors.
Different pigments, for lack of a better scientific understanding "just sometimes work better than others" and you will find that some colors are just better than others. The only way to find out for yourself is to experiment.
Color Selection: Naturally the artist prefers having the most possible choices of color.
Peas (Mixing Balls): We just noticed this, but some brands have one or more peas. Having more peas makes it quicker and quieter to stir the paint around. Montana Hardcore has two peas, Molotow has at least two, while Rustoleum and Krylon only have one.
Metallics and Fluorescents: Metallics and fluorescents look really cool in the catalogs. The fluorescents appear staggeringly bright, and some metallic paint looks great for adding that "bling."
But when you actually use them, problems emerge.
With metallics, the problem is that they cannot be painted over. We don't know why, but if you try to paint over chrome colors with ordinary colors, the metallic color sort of "eats" the wet color. This makes metallic paints really tricky to use when piecing.
It's a pity, but that's how it is, with every brand of paint.
With fluorescents, the problem is that they don't show up properly on anything except white. And even then, the coverage is terrible. This is true with all brands of fluorescent paint; it takes like three coats for it to show up well.
Also, metallic and fluorescent paint smells terrible.
Metallics and fluorescents may still be used for special projects, but for typical piecing, they do not work that well.
Cans: High Pressure and Low Pressure
Spray paint is available in a wide variety of can sizes, all the way from 30ml (picture of a shot of liquor) to 750ml (picture a fifth of liquor).
As can size increases, the unit price of the paint ($/volume) goes down, but the pressure goes up. With a tiny can, you will get less paint for your money; with a huge can, you will be unable to create detailed lines.
400 ml cans are most common size, and this is a good balance between value and can pressure.
With 600 ml cans, you get 50% more paint for only about a dollar more. But, the pressure issue is a problem. In a 600 ml can, the spray will be very powerful; really only good for fill-ins or bombing. But most companies offer only black, metallics, and a few colors in the bigger sizes. Blacks and metallics are not popular fill colors, so your choices are limited.
With a little creativity one can find a good use for the large cans, but smaller 400 ml cans are generally better.
Smaller cans have the opposite problem. You can do great work with 250 ml cans, but you get less paint out of them. The lower pressure means you will have more control over the spray (particularly with variable-pressure systems like Montana Alien Art Concept), and this yields a hidden benefit: with lower pressure cans, you can hold the can closer to the surface you're spraying than usual, and thus lose less paint into the air.
Still, smaller cans are less paint for the money.
Conclusion: The 400 ml can is your workhorse, the 250 ml can is good for touches and effects, the 600 ml can is good for filling in large undetailed areas.
Paint companies determine how much propellant to put in the can by trying many amounts and choosing the one that is the best balance of desirable pressure, and balance of pressure. Balance of pressure is how even the pressure remains from a new can to a depleted one. As a can is used, the amount of propellant goes down as the space for it increases, so generally, a new can will spray more vigorously than an almost-exhausted one. There is a greater change in cans with less propellant than cans with lots of propellant, making higher pressure cans more desirable, but on the other hand, cans with too much pressure cannot do detailed work precisely.
So, companies try to make their cans with as much pressure as possible, without being too pressurized to use effectively.
Generally larger cans have more pressure than smaller ones. Big cans are dynamite and small cans can do incredible detail work. 400ml is the most popular size because it seems to have the best/most popular balance of control and size value.
But remember, this is not the same as fixed-pressure and variable-pressure. F/V determines the user's amount of control over the flow of paint; H/L determines how much pressure is in the can. Please use these terms correctly even though the leading manufacturers of spray paint do not.
Metallics and Fluorescents
Metallics and fluorescents look really cool in the catalogs. The fluorescents appear staggeringly bright, and some metallic paints look great for adding that "bling."
But when you actually use them, problems emerge.
With metallics, the problem is that they cannot be painted over until they are totally dry, and metallics take longer to dry. I don't know why, but if you try to paint over chrome colors with ordinary colors, the metallic color sort of "eats" the wet color. This makes metallic paints tricky to use when piecing.
It's a pity, but that's how it is with pretty much every brand of paint.
Until recently you had to wait until the metallics dried, but since brands like Spanish Montana have started making their "Silver Killer" cans you no longer have to sit there and literally watch the paint dry.
MTN Nitro 2g is a great paint from Spanish Montana. You can spray it right over any metallic colors while it's still wet and the Nitro 2g covers the paint.
This makes these cans absolutely necessary for bombing with metallic colors. The MTN Nitro 2g is also available in 10 of their best selling colors from the Hardcore line.
There are also "Coversall" and "Blacktop" cans by Molotow. These are also excellent and perform the same when used with metallics.
The Montana Nitro 2g comes in 400ml and 500ml cans while the Molotow Coversall and Blacktop come in 400ml, 600ml and 750ml sizes.
Spanish Montana uses an acrylic base for the Nitro 2g while Molotow uses a bitumen (or tar) base for their Coversall & Blacktop cans.
With fluorescents, the problem is that they don't show up properly on anything except white. And even then, the coverage is terrible. This is true with all brands of fluorescent paint; it takes like three coats for it to show up well.
Also, metallic and fluorescent paints smell foul. But you should be wearing a respirator anyhow.
Metallics and fluorescents may still be used for special projects, but for typical piecing, they do not work well. Still, you should try them out; you may find them useful.
Caps
Caps may be the most important tools of graffiti. Without premium paint, a skilled artist can get by with cheap paint. But without the right caps, painting can be frustrating and tedious. Filling in large areas without a fat cap is painful. Making precise outlines without outlines caps is unbearable: you have to cut back over and over again to get them right, unless you have a good outline cap. Know your caps; they are essential to good writing.
People's style is influenced, to some extent at least, by the paint and caps they use. But also, the paint and caps people use influences their style. When people get comfortable with different types of caps, they get used to the technique of painting with those types of caps, and paint. And just like a Rusto user will need to adjust to a Molotow can, a Black Micro cap user will need to adjust to a German Outline cap.
Everyone Prefers Different Caps
All artists have individual preferences about caps. Some disagree strongly with one another. Some have different experiences with the same caps. It is up to you to decide which caps you prefer. It's sort of like drummers choosing from the many different sizes and shapes of drumsticks to use; everyone has their own preference.
In many cases, superstition has as much to do with people's preferences as the actual performance of the cap.
For best results you should try as many cap/can combinations as you can until you find which cap and can you are most comfortable with. Do not take others' advice on what you yourself should use because everyone's opinion and skill level is different. What works for you might not work for someone else and what might be your favorite cap/can combo might cause nothing but problems for the next man.
You'll learn to prefer some caps over others. And you probably won't agree with everyone else. Even the pros have major disagreements pver product preference. You'll have to learn what you prefer.
Terminology
Dot: The dot is the little piece on the front of the cap that the paint comes out of.
Width: This is the most obvious parameter. It's how wide your line is. The grey dot is the skinniest; the pink dot is the widest.
Hardness (or, "sharpness"): This determines whether you have a cap that distributes paint evenly across the line (hard), or one that puts more paint in the center and less paint on the edge (soft). The German caps (outline/pro/fat) are the hardest; the "dot" series is the softest. Also, the closer you hold your can to the surface, the harder the line gets. A black dot from 6 inches looks mighty soft, from 1 inch you get a much sharper line.
Soft edges are also known as "feathered" edges.
Weight: This is how much paint comes out. If a cap is too heavy, drips become more likely, but if it is too light, the colors beneath may show through (which is OK, if you're fading or blending). The brand of paint you use with your cap also makes a big difference--some paints can be light and drippy (really cheap brands often are) and some paints can be heavy and still not drip (Montana). But, all else being equal, the heaviest caps are the needle caps (we don't even carry these, they're so bad); Rusto Fats and Orange Dots are on the heavier side while the grey, black, and gold dots are probably the lightest.
Compatibility: This makes all the difference. If a cap doesn't work with your brand of paint, then what good is it? Some caps perform very differently depending the brand they're used with.
Regularity: Some caps with some brands produce funny non-circular shapes. With calligraphy caps, it's intentional. But if a cap makes an irregular shape, it's a bad cap. Many stock caps with generic brands make weird irregular shapes.
Longevity: Some caps clog up more easily than others, and some paint causes caps to clog more easily than other brands. Generally skinny caps clog faster than fat caps. MTN paint seems to clog caps a little more frequently than other brands.
Ultimately, every artist develops his or her own preferences based on experience, and artists of equal accomplishment can have totally different opinions about which caps are better than others (just like musicians and their brand preferences.) The best way to find out which you like the best is to try everything and decide for yourself.
the Caps
German Outline (a.k.a. Skinny Banana, Sparvar Skinny): The line is medium-thin, the edge is VERY sharp, the weight is medium. An ideal outline cap. Works great with Krylon and Rustoleum, and OK with MTN. DOES NOT WORK WITH MOLOTOW or GERMAN MONTANA. These can be found in four different color schemes. Their properties seem to be identical, but many people are superstitious about different colors. Some artists swear by the grey model. MTN America says the black ones clog less. You decide for yourself.
Universal cap: This cap seems identical to the German Outline, except that it works with Belton Molotow and German Montana paint.
German Pro (a.k.a. German 2 & 4, Skinny Pro): Unlike the German Outline, this cap works with Belton Molotow and German Montana, and for those brands, the line has the same properties as the German Outline above has with other brands. Used with Rustoleum, Krylon, and Spanish Montana Hardcore, the line is slightly wider and softer than the German Outline.
Gold Dot (a.k.a. Super Skinny #1, Super Skinny): This is a very thin and light cap. With high-pressure paint, it is no thinner than the above outline caps, but with lower-pressure paints it can create incredibly thin lines. It can be used from very close range to get tiny little lines or from a little further for blending. It is very versatile, but unfortunately, as ulta-thin caps tend to, it clogs easily. Works poorly with MTN Hardcore for some reason.
Grey Dots (a.k.a. Super Skinny #2): These caps are ultra-skinny like the Gold Dot. People disagree about which is skinnier. It works great with Krylon, Rusto, Montana, and Molotow. It is really light and thin, very useful all-around.
Compared to the Black Micro, it is about the same in width, but a little softer and lighter, perhaps making it better suited for drippy brands (these caps hardly ever cause drips).
Black Dots: Black Dots are the same as grey dots, but just a little bit wider. Black dots make good outline caps for large high-pressure cans, and also low-pressure cans. Their spray is a little softer than the Black Micro, a little wider than the grey dot.
New York Thin: The New York Thin cap is known by many names. New York Outlines, phantom tips, thins, micros, and skinnies. They are medium-thin, semi-soft, medium-weight. They work well with Rustoleum, Krylon, and Montana Hardcore. IT DOES NOT WORK WITH BELTON MOLOTOW.
A very good cap for fading and dusting. The shape is circular and the distribution is even, but it is not very thin, compared to the caps above. It is a real middle-of-the-road cap, but it's more reliable than the stock caps on more generic brands of paint. It works well with the cheapie brands.
Black Micro (a.k.a. Molotow Super Skinny): works well with Spanish Montana (MTN), Molotow, and also with Krylon and Rustoleum. With a black finish and a black dot, it definitely is the coolest-looking cap. It produces a very thin line, but with a sharp edge and medium weight. Great for doing outlines when you want something thinner than the German Outlines above.
Silver Super Fat: This is one of the most versatile caps out there. It produces a wide line, wider than any of the caps mentioned above, with a sharp edge. The coverage is an even perfect circle. But with Montana and Molotow, you can actually make skinny lines with it by holding the can very near the painted surface. With Rustoleum, the cap still works great for wide lines, but from close up, the line will be too heavy and drip. With Krylon, the cap works OK, but beware of drips--the Rusto Fat may be a better choice.
Rusto Fat: This is one of the most preferred fat caps. The Rusto Fat is named after Rustoleum but works very well with other brands, including Krylon and Montana Hardcore. IT DOES NOT WORK WITH BELTON MOLOTOW, GERMAN MONTANA, OR ALIEN ART CONCEPT. Compared to the New York Fat cap, it is heavier; better for fill-ins but not as good with slow and careful lines. Compared to the German Fat cap, it is lighter, producing better results with the cheaper brands of paint. The edge is soft.
New York Fat: The New York Fats produce a medium-wide, medium-weight, semi-soft line, much like the New York Thins but slightly broader. The caps themselves look a lot like the NY thins, too. To tell them apart, note the ridges: the Fats have wider ridges than the Thins. Also, the very center of the dot looks a little different. But the ridges are the easiest way to tell them apart. Same compatibility as the NY thins, but these caps will work with Molotow. Compared with the Rusto Fat, these caps are a bit lighter. They are good for large fades, and for making wide lines more slowly.
Astro Fat: the Astro Fat is very wide, on par with the pink dot. It is wider than the Silver fat cap above. It works best with European brands like Montana and Molotow. The coverage is uneven with American brands.
Orange Dots: Orange dots are really versatile fat caps. They are wider than New York and Rusto Fats, and about the same as Silver Super Fats. Works well with most brands of paint. Compared with Silver Super Fats, the line is a little softer and lighter, and probably a better choice for American brands of spray paint.
Pink Dots: Pink dots are probably the fattest caps available. You can make lines 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) in diameter. As you get closer, the weight can get very heavy. Good for filling in large areas (or making giant paintings). Works with almost every brand of paint. With cheap generic brands, you still get an even spray, though not as wide for some reason.
Blue Dots (a.k.a. Smooth Softs): Blue Dots are made for stenciling. They produce a medium size line, of a regular circular shape, but the weight is not constant-- it tends to fill out the circumference and leave a light center. This makes them really good for stencils, since you can get edges good without getting overspray. Strangely, the width is narrow when used with Rustoleum paint. With other brands, the spray is medium-wide. Great for stencils, blends, and fills; poor for outlining. Works with most brands.
Calligraphy Cap (a.k.a Transversals): These caps have a special insert that creates a "linear" spray instead of the circular spray that the other caps have. That is, the spray will be wide in one direction, narrow in the other. The coolest part is that you can rotate that little insert so the line can be any direction you like--vertical, horizontal, or any diagonal. Great for signing your name, or just creating cool effects. This cap works with almost all brands of paint, but the width of the line varies from one brand to the next. It makes a very soft, thin line with Montana, a more medium line with Rusto, Molotow, and Krylon.
SEKT Cap Adapter: the SEKT Cap Adapter is a new adapter that fits on the top of male valve spray cans. Since most American brands of paint have altered their cap & valve systems to deter graffiti (Krylon), there are some that simply changed the valves from female to male, changing from a male cap to fit into the female valve to a male can that fits into the female cap.
The SEKT Cap Adapter is a small disc-shaped piece of plastic that allows the stem of the male valve to be inserted into the center, just like any cap. The difference is the top of the cap adapter also allows the male cap to be inserted into the adapter so all regular caps can now fit the new male cans. There is a plastic tube inside the cap adapter that allows the paint to flow through into the cap.
It takes some time getting used to it because it feels like you have a cap on top of another cap, which is kind of odd at first, but after a few minutes you get used to it.
The SEKT Cap Adapter comes in 2 colors-pink and yellow. The pink adapters fit all Rustoluem cans (American Accents, Stops Rust, Painters Touch) and the yellow adapters fit cans with a slightly larger (or wider) valve like Kilz and Zinsser.
You can purchase the SEKT Cap Adapters right here.
*Notice: there are a wide variety of caps now available. Even though most are the exact same cap just recycled or made in a different color, they have the same characteristics as the cap(s) mentioned above.
There are, however a few brand new caps now available. I suggest that if you are serious about your writing and artwork you should grab a few of the new caps to experiment with. The better tools you have for the job the easier and more fun it is every time you paint.
[from A2Planet. updated by JaySki.]
