Melbourne, Australia

Learning to spray paint

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Learning to spray paint - Your first step to creating graffiti and street art

Want to turn blank walls into amazing art? Learning how to use spray paint is your first step. Professional graffiti and street artist Danny Awes shares his experience to help you improve your spray paint skills.

Why learning spray paint techniques matters

Before launching your street art journey you should consider learning spray paint techniques. Start with basic techniques and then move onto advanced. Why? Because spray paint is the medium of choice for graffiti and street artists around the world. This is because it's fast drying, it coats your surface well, the colours are vibrant, and spray paint covers uneven surfaces easily and effectively. Spray painting needs controlled body movements, pressure control, and awareness of space that only comes with practice and good advice.

How spray paint has changed urban art

Spray paint was just a household tool that artists adopted as an effective medium for graffiti and street art. Since the early days of hardware paint, companies have emerged that make specialty art-grade spray paints designed for the urban artist. Better quality, smoother valves, better nozzle systems and vast colour options readily available from art stores in most cities. Professional spray paints like Montana Colours offer high quality paints made just for graffiti art.

Essential spray can knowledge for new graffiti and street artists

Understanding your tools: how a spray can works

Spray paint cans are portable, compact and ready to go whenever you are. Becoming a successful graffiti or street artist starts with getting to know your main tool.

Knowing how a spray can works means you understand why paint comes out of the can the way it does. Spray cans can become blocked and even stop working — and all of this affects how your final piece looks.

Nozzles

Nozzles (or caps) are very important for spray paint art. They change how paint comes out of the can and the width of line you can spray. Skinny caps, medium caps and fat caps each create very different effects — and knowing which cap to use and when is one of the key skills that separates beginners from artists who get consistent, professional results.

Looking after your cans for consistent results

How you store and maintain your cans directly affects your results. Cans that aren't looked after properly lose pressure, block up, and let you down mid-piece. These simple habits will save you frustration and money — and keep your spray paint in top condition.

Mastering professional spray techniques

The key to good can control

When creating graffiti and street art with spray paint, you are usually working at a big scale. This means you move your whole body to spray long lines and fill in large areas of space. So it's a lot different to traditional brush painting where you're working at a smaller scale. Professional street artists develop specific muscle memory that helps create their technique and style.

Want to know exactly how to develop that muscle memory from day one? I cover body position, stance, and can control in detail in A Complete Guide to Street Art & Graffiti — or if you're not ready to dive in yet, grab my free guide to get a clear picture of the journey ahead.

Advanced can control for dynamic spray paint effects

Once you've mastered the basics, there's a whole world of advanced can control techniques used by professional street artists to create dynamic effects. This is where things start to get really interesting — and where most beginners realise how much there is still to learn.

Gradient transitions
Smooth colour transitions that fade from one shade to another — creating depth and dimension that flat colour simply can't match.

Controlled dripping
Planned drips that add raw energy and movement to a piece — when you know what you're doing, even gravity becomes a tool.

Sharp edges vs. soft blends
The contrast between crisp, defined lines and gentle colour blends — and knowing when to use each — is what gives a piece visual sophistication.

I covers all of these techniques step by step in A Complete Guide to Street Art & Graffiti — including the exact methods I've used across decades of professional work. Not sure if the course is right for you yet? Start with my free guide and get a clear picture of what the journey looks like.

Colour theory basics for impactful graffiti art

Understanding how colours work together doesn't just improve your spray paint skills — it lifts your entire artistic approach. The difference between a piece that looks amateur and one that stops people in their tracks often comes down to colour choices: contrast, harmony, depth, and knowing how light and dark interact. It's one of those things that sounds complicated but makes immediate sense once someone breaks it down properly.

Draw Paint Academy has a detailed guide to colour theory with excellent examples of how professional artists use colour theory to create painted masterpieces.

Creating your ideal workspace for street art

Preparing surfaces for high quality graffiti results

Great graffiti art begins before the first spray. Surface preparation makes a real difference to how your paint applies and how vibrant your colours end up — and it's something a lot of beginners overlook entirely. Temperature, humidity, and what's already on your surface all play a role in the final result.

Safety tips for serious street artists

Professional street artists take care of their health while making art. Good ventilation, the right respirator, and protecting your skin aren't optional extras — they're basics that let you keep doing what you love for the long haul.

This is just a quick overview — there's plenty more to know about setting up safely and getting your workspace right before you pick up a can. My free guide is a good place to start.

From beginner to expert: building your graffiti art skills

Practice exercises to develop spray paint mastery

Regular practice with specific goals will speed up your development — and the artists who improve fastest aren't necessarily the most talented, they're the ones who practice with intention. There's a real difference between picking up a can and messing around, and working through structured exercises designed to build specific skills.

A Complete Guide to Street Art & Graffiti includes hands-on exercises across all 25 lessons — built specifically to accelerate your progress and get you painting walls with confidence as fast as possible.

Document your progress by photographing your practice pieces

This visual record helps identify areas to improve and celebrates your growing mastery of graffiti techniques. Don’t forget to share your efforts and tag us on instagram! @90degreesart

Finding inspiration and developing your unique street art style

While technique is crucial, authentic artistic expression comes from developing your own style. The artists who stand out aren't just technically good — they've developed a visual voice that's unmistakably theirs. That comes from studying widely, experimenting freely, and paying attention to what excites you beyond just street art itself.

The most memorable street artists don't simply copy existing styles—they push boundaries and create distinctive approaches that become instantly recognisable.

Taking your graffiti art to new heights

Mastery comes through consistent practice, experimentation, and studying both old and new street art movements. Document your journey, connect with fellow artists, and continuously challenge yourself to grow.

Learn directly from Danny Awes

Ready to speed up your development? A Complete Guide to Street Art & Graffiti gives you direct access to professional techniques taught by Danny Awes — 30+ years of experience distilled into 25 focused lessons, from your first spray can to painting a full mural.

The course covers everything: spray paint fundamentals, advanced techniques, stencils, paste-ups, stickering, and the complete mural design and production process.

Not ready to commit yet? Grab the free guide and get a clear picture of what it actually takes to go from beginner to painting walls with confidence.

Sign up for the course

A complete guide to graffiti & street art

Further resources:

Want to be a street artist? Here’s how to get started

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