Old School Stealthy Stencil

by Scurl!

24K1799

Intro: Old School Stealthy Stencil

This is a trick learned from CRASS stencilers.
You'll need:
scissors
paper grocery bag
side of half rack box sized stencil
tape
spraypaint
maybe bluetack or something else to affix the stencil to the wall temporarily. i just use tape.

STEP 1: Cut the Bottom Out of a Paper Bag...

make the hole slightly smaller than the stencil so as to have something to tape on, and give it a little strength.

STEP 2: Tape the Stencil to the INSIDE of the Bag

if you leave alot of space around your design you'll have enough support to keep your cans in the bag itself. best to use the small model sized cans so you can move your hand around in there.

STEP 3: That's It! Now You've Got a Normal Looking Paper Bag

with the voice of errant youth in the bottom. put the bluetack/tape on the bottom, press it up against a wall, and spray! ta-friggin'-da...

105 Comments

MajHunter 17 years ago

As a Police Officer I am constantly having to deal with taggers and their vandalism. As Fungus Amungus said "Most graffiti is boring and ego-driven and aimed at an insider audience." In Fresno, Graffiti needs to be painted out within a matter of days. Study after study has shown that Graffiti is one of the items that leads to higher crime rates. It falls into the "broken window theory."

Seattle PD's website has a good synopsis of the broken window theory here.
http://www.cityofseattle.net/police/prevention/Tips/broken_window.htm

Graffiti costs the City of Fresno $1,461,700 a year for removal. That doesn't even count the cost to businesses and citizens for things we cant paint over (business signs, road signs, etc.) That is money that could be spent to improve peoples lives, to make Fresno a safer place, to fund skate parks, schools, art classes, etc. Instead it is wasted painting over graffiti.

Thank you for contributing to the problem.

Furah 12 years ago

Commission someone to draw up some artwork. A library was having issues with people tagging a wall. The hired some artists to graffiti the wall in a theme suitable for a library. In over a decade nobody has even attempted to tag the wall. The wall is much more visually appealing now and it was far, far less costly than removing/covering the paint every time some punk sees that their artwork was removed.

beanqueen 13 years ago

it should be decriminalized, then crime will drop dramatically! also, in europe. you'll see ten times more graffiti, and there is a fraction of our violent crime. your stat is wonky. the public belongs to the public. keep us safe, please. but city administrators and cops aren't aesthetician or curators. don't worry about the graffiti, please.

ilpug 14 years ago

 and what about the brand name thrown up everywhere? those should be removed to, because they are justas offensive as  tags. as an artist i think that dirty words have no artistic value, but some of the more profound work is actually art. APPRECIATE PEOPLES CREATIVITY! you should read "WALL AND PEICE" by Banksy.

MajHunter 14 years ago

Please refer to my reply dated April 3, 2007 10:00PM.  Covers most of what you just said.

Actually my buddy has that and I have been aware of Banksy for a long time.   His stuff at least has a message and is done well.  "ZxBAdaZZmofo" scrawled on a house in spraypaint has no message, serves no purpose, and simply defaces property.

NinjaSloth 15 years ago

If it costs that much don't remove it. DUH!

biffula 17 years ago

"Graffiti costs the City of Fresno $1,461,700 a year for removal." Proof!!!! Don't just throw out a statistic without your proof. Sounds like some lameass crap a cop would through out with nothing to back it up because he heard it in some continuing ed. seminar and took it for sacred. If they spend that much they need to hire out to a private contractor cause it could be done for much cheaper, I'll guarandamntee you. Too many entitled civil service govt. teet suckers on the dole.

Yvonnepaigeness 17 years ago

waste your $1,461,700 on something alot more constructive. I can understand some graffiti is ugly to look at and crude, But some is beautiful no matter what anyone else says.

I enjoy to see the art side of graffiti, but i will say i hate to see "f*** yous"
and similar graffiti that has so artistic value.

ITS FREE ART.
why waste so much money removing it?

thank you.

MajHunter 17 years ago

Yvonee thank you for keeping your reply civil, unlike "lampajoo".

I have no problem with TRUE urban art, when done with the permission of the owner. We have many businesses that hire urban artists to paint murals on their store walls. There is no use and no art for straight tagging.

You live in Oregon, so I'm sure graffiti isn't used in the same context as it is here in Fresno. I would personally estimate that about 90-95% of our graffiti is gang related and used to mark off territory, diss/challenge opposing gangs, etc.

We are overwhelmed by gangs. We have been hitting one gang so hard, they even put a hit out on our Chief. We have thousands of gang bangers and hundreds of gangs and gang sects. We have over 4000 validated members, 1500 associates, and 4500 non-validated members/associates in just ONE gang alone.
http://www.fresno.gov/NR/rdonlyres/854C8EFA-162C-4C4B-A0E9-87B7E0C0F4DB/0/MinutesNovember2006.pdf

Graffiti serves as the newspaper for the gang culture. In any neighborhood where we allow graffiti to stay up, quickly gang violence follows. The faster we paint over a challenge/etc, the less likely that challenged will learn that someone is dissing him. Spray paint on a wall can lead to blood on the street.

osh-kosh 17 years ago

Ok so Fresno is infested with gangs? What's that got to do with people making stencils and tagging telephone poles and bar washroom walls in Toronto? Nothing probably - sounds like we're living in two different worlds. I think you can't apply your experience to everyone or every instructable. I think the idea is great and that you're experience has turned you into a zealot.

8bit 15 years ago

I think it's a result of the way police are trained in the USA nowadays. Its more of a military fashion than the police our parents grew up with. Its sad and disturbing.

vaquerita 15 years ago

you're right, it is a different world. it's california. i would probably have to resort to cutting to cope with the stress of even living there ever again. and to be a cop, a teacher or an amusement park attendant there has to be about the worst of it!

lampajoo 17 years ago

Graffiti is not what causes gang wars. Gangs are fueled by illicit drug sales. Like during alcohol prohibition. Now get rid of the prohibition and you get rid of the gangs, it's as simple as that. We don't have people getting shot over whiskey and gin anymore, do we?

JuCo 15 years ago

not completely true... sure, that's an income that fuels gang violence, but there's a number of other things that they have their hands in. illegal gambling, black market trade, gun trade, prostitution, etc. now, i don't disagree that a change in legislation could help, but it wouldn't rid the country of gangs like you're implying.

lampajoo 15 years ago

Make all those things legal too. Gambling should be completely legal(state lotto but no card games?) Prostitution of course should be legal. guns: two words, 2nd amendment. Governments are just preeminent gangs. They like to dress what they up do in holy garb but one group of armed men is no different than another group of armed men. They will always seek to regulate the commercial activities going on around them. By legalizing drugs, and prostitution, gambling, etc that would bring all these things under the purvue of the MAIN gang, "the government." If you can't recognize the basic equality between "gang bangers" and "beat cops" then you will be hopelessly conceptually lost and never come to any correct conclusions.

JuCo 15 years ago

i dunno where to even start with this... prostitution (with certain safeguards, of course) would be fine. much like drug-use, it's a consensual crime. gambling? sure, it makes no sense to let only indian reservations get casino revenues... as for guns, which part of the amendment are you claiming? the little snippet about "right to bear arms"? or the whole thing about "a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."? which even the less-quoted, less-NRA friendly is hard to translate... and has been misinterpreted over'n'over throughout time to the point that it's just "people can have guns". now, as for the accusation that i'm "hopelessly conceptually lost". first, i take personal offense at this and it seems that you've some sort of bias against anyone that disagrees with you... but, i'll still do it. "gang bangers": have you ever known any? 'cause i've known and... mingled with many. some were ok. but the main difference between them and "beat cops" is that a good cop is a benefit to the neighborhood, while a good "gang banger" is a blight on mankind. now, the government/gang analogy is decent. problem is that a good government includes you in the gang. sort of like a lot of earlier gangs that worked a lot like a switchblade carrying neighborhood watch. i'm not gonna say that ours (provided you're american) is perfect, but it's got a decent foundation to work with and build from. anyhow, i'm rambling... and just so that you know, i'm hardly a yes-man and i've seen nearly every part of this country and been part of every class (only by association for the upper-class types, though. :( oh, well) and i've got a decent view of what the country's actually like and suggest that you get out of the suburbs a bit more. it could be very enlightening.

osh-kosh 17 years ago

Remember what we're talking about here - college kids making stencils hiden in paper bags. You've got your back up and people are reacting to your over the top authoritative tone - what the hell kinda point are you trying to make? That gangs in California are out of control and your job is stressing you out? OK we get it!

8bit 15 years ago

Are you sure that money would be used for things such as that? Excuse me for being jaded, but that contrasts with my understanding of human nature. Still, thanks for the link - the theory makes a lot of sense. Never heard of that one before.
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