Acrylic Painting Paper??

Hi everyone, its Kelsie. Alright, lets talk about something. Ever notice how nice those pieces of artwork look on instagram or tiktok when the artist rips the painters tape off. There is this beautiful border with this lovely painting on it. Ever noticed how straight the paper is? Yeah me neither. Until I tried to paint one on watercolor paper and it was bent as all get out. I did weigh it down with loads of paint, but still. Hello. Its watercolor paper, it totally should have been able to handle it. Wrong.

So then I got angry and threw the painting. I have anger problems. But then after my fit I started researching different types of paper. Turns out there are tons of different types of paper for different types of paintings. There is paper for oil painting, water color, ink drawings, and gel painting (which is totally a hint for a future video).

Each type of paper is made for a specific purpose, so you can use your Molotow markers on watercolor paper and that’s okay, but you run into problems. Like in that example, the paint from the markers balled up and left paint turds on the paper. If you try to use regular copier paper, good luck my friend. Your painting will turn into soup.

Okay you get my point, so I was on the look out for some paper that I could paint on that wouldn’t roll up into a tube when I painted it.

So first up naturally for me was the cheapest. It was Royal & Langnickel Artist Paper Pad. 8 dollars on amazon. But then the reviews were flat out horrible so I figured I needed something that isn’t as cheap. I’m not trying to waste my eight dollars, I could get a super expensive coffee for that 🤣🤣

Also, I didn’t want pallet paper. I have pallet paper and it’s shiny. I was under the impression that no one really painted on pallet paper because it’s so shiny and thin and flimsy. It’s poly-coated so it’s coated with a laminate material so it’s really shiny. It has a waxy surface. But I guess if push comes to shove you could paint on it? You could also paint on tin foil, or a potato. But is that ideal?

Canvas paper is nice. It’s textured just like a wrapped canvas so there are divots in it. I got the strathmore canvas paper from hobby lobby and its a grey tone, so its not white. There is no bleed through because it’s really thick and it does give you that textured look. I don’t think you could wrap it around stretcher bars because it’s not as strong as cotton or linen. It’s nice, but I wanted something white and not as textured.

Also something to consider is whether it is acid free. Acid free means that the paper was made with alkaline paper making technology. If it’s aside free it will last a super long time without becoming yellow or breaking down. So I definitely wanted acid free.

I ended up with the U.S. Art Supply Acrylic Paper. It was 9 x 12 so that was big enough for me. The paper is really thick and the textured surface is supposed to act as an adherent for the paint so you can add layers without it wrinkling, bleeding through, or bending onto itself. It was $20.00 on amazon and I got two pads so a total of 24 sheets.

So anyway, I hope this video and blog post helped you pick out which paper would work best for what you want to do!

The Perfect Respirator for Spray Painting

Okay okay, I realize I have another video that is the BEST respirator for spray painting. BUT I’ve got updated information from an agent from 3M’s Personal Safety Division that THIS respirator will take care of the toxins that are spewing out of our Montana Gold Spray Paint.

Yup, I heard it from the horses mouth. So I just wanted to give ya’ll a quick video about what I found.

Alright, so in the last video I talked all about the pancake filter. And I told you guys that hey, this guy will do the trick for some. spray painting but not all of it.

I think these stacked filters with the chemical cartridges will work best with normal run of the mill spray paint.

The pink part of the stacked filter is the pancake filter which is the P100 that sifts through oils and takes care of tiny particulates; the grey is the acid gas and organic vapors defense.

So then which chemical cartridge do you need to spray paint?

Montana Gold has acetone, propane, butane, and xylene in it which are harmful toxins.

Acetone and Xylene are acid gases because they were never a natural substance.

Propane and Butane are organic vapor because they were once naturally occurring.

So you’ll need a filter that filters out both acid gas and organic vapors.

I talked to an agent at 3M’s Personal Safety Division and she said that the best respirator to filter out these toxins is the 60923 filters

The 60921 is only the p100 plus organic vapor filtration
The 60922 is only p100 and acid gas.

The 60923 filters out acid gas, organic vapors, and p100. DING DING DING we have a winner folks. That is the one you need to be the safest when spray painting.

Also interesting side note. I asked her if I would need a full face mask to protect my eyes. She said that as long as there wasn’t a fan blowing and I didn’t get it in my eyes I should be good. However, isn’t that sort of odd? Because most spray paint cans suggest it needs to be a well ventilated area. If it is well ventilated, I would assume there would be some air flow. If there is air flow, wouldn’t it carry the spray paint into your eyes just like a fan would? So then we would need a full face mask?

Just my thoughts.

Anyhoo, if you want more safety tips for your graffiti shenanagins, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Best Respirator for Spray Painting?

Hullo! Alright, so is what is the best respirator for spray painting?? Well, that depends. Sorry for the lawyer answer.

So I got the 3M respirator with p100 2097 filters in March of 2020 when Covid hit and we all had an epic amount of time to start fun projects. My sister in law gave me a desk and I was like hmm, I’mma strip all the paint off and shadow stain this mug. Well, everything was glorious until I started getting dizzy and seeing stars. I mean the paint stripper was pretty hardcore so I went to Lowe’s all drowsy and searched for a respirator. The Lowe’s lady noticed how I only had half of our brain and suggested the 3M Respirator with the P100 2097 filters. And I didn’t know anything different so I figured alright lady, you’re cool, I’ll give it a shot.

SO I decided to do some research to see if this was the best respirator for spray painting.

Alright, get ready for an explosion of information guys, cause you know I come at you with research.

3M is the brand and they make all different types of respirators so they have full face and half face masks. The one in the video is half face so it’s not going to protect you from particles that could get in your eyes like mold apparently. This filter has pancake filters, but others filter more and have chemical cartridge filters.

So when it says P100, the P stands for oil proof. Most spray paints are oil based. I use Montana water based because it’s healthier, but if yours is oil based, the good news is that does not compromise these filters. It uses a static electric charge to catch the particles and oil would normally interfere with that if these weren’t designed to be highly effective even with oil in the air.

The main job these guys have is to filter out organic and nonorganic particulates. There is a layer of charcoal in them to filter out organic (mold, viruses [blocks out 99.97 percent of airborne particles including viruses, so yes it would filter out the corona virus]) and nonorganic particulates (asbestos and lead). They also have nuisance level organic vapor relief which means they filter out contaminants that are below OSHA’s permissible exposure limits which are basically things that just smell bad (farts 🤣)

So because it is an organic vapor rated filter it stops aerosols or the harmful propellant from entering your lungs. You know when they need to be changed when it’s hard to breathe through or you can smell your spray paint. The 3M Respirator Selection Guide says that you need to replace the filters for every 40 hours of use or 30 days, whichever comes first. But homie, I used it for a year and I couldn’t smell anything up until a year.

This guy was 20 bucks at Lowe’s and I got the replacement filters 15.50 on Amazon. Lowe’s was sold out…I guess people are buying this thing to block out the corona virus haha I’m not sure, just a guess.

Most spray paints have volatile organic compounds. The most common are Acetone, Xylene, and Toluene. Acetone damages the central nervous system, but the 2097 has a layer of charcoal in it and so it will filter out acetone. Xylene causes abdominal pain, incoordination, sleepiness and nausea. Musk xylene induces malignant transformation of human liver cell. I couldn’t figure out if it filtered this out or not. However the 3M NIOSH 42 CFR 84 filters this out. Finally, toluene causes euphoria, muscle fatigue, but I couldn’t find out if this caused cancer. According to the 3M Respirator Selection Guide, to filter this out, you would need a respirator with a chemical cartridge, versus the 2097 which is a pancake filter with no cartridge.

The issue is inhalation and the skin absorbing it. And in my case, I get hungry after I spray paint so I normally eat it, I was peeling an orange and wondered why the peel was blue but then it dawned on me.

If you like graffiti content or graffiti product reviews, make sure to subscribe to my channel! It’s free and you won’t miss an upload!

Before you Buy Molotow Paint Markers, there’s a couple things you should know…

Hi guys! Today’s video is my honest review of Molotow Markers. I know it may be completely contrary to the other reviews out there, but I feel like before you buy molotow markers, you should hear from people who love them and people who….well me haha

So first, why would you want “paint” markers? Over a normal marker? Well, it gives you that painted look instead of the streaky marker look. So if you are looking to give your drawings a “painted” edge, I would go with a paint marker. Also, you get this look without the mess of brushes, pallets, water bowl, and paint bottles everywhere.

Here’s the kicker, I’ve heard reviews that say that the Molotow Marker is the greatest of all time, but honestly it depends on the medium that you use them on. If you use them on printer paper, they are the worst of all time. If you use them on a paper that can handle the moisture they put out, then they are the greatest of all time.

They are HORRIBLE on the Master’s Touch Sketch Pad, unless you are doing simple tags. The paint dried before I could blend it which resulted in little paint turds (definition in the video :p ). It came out so streaky that it was almost impossible to blend them. The paint didn’t come out smooth so my straight lines were jagged. When I tried to layer I ended up with a puddle of paint. So needless to say, it seriously depends on your medium.

On Hardwood, it was better but it still flowed through the veining so I couldn’t get a clean, straight line. On canvas, they are really good just because the canvas can absorb the moisture coming from the marker. They are also really good on Hot Pressed Water Color Paper and Canvas paper. So, if I were you, I know you don’t want to spend more money on the right type of medium, but you will save yourself alot of heart ache if you do.

But be warned, even on the correct paper or medium, there are still the occasional bumps so you can’t get too close to your painting without seeing these.

Unless you want to take your finger and get them off, but then if you do that you’ll end up with a lovely smudge in your paint.

Alright so you can get these a bunch of places and the price is generally the same to get the set of 10 basic colors. – Bombing Science: $59.75 and no returns – Amazon: $47.99, ships very fast, returns – Jackson’s Art Supply: 45.01, 30 days from receiving the item. – Hobby Lobby does not carry them (they also don’t carry spray paint caps; I asked and embarrassed myself. More detail in the video :p)

As far as what you will need to know to use these guys, they require activation so you have to shake them to stir up the paint inside. Then you gotta push on the nib a couple of times until you see the paint coming down. You have to do it often but not so often that it gets in the way. But fair warning, you have to do a couple of layers to get good coverage. Not really a one and done type deal. And you also have to wait a second for it to dry. The Nib is very hard, it’s not like a paint brush.

There are also different sizes so I have the 4mm which was right in the middle and they have the 1.5mm which is the smallest, and then it goes up to 15mm which is the largest size. These guys are refillable which is dope. And it’s a super easy process because all you do is take the top off and then pour in the paint. You can get refill bottles on spray planet for 4 bucks and it’s called a refillable marker. Finally, these guys are nontoxic and environmentally friendly 🙂 I hope this information helped you decide whether you want to test these guys out or not.

For more art reviews and graffiti content, make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel! I upload every Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 AM EST and its free to subscribe! Thanks guys!

How to Make Money with your Graffiti Art…NOW

Hullo Hooligans!

Alright, so markers, spray paint, and brushes get sort of expensive if I’m being honest. Of course, there are endless art supplies we could buy from expensive erasers to paint caps, but where does it end? We gotta start making some cash instead of spending it all right?

So, I wanted to share with you three things that I’ve done to make a quick buck from my graffiti art. No it’s not going to change your life overnight, but maybe over a year, two years, three years.

First, I thought about what I was selling. Graffiti art. Then I realized, who really cares about your art? And I thought well dern, that’s the most negative thought you could ever have. But then I wondered if that wasn’t the key to why I wasn’t making money. Who gives a flip about your art?

And how can I make them give their flips for my art aka their money?

Well, I think people would buy our art if it was relevant to them. Relevant. I think relevance is key. If you have a cool product, like graffiti, that’s great and people like cool stuff. But they don’t buy just cool stuff. They buy cool stuff that is relevant to them.

So, alas, now the second question is well how do I make my graffiti art relevant to them.

Well, graffiti is an art of communication. It communicates things and speaks from the walls. I thought about it, and every business needs to communicate a message or tell people about how wonderful their business is in relation to other businesses.

My graffiti can do just that. So I started thinking, all businesses need words in the form of a logo.

Unless you are Doritos, then you can get people to buy millions of dollars of your product just by showing them a triangle.

but a triangle that is relevant to their taste buds.

And alas, we have come full circle.

So I started marketing myself as someone who does logos for $50 bucks. Is that incredibly cheap? Yes. Am I ripping myself off? Maybe. But people don’t know me yet and they don’t know if they can stand behind my work. So if you want to make a quick buck, make your art relevant, cheap, and incredible.

Sure enough, I was able to do a couple of logos and here is exactly how I got those customers.

The first was through Etsy. I have just enough listings on Etsy so that Etsy sends people to my page. Well turns out there was a guy looking for an artist to help him with his brand. I was able to help him bring his brand to life and also build a good portfolio of work in the process. I’ve also had a few people looking for customized bookmarks and wall art so that’s been really great to make a quick buck there.

Also, Instagram has been a game changer for me. I upload on Instagram every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So three times a week, by the use of a buttload of hashtags, I am able to get more people to look at my artwork and some people have messaged me through instagram to do commissioned artwork.

Finally, word of mouth to the people you come in contact with. I was so privileged to be able to do a logo for a construction company that did some work in my condo. All because while they were working, I was cranking out drawings and they just so happened to notice them on the table. They were incredible guys and I was beyond excited to create a logo for them.

Also, your friends and family want to support you. Don’t do what I did and hide your artwork from everyone because you don’t think it’s good enough. Your art deserves to be shared and when you share it, you feel inspired to create more art. It becomes motivational when you find someone who really likes your art. If every time you share it, one more person follows you on instagram, youtube, or facebook, you’ll soon be able to grow an empire.

Anyway, thanks for reading my post! If you want the video version of this, check out my youtube video! And If you like graffiti and graffiti content, make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel so you won’t miss an episode!

Prismacolor Pencils….for Graffiti?

What kind of graffiti artist uses colored pencils!?!

Uhm. This one actually. Lemme tell you why.

I was first introduced to Prismacolor Pencils when I was about 12. My fine arts teacher taught me how to blend colors with them and it was the first tool I had ever used to put color on paper. It was exciting and I was obsessed. But are they still worthy of obsessing over?

Yes. Alright that’s all for this blog post, hope you guys enjoyed it!

Okay all kidding aside these things are great. Even though my fine arts teacher and I parted ways when I wanted to learn the lofty art form that is street art, I still continued to use them.

Fun fact, I still have my first set. They have gold lettering and are basically the same colors minus a couple colors. Today they have fancy silver lettering.

However, if this shows you anything it’s how sturdy these guys are. I mean, I’ve been using them for years and they haven’t broken. I mean the tips break if you put too much pressure on them, but that happens to every pencil I feel. It doesn’t happen very often with these pencils though since they have a wax tip WHICH makes them super good for blending by the way.

But after 15 years, multiple moves, adopting a dog, marrying a husband, graduating all the schools, I lost some of the pencils in my old set SO I set out on the journey to buy more.

And of course where is the first place I go when I have any (physical, emotional, psychological) problem? Hobby Lobby.

I got my new set a couple months ago at Hobby Lobby, which when you look online it says they are $36 dollars and I KNOW my cheap butt didn’t pay that, I must have used that 40% off coupon that they had for a while. It’s a shame they discontinued that. I mean they were losing some serious money on it, but I was saving some serious money.

Now, they are on Amazon for 20 bucks. So that’s more my speed. They have the 150 pencil set for 130 bucks. I really don’t know if there is going to be a point in my life where I have $130 to spend on pencils, but hey, maybe someday when I’m 90 and I have my life together.

The good news is my 24 pack is quite enough for me so the 150 set can kick rocks.

You can blend them into new colors that aren’t included in the 24 pack so that’s really the promise that you need here.  

They come in a cool little tin can and they came with a plastic black holder but I throw away anything plastic. It just gets in the way. Like when you get hardback books with covers. Like what is the use? I mean sometimes they have pretty pictures and it’s helpful when I forget who the author is or what the book is about. But then again if you forget what the book is about while reading it, should you be reading it anyway?

Okay back to the pencils.

They don’t break easily. They sharpen evenly. The wax doesn’t fall out if you sharpen it too much. 

As I mentioned they are wax based which makes them easier to blend with than the oil based. 

They don’t give you a smooth look like paint, there is still a texture there. 

Also, these would make an awesome gift for the artist in your family because they would be a really quality gift for only $20 bucks which I feel is a reasonable priced gift. If there is a 2 at the beginning of the price, I think it’s a pretty solid gift to satisfy the person you are gifting as well as my cheap self. When that 2 turns into a 3 or 4 then I’m like alright how much do we really know each other. 

So as for blending, there are four really good ways to blend them.

First, you can blend using the white colored pencil. Second, you can just continue to build wax up on the paper with your colors, which is called a burnishing effect. Third, you can use a colourless blender (yes there is a u in colourless; I’m still not sure why). Fourth, you can use a solvent, or a mineral spirits. If you want to see what solvent I use, check out my video! I would put the name in my blog post, but honestly I forgot what it was called. I believe it was Gamsol.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading! If you want the short version of this, check out my youtube video! And if you like the video, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any videos! I upload every saturday and sunday at 9:00 AM!

Beginner Variety Cap Set – Montana Spray Can Cap Review

I’ve been trying new mediums for my graffiti. I normally just use acrylic paint and a paint brush. I know crazy right? 

So, I’mma be real with ya’ll for a second. I learned graffiti from actually flipping through graffiti books and painting on my bedroom walls. Closet walls. Bathroom walls. Furniture. Illegal graffiti is for the birds, because who wouldn’t want to just crawl out of bed in their jammies and start cranking out a piece.

Anyhoo, well the time has come for me to start exploring spray paint. Initially, I just wanted to try it to be part of the graffiti artist club that deals mainly in spray paint. However, now that I have studied my own art with a critical eye, I think it’s time I let go of how perfect my lines are and start opting for the more fuzzy, sprayed line.

So naturally, I got some spray paint but the lines that the stock cap on the Montana Water Based Spray Paint were waaaaaaay too thick and fuzzy.

I wanted to shoot a youtube video about it that day, so I called Hobby Lobby and asked if they had any specialized caps.

Well, now Hobby Lobby thinks I’m some sort of criminal because she said no very sternly and hung up on me.

Needless to say the youtube video did not get recorded that day. However, I ordered the Montana Cans Tryout Cap Set, and the next week I was able to shoot my beloved youtube video.

I liked this cap set. There were skinny, fat, and specialized caps. I got ten of them for 8 bucks so for a cheapo like me, that was a pretty good deal.

Just as a precursor to our discussion. Skinny caps have less of a paint output due to the thinner notches and slits in them. These guys have more of a defined line than say a fat cap. Fat caps are mainly for filling in color or not making such defined lines. Finally, specialized caps are those that are for creating just a spray effect or calligraphy.

SO here’s what you’ll get for your 10 bucks:

Skinny White: no clear edges, but very fine.

Skinny Black: same sort of width just cleaner edges. 

Skinny Maclaim: I’m not sure if I didn’t try very hard but that was NOT a lot of paint output. It was pretty hot out so maybe I was losing my marbles. 

Skinny Aerosol Art: this one is super cool because it had a spray effect. Not total coverage though, just enough to create shadows.

Fat Gold: beefy line with a shadow type look, not as defined. 

Fat White: This one would be good for embellishments or something where you don’t need a defined edge

Needle: super thin line. I felt like out of all of them, I had more control with this one. 

Soft Grey: this one was sort of the middle of the road approach, not too skinny; not too fat. Also, the edges were defined, but not entirely. I have mixed feelings about this one. 

Flat Jet Cap Medium: I was a fan of this one. Defined edge, easy to control, covered well. 

Flat Jet Cap Wide: So this one, if you went vertical, it was skinny, horizontal, it was wide. So that was cool. That’s going to be useful for some calligraphy later. 

And that was it! Not too bad for 8 bucks. If you want the skinny (pardon the pun) of this blog post, make sure to check out my video! And for more graffiti content from your favorite lawyer, make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel!

Have a great week guys 🙂

Montana Water Based Spray Paint – An Honest Review

Alright, so here’s the thing. Yeah, I’m a graffiti artist, but I also know that cancer sucks and spray paint is toxic enough to cause it.

However, I recently learned about Montana’s water based spray paint. They claim it’s nontoxic. I’m also a lawyer and know that not every company tells the whole truth.

These guys were telling the whole truth and I’ll prove it to you.

So, what makes aerosol products toxic to begin with is three things (1) the can (2) the ingredients, and (3) the propellant. Briefly, I’ve found in my research that aerosol products are generally in aluminum cans. Aluminum has been linked to cancer.

But that is not as concerning as the ingredients and the propellant since that is what we breathe in (if we aren’t wearing a respirator) and get on our hands. If we don’t wash our hands and eat a glorious snack after painting, these toxic chemicals get ingested and voila, we’ve got all these toxins inside of us.

Normally aerosol products have a mixture of propane and butane as the propellant. In the 1970’s, hairspray actually had vinyl chloride in it and that was linked to causing cancer. They finally changed it when they caught wind of it to something else that had chloride which was almost just as bad.

Now, to protect the ozone layer, they are using hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This is better for the environment, but is still damaging to the ozone layer. Damage to the ozone layer has been linked to more occurrences of skin cancer. So even though indirect, it is still a link to cancer.

So getting back to the original issue here, I looked up the ingredients and the propellant in these Montana Water Based Spray Paint Cans and I was pleasantly surprised. Three ingredients were mentioned on the safety data sheet that was on Spray Planets website. I cannot describe how wonderful it is that they are so open about the ingredients of this product.

We’ve got three ingredients (1) Dimethyl Ether (2) Ethyl Alcohol and (3) Isopropyl Alcohol.

Dimethyl Ether is our propellant so I researched whether it is a cancer causing agent. On one safety data sheet I found it stated that this ingredient is not suspected to be a cancer causing agent by agencies such as OSHA, NTP, and IARC.

Ethyl Alcohol is just our regular drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, it is a carcinogen if ingested because it breaks down to acetaldehyde and that is the cancer causing agent. However, if you don’t drink this spray paint, you should be alright!

Last, isopropyl alcohol isn’t a carcinogen because I found a safety data sheet in my research that stated that its not classifiable as to its potential to cause cancer.

So, let me know what you guys think! Also, check out my video on this subject at the beginning of this blog post, and if you like graffiti content, feel free to subscribe to my youtube channel. Its free and if you subscribe you’ll never miss a video!

Copyright Law and Graffiti [explained by a street artist and lawyer]

Hey hey! So I had a subscriber ask about graffiti and whether it was protected by copyright. To which I responded, it depends. As most lawyers do right? But in actuality, it does depend. It depends on the parties involved, the medium by which it is shared, and even what country the graffiti is in.

U.S: sees copyright as a way to incentivize artists to get out there and create. It also promotes the sciences so inventors will create and explore new ways of doing things. Because of course, who wouldn’t want to share what they’ve created AND get paid for it??

But then we run into the issue of, if you are creating something that infringes on the rights of others, would you still expect to get a profit off of that? It seems counter to our American dream which holds property rights in high esteem.

Street art is an art form that has This collision of rights comes to a head when we think of graffiti or street art. By definition, street art seems to preclude any sort of copyright protection. It’s free, public, and probably going to get destroyed.

So if it’s free, do you expect copyright protection to protect your profits? If it’s public, it tends to be sort of a strange gift given to the public. Also, if its on someone else’s property, another property term that comes into play is the idea of fixtures. If something is so affixed to another person’s property, it is deemed part of the real estate and part of the real property owner’s estate.

This blog post may not be a leisurely read. I’m realizing this as I’m writing it.

So, here’s the thing. In order to get copyright protection for your graffiti, you actually have to submit a form to the Copyright office that says it is your work.

Sounds pretty reasonable.

Unless of course you were doing something, I don’t know, illegal.

And that’s where the rubber meets the road. What graffiti artist is going to submit a form saying they illegally painted on a wall? I mean here, take all the evidence against me you can get state.

I mean, in actuality, I doubt that the authorities are going to speak to the copyright office, but still. So you either call the copyright office and tell on yourself to protect your profits while you sit in jail. Or you could let someone have your profits because of your artwork.

Sort of a no win situation here. But again this would reinforce a policy of discouraging illegal activity. So I get it. Even as a defense attorney.

Of course, I gotta bring up arguments for copyright protection. It’s an act of creation. It’s beautiful. The artist is risking alot just to create it. It has changed society. It’s a part of a worldwide phenomenon.

But has the court said anything important on this matter? Not so much.

So the biggest case that sort of addresses this question, but in a round about way that doesn’t say much at all is Villa v. Pearson Education.

So, Villa sued because Pearson Education used a mural that he painted in a skateboarding video game. Pearson said that it wasn’t protected under the Copyright act because it was done illegally. The court didn’t give us graffiti artists much to go on because they decided it on narrow grounds holding that the claim that the work is not copyrightable due to its illicit origin would require a determination of the circumstances under which the mural was created. 

In other words, they didn’t answer the question of whether illegal graffiti is copyrightable. 

It may be assumed that you wouldn’t be able to profit from illegal activity, but the court didn’t say that, so we can’t assume something that the court didn’t say. 

I feel like there may be a better way of negotiating this outside of court. Alternative dispute resolution if you will. If someone used my art, I’d probably call them up and be like hey man, how’s your family? Oh by the way, could you write my name on that thing? Or just give me a piece of the profits pie? Now maybe in these court cases both parties were unwilling to work together and stubborn. But generally a threat of a copyright violation makes the violator recant, so it doesn’t seem like it would be too much of an issue to negotiate a reasonable outcome where both parties are satisfied. 

I don’t know, what are your thoughts?

Vandalism Laws in Philadelphia

Hullo! It’s Kelsie your resident graffiti artist/attorney. Let’s talk about vandalism in Philadelphia! If you want the quick run down of this blog post, you can zoom down to the bottom of this page and check out my Youtube video on this subject

But for now, let’s talk about the history of graffiti in Philadelphia.

It’s hotly debated on whether graffiti started in Philadelphia in the 1960’s or in New York in the 1980’s.

1967 was when the beloved Cornbread started tagging his name around his Youth Development center. His name came about because he kept nagging the YDC cafeteria workers to make him more cornbread (can you blame him?? With some chili beans…mmm..praise the Lord).

Anyway, so then once he was free, he did something incredibly outlandish. He spray painted his name CORNBREAD on the sides of an elephant. Which is pretty creative if you ask me. I’ve never thought about drawing on an animal before. Although I’m curious to know if the elephant had any skin irritation from that. I guess we’ll never know.

So, soon after Cornbread made his appearance, Cool Earl came upon the scene and started tagging his name. Soon enough it took off and everyone seemed to be writing their names on the streets.

Now it seems like street art is celebrated in Philadelphia. They have different kinds of graffiti such as yarn bombing. Which, yep, you guessed it, is graffiti made with yarn. Which looks pretty dope honestly. Not sure how it’s done but maybe that’s part of the appeal.

Anyway, I’m a lawyer, lets talk about the law.

The law we are dealing with today is the statute 3304(a)(4). It says, “A person is guilty of criminal mischief if he intentionally defaces or otherwise damages tangible public property or tangible property of another with graffiti by use of any aerosol spray paint can, broad tipped indelible marker, or similar marking device.

Seems pretty straight forward except for that pesky “indelible” part. The definition of a broad tipped indelible marker is in section 212-2 which says it is any felt tipped marker or similar implement which contains fluid which is not water soluble and which has a flat or angled writing surface 1/2 inches or greater.

So, we’ve got three things in this statute: we’ve got spray paint, indelible markers, and similar marking devices. There was a case about this indelible marker issue and what is included in the statute.

In Commonwealth v. Francis is a 1998 case so I wouldn’t take it as the law in PA currently, however it helps to see how the judiciary parses out these statutes. In this case, we have a guy who was observed by the police using a paint stick to draw on a lamp post (but seriously, homie? You couldn’t be more discreet about it??).

He was convicted of criminal mischief and possession of instruments of a crime. He was sentenced to 1 year probation and 200 hours of community service (that’s a lot of trash to pick up homes). He didn’t like that too much so he appealed on the indelible issue. His argument was that the paint stick wasn’t indelible or permanent and therefore how can he be convicted of it? Wrong. The court said that sir, the statute has three marking devices and only one of them has the word indelible so obviously the legislature didn’t mean that you could ONLY get convicted if you were using permanent drawing devices. So get back to picking up trash thanks.

So we also have this other conviction of possession of instruments of a crime. He argued that a paint stick isn’t an instrument of a crime. The court said uhm no sir, that hangs on the word commonly used in the crime. Paint sticks are commonly used in a crime so continue to call your probation officer every Tuesday thanks.

The court also said that a pool stick wasn’t an instrument of the crime of murder. Which I disagree with. I mean seriously what else is there to do with a pool stick besides playing pool and when you lose…you know….

JUST KIDDING. Sorry being a public defender gave me a super dark sense of humor.

Anyhoo, enough murder jokes.

So now lets talk about the punishment. It’s not that bad surprisingly. And especially for a city that has had some serious issues with graffiti its not as strict as Georgia or New York.

The statute outlines the punishment. it says, “Criminal mischief is a felony of the third degree if the actor intentionally causes pecuniary loss in excess of $5,000, or a substantial interruption or impairment of public communication, transportation, supply of water, gas or power, or other public service. It is a misdemeanor of the second degree if the actor intentionally causes pecuniary loss in excess of $1,000, or a misdemeanor of the third degree if he intentionally or recklessly causes pecuniary loss in excess of $500 or causes a loss in excess of $150 for a violation of subsection (a)(4). Otherwise criminal mischief is a summary offense.

So, seriously not bad. Now I wonder how much painting an elephant would be worth? Felony or misdemeanor?

Anyway, this is the first of my posts on here regarding vandalism laws. I plan on posting twice a week in conjunction with my youtube channel. If you like my content, let me know! And if you want the video version of this post, check out my accompanying Youtube video! And hey, make sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel for more graffiti content.

For now, have a lovely day ❤️

Kelsie