How to Make Tagging Ink

Create your own graffiti ink.

Once purely in the realm of vandals and gang members, graffiti has made its way to the edges of respectability as a form of outsider art. Although the most common medium for the graffiti artist is still aerosol spray paint---sometimes used with stencils---graffiti appears around the world in media such as markers, cement, yarn and even magnetic light-emitting diodes. Because proper graffiti markers and their refills can be expensive, the budget-conscious graffiti artist can make his own ink.

Things You'll Need

• Rust paint
• Paint thinner
• Brake fluid (optional)
• Fish oil (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix together rust paint and paint thinner, approximately one part thinner to two parts paint.

2. Add a few drops of brake fluid, if desired. This will make the paint stick to its surface more permanently.

3. Add a few drops of fish oil, if desired. This will give a ghostly effect when the ink is painted over.

Tips & Warnings

• You can fill a commercial marker with homemade ink, or you can make your own marker out of a brush-top shoe polish container.

• Vandalizing public property is illegal. Use your homemade ink on private or otherwise legal surfaces.

References

• Rotten Eggs: Homemade Graffiti Marker and Ink

Resources

• Art Crimes: The Writing on the Wall