Introduction: Babadook Pride Wall Art

By Visit My Portfolio!
About: I'm an engineer, designer, and maker studying at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

I'm not sure if you've heard... but the titular monster of the 2014 horror movie, The Babadook, became a symbol of the LGBT community this year due to a Netflix fluke. As an ally of the LGBT community and an avid fan of horror movies in general, I found this meme hilarious. I knew that I needed to make a cute Pride month present for my gay friend, who is also a fan of horror movies.

I photoshopped some fan art of the gay icon, made some quick stencils, and hit the paint booth.

Note: The stencil I made came from a combination of fan art by @philliporozcoillustration on Instagram and @melongifts on Twitter.

Safety:

  • respirator
  • ventilated area

Tools:

  • laser cutter (or X-Acto Knife - these stencils are not too complicated)
  • scissors
  • paint brushes
  • rinse water
  • little weights - assorted nuts and bolts.

Materials:

  • poster boards - I used 2 that I cut up for laser cutting, but buy extra in case you make mistakes.
  • 12"x16" Canvas (you can size it differently if you want)
  • gold spray paint
  • grey spray paint (I used Primer Filler.)
  • matte black spray paint
  • masking tape
  • acrylic paint (for the pride flag!)

Step 1: Laser Cut Stencils.

Trim your poster boards to fit in your laser cutter. Using the 4 SVG files that I've provided, cut out a stencil for each layer. Keep the letter cutouts from the #BABASHOOK stencil.

Attachments

Step 2: Dust the Gold Paint Over Your Silhouette Figure.

Line up the white stencil (both pieces) with the edges of your canvas.

Without shifting the stencils, add a small roll of painters tape underneath the top hat of the silhouette. Remove the outer part of the stencil.

Spray a layer of gold paint over the top 2/3 of the canvas, dusting only a light layer towards the bottom.

Peel off the silhouette.

Wait for the paint to dry.

Step 3: Meticulously Set Up and Paint the Hashtag.

Because I decided to use a non-stencil friendly font, this step was a bit tedious.

Line up the #BABASHOOK stencil with the canvas, and place small weights on the center of the "O"s. Carefully roll up small pieces of tape and stick them to the underside of the cutouts from the "B"s and "A"s.

Spray a solid coat of gold spray paint over the stencil, being careful to not spray at an angle.

Peel up the letter cutouts using an X-Acto knife.

Wait for the paint to dry.

Step 4: Paint the Grey Layer.

Line the grey stencil up with your canvas.

Weigh down unstable parts of the stencil with little nuts and washers.

Spray an even coat of grey over the top of the stencil.

Carefully peel off the stencil - without shifting it - while the paint is still wet.

Wait for the paint to dry.

Step 5: Paint the Black Layer.

Line up the black stencil with the canvas edges, and weigh down the stencil. This stencil is very fragile, and you may need to place extra weights on it to keep the stencil lines crisp.

Spray a layer of black over your stencil.

Peel off the stencil, with out smearing the wet paint.

Let the paint dry.

Step 6: Hand Paint on the Pride Flag!

Would it really be the Babadook if he wasn't holding a Pride Flag?

Use your assortment of acrylic paints to paint the flag. Remember, the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, and they run horizontally!

Step 7: Enjoy!

Once the paint has dried, go ahead and hang up your sassy new artwork in your lovely home.