DIY ‘Spray Can’ light tool and CFYE collaboration images

By now, I am sure you have seen light painting and probably done a little research and reading up on it. Maybe you have experimented with it. As you do start experimenting you are going to need some tools. A painter uses brushes and a light painter is no different. At this point no company is making any tools specific to this art so light painters must be crafty and make their own. In this article I will tell you how to make a very simple and effective spray can light tool.

Why a spray can? I guess the main reason is this shape is easy to use. It fits nicely in the hand and functions in familiar way to real spray cans making them effective. If you have any experience vandalizing decorating the city with real paint, this would make the transition to light graffiti a snap. I have found other shaped light sources, like LED key chains and small flashlights, were awkward to write with. I started to think about what it was that made them difficult to use and it was the shape and the switch. These two points are the answer to; Why a spray can? Plus, you will look so cool with a backpack full of eco friendly tins.

To make the spray can you will need a plastic bottle, a string of battery operated LED lights and a pressure switch. I used a 500ml plastic drink bottle. In Japan almost everything is sold in these bottles. I hope you are able to find one in your country. The lights can actually be any battery operated light as long as there is enough wire to solder in a pressure switch. This ultimately will be the brush that your spray can will be. Extra wire can easily be soldered in. A pressure switch is a switch that is ‘on’ when pushed and ‘off’ when released. An electrical switch that works just like a spray can or airbrush would.

Now to make the spray can… First, you must solder in the pressure switch at least a few centimeters from the lights. The lights will stick out the side near the top of the bottle and the switch will go in the cap so there must be enough wire between them for them to be positioned like this. A pressure switch has no positive or negative side and can be soldered in anywhere. If you do not have a soldering iron then just make the connections with tape. Make a hole in the bottle where you want the lights to come out. I made mine in a line to give me a calligraphy style brush. The opening was big enough for me to stuff my lights inside the bottle through this hole. Put some double sided tape on the battery pack so it would stick to the side of the bottle and not rattle around. Make a hole in the lid and for the switch. The switch I used was meant to be fastened through a hole. Then put the lid on and you are done. Well, almost done…

What you should have is a functioning spray can light. The only problem is this thing looks like crap. The can was a collaboration project with our good friends CFYE.com, who worked together with Fiz-iks, to create a killer label for the can. You need to get your CFYE+Fiz-iks collaboration label and slap it on. Once you have a can with the label on it take a pic of it and send it in to CFYE! who will post it on their blog and get you some exposure! Fiz-iks took the collaboration one step further and went and shot a series of pictures to show the can in action.