After our inspiring street art and graffiti tour with fellow homeschool friends, it was time to try our hand at spray painting. We were led upstairs through a corridor of smaller studios, with the smell of aerosol filling the air, and entered a small studio covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti tags. There, we met graffiti artist Leaf.

Leaf introduced us to the basics of using an aerosol spray can, explaining how the nozzles are interchangeable and why modern cans come with cumbersome plastic caps that require a screwdriver to open. We chose from a wall full of spray paint cans in every color imaginable and got started.

Four girls with masks sit on couch with graffiti wall in background — Eager hands patiently wait for their turn to create their own graffiti creations.

Man draws lines of varying thicknesses in spray paint on a white canvas with a backdrop of colorful spray painted graffiti in the background — Leaf shows us the basics of spray painting.

Here’s a pet peeve of mine: the overuse of the word “talent” to explain success. While some may have natural inclinations, achieving mastery requires years of practice and making mistakes. Michelangelo didn’t sculpt David perfectly on his first try; it took countless hours of hard work, much like our spray painting session.

The girls test out their spray painting skills on a blank canvas.

Our first attempts were a bit rough—small hands and spray can nozzles led to tired fingers, misdirected sprays, and drippy paint jobs. But the freedom to create on the wall was exhilarating. As someone who grew up drawing on walls and furniture, I found the graffiti process liberating and a way to fulfill a deep-seated desire to leave my mark.

Leaf taught us feathering techniques to create gradients and various effects with the spray can. Mastery of any skill demands persistence and practice—10,000 hours, according to Malcolm Gladwell. For our first 90 minutes, I think we did pretty well.33

The girls feather in their orange paint to create a gradient with the pink paint above.

Since we were newbie taggers, we left the intricate line work to the professionals.

Normally the prospects of sharing creative decision of one canvas between 4 tweens would be a logistical nightmare. But to our surprise, the girls quickly brainstormed and decided to create a piece named after their messenger group chat, Stonky.

I asked my girls how they came up with the name Stonky. Evidently inspired by their father’s affinity for fart humor, stonky comes from the word “stinky” with an emphatic “honk”. Stonky is about being adventurous, and bold, it means not being afraid to get dirty in the process. Being stonky means owning all the parts of you that make you unique even the weird and uncomfortable parts. In this these uncertain times, these sentiments give me hope for the future of our girls. “Anyone can be in the Stonky crew,” says Miss V, “but only you can decide for yourself if you’re brave enough to be stonky.”

Read more about our awesome graffiti tour and book your own tour and workshop with Graffiti Tours.

Spray painted canvas of the word "stonky" in an orange to pink gradient bubble letters