Street Art 101: How to Make a Wheatpaste Poster

How to Make a Wheatpaste Poster

Itching to make your own guerrilla-style street art on the side of buildings, freeway overpasses, and abandoned billboards? The beauty of street art is that you don't need an expensive canvas or frame to display your creative expression.

Computer paper, masking tape, and oil-based markers are all you need to make your artwork. For the sticky adhesive that will stick your paper artwork to a smooth wall surface, all you need is wheat flour and water to make the wheatpaste.

Warning: wheatpaste posters, once applied, are difficult to remove. That, and while you may be providing thought-provoking or visually pleasing eye candy for all of the public to enjoy for free, you can run into legal trouble if you get caught wheatpasting (aka poster bombing or flyposting) on the wrong property. You have been warned.

Got your own tips for displaying street art? Who are your favorite guerrilla street artists? Share with us in the comments below.

Click on image below to enlarge.

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17 Comments

custom Kony 2012 posters?

Any pictures the rest of us can look at for reference? I've definitely seen Stop Kony 2012 graffiti in Paris (but unfortunately not very eye-pleasing).

is it a shoggoth you have posterized ? \(0.0)/

it is a random blob monster I like to draw. But now I'm aware of what a shoggoth is!

Great! I am going to do this in place of paint. Cleaner, and cheap!

Awesome. Take pics and share if you do!

Can it work on brick wall?

Maybe-- I imagine it won't as sturdy as sticking it on a smooth concrete wall. Anyone try it?

just a tip if you need to keep your glue for a few days without access to a fridge, is to add some bleach, if your an organician, try cinnamon to reduce mold growing, this will also extend the fridge life

Great tip. Thanks for sharing!

Nice work! I'm about to do a couple of commission jobs & I want to play with this technique.
1 - would adding craft glue strengthen the glue ensuring longevity to the artwork sticking on the wall.
2 - would wheatpaste work on metal such as a train carriage? If not what glue would you recommend?
3 - do you recommend a certain kind of paper to ensure longevity?
Thx in advance.

All very good questions... which I unfortunately do not have the experience to answer. Anyone help an artist out with their advice?

i know the wheat paste will go bad after a short bit but will it attract bugs and get moldy after it is dried on a project?

If you use vegetable wheat or anything high in starch it will stick and stay for a much longer period of time... It will also be difficult to remove >:)

Does it matter what kinds of markers are used as far as color longevity goes?

What kind of paper are you using? Does this work with normal printer paper or would you recommend thinner paper?
Thx, Stefan

I used the wheat paste for a poster but after a while mould appearing on the poster. Any idea how to stop the moulding? Is the flour the cause? Thanks, happy pasting!

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