Large Footprint Stencil

Using spray chalk (basically powdered chalk and water in a spray bottle), a large footprint stencil I made a few months ago, and help from my friend Ben, there are now giant footprints in Blacksburg.

The stencil was made from a footprint image online, although I suppose I could have made my own with some paint and my foot. The material I used was "Polycarbonate Film Textured Finish, 24-1/2" x 48-1/2", .005" Thk, White" on McMaster (Item #85585K92). I used a sharpie to outline the pattern and scissors and an exacto knife to cut it out.


The polycarb sheet rolls up nicely (I used some newspaper to roll with it though since there were fragile parts) and lies out flat. I used weights on the corner because there was a slight breeze.


For comparison of size, we decided to do my footprints nearby with my regular stride length. I sprayed the bottom of my foot with pink spray chalk and immediately stepped down. The foot was visible, but not very bright. So Ben followed me and used a regular stick of chalk to go over where my foot had pressed down.


And just for fun, the pink footprints terminate at a short wall. Using the stick of pink chalk to outline the butt of my pants and then using the same print-and-draw technique from the footprints for the hands, we managed to resemble a sitting impression. We tried to arrange the footprints below it in such a way that it was believable a person could have hopped up into the sitting position.



Between us it took about 2 to 2-1/2 hours to finish everything. The stencil was a little hard to carry once unrolled, but perhaps having more overhang around the edges or using a slightly thicker film would help. In the picture below you can see some over spray, but on all the other feet, we were careful and there was almost none at all.