How Ali Spagnola turned a 30 feet wall into a “blasterpiece”

The "impossible” challenge

When musician, comedian, and digital creator Ali Spagnola walked into a mysterious fog-filled room, she thought, "Okay, weird projection meeting?" In reality, the Patreon team was throwing down the creative gauntlet for an intriguing challenge. They asked Ali to recreate a famous painting from history as a mural … using only WATER BLASTERS.

Now, Ali had to roll the artistic dice.

To paint Van Gogh's “Starry Night” or Edward Munch's “The Scream''? She gave the latter a shot, but was disappointed with her initial attempt. “That looks awful. I had no control and now I’m REALLY concerned.” she said.

When in doubt, reach out

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Ali called her artist pal Jazza, a fellow YouTuber, artist, animator, and presenter best known for his quirky art tutorials. His advice was to go big or go home, and suggested she work with as big a scale as she possibly could. He also advised laying foundation colors first, letting them dry and then adding details. That pep talk was what Ali needed to get going.

Starry Night for the win

To recreate “Starry Night”, the Patreon team gave her a massive 30-foot wall as a canvas. "It's like four me’s wide and four me’s tall!" Ali explained, equal parts excited and terrified.

Suiting up for splatter

Day 1 arrived, and Ali showed up in style with a pristine white tux. As she worked, she mimicked Van Gogh as best she knew how. "I'm really trying to mimic what I think Van Gogh did with his hands, I'm just doing it with my whole body and… a blaster," she explained.

By the end of Day 1, Starry Night was taking shape. "There's still a chance that I screw up the village tomorrow," Ali explains, "but at this point, it is significantly less terrible than I ever imagined!"

The devil's in the drippy details

Over the next couple days, Ali got into a groove. She added more intricate details, painting tiny windows, even figuring out how to "turn on" lights in the houses with precise water blasts. She was surprised at her growing control over the unconventional medium.

The big reveal

What started as a crazy impossible challenge turned into this massive, watery tribute to Van Gogh.
Ali had a "Holy cow, did I really do that?" moment. "It doesn't feel like something I could have pulled off," she admits, amazed at the final result.

Ali’s biggest takeaway from the experience was that sometimes saying yes to the weirdest ideas leads to the coolest experiences. And that's how Ali Spagnola turned an impossible challenge into a “blasterpiece,” one splash at a time.

Watch Ali's splashy adventure below!