Wednesday, January 19, 2011

To Learn to Graffiti You Must Know About the History and Meaning of Graffiti


In order to learn to graffiti you need to know that it’s about more than just learning how to tag your name. To avoid making a bad name for yourself or getting on the wrong side of other graffiti writers you’ve got to be committed to learn to graffiti the right way.

All graffiti writers start out labelled as ‘toys’. To lose that label you need to work to earn the respect of other writers as well as show respect for the meanings and history of graffiti. You will never lose the ‘toy’ label if you do not learn to graffiti showing respect to other writers and graffiti history.

The ‘toy’ label can also change to mean an unskilled writer or one that is disrespectful of other writers work.  If a graffiti writer doesn’t bother to learn to graffiti with any kind of distinctive style or technique they will be labelled as a toy. These writers are most likely only after the fame, glory and recognition other graffiti writers receive, but they don’t want to put in the effort or try to develop their skills to earn it.

When starting out graffiti writing is generally tag. Writers learn to graffiti by tagging using markers, spray paint or any other writing tool. Because of this tagging is often referred to as the root of graffiti. In order to be a skilled writer you must first become proficient in your tag first.

When you’ve decided on your tag name practice writing it. While you are just starting to learn to graffiti it’s a good idea to practice in the privacy of your home on scrap paper or any other kind of found objects. Any public work you do should only happen after you’ve developed your own unique style and name and when you have a good understanding of how other graffiti writers operate in your area.

Style is hugely important when you are starting to learn to graffiti. You not only have to develop your own unique style but you also need to show skill and technique in order to gain the respect of other writers. As mentioned before graffiti writing without style is just tag—tag is done by toys.

Style is not necessarily just about your tag or the design of your pieces, it is also about being able to get high quality graffiti up in obscure and often difficult locations. The more difficult and obscure locations your graffiti is seen in, the more respect you’ll earn. Even quick throw ups need to demonstrate some kind of unique style in order to become recognised and respected.

If you’re serious in your pursuit to learn to graffiti take the time to show your devotion and respect to other writers. Plan out your work in sketchbooks and practice privately to get your skills and style down pat. Remember, you need to practice to be able to execute a piece (short for masterpiece) in time-constrained situations.

Work through your skills and develop your style to become a true graffiti writer, and learn to graffiti in a way that will earn you respect http://learntograffiti.com.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Learn to Graffiti – Graffiti Style


Whether you love or loath graffiti, you can’t deny the purity and beauty of the free expression many graffiti pieces embody. Graffiti, like many other recognized forms of art, is a vehicle of expression often employed by the oppressed youth within a society. For many the decision to learn to graffiti is a way for these groups to be heard and noticed within an otherwise ‘too busy’ ‘money focused’ society.

There are many factors that influence graffiti style. These factors can include personal, social, political and social influences and are often the result of experimentation and trial and error. At its roots, graffiti style emerged from hip-hop culture and is based on vibrant colors, free-form expression and signs and symbols prevalent in the culture. There are a number of different methods in which to learn to graffiti, including tagging, bombing and creating masterpieces often called ‘pieces’.

A writer’s graffiti style is based on their tag. If you’re going to learn to graffiti you need to develop your own unique tag to build your graffiti style on. In order to develop your tag you need to choose for yourself a name. It really can be anything you want, an acronym of your own name, a nickname or a name you’ve made up. The choice is yours. It is best you don’t use your actual name though!

Once you have your tag perfected you need to get to work in your blackbook. All good graffiti writers have one. Use your blackbook to learn to graffiti and develop your graffiti style. From the work you develop in your blackbook you can graduate from tagging to bombing and piecing which is where a lot of writers see the true merit in graffiti.

Bombing is often a writers tag on a larger scale. You still need to aim for style, but bombing is about getting up as much as you can in a short period of time. Writer’s bombing often consists of their tag name outline with a single color fill. Other writers may also just use their own character they’ve developed, but this is often more effective if you’ve already established yourself among other writers. Bombing will get your name out there as a graffiti writer and help you build your reputation.

If your like most artists trying to learn to graffiti for the respect and fame then the best way to do this is by getting up as many high quality pieces as possible. This is where your graffiti style is paramount. If you haven’t mastered your can skills and refined your graffiti style you don’t stand a chance amongst the more experienced and respected writers. This is where your blackbook will be invaluable to you.

An experienced graffiti writer won’t be found without a blackbook. No matter how long writers have been in the game, the blackbook is an indispensable tool. Use your blackbook everyday to sketch out pieces you see and admire. Get together a collection of makers, sharpies, chisel pens etc to use to develop your graffiti style. As you learn to graffiti, all of your work will be put together in your blackbook. And don’t be afraid of color!

Your bombing should have given you a feel for how to use your cans and paint markers of choice. As you move on to piecing you need to refine these skills to get up pieces that will stand out and be noticed by others.  There’s nothing worse for your reputation than repeatedly getting up with whack pieces. You may as well give up and go home.

Learn to graffiti and refine your graffiti style with the videos and tips on this site http://learntograffiti.com

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Learn to Graffiti Some General Guidelines You Need to Know


Before you start out in the big wide world of graffiti art, you need to learn and abide by the ‘rules’. As you learn to graffiti you need to also learn about the underground culture of graffiti writers that you might not otherwise have known about.

1. To Learn to Graffiti You Need to Develop Your Own Style
The development of your own graffiti style is paramount. You will be judged and eventually accepted or rejected on the basis of your individual style and the skill with which you learn to graffiti. Initially you will start out by developing your own unique tag, your tag name and the style you use. This will form the basis for the rest of your graffiti art style to build on.

When you’re starting to learn to graffiti you will spend a lot of your time looking at other writers work and perhaps even copying a few to help you figure out your own style. Most new writers learn to graffiti by copying other writers’ pieces. This is all perfectly acceptable as long as those copies stay in your black book (sketchbook). When you start putting together your own pieces, it needs to be in your own unique style.

2. Don’t Copy Other Writers’ Work
If you put up pieces that are blatant copies or you ‘nic’ someone else’s work you will automatically lose respect from other graffiti artists. Your pieces need to be original and obvious that they were done for you in order to make a name for yourself in the area. You need to be able to put up a number of pieces in order to be recognised the more skilled and original your work is, the faster you will gain respect as a writer.

It is completely ok for you to draw inspiration from other writers work. They might give you new ideas of pieces you could to or give you a few different techniques to try out. Like it is illegal to blatantly copy any copyright images or materials, it is a sign of serious disrespect to copy someone else’s graffiti piece.

3. Show a High Level of Technique and Skill
As you learn to graffiti you also need to develop your skill. It isn’t enough to go around doing quick throw ups that show little skill but will get your tag seen out there faster. You also need to show some serious skill with the pieces you put up in order to become recognized and respected among other graffiti artists. Even after you’ve done your a few sik pieces you still need to keep working to develop your skills and your style.

Even the more experienced and well established writers out there continue to constantly sketch in their black books and work on their styles before putting up new pieces. As long as you continue to work on your skills and develop your style you will be able to maintain a respected status among other writers.

These guidelines have just been an overview to how you should work and develop your graffiti and tagging style. There is still a complex matrix of rules that graffiti writers are expected to understand and abide by. In order to start out on the right foot in your graffiti writing and gain respect from other writers you too need to know these rules and how to work in with other writers.

Find out more of what you need to know to learn to graffiti—the tools, materials and techniques check out http://learntograffiti.com