"Art has no enemy but ignorance." - GTP's Graffiti thread

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eliseracer

eliseracer

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I know that there is a fine line between what is legal and illegal, but I'll do my best to keep it clean

Hey GTP, I don't usually come to these parts of the boards, but here's something that's been plaguing my mind and has captivated my attention for the past two weeks:

Graffiti

I have always had a strange interest with this urban art and only now has it come to my senses as a serious and very legitimate form of creativity. I had sketched some pieces of my own, nothing serious. Then my friend's brother who is in a "crew" (I call it a taggin club) saw some of my doodles and an example of my tag and got seriously interested. He wanted me to join their krew because of my talent, but their ideas of vandalism and destruction were the opposite of my artistic take on the whole thing. So in the end, they wanted to make a new krew with me as the "leader" because of my drawings.

I have not painted any walls, but I have intentions to start painting in the spring, where my hands will be warmer and paint will be more consistant.

My question is, are there any painters in the house? If anyone's got any bombing experience, please post here. If you hate this form of expression, then go ahead and vent, I'd love to hear it. Any other general comments, about writers or pieces in your neighbourhood or on what you see on your daily transit, post it up here!

I'm not sure what would be considered illegal to post, I'll get the infromation on that from moderators tomorow. For now, I'll just put up a few of my favorite sketches, if anyone has anything to share, I'd love to see/hear it!




 
Well, to tell you the truth, it appears to have pretty much gone out of style in the Southern California area. Ten or fifteen years ago it was a plague. Virtually no flat surface was off limits, it seemed.

Not so any more. I'm actually a little surprised when I see any of it at all. Sure, if you drive into the toughest areas of L.A. you'll see a bit, but even there its nothing like it used to be.

You obviously have real talent. I'd call you a potential mural painter. Tagging seems like a waste of your time and ability.
 
I’m not sure if there are similar things in other parts of the world, but in Australia some councils create legal graffiti walls where artists can express themselves in a perfectly legal maner.

You should see if their are such things in your area as it could be a great way to vent your creativity without doing anything illegal (and it doesn’t sound like you want to break the law).

Blake
 
There’s nothing wrong with mural work in itself (in fact, I’ve seen a lot of just drop-dead awesome work done); however, when it’s done on someone else’s property (both public and private property) without prior consent from whomever the property belongs to, then I have a problem (in other words, if it’s illegal, then bad!). I totally support any kind of legal mural paintings though, provided they’re not blindingly ugly. ;) (And like I said, there are some very talented muralists out there.)
 
I think graffiti with huge, good looking pieces is cool, whether it's legal or illegal. Trains and street corners completely bombed with ugly tags everywhere sucks.
 
There are places whee its acceptable and places that are designated for graffiti. If its in those places people who appreciate it can go there and look at it and those who dont like it dont have to see it. Montana spray paint is what all the "pros" around my area use. I think acceptable places to do it is along train lines away from train stations and underneath bridges and overpasses.
 
Yeah Montana Gold is the top-pic, but I don't know the availability in my area. I'm going to check out a proper graff shop maybe htis weekend, I'll have a look.

Graffiti is an amazing cultural phenomenon. All of the styles and everything started in the 70s, and that's where all of the lingo started as well, doing "pieces" and "burners" and "throw-ups", and now everyone still admires that old-school style and still uses the exact lingo. I had read a book on New York train Graffiti, and I was using some of the terminology very hesitantly around other painters, cause I thought that it was out-dated diction, and nobody but New York painters in the 80s talked like that, but it has stayed around, which is amazing. Even in other countries like Chili or Croatia or something, they use the same words, they all admire the same old-school NYC artist, Dondi, Seen etc. It's a really cool culture.

What atracts me to it as an artist is the ultimate infinite creative ability it gives you. There are no restrictions at all, you just go out and paint, it doesn't have to follow any guidelines whatsoever, your canvas is the size of a building (it sometimes is the building. The only thing that is slowing you down is time and the law if you're into that sort of thing.

I've been seriously stressed out about this whole thing, because either my friends are pushing me to go out and paint the town red (and orange and green and blue) or they're against it and want me to keep it on paper (or legally for that matter). I personally want to do it however, but I don't want to run in with the law, I don't want to jeapordize my future in automotive design (where I need to leave Canada to study).

I went to New York City in April with my school, with three goals in mind: a)to have fun, obviously, b)to buy some certifiably black-market stolen goods from canal street and c)see some legendary NYC graffiti. I had a great time, all of the crap in China town was all knock-off junk (I wanted the real deal) and I didn't see more than one wall or piece. Just one semi-large two-colour job on an abandonned building on the side of construction site, plus I had to peek between the boards of the fence to catch a glimpse. I know, we were in Manhatten most of the time and not the more populated parts, but I was thuroughly disappointed. Many places have been cleaning up lately, which is somewhat disappointing for guys like me.

And I've heard (not hear, but read about) about muralists or guys who do legal pieces that when they spend a day or two on a wall, some jerk goes accross it with something ugly and says that he's a real bomber, when nobody has heard his name anywhere anyways.

There are legals all over the place, but I'd want one close to my house, the closest one is a 20 minute drive from here. I want to be able to go down my street and start painting.

In the meantime, I've put off sketching 'til Monday to give my mind a break from all of this...

If a mod is reading this, is it okay if I put up some pictures of good-looking graffiti work, illegal or not? People post videos of street-racing all of the time on GTP, which is faaaaaaaaaaaaaar more dangerous than art. Okay or no? I'll PM somebody this evening if I have time.

Here's a collage I drew last weekend, enjoy.

 
Wow that is some real nice stuff going on there dude. 👍

I used to doodle on paper and everything just nothin too serious, theres one massive wall at an underpass on the outskirts of the town, completely covered in untalented garbage, its a shame really, ive always seen graffiti as an expression of the persons feelings.

Good luck with it if you go ahead. 👍

*Edit* Heres a quick 5 min job on MS Paint:



I messed up the last E a treat (I tried somin new) but yeah 5 min job on paint, im open to some tips if you got any since you obviously have some talent. :D
 
Some cool stuff there. I'm not really that interested in graffiti (never been very artistic), but I appreciate the skill involved. I'm also a big rap/hip hop fan, the two are obviously historically connected. You might already have seen it, but in case you haven't, take a look at Style Wars.
 
Zardoz
Peer pressure: The Road To Ruin.
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I'm not letting them push me to do anything, I haven't ever tagged anything other than what belongs to me in the first place, and that's why they made this krew, just so they could be with me. I influence them a whole lot more than the influence me.

I've heard of Style Wars, but I've never seen it myself. I'll have to check it out soon. My style completely started by drawing old traincars of that era, including some from that doc, Kase2, Seen etc...

Bee, as for your sketch, it's hard to give nay help at all. Graffiti is a very personal thing and you have to develop your own style, you can't teach it. There are some general faux-pas, but most of the time you'll catch those yourself. What I did to start is look at older graff (the book Subway Art) and copy/reference pieces to get used to how those old artists got their ideas. I did this with older work because everything new is almost always wildstyle and far too difficult to learn right away, whereas the older, simpler work is a lot more understandable and uses less complicated painting techniques. Once I learned the older style of text, I could apply what I got from that to my own name, ansr, and discover new ways to manipulate each letter. I still get enourmous influences from outside artists, I almost always have something infront of me, just to get my ideas flowing. My final product won't look anything like what the book or mag is showing me, but it just motivates me enough to get creative with what I'm putting down in ink.

If you can find anything on the internet, one of my favorite artists (you'll see a huge resemblance between our styles) is a french painter named Ozer.
 
eliseracer
Bee, as for your sketch, it's hard to give nay help at all. Graffiti is a very personal thing and you have to develop your own style, you can't teach it. There are some general faux-pas, but most of the time you'll catch those yourself. What I did to start is look at older graff (the book Subway Art) and copy/reference pieces to get used to how those old artists got their ideas. I did this with older work because everything new is almost always wildstyle and far too difficult to learn right away, whereas the older, simpler work is a lot more understandable and uses less complicated painting techniques. Once I learned the older style of text, I could apply what I got from that to my own name, ansr, and discover new ways to manipulate each letter. I still get enourmous influences from outside artists, I almost always have something infront of me, just to get my ideas flowing. My final product won't look anything like what the book or mag is showing me, but it just motivates me enough to get creative with what I'm putting down in ink.

If you can find anything on the internet, one of my favorite artists (you'll see a huge resemblance between our styles) is a french painter named Ozer.
Click to expand...

Cheers dude i'll get researching then! :D:tup:
 
I'm a huge fan of graffiti, provided it's good grafitti and not just some idiot with a spray can that went up to a wall and wrote "I WAZ 'ERE 05". Alas, I suck at stuff like that and would never give it a serious attempt.

I'd love to see one of those legal graffiti walls. 👍
 
I can understand both sides of the graffiti question.

On one side there is art.
On one side there is vandalism.

In terms of a legal view, unless you are painting on your own wall, it's illegal.

In terms of a moral view, unless you are painting something worth-while, it's wrong.

"Worth-while" ?

Do you think some kid should be able to paint his name on a publicly viewed/ privately owned wall that thousands of other people have to see everyday?

I don't.

Also, you have to remember that not all graffiti is "good."
I've seen plenty of vulgarities on walls. :yuck:
Keep that in mind when defending the artist... Not all people who paint graffiti are artist, some are just bored, young, punks with no respect for public or private property.

Anyway, I can understand the feelings behind this sort of subject because I'm a huge fan of art and I spend much of my time creating art.
However, I also have a responsibility to society to make sure that I hold my standards even at all times.

I wouldn't want someone painting on my house, so I can't allow someone to do it to someone elses private property.
I wouldn't want someone painting vulgarities in my view or the view of my children, so I can't allow graffiti to go unchecked.

At the same time though, I like artistic expression and so, I have a respect for quality graffiti (although I don't particularly like the means by which the end product is achieved).

In any case, interesting subject, that this is. :lol: :cheers:
 
yeah, this is intresting.
im going to try and see that documentary Style Wars now.
your stuff looks great, in our small city we only get really stupid stuff but there are quite a few murals around downtown.
i say go for it, but maybe stop by the shop like a week later and ask about it, if they freak out just tell them you (who had nothing to do with it ;- D) will help them take it down.
 
Here is an example that I like to use to defend Graffiti.

This is a piece in LA done but the artist Saber on a concrete riverbank. It can be seen from airplanes over the city. For the time he spent painting this piece he permenantly damaged one of his knees from standing on the slant (he did this piece over a two-year period at night). It is believed to be the biggest piece done by rollers illegally by a graffiti artist.

And yes, that is a person sitting in the middle. This piece never damaged anyone and I really don't think anyone cares that it is there, it is art, so enjoy it. :)

 
I don't see so much in my area except for the lame stuff that was written with a marker on the cricket pavilion. "Tom nd Jim did it ere" "Fool <3 Fool 4 evr" "Idiot was ere 2k5" etc.

But when I went to France there was quite alot under the motorway bridges. They were quite good aswell.
 
France seems to have an abundant Graffiti culture. Several publications are based there and a lot of Jams and get-togethers happen there as well.

I went to a graffiti store this morning, but it was closed. The whole area is completely covered in tags, some throwups and no actual pieces at all. It was pretty gross, actually. I might go back today or tomorow, we shall see.
 
I got 4 cans of Montana Black today, 6.50$ a piece. Tomorow I will be painting either the last sketch of my first post or another similarly coloured version on an old cabinet in my backyard (we'll use it as a box for snowboarding whent he snow comes). I can't wait to start painting, I think I'll have a blast, and I hope the results will be decent. I'll let you guys know when it gets done.
 
Having helped take care of one of my father's businesses (a self-serve car wash) in the '70s and early '80s, I have to say I come down hard on illegal grafitti. If you can spend enough time and effort making a quailty piece, you can spend a little more time and effort to find someplace that is willing to let you create it. Or get involved in community-improvement projects. Legal grafitti I don't really mind, as long as its decent quality, which most of it is if they have taken the time and effort to make it legal...

Tagging, on the other hand, just plain sucks. There's no art involved in that and it is just the same as a dog pissing on every tree and firehydrant it sees - a juvenile, pointless, and ugly way of marking territory.
 
I wish I could do that... the only art form I can really understand is film making. Never tried singing, but it would probably end up horribly. Is graffiti the only kind art you can do? Or are you good at humans and such too?
 
iceburns288
Check out Montreal... graffiti everywhere. The Portuguese Quarter has some AMAZING stuff. I saw huge murals there you'd love.
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I live in Montreal, and I still find nice graffiti to be rare.

I don't live downtown, I'm out on the West Island (15 minutes out). I went into town yesterday to get the paint, on Sherbrooke street and I saw perhaps one nice piece. There are many murals out there, I agree. Montreal hosts Canada's biggest graff jam, Under Pressure, every year, and there are similar events (in Lachine). I found a legal (the walls of a skatepark) about 5-minutes of driving away, so I think that will be my first piece.

Portuguese quarter? Where's that?

Anyways, I got a nice sketch done today, and now I'm going to go out and practice on a 4x8 of gyprock in my yard, hoping for the best.
 
Okay so I just used up 2 full cans of Montana and there's some left in the other two (blues).

My finger is super-weak from pressing down the valve, I can't play guitar now.

I ran out of black while doing the background filler, perhaps I'll plan it better so I don't end up running out...

I didn't have any problems with dripping until I started using the fatty tips, which spray more paint (I guess?). I had dripping problems doing the letter filling and the drop-don 3d effect.

I also ended up running out of the white for the body of the letters, so it's thin in some spots. If I had not run out of the white or black, I think it would look 5x better.

I still feel that it was an excellent learning experience, I really got a good feel for can-control.

Next time I'm fairly sure I won't drip at all, like I said, it was only when filling. When I was doing outlining and details, it was rock-steady, perfect lines.

Next time I will for sure try to paint a larger canvas or use a simpler design, so there is more "body" to it, and the details aren't as cramped.

I had a lot of fun though. It's really surprising how expensive this hobby can get. Good painters sometimes write 2 or 3 pieces a day, that's at least 20$ a shot!!! Bigger wall=cooler art=expensive. I'm not the person who is skimpy with my art material, I regularly (once every month or two) lay 50-75 clams for new markers, so I'm sure if I draw less and paint more, it could work out. I guess the real artists work, and like I've said, I won't work 'til the snow melts, which isn't until it starts to snow, which isn't until mid/late November...

I put the piece of gyprock back in my basement, and I'm not lugging it back up for a photograph. When I get more paint for the other side, I'll take pictures of everything. Like most paintings, they don't look as good right up close as when they're 12-15 feet away.

I'm one happy artist. :)

the_undrtaker89
Is graffiti the only kind art you can do? Or are you good at humans and such too?
Click to expand...

Click the link in my sig. I'm trying to make a carreer out of car design, but I don't think I can improve any more without professional guidance. That will have to wait 'til University.
 
a shot I took some months back


There's some really slick stuff behind one one of the buildings near my campus. I'll try and shoot that soon
 
Damn I'm going to have to get some finer outliner tips if I want anything to look like that. It will also help my probelm with the cramped canvas size. I'm itching to get back to painting, and it's been less than 24 hours since I tried it for the first time yesterday. This can't be good for my wallet...

Here's a fairly well-executed Montreal piece. Looks like it was at a legal.

jebs-30153447(1).jpg
 
I think graffiti is pretty cool. even on walls, i think its more interesting than looking at a brick wall. One thing i hate but its all round my area are those crappy 'tags' and stuff like that. That stuff is just plain ugly 👎
 

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