Graffiti Exercises

Graff

iti Pro

ject

So

me

bac

kg

rou

nd

re

adin

g...

Gra

ffiti

art

does

n't

just

mea

n ar

t w

e se

e sp

raye

d on

w

alls

. In

fact

, gra

ffiti

art

has

such

str

ong

char

acte

rist

ics

that

it's

easy

to

spot

the

m e

very

whe

re -

in s

choo

ls, o

n si

dew

alks

, on

bicy

cles

, on

auto

mob

iles,

on s

kate

boar

ds

and

on t

extb

ooks

, jus

t to

nam

e a

few

exa

mpl

es.

Gra

ffiti

art

has

a lo

ose

feel

abo

ut it

. The

re a

re n

o st

rict

rul

es t

o cr

eatin

g gr

affit

i art

, exc

ept

a fe

w

dist

inct

cha

ract

eris

tics

that

alw

ays

mak

e gr

affit

i art

ap

pear

sty

lish.

Let

's se

e w

hat

thos

e ch

arac

teri

stic

s ar

e.

Firs

t, gr

affit

i art

are

usu

ally

loos

e fo

rms.

But

thes

e fo

rms

are

usua

lly ju

st c

lear

eno

ugh

to r

epre

sent

wha

t th

ey're

sup

pose

d to

rep

rese

nt. T

he s

hape

s ar

e lo

osel

y cr

eate

d, a

nd t

he s

ubje

cts

over

lap

one

anot

her

in a

ra

ther

ran

dom

man

ner.

Hig

hlig

hts

are

appl

ied

to t

he

imag

e if

need

ed b

ut a

gain

, the

se a

re lo

osel

y ap

plie

d.

Seco

nd, t

exts

are

usu

ally

vis

ible

, and

dra

wn

in a

n em

boss

ed m

anne

r th

at g

ives

a 3

D im

pres

sion

. The

se

text

s us

ually

form

a fe

w w

ords

or

a sh

ort

phra

se, a

nd

mak

es u

p a

part

of t

he e

ntir

e gr

affit

i art

wor

k.

And

fina

lly, g

raffi

ti ar

t is

usu

ally

cre

ated

with

a w

ide

vari

ety

of c

olor

s. Br

ight

and

lum

inou

s co

lors

like

red

, or

ange

, yel

low

, gre

en a

nd b

lue

are

pref

erre

d. T

here

's lit

tle o

r no

inte

ntio

n fo

r co

lor

harm

ony

and

the

goal

he

re is

to

crea

te a

daz

zlin

g ar

ray

of c

olor

s th

at d

raw

at

tent

ion

to t

he g

raffi

ti ar

t its

elf.

Due

to

thes

e ch

arac

teri

stic

s, it'

s no

sur

pris

e th

at w

e se

e so

man

y te

enag

ers

bein

g dr

awn

to g

raffi

ti ar

t. Bu

t on

ce y

ou r

ecog

nize

the

se c

hara

cter

istic

s, yo

u'll

also

co

me

to u

nder

stan

d th

at it

's no

t al

l tha

t ha

rd t

o cr

eate

a p

iece

of g

raffi

ti ar

t, ev

en if

you

kno

w li

ttle

ab

out

draw

ing.

For

a st

art,

you

may

wan

t to

look

up

som

e ta

ttoo

im

ages

* to

use

as

refe

renc

e im

ages

or

to d

raw

in

spir

atio

n. Im

ages

like

sku

lls o

r ro

ses

mak

e gr

eat

subj

ects

for

graf

fiti a

rt.

Onc

e yo

u ha

ve y

our

imag

e re

ady,

you'

ll ne

ed s

ome

mag

ic m

arke

rs a

s w

ell. T

ry o

ut t

he s

ame

imag

e us

ing

diffe

rent

col

ors

and

see

whi

ch e

nd r

esul

t yo

u pr

efer

. Yo

u m

ay a

lso

wis

h to

add

in s

ome

text

s.

Glit

teri

ng m

arke

rs m

ake

an e

xcel

lent

dra

win

g to

ol fo

r gr

affit

i art

. I'm

sur

e yo

u'll

have

a lo

t of

fun

with

the

se

mar

kers

. And

don

't fo

rget

, nev

er d

raw

on

publ

ic

prop

erty

with

out

perm

issi

on!

BR

IEF

In t

hese

tas

ks, y

ou w

ill s

tudy

ing

gra

ffiti

art

and

dev

elop

ing

your

und

erst

andi

ng

of t

yp

og

rap

hy

(th

e de

sign

of f

onts

/ty

pefa

ces)

and

how

to

play

with

sha

pes

to c

reat

e yo

ur o

wn

graf

fiti f

ont.

Star

t by

com

plet

ing

som

e of

the

in

trod

ucto

ry t

asks

in t

his

book

let.

You

w

ill t

hen

be w

orki

ng t

owar

ds c

reat

ing

your

ow

n gr

affit

i art

, whi

ch w

ill b

e co

lour

ed in

and

cut

out

, bef

ore

final

ly

bein

g pa

sted

ont

o yo

ur p

hoto

copi

ed

wal

l. Pr

actic

e yo

ur d

esig

ns in

you

r sk

etch

book

.

Use

the

sup

port

she

ets

to h

elp

you

with

yo

ur d

esig

n.

Ex

ten

sio

nTr

y m

akin

g yo

ur w

all i

nto

a 3D

set

and

ad

ding

pro

ps, e

tc..

i.e. i

mag

ine

that

it is

a

skat

eboa

rdin

g pa

rk.

Profi

le: C

AN

TW

O

Web

site

: ww

w.c

an

two

.co

m

CA

NT

WO

is a

gra

ffiti

artis

t th

at is

par

t of

the

Stic

k U

p K

ids

(SU

K)

wor

ldw

ide

wri

ting

crew

an

d ha

s be

en s

pray

pai

ntin

g si

nce

1983

. Gra

ffiti

art

is c

lose

ly

asso

ciat

ed w

ith m

usic

and

is

ofte

n us

ed t

o cr

eate

bac

kdro

ps

or in

tegr

ated

into

act

ivity

w

orks

hops

dur

ing

fest

ival

s.

Alm

ost

all g

raffi

ti ar

tists

will

pr

actic

e th

eir

desi

gns

as

sket

ches

and

bef

ore

atte

mpt

ing

a la

rder

pie

ce o

f wor

k.

Alth

ough

, tra

ditio

nally

gra

ffiti

artis

ts h

ave

chos

en t

o pa

int

on

wal

ls, a

rtis

ts li

ke B

anks

y ha

ve

star

ted

to u

se o

ther

ar

chite

ctur

al s

urfa

ces

to m

ake

polit

ical

and

soc

ial c

omm

ents

ab

out

soci

ety.

Mos

t gr

affit

i art

ists

mak

e pe

rson

al t

ags

and

char

acte

rs t

o re

flect

the

ir p

erso

nalit

y an

d un

ique

ness

. Cop

ying

mig

ht b

e a

good

sta

rtin

g po

int,

but

the

ultim

ate

aim

is t

o pe

rson

alis

e yo

ur w

ork

so t

hat

you

are

wel

l kn

own

- a

kind

of t

rade

mar

k.

Gra

ffiti

is n

ot a

n ill

egal

art

form

, bu

t sp

rayi

ng o

n so

meo

ne’s

prop

erty

is il

lega

l. G

raffi

ti is

an

acce

ptab

le a

rt fo

rm a

nd n

ot a

n ill

egal

act

ivity

in it

self/

Hav

e a

go a

t cr

eatin

g yo

ur o

wn

graf

fiti t

ag a

nd c

hara

cter

usi

ng

the

reso

urce

s in

thi

s pa

ck. D

on’t

forg

et t

o ad

d co

lour

and

giv

e a

sens

e of

dep

th (

3D)

Exe

rcis

e 1

: Sta

rt o

ff by

cho

osin

g 3

lett

ers

and

desi

gnin

g th

ree

diffe

rent

way

s of

wri

ting

them

. C

ompl

ete

thes

e ta

sks

in y

our

sket

chbo

ok.

Exe

rcis

e 2

: Usi

ng o

nly

thre

e co

ol o

r w

arm

co

lour

s, fil

l in

your

font

s w

ith c

olou

r. Thi

nk a

bout

ad

ding

gra

dien

ts o

f col

our,

crea

ting

a m

etal

lic fe

el

and/

or u

sing

the

follo

win

g m

ater

ials

:

• w

ater

colo

urs

with

thi

n br

ush

• oi

l pas

tels

• co

lour

ing

penc

ils•

felt

tip p

ensR

Le

tte

r:D

esi

gn 1

:D

esi

gn 2

:

Exe

rcis

e 4

: Pho

toco

py s

ome

of y

our

graf

fiti d

esig

ns a

nd s

tick

onto

car

d. U

sing

th

e cu

ttin

g an

d sl

ottin

g m

etho

d th

at y

ou

have

lear

nt in

cla

ss, c

reat

e an

abs

trac

t sc

ulpt

ure

- se

e ex

ampl

e be

low

. You

cou

ld

even

pai

nt o

ver

your

des

igns

with

w

ater

colo

ur o

r us

e co

lour

ing

penc

ils.

Exe

rcis

e 3

: Usi

ng t

he

exam

ples

pro

vide

d in

th

is b

ookl

et, d

esig

n yo

ur o

wn

colo

ur

graf

fiti t

ag, i

nclu

ding

a

char

acte

r -

see

exam

ple.

Exe

rcis

e 5

: Hav

e a

go a

t co

pyin

g so

me

of t

he fo

llow

ing

lett

ers

mad

e up

of a

ska

tebo

arde

r an

d hi

s sk

ateb

oard

. Try

mak

ing

your

ow

n al

phab

et u

sing

a fi

gure

and

obj

ect

i.e. F

ootb

alle

r an

d fo

otba

ll, ba

ker

and

rolli

ng p

in, t

each

er a

nd c

ane.

..

Resources(To Print)

Exe

rcis

e: S

tart

off

by c

hoos

ing

3 le

tter

s an

d de

sign

ing

thre

e di

ffere

nt w

ays

of w

ritin

g th

em.

Ex

ten

sio

n: U

sing

onl

y th

ree

cool

or

war

m c

olou

rs, fi

ll in

you

r fo

nts

with

col

our

RL

ett

er:

De

sign

1:

De

sign

2:

Tasks