Maybe its just because the media mainly focus on the damage that’s done to trains and such.

But listen up, there’s a message here for the suit and tie dead heads. The world doesn’t just belong to them. For the younger generation its a culture!

Sketching a history

Grafiti sketches, murals, paintings, names and tagging is where most newcomers begin but really you should start by asking yourself “what does it really mean?” to you.

Most people see it as something that emerged only in modern society, scribbled by urban youth on railway bridges.

However, its use can be traced back to ancient civilisations, such as the ancient Egyptians whose hieroglyphs could be considered an early form of the writing on the wall that we know today. One can even say that ‘writing’, as it translates, dates back to the origins of mankind itself, when Neanderthal man’s sense of his environment was expressed and communicated through cave drawings.

More often than not it has been characterised as vandalism due to its associations with the spray-painted drawings you often see plastered over buildings and walls in cities.

This urban art can be categorised in three common forms: Tags, Pieces and Labels.

All of us have walked down a street and seen various walls covered with the stuff, but can we differentiate one kind from another? The most common and the easiest to recognise is a tag.

Tags and Tagging

A tag is usually a simple one-coloured design (though it can be more complex). Put simply, it is a depiction of a writer or artist’s nickname or message, and its aim is to send a message to other writers.

A Piece or Character Design

A piece or masterpiece is a more complex form where a writer usually starts with some kind of pre-conceived plan or sketch. A piece tends to take this art more in the direction of character art, which has a big fanbase. People will often be able to distinguish a writer’s work by their character designs alone. Artists like D*Face, Insa, Sickboy and Inkie can all be recognised by the characters or symbols in their pieces.

Labels and Labelling

A label is when a writer’s tag or character design is printed on posters or stickers. Labels can be found in most cities around the world. This can be a great way for all kinds of artists to promote their art far and wide; usually tags are quite hard to see and they are only going to draw the attention of people interested in street art. You often see labels plastered on the back of street signs, lampposts, and anywhere with a smooth surface that can have something stuck to it.

Writing Globally

Although graff art seems to have been part of the mainstream for ages, it was not until the 1970s that it reinvented itself with a more modern term named writing, which first took root in the United States and later spread across the water to Europe.

The last decade has seen writing really take hold of the global art scene with celebrities emerging from the hub of graff artists around the world. It is only now that you hear about  events like Secret Wars and people like American actress Angelina Jolie forking out 100,000 for an original piece by the notorious Bristol-born artist Banksy. Also, a new record was recently set when a piece went for a massive 280,000.

Grafitti art is the new cool, with hundreds of companies in the last few years jumping on the street art bandwagon. It is no longer just a shunned art form, yet it still manages to stay true to its origins by remaining accessible to the younger generation. Street art it seems is here to stay.

Author: N Graffer

Graffiti sketches and free graffiti lessons are available from http://www.graffitimasterclass.com along with cool step-by-step tutorial videos and other bonuses. Check out our site for the full lowdown!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=N_Graffer

Here are some more articles and posts about the subject if you care to take a look…

Graff History

Surely there were the OG graffers? They do have stuff in there if you look closely and are acknowledged as some of the early stick name writers of the city. We did try to contact them but had no luck.

On Graffers

For the first installment of Graff on Graffers I painted my good friend Masto. Masto aka Pheds One (Warfare Crew) grew up in the east of Sydney, spending a large portion of his time in Bondi.

Hot One Ten

How have the tees and going into ‘fashion’ been received by fellow graffers? Beef? PANIK: As soon as we started the whole clothing thing we got all the little graff haters whining about us more than ever but that was expected. 

Saatchi’s presents ‘Dirty hands’

Who knows how these two graffers got hooked up with this saatchi gallery gig. For my mind you cant go past local guys like dmote, killpixie, numskull to name a few, although they wouldnt do a show like this, just be too corperate for them … Its just that if i see one more painted drip, or set of praying hands (usually clutching a string of rosary beads), or tatoo style script wrting, or coy fish, or typical straight lined style graf characters im gonna shoot my foot. 

Technorati Tags: artist, Banksy, creators, designs, door, famous, graffiti, history, murals, seen, sketch, sketches, urban, wall

Self expression comes in many shapes, forms and sizes and graffiti art is no exception.

It is a voice, a message, a statement and a call for attention, for whatever reason and many young people are drawn to it, maybe because they feel they are otherwise not being heard

Before embarking on Graffiti Painting, one should be aware that many people feel that there is a thin line between vandalism and graffiti.

Only when one is safely on the right side of the law, should any kind of creative liberty be assumed.

Hallmarks of Grafitti Painting and Style

Painting Graffiti is an art of big scale. Its grandeur is enhanced by the size of the image. Stark and bold colors, along with the fonts, those themselves are an art form of their types. These are the hallmarks of Graffiti Painting.

Steps To Being a Graffiti Creator

Begin By Gathering Your Main Supplies

Subject.

• Choose the subject for your painting and starkly demarcate the shadow areas. Painting works only when one has clear chiaroscuro effect. Draw a small-scale image of the subject of your graffiti, taking care that there is not too much detailing. Subjects for beginners should appropriately be inspired from the artwork in comics. The fonts and rendering in comics make for a great beginners’ work.

Coloring.

• Once you have outlined your sketch on a small scale, its time to fill in colors and imagine the entire work on a large scale. What looks awesome on small size, does not essentially translate into a large-scale graff work, neither is there a foolproof way to judge that. However, its this uncertainty only that makes the process of Painting it an evolutionary one.

Outlining Work Area.

• Outline your urban art work area into a rectangle, using charcoal or white diluted paint. You can use a string to mark out a rough grid on the work area. Using charcoal, transfer the small-scale model onto the work surface.

Background.

• Once you are done with outlining the work surface, spray a diluted neutral colored paint (White or Pale Cream) using aerosol can on the large areas of your Painting, which are to be painted with dark colors. You may also use Paint Rollers to fill in symmetrical areas with colors. Make sure to spread a very thin layer of paint initially. The painted area should be left to dry for at least an hour.

Coloring.

• Using aerosol cans filled with different colors, start with large areas of your Graffiti Painting, and move on slowly to small areas. Do not let the can’s nozzle linger on for more than three seconds at one place, as this would lead to the dripping of paint (of course, if that’s the effect you want then carry on the drip way).

Fine Defining.

• Use fine brush and paint (preferably Emulsion) to bring out the fine lines and the effects of your unique painting.

Preservation.

• If you want some longevity for your project, spray it with a thin layer of varnish. You are done with your graffiti painting.

One very important fact of grafiti painting is its idea, its central motive. If you are not excited by an idea or by the colors, or by drawing the initial sketch, it’s suggested that you do not venture into this activity. Art without madness is no fun!

Author: Annette Labedzki

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.labedzki-art.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Labedzki

There’s more to Urban Art than Banksy – Spoonfed London

As Roktic “Too hip to be square” pop-up shop – a concept store showcasing underground global streetwear labels comes to Brick Lane’s East Gallery – we thought it would be an idea to reflect on the fresh street art scene

Urban Views Art : Pop Art Gallery: Paintings & Artwork

Pop Art Machine creates contemporary pop art paintings. Our focus is painting and printing artwork using technology as inspiration. Here you will find over one million paintings, pictures and finished pop art posters & prints.

The Urban Music Scene

More importantly, he was one of the saxophone legends that mastered the art of playing in the R&B world, the pop world and the jazz world…ultimately speaking the language and dialect of each genre.”

Technorati Tags: aerosol, art, cans, creative, expression, how to, nozzle, paint, painting, spray, urban art

City Scars – Graffiti and the Fight For Urban Beauty

It is said that art is rather objective in nature and truly is in the eye of the beholder. Yet, in most cases, differences of opinion only determine personal preferences.

And it’s generally agreed that these personal preferences should never supersede the freedom that is given to the artist and their artwork.

Yet, the issue of graffiti is one of the few cases which gives root to stirring dispute and contention about where these freedoms begin and end.

More often than not this form of artwork is portrayed in a negative light. In the recent past, the artists often were generally those with criminal records and/or associated with gangs.

This is perhaps the reasoning for such a pessimistic outlook. Today graffiti is viewed in a much different light – one with a potentially more accepted and positive outlook as a means of social expression.

Still there are limited venues and settings in which the “socially acceptable” version of this art form can be expressed. And all too often, this artwork is placed in areas deemed inappropriate and unsuitable by society.

So with this, the question is posed: How can freedom of expression and urban beauty/social acceptability coincide?

Obviously this question is more deeply rooted in the legality of property protection. But when such essential freedoms of expression and comment are abused from either perspective, and cross over into unwanted or unproductive areas, steps need to be taken to regain territory lost. On the side for expression, taking each situation on a case by case basis and not unilaterally treating graffiti as a “gateway crime” and all its perpetrators as hardened criminals. On the prevention/removal side, making sure that the problem is treated quickly, responsibly and, perhaps most importantly, locally.

Many city officials are now looking to advanced measures and procedures to ensure that their given areas are not blemished with unwanted and unlawful graffiti. (For example, there are now audio monitoring systems that can detect the sound from an aerosol spray can that allows law enforcement to arrest would-be “graffitists” in the act.)

These steps are taken mainly to ensure the value of property as well as set a standard for the system of law in the area. And yet, what would be so bad as to look at these acts as more than just vandalism, perhaps even to a point where the social expression is necessary for healthy discussion and dissent? If this practice were more openly discussed and even guidelines for different intent created, it may be that the damaging side of this would dissipate and even methods for seeing the value and beauty of it may evolve.

As far as the situation today and the admitted need for removing what many see as a blight, who should the city look to guarantee such property protections to its people? If the financial and workforce requirements are able to be adequately met, a city could create a specific task force, whose main objective is beautification, similar to those set up in San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Alternatively, there is a do-it-yourself approach including many preventative measures like special coatings or removal chemicals, which can be found by simply searching online. All are positive ways to remedy this situation. However, why not give the people’s money back to them and use with a service based within the city itself, in effect as a form of local economic development?

• Graffiti Books Know and see more about graffiti artists and  styles

• Banksy Art Products Banksy is a famous graffiti creator and street artist, well known world wide

• Graffiti Supplies All together in one place for budding street or canvas graffiti artists

There are many local companies across various industries that can address this issue. For instance, professional painting companies. Contracting with one of your local professional painting companies could essentially “kill two birds with one stone.” First, prevention and response can team with supporting the local economy. Most commercial painting companies have the knowledge, technology, and equipment to successfully remove graffiti and leave no trace upon completion.

So in all reality let’s turn this “fight” between the city and its “unruly hooligans” into a means to support local business and turn the city into a true form of art. We could look at this situation two different ways: One, a hit to the budget of the city, or two, an investment back into the city. Certainly, it does take money away from tax revenues, but it also provides an opportunity for something that may be a necessary component of human values and democracy to be channeled productively and become part of our social development legacy.

Author: Tyler Troper

Tyler Troper is an experienced professional writer who specializes in content and consultation services to a multitude companies across various industries throughout the United States.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyler_Troper

Technorati Tags: keywords

Most people see it as something that emerged only in modern society, scribbled by urban youth on railway bridges. However, its use can be traced back to ancient civilisations, such as the ancient Egyptians whose hieroglyphics could be considered a form of what we know today as graffiti.

> Find the fonts you need Click here

One can even say that graffiti or writing, as it is more commonly known, dates back to the origins of mankind itself, when Neanderthal man’s sense of his environment was expressed through cave drawings.

More often than not graffiti has been characterised as vandalism due to its associations with the  spray-painted drawings you often see plastered over buildings and walls in cities.

Graffiti art can be categorised in three common forms: Tags, Pieces and Labels.

All of us have walked down a street and seen various walls covered with graffiti, but can we differentiate one item of graffiti from another? The most common and the easiest to recognise is a tag.

A tag is usually a simple one-coloured design (though it can be more complex).

Put simply, it is a depiction of a writer or artist’s nickname or message, and its aim is to send a message to other writers.

A piece or masterpiece is a more complex form of graffiti art where a writer usually starts with some kind of pre-conceived plan or sketch.A piece tends to take graffiti art more in the direction of character art, which has a big fanbase.People will often be able to distinguish a writer’s work by their character designs alone.

Artists like D*Face, Insa, Sickboy and Inkie can all be recognised by the characters or symbols in their pieces.

A label is when a writer’s tag or character design is printed on posters or stickers. Labels can be found in most cities around the world. This can be a great way for all kinds of artists to promote their art far and wide; usually tags are quite hard to see and they are only going to draw the attention of people interested in street art. You often see labels plastered on the back of street signs, lampposts, and anywhere with a smooth surface that can have something stuck to it.

Although graffiti art seems to have been part of the mainstream for ages, it was not until the 1970s that graffiti reinvented itself with a more modern term named writing, which first took root in the United States and later spread across the water to Europe.

The last decade has seen writing really take hold of the global art scene with celebrities emerging from the hub of graff artists around the world. It is only now that you hear about graffiti events like Secret Wars and people like American actress Angelina Jolie forking out 100,000 for an original piece by the notorious Bristol-born artist Banksy. Also, a new record was recently set when a piece went for a massive 280,000.

Graffiti art is the new cool, with hundreds of companies in the last few years jumping on the street art bandwagon. Graffiti is no longer just a shunned art form, yet it still manages to stay true to its origins by remaining accessible to the younger generation. Graffiti it seems is here to stay.

Author: N Graffer

Graffiti sketches and free graffiti lessons are available from http://www.graffitimasterclass.com along with cool step-by-step tutorial videos and other bonuses. Check out our site for the full lowdown!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=N_Graffer

Here are some more related posts about graffiti

Alphabet Graffiti Sketches Of Black And White Flower

Example design graffiti alphabet black and white: black and white graffiti, graffiti black and white sketches, black and white graffiti words, black and white sketches of graffiti. Specification flower design black and white: 

Graffiti Sketches and Subway Sketches at SCRITCH and SCRATCH

Graffiti Sketches and Subway Drawing. I inked an old crappy subway sketch. I guess it is not cool to stare at people on the subway. I’ve been caught once but fortunately most people on the subway think secretly drawing them is harmless. 

Technorati Tags: alphabet, art, artist, D*Face, graff, graffiti, Inkie, Insa, label, masterpiece, piece, Sickboy, sketches, tag, tags, writer, writing

Talk about graffiti art … this is not drawing or ’scratching’ on the wall as the name graffiti suggests. Neither is it rebellious or gang related, but there is something about it for me that is quite ’street’ and Kseniya simonova has a real and poignant message

She is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine’s version of this very popular show and her sand painting to music is just out of this world, absolutely amazing.

Watching it just broughty me to tears, along with many others in the audience.

It is a ‘must’ look!

It is a place where obsession, creativity, art, music and spectacle all come together in one place and leave one amazed

What do you think?  Share your thoughts below

Here are some more sand drawings for you to browse and enjoy. I like how they flow with the music

This one is by Ilana Yahav

The next is called Vegetassj3

The art of love, a romantic adventure

Did you enjoy these drawings in motion?

Please let us know.

I think Kseniya Simonova’s work was amazing and very moving

Technorati Tags: art, drawing, drawings, graffiti, heart, hearts, Ilana Yahav, in the sand, Kseniya Simonova, sand, shapes

Graffiti Art takes to the gutters. We’ve never seen them look so clean!

A new expression of street art has come to the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, nicknamed Storm Drain graffiti. Artists are using their talents to decorate the storm drains in a variety of ways.

Leonardo Delafuente and Anderson Augusto, known as 6emeia, have creatively painted over 50 storm drains in the past 18 months and here are a fewto view

Here are some shots of storm drain graffiti and playful urban art

Brings a little sunshine to a drab and weather-stormed world

Fired up!

Smile and keep it clean!

Technorati Tags: art, character drawings, creative, expression, graffiti, gutters, storm drain graffiti, storm drains, street, styles, urban

What has Graffiti to do with Marx? Read on to find out …

Karl Marx has this theory of social alienation that proposes the idea that in a capitalist system – much like the 24-hour consumer fest we Americans find ourselves bogged down in – the lower rungs of the class-war ladder are pressured into conformity by those who own the means of production.

And that’s why we work shitty jobs, put up with bullshit labor requirements and grin and bare the monotonous taste of coffee and ever-increasing weight of the daily grind.

And anything or any form of expression outside that prefabricated box is wrong.

In a pure (I cannot stress that word enough) Marxian society however, the owners of capital no longer make the rules because they no longer own the capital. How sweet it is to imagine a world where we don’t have to work mostly to make our bosses rich, where social classes are eradicated and everyone pushes happily towards equal contribution and equal redistribution of wealth. Or perhaps more importantly, imagine a world without NO TREPASSING signs; a world where all the factory walls and subway tunnels are suddenly public domain, free to use or draw on as anyone sees fit.

Because the more I sit around my apartment and ponder the issue the more I realize Wu Tang said it best when they told us that: “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”. We live in a consumer culture, bound by an insatiable need to turn every product, marketable skill or good idea into a commodity. But if the bourgeoisie can’t figure out a cost-effective way to mass produce it, society blocks that shit like an angry Ben Wallace.

So let’s examine the art: graffiti.

Illegal. Feared. Rejected by societal norms and described like cancers to communities, a destructive virus that consumes and devours decent proper values until suddenly there’s a crack house next door OR perhaps just another victim of Marx’s social alienation. Let’s be straight, America really has no problem with graffiti – as long as they can make a buck off it. The style has been mimicked and milked in almost every market, from designer t-shirts to XBOX games and countless hip-hop album covers. Yet despite all this corporate love, the act of getting up, putting the paint on the walls is still punishable by jail time and large amounts of debt.

Graffiti is the art form of the proletariat.

The bourgeoisie can’t sell off the walls of their factories so whatever the workers write on them is finally theirs to keep. It’s an art that cannot be exploited by those who own the means of production, because graffiti exploits them first. The proletariat artist is using the property of the bourgeoisie as a canvas – essentially redistributing the use of property to the people.

In that sense graffiti writing becomes the last truly free artistic vehicle; it cannot be taxed and doesn’t have to be taught. Anyone can participate, regardless of class, race, religious preference or sexual orientation.

Graffiti doesn’t even require consumption of any materials if the artist doesn’t wish to purchase them. According to old school ethics, paint should be stolen from supply stores as an act of liberation from bourgeoisie’s financial death-traps-but really, all you need is a rock and a hard surface to scratch on to make your mark.

Historically speaking, the movement was born out of and has always been about class war. Graffiti provided an outlet for the young, angry and poor to express their lamentations with society and make their presence known in their communities without costing them a dime. The movement grew in leaps and bounds, and pretty soon cities all over the world were suddenly awash with words and bright colors-like everyone on the planet was picking up a can and getting up.

Marx himself would easily categorize the “graffiti vandal” as a member of the lumpenproletariat, a derivative of the working class drawn to or forced into criminal activity as means to either a.) survive within the current class structure by their own terms or b.) to provoke the state towards social reform. Depending on what Marxist you’re talking to, the lumpenproletariat can be counter-revolutionary or pro.

However, a closer examination of history shows us that graffiti has been implemented as powerful tool for vocalizing political dissent and forcing its message into a public forum. Mao Zedong, the former Primer of Communist China was arrested by police after inscribing a 4,000 character manifesto on the wall of a University bathroom.

In the 1960’s, graffiti was used in both the American Civil Rights movement, the Anti-Vietnam movement (the SDS, the Weathermen, The Black Panthers, etc) and the May 1968 rebellions in France where the streets of Paris where suddenly alive and colored with a thousand different slogans and maxims of the oppressed and downtrodden. The early punk scenes also embraced the prophetic power of graffiti as fans of anarchist band CRASS started putting their logos all over the London Subway. Each example preceded some manner of larger social change.

But America doesn’t want this change. And American doesn’t want graffiti. America wants to profit off the production of its citizens-the system wants you to buy canvas and paint, to pay rental fees at galleries, to tax your income from the sale of artwork. And if your designs become popular, America wants to buy the license and start flipping it on the street like crack rocks. It’s all about the bottom line.

In order to understand the criminal association with graffiti, one must examine it as an extension of the Capitalist attitude of “property over people” and how Marx and other social philosophers define an inarguable link between capitalism, imperialism and elitism.

In America, the nature of the state is to protect, first and foremost, the investments of big business and those who control the money. Any Noam Chomsky book can tell you that this corporate/political hybrid has served historically as the catalysts for countless social struggles and transnational aggressions. From organizing civil struggles in Latin America against already in-place Leftist governments to the current War on Terror, the reach of capitalism is a long one. And anyone that resists envelopment into that system is pushed out completely and graffiti writers are no exception.

Political scientist Michael Parenti once said in lecture, (later sampled on Choking Victim’s No Gods / No Managers) that it is a common misconception in this country that the police are here to fight crime, “the primary function of the police is social control and protection of property.” Applying that observation to the way most American judicial systems handle graffiti cases, the connection is more obvious than ever before.

I live in Pittsburgh. And in the news all summer was the story of a Yinzer artist that went by MFONE, currently being charged with 6 felonies, 18 misdemeanors for vandalism and trespassing could face higher fines and a longer jail sentence than most rapists and murderers. Most likely the charges will be reduced yet even still, the only way this could even be rationalized as justice is if we are too assume that the facade of buildings are worth more collectively than the lives of citizens. No politician, district judge or doughnut eating beat cop will ever admit to that, but on paper, the evidence is there in dollars and cents.

But despite all this political juxtaposition, the simple, Zen truth of the entire matter is that graffiti is an act of creation, misinterpreted as an act of destruction.

Paint is less lethal than bullets, booze and cigarettes but it’s less accepted on the streets as all three combined. Most writers aren’t deranged and rampant criminals hell-bent on heralding gang warfare and urban decay-they’re just workers with something to say, looking for a place to say it. And in a Marxian world, that would be ok. No private property, no social alienation, no over-zealous justice departments skimming through Myspace for evidence-just a collective community of opinionated peoples, reclaiming the city and coloring it whatever they want. I stopped writing in any serious sense years ago, but whenever I see a well-placed burner or thoughtful phrase scratched into a bathroom wall, I’m more satisfied than I would ever be staring up at a goddamn billboard. The answer, my friends, is not blowing in the wind. It’s written on the fucking wall.

Author: Frederic Prevost-Lebeuf

Article from BombingScience.com: Graffiti Supplies and Graffiti Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frederic_Prevost-Lebeuf

Technorati Tags: art, capitalism, economic theory, expression, freedom, graffiti, graffiti street art, karl marx, lumpenproletariat, proletariat alienation from others, theories, writers

… and took the place by storm, coming out the overall winners in Britain’s Got Talent and well deserved it was too.

Their performance was brilliant! It is amazing to think that such top class performers have been together for less than 2 years. Made up of 10 dancers, including 3 sets of brothers, all various ages from 12 to 25 and headed by choreographer Ashley Banjo, they absolutely wowed the audience and judges and are now on their way to a grand performance in front of the queen, something they hardly dared dream about when the competition began.

They are a great inspiration for the youth of today and I look forward to seeing much more of them in the coming months.

Britains Got Talent Finals

BGT Semi Finals

BGT Auditions

Diversity Dance Group Perofrm ‘Transformers’ – Streetdance UK 2008

How do you rate them?

Give Us Your Comments Below

Technorati Tags: Ashley banjo, BGT, Britains Got talent, dance, dance act, Diversity, final, finals, group, video, videos, youtube

Since its birth, graffiti, or graffito in singular form, has always met two very conflicting views from people.

For the conservatives, it is nothing more than a form of vandalism. For the modernists, it is an art form.

Consisting from simple scratches to elaborate paintings on the wall, this art form is ancient and, like time, has evolved a hundred fold. In earliest times, the cavemen used it on the cave walls to depict their day to day activities, and the ancient Greeks used it in “modern style” to advertise prostitution. In this manner, the Greeks carved a handprint that looks like a heart beside a footprint and a number, indicating that a brothel is near.

The Romans used it to carve love poems, love letters, alphabets, slogans or any other messages that they want to convey to the public in general in a fast way, on their walls and monuments. For them, it was a way of advertising and easy information dissemination. Not only did they do the art form in letters, they also had it in pictures. An example of this would be a second century carving of a crucified donkey that many believe to be a depiction of Jesus Christ.

Despite the many reproofs, famous artists and painters had made use of it for plain amusement or for their profession. At one time, Renaissance artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, Filippino Lippi, Pinturrichio, and Ghirlandaio went to visit Nero’s Domus Aurea ruins and carved, or painted, their names resulting to a new style of decoration of that era. A lot of evidences provide information that the Americans, the French, the Egyptians, the Malays, the Japanese and the Chinese of early times had also made use of it. This just goes to show that no matter how hard some people refute and regard it as junk, this certain art form is part of their culture and history.

In this day and time, graffiti has evolved greatly and has become part and parcel of the hip hop society and culture. With the technology available at hand, instead of carving the messages or images on the walls, the ones who make use of this art form now make use of the most handy aerosol spray cans, making it the most used tool for the modern art form.

Because of this, graffiti has become a street art form and along with it emerged new styles. The first one is the basic form called the tag style. Because of its ease in execution being just a representation of an artist’s name, it is most often used to gain recognition and as a signature of a larger piece. Next is where one makes a layer of color then outlines it with another color. This is called the throw-up style. Next style is the blockbuster style, which is made up of block letters making it very easy to read. The last style is called wild style and is made up of blended letters which are highly decorated.

Author: Mark Traston

Mark Traston is an associate with Portrait Painting. The company specializes in turning a photo to painting. Each portrait artist specializes in a specific area including wedding paintings, pet portraits, and executive portraits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Traston

Graffiti Art

Graffiti IS art if you look at the culture thats been growing since the 80’s you would see that get out of your bubble and by the way, thats the artist letting people know that he/she is out there …  

Tagging

“I did not stop writing graffiti. I just don’t do it illegally. I’ve made over $1000 selling canvases of my graffiti art–mostly pieces, at shows that I have with my band.” A member of Tucson hip-hop crew the Jivin Scientists

History Of Hip Hop

The graffiti art started moving from the streets to the subways and quickly became competitive. HIP HOP DANCE (Break dancing). Break dancing is a dance in a frenetic, distinctive style. Breaking is a hip hop dance. 

Technorati Tags: art, graffiti, graffiti art or not, graffiti as an art form, Hip Hop, history, is graffiti art, lettering, modern, tagging

You can travel almost anywhere in the world, and you will probably see graffiti. Although graffiti art is usually more common in big cities, the reality is that it can occur in almost any community, big or small.

The problem with graffiti art is the question of whether it’s really art, or just plain vandalism. This isn’t always an easy question to answer, simply because there are so many different types of graffiti.

Some is simply a monochrome collection of letters, known as a tag, with little artistic merit. Because it’s quick to produce and small, it is one of the most widespread and prevalent forms of graffiti.

Although tagging is the most common type of graffiti, there are bigger, more accomplished examples that appear on larger spaces, such as walls. These are often multicolored and complex in design, and so start to push the boundary of whether they should really be defined as graffiti art.

Graffiti fonts come in many designs.Choose your own here

If it wasn’t for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without the owner’s permission, then it might be more recognized as a legitimate form of art. Most graffiti art, however, is only an annoyance to the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than applaud its artistic merit.

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Many solutions have been put into practice around the world, with varying degrees of success. Paints have been developed that basically cause graffiti paint to dissolve when applied, or else make it quick and easy to remove. Community groups and government departments coordinate graffiti removal teams.

In some places you can’t buy spray paint unless you’re over 18. Cans of spray paint are locked away in display cases. In a nearby area the local council employs someone to go around and repaint any fences defaced by graffiti. A friend of mine has had his fence repainted 7 times at least, and it took him a while to find out why it was happening! Certainly the amount of graffiti in my local area has dropped substantially in the last year or two, so it appears these methods are working to a great extent.

But is removing the graffiti doing a disservice to the artistic community? Maybe if some of the people behind the graffiti art were taken in hand and trained, they could use their artistic skills in more productive ways. It hardly makes sense to encourage these artists to deface public property, and so commit a crime. But perhaps there are other ways to cooperate with the graffiti artists rather than just opposing them. Graffiti artists can create sanctioned murals for private property owners and get paid for it.

Maybe we need to start at a very basic level, and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas, rather than walls. After all, who would remember Monet or Picasso if they’d created their masterpieces on walls, only to have them painted over the next day? Finding a solution to such a complex situation is never going to be easy, but as more graffiti art is being recognized in galleries around the world, we do need to try.

Author: Steve Dolan

Steve Dolan loves art in various forms and mediums. Find out more about graffiti as an art form at Graffiti and Urban Art and if you have art that needs framing visit Picture Frames.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Dolan

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