Graffiti Art

We all have come in contact with graffiti in one way or another. We all have seen it on bathroom walls, scribbled in our books, scratched the name of a loved one on a tree or a desk… you get the picture (Phillips 13)! Graffiti has been around since the beginning of time. They can be found on rocks, usually called rock art, and hieroglyphics used by ancient Egyptians. These types of graffiti help us and teaches us about the people of those times, so why is it looked down on as a crime today? Graffiti, to fellow graffiti artists and those with an artistic mind, are admired while others see it as an eye sore or they just don’t care.

There is limited information on how graffiti actually started. In the 30’s there was the Cholo Graffiti Movement in East Los Angeles by Mexican-Americans. They were the first to use spray cans. There were also signatures on freight trains by hobos. During the 60’s graffiti, as we know today, started in Pennsylvania and spread throughout the United States but becoming more popular in New York (At 149 St) and Los Angeles. Graffiti is a culture within itself, developing its own language and minority group (women). The different types of graffiti include Gang Graffiti which are simple gang signs or names used to mark territory (Phillips 51) and promote gang activity. These types of graffiti are usually plain with little or no color and can be done with a marker. Tagger Graffiti is the writing of nicknames as a form of identity, the artist can tag the name of his girlfriend or crew members. These are artistic in nature with more style and sometimes cannot be read or understood by outsiders (Ferrell 70-71). Tagging led to the development of calligraphic styles, painting in a larger scale and the use of thicker letters and more colors. Snipe Graffiti are flyers illegally posted on property (Types of Graffiti, Reporting Crime). Message Graffiti, as the name hints, are messages of politics or warnings which coincide with Hatred Graffiti which are messages of hatred to a specific group.

Graffiti artists use a language recognized world-wide between each other. The artists can be called writers, artists or graf artists. They have also developed a naming technique where they use their first name or nickname and the street number they live on (Austin 42) for example Mad 101. Graffiti or Graf can be called murals, throw-ups and pieces. Murals are large in size and ladders or scaffoldings (used by painters) are usually used to complete them. Artists will use between twenty and forty cans of spray paint on one mural. They can depict anything from lettering to pictures. Throw-ups are similar to tagging in that they are usually the nicknames of the artist. Big letters are used which cover a large area and, since not much color is used, it takes a shorter time to complete. Pieces or paintings are the graffiti art itself. Large pieces take longer, maybe days to complete, and are bigger in size. These, including murals, may have cartoon characters and many colors. Wild-Style graffiti is more of a technique that cannot be understood by those who are not familiar with it. The letterings are jumbled or interlaced and may contain arrows and cartoon images (Rahn 14-15).

The process of putting graffiti on walls can be called writing, tagging, piecing or bombing. Tunnel bombing is writing graffiti on lay-ups, places trains were housed, and due to the lack of publicity, many artists did not partake in it. The language also includes dissing, biting and selling out. Dissing, short for disrespect, occurs when an artist goes over another’s work. If this happens to the same artist often enough they will quit. If the writer is caught biting or selling out, they will be dissed. Biting can be considered as plagiarism in the graf community. An artist sells out when he or she exploit their talent (Rahn 18-20).

Murals have changed from the late seventies to present times through improved techniques, styles and tools (Rahn 10). Spray paint is the most important tool for all graf artists. When the need arrives and desperation sets in, artists will go to the extreme of distracting sales clerks and shoplifting the cans. Many, who are not criminal-minded, will get the spray paint in exchange for their artwork. This is not considered as selling out. The most popular spray paint used by graf artists is Krylon, usually found at K-Mart, with its numerous amounts of colors. Images of the Krylon paint cans are sometimes painted on walls. Artists prefer Krylon because it is longer lasting through all types of weather, keeping the piece’s original brightness. It also dries quicker and does not run, with the exception of a few colors. Writers with dripping art work are considered unskilled. To prevent this they will blow on the drippings to stop the process. Spray nozzles were exchanged with other spray products like bug repellent and other aerosol cans and artist often alter these nozzles to achieve different shapes while working. Writers will keep spray paint nozzles when discarding the cans to replace blocked ones and to prevent other writers from dissing their piece (Ferrell 63-65).

Graf artists also use markers with wide tips for writing on the streets. During the 60’s, toy markers were used which resembled nail polish bottles with a small tip (At 149 ST). Today’s markers are usually refillable, permanent and durable. Some artists create their own from bottles of shoe polish and rag tips with ink made from carbon paper (Rahn 11-12). Another tool used by graffiti artists is the piecebook. This is a leather-covered book with blank pages which would be used to sketch designs before or after it goes on the wall. It comes in handy if an artist comes up with an idea and needs to put the thought to paper before it disappears. Aspiring graf artists use it as an autograph book and get well known artists to sign it using their tag. Because of the constant abuse of piecebooks by rain, paint and other occurrences, artists resort to photocopying the piece for that day to carry around. This also prevented the police from permanently destroying the artist’s work (Ferrell 68-69). An artist gains more respect by working from memory than from his piecebook (Rahn 14).

Skills and technique are important when doing graffiti but most of all is the location of these pieces. If more people are able to see the artist’s work and the more risky the location, the more respect he or she will receive. Writers prefer to write on commuter trains which can be seen by people in the city and the continent which increases their respect (Rahn 13-18).

Work Cited
At 149 St. 2003. 16 Jul. 2003 http://www.at149st.com/hpart1.html
Austin, Joe. Taking the Train: How Graffiti Art Became an Urban Crisis in New York
City. New York: Columbia University, 1993.
City of Minneapolis. Reporting Crime: Types of Graffiti.
2003. 14 Jul. 2003 <http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/graffiti/types.asp>
Ferrell, Jeff. Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality. New York,
London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1993
Phillips, Susan A. Wallbangin': Graffiti and Gangs in L.A. Chicago & London: The
University Of Chicago Press, 1999.
Rahn, Janice. Painting Without Permission: Hip-Hop Graffiti Subculture. Connecticut,
London: Bergin & Garvey, 2002.

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