Graffiti History + Graffiti Language - Graffiti Forum

Canhero · 06-19-2008, 02:48 PM

Hey fellow toys. Here is a nice and big tutorial for you guys. Youll learn alot from this.
Here is the link, I didnt want to copy the whole thing ---->

.dontask. · 06-24-2008, 10:44 AM

might as well post it here

So you want to be a graffiti artist?
Becoming a respected graffiti artist will take a lot of time and dedication, plus you must stay in co-operation with some of these unofficial rules of graffiti. Etiquette, if you will.
Bender posted a thread with these in before the site crash which got lost, and he doesn't seem to have returned so I'm taking the time to rewrite the thread for the benefit of new members and writers.

1. Know your history.
Graffiti is the oldest artform, dating back to sketches on cave walls. The Ancient Egyptians added words to graffiti, Romans and other civilisations followed suite. Graffiti has never dissappeared, from the etchings on school desks around the world to the American subway bombings in the late 20th century, with the work of artists such as Dondi inspiring new generations to write. Know your history and respect it.

2. Don't own up.
If you get caught by the police, keep quiet. If you've managed to lose your paints and any incriminating evidence by the time they catch you, chances are they won't have enough of a case to sustain charges without photographic proof.

3. Work solo or in small groups.
This is again a measure to prevent yourself being caught. The more limited the number of people aware of your night time activities the better - theres less likely to give the game away. But of course you are key in this as well. Don't let people know that your an artist, keep it quiet.

4. Don't spray on public property.
Painting your slogan on the side of someone's house may add a touch of colour to the neighbourhood, but ultimately it'll turn the civillians against you, and the graffiti subculture as a whole. Your war is with the government, not with the public - Keep it that way.

5. Don't spray on religious sites.
One of the easiest ways to offend people is via their religion. Yes, you want to voice your opinions and beliefs, but in doing so it is unnacceptable that you disrespect other people's beliefs.

6. Don't spray over another artists tag.
Cramped working space? Tough, they got their first. Spraying over other people's work will only lose you respect and anger those within the community, which is not what you want to be doing. You wouldn't like someone covering half of your work, they don't like you doing it to theirs. Use your common sense and find somewhere else to spray.

7. Respect is mutual.
So your an artist who's been on the circuit for years now, garnering respect, and you notice a new kid who's rocking your style? Don't get mad. The kid will eventually develop their own style, feel more honoured that they payed tribute to yours with their initial work. We all had someone inspire us to start spraying. Likewise kids, respect those who've been in the game the longest - listen to their advice and learn from them.

8. Don't brag.
Contrary to what you may think, you are not the illest in your area, theres always someone better, so stay quiet. And if there isn't anyone better? Then everyone already knows that your the best, and you don't need to make a big deal about it. Boasts are frowned upon in the graff community, and credit will be given where its due - just don't go looking for it.

9. Gaining more respect.
Apart from following the other rules mentioned, getting your work noticed will gain you more respect. This means spraying either -
a) Where lots of people will see it. Eg. A main road.
b) Somewhere that's difficult to get to. Eg. The side of a bridge. Or
c) Somewhere that's difficult to get to where lots of people will see it. Eg. The side of a bridge over a main road.

Obviously there is danger involved, so be sensible when attempting an audacious bombing, take safety precautions and be safe. Your health comes first.

Good luck, graffiti artists.

.dontask. · 06-24-2008, 10:44 AM

graffiti language
ALL CITY
What a writer is considered to be when he/she is "up", but this term implies more status than being just "up". Many people can be "up", but only a select few could be considered "all city". Can also refer to a crew instead of just one writer.

BACK IN THE DAY
Refers to the "old days", old school, or when a writer first started writing. Also a hip-hop/rap term.

BACKGROUND
Originated on the subways out of neccessity. Backgrounds were used to make the piece stand out from all the tags and assorted scribbling on a subway car that make the piece hard to discern; the color or design painted behind the piece to make it stand out from the wall or train.

BACK TO BACK
A wall that is pieced from end to end all the way across. Also can refer to throwups that are one after another.

BATTLE
This is done when two writers or two crews have some sort of disagreement. The battle can take two forms: skills battle or getting up - essentially quality vs. quantity. A skills battle is when two writers piece a wall within a certain time period (usually a day or a few hours) and whoever does the best piece is the winner. A getting-up battle is when the writers take a certain area of a city and whichever crew can get up the most in that area within a certain amount of time (say a week to a month), wins. For both kinds of battle, an outside crew or writer judges who is the winner. The terms of losing and winning are usually negotiated by the crews involved and can be payment in paint, pot, a sock in the jaw, the losing crew has to stop writing their name, etc., etc.

BITE
To copy another writer's style. This is considered a no-no and is looked down upon, even though writers often borrow imagery from cartoons and comics.

BLOCKBUSTER
Big, square letters, often tilted back and forth and in (usually) two colors. Mainly invented to cover over other people and to paint whole trains easily, but they are effective on smaller walls for maximum coverage. Blade and Comet claim to have invented these.

BMT
Train line in NY that had only ridgys and ding-dongs (except for the As and Cs.)

BOMB
Prolific painting or marking with ink. To cover an area with your tag, throwups, etc.

BOMBING
To go out writing.

BUBBLE LETTERS
A type of graffiti letters, usually considered to be an older (and sometimes outmoded) style. Often used for throwup letters because of their rounded shape, which allows for quick formation. Phase2 originally created this style.

BUFF
Any means employed by the transit authority to remove graffiti from trains. The more modern usage is when any graffiti is gone over or removed from any surface, not necessarily just from trains.

TO BUFF, BUFFED
to erase, erased.

BURN
To beat the competition with your style. Also refers to a really good piece, as in one that "burns".

BURNER
Originally a well-done wildstyle window-down whole car, a burner is a very good piece. Obviously, the reference to a window-down car is not applicable for pieces that are not on trains. A burner is any piece that has good bright colors, good style (often in wildstyle) and seems to "burn" off of the wall.

CAP, FAT or SKINNY (tips)
Interchangable spray-can nozzles fitted to the can to vary the width of spray. These are usually racked off of commercial products, such as K-Mart's Bug and Tar, various cleaning products or starches. Many stores and graffiti fanzines sell caps nowadays. Also referred to as "tips" (as in "flare tips" and "thin tips".) The really big fat caps are sometimes called "softballs" because of the wide and soft-looking spray they produce. Tips are sometimes referred to by a certain number of fingers, corresponding to the width of the spray (for example, a "four-finger spray" would be about as wide as your hand. The number on the front of a tip is the catalog number for that model.

CHARACTER
A cartoon figure (usually, but not necessarily) taken from comic books, TV or popular culture to add humor or emphasis to a piece. In some pieces, the character takes the place of a letter in the word.

CHINA MARKER
A type of grease pencil used by artists to mark up contact sheets of photos or the photos themselves for cropping. They come in red and blue, and were adopted by writers for tagging because of the grease base. China markers are not very big, only as big as a crayon, but will write on almost anything.

CLOUD
Stylistic form applied to pieces. The use of clouds is not as freqent now as it was in the early days of subway car painting.

COMPUTER STYLE
A certain style of wildstyle that looks digital or bitmapped, as if it came out of a computer.

CRAZY
It means crazy in the dictionary definition but can also mean "really" as in "crazy big".

CREW
A loosely organized group of writers who also tag the crew initials along with their name. Crew names are usually three letters, many times ending with "K", which stands for "kings" or "kills" in most cases. Some crew names are just two letters, some are four, it all depends.

CTA
Chicago Transit Authority.

CUTTING TIPS
A way to cut standard tips, thus modifying them into fat caps or flare tips.

CUTTING LINES
A painting technique used on inside fills of letters and characters to get thin lines, thinner than thin tips.

DIS
To insult. Comes from "disrespect". Originally it was just a hip-hop/rap term but has found its way into the culture at large. Hey, even my mom says it!
DEF
Really good, (derived from "death"). In its day it had as much use in the hip-hop scene as in the graffiti scene. Not in use as much anymore, in some circles its use is considered downright cheesy. I'm all for bringing it back.

DING-DONG
Relatively new stainless type of subway car, so named for the bell that rings just before the doors close. Ding-dongs were preferred because they were so flat. They were a quick buff so no one did any full-scale pieces on ding-dongs.

DOPE
Originally a rap/hip-hop term that means "cool".

DOWN
To be in with, part of the group or action (as in "he's down with us"). Part of your connection, if you are down with someone.

DRIPS
Stylized drips drawn onto letters to add effect. Although inept paint application causing unintentional drips is considered the mark of a toy and is wack, stylized drips drawn on letters are acceptable. This style originated early on in New York subway graffiti.

FADE
To blend/blended colors.

FAME
What a writer gets when he/she is constantly and consistently getting up. One of the goals of writers is to have fame within the subculture of writers, and some, like Chaka, aim to have fame (or at least be recognized) outside of the subculture.

FANZINE
A fan magazine devoted to a narrow interest. Often shortened to "zine" In the graff scene, fanzines would obviously be devoted to writing, featuring photos of pieces, etc. The first graffiti fanzine was "International Graffiti Times" started by Phase 2. Nowadays there are many fanzines such as Can Control, Skills, Crazy Kings, and many others.

FAN SPRAY
A newer type of stock tip on spraypaint cans (used to be only on cheaper brands but almost every company, including Krylon, now sport these on at least one line of their paint) which sprays in a fan pattern that can be adjusted from vertical to horizontal, but is useless for tagging because it looks wack. May be used for fills but the cheezy tips prevent any kind of detailed can control. The tip is not removable for insertion of fat caps.

FAT
Can refer to something being thick, as a "fat line", or can be a general term of good, like "yo, that's fat!" Often spelled "phat".

FEMALE TIPS
A new type of tip that is called "female" because the can has a "male" counterpart. Traditional cans are vice versa. These female tipped cans are no good for writers, except maybe for fills, but even that's questionable.

FILL
The solid interior color of letters on a piece or throwup.

FLAT
Older slab-sided type of subway car; the most suitable surface for painting. This term refers mainly to subways, although it could refer to certain types of freight cars as well.

FLICKS
Prints of photos of graffiti. Also "flick" (singular) and "flix" (plural).

FLY
Cool, same as "fresh". Early hip-hop term.

FRESH
New, cool, good. An early hip-hop term.

TO FRONT
To hassle someone, to want to fight. For example, "You frontin' on me?" Also a hip-hop/rap term. Probably comes from "confront".

GETTING UP
Originally, "getting up" meant to sucessfully hit a train. Now it means to hit up anything, anywhere, with any form of graffiti, from a tag all the way up to a wildstyle burner -- although the term implies the process of tagging repeatedly to spread your name. Tagging something once would be getting up, but would not make you an "up" writer.

GOING OVER
One writer covering another writer's name with his/her own. Also known as "X-ing out" or "crossing out". "Crossing out" is usually just that, painting an X over another writers tag or piece. In the early days of New York graffiti, Cap was the master of doing black and white throwups to go over people. There was even a crew called TCO (the cross outs), whose main goal was to cross everyone out. See also "blockbuster letters".

GRIFFIN
A type of shoe dye used in homemade markers.

GROCERY STORE INK
A kind of purple ink used by grocery stores in their marking guns. Writers took this ink to put in their homemades and refillable markers. Writers from back in the day swear by it because of its permanence.

HIP HOP
The culture in the late 70s and early 80s that spawned the graffiti culture as we know it now, breakdancing and hip-hop music, which has since turned into modern rap music.

HIT
To tag up any surface with paint or ink.

HIT UP
When something is covered with tags.

HOMEMADE
A type of homemade marker made out of old deodorant containers stuffed with socks or felt chalkboard erasers and filled with ink. Homemades have been made out of many things, including (most commonly) various deodorant containers all the way up to VHS videotapes. (!) Homemades have also been called "mean streaks," although this has no relation to the paint stick made by Sanford corporation.

HOMEMADE INK
A kind of homemade ink made for your homemade marker. The basic recipe involves shredding carbon paper and mixing it with alcohol and/or lighter fluid. Said to be almost as good as grocery store ink.

ICY GRAPE
An old, discontinued Krylon color that is prized by writers when the odd can turns up.

INSIDES
Originally referred to tagging the insides of subway trains. Now refers to the insides of any mass transit vehicle. For example, "He's the king of insides" would mean he's really up on the insides.

IRT
A train line in NY that had many burners because its cars were all flats.

JUNGLE GREEN
Another old, now discontinued Krylon color that writers go crazy over.

KARAK
Same as "character".

KILL
To hit or bomb excessively. To really get up in a major way.

KING
The best with the most. Some people refer to different writers as kings of different areas. King of throwups, king of style, king of a certain line, etc.

KRYLON
A brand of spraypaint, easily recognized by the distinctive 5-spot logo. Most favored by writers because of its large color selection and cheap price.

LAYUP
Side tracks where trains are parked overnight and on weekends. Initally used to refer to subway layups, but now can refer to freight-train layups.

MAD
Crazy, lots.

MAGNUM
A type of fat marker used by writers, not refillable.

MARKS-A-LOT
Standard black magic marker with a tip about a quarter-inch wide. Had its place in the early days of writing (early to mid 70s) but has been discarded in favor of bigger, better markers and spraypaint.

MARRIED COUPLE
Two cars permanently attached, identified by their consecutive numbers. This is an older subway term from New York.

MEAN STREAK
A type of paint stick made by the Sanford corporation. Writers like it because it is opaque, waterproof, and is generally a bitch to buff because the base solvent is ethyl glycol. Comes in white, blue, red and yellow. I've never seen black or green.

MTA
Metropolitan Transit Authority. (NYC)

MURAL
A large-scale type of piecing, done top to bottom on a wall; usually a large production involving one or two pieces and usually some form of characters.

OLD SCHOOL
General term used to refer to the early days of writing, more specifically, the mid 70s to '82 or '83. Also may refer to hip-hop music of this period. Old-school writers are given respect for being there when it all started, and specific writers are remembered for creating specific styles. For example, Blade and Comet created blockbusters, Phase 2 created bubble letters, clouds, Skeme's "S", and so on.

OUTLINE
The drawing done in a piecebook in preparation for doing the actual piece. Also called a sketch. Can also refer to the outline put on the wall and then filled, or the final outline done around the piece to finish it.

PANEL PIECE
A painting below the windows and between the doors of a subway car.

PIECE
A graffiti painting, short for masterpiece. It's generally agreed that a painting must have at least three colors to be considered a piece.

TO PIECE
To paint graffiti, creating a piece, not just go out tagging.

PIECEBOOK
A writer's sketchbook where outlines and ideas to be executed are kept and worked out. Also referred to as a "black book" or a "writer's bible".

PILOT
A type of fat marker. Prized because it writes wider than a Marks-A-Lot and is made to be refilled.

PROPS
Respect, comes from "proper respect". From hip-hop/rap.

RACK
To steal, usually paints or markers. In the past, most writers stole all materials used for painting. Due to paint lockups in California and other areas, this is no longer possible, so most paint is now bought.

RIDGY
Subway car with corrugated, stainless steel sides, unsuitable for graffiti. Writers did mainly two-color throwups and some top-to-bottom throwups (one color and silver because silver was hard to buff) on these types of cars. Ridgys ran in Brooklyn.

ROLL CALL
Tagging everyone's name in a crew, or the list of people who helped create it to the side of the piece. Not done very often - tagbangers seem to like doing this.

RED DEVIL
A favorite brand of spraypaint that was quite popular back in the day, but now has wack fan spray for tips.

RUSTOLEUM
A brand of spraypaint, generally more expensive than Krylon.

SCRIBER
A tagging instrument, usually made out of a diamond drillbit, used to physically engrave one's name on buses and mass transit vehicles. Considered by some writers to be more destructive than is needed. Sandpaper is sometimes used to tag buses in the same manner--it too is considered mass destruction.

SCRUB
A certain type of throwup (usually two colors) that is filled very quickly with back-and-forth lines, rather than filled in solid.

SG-7
A type of big marker made by Sakura which is a little bigger than a Pilot, and it too is easily refillable, although it does not state that on the outside. Sakura makes a model the same size called "Pentouch" which is a huge paint marker, complete with a mixing ball inside of it.

SHOE DYE
Shoe dye kits are used sometimes for tagging, especially those that consist of a bottle with a brush/sponge device attached. They usually come in black and white. See "Griffin".

STICKERS
A form of tagging, most commonly saying "Hello, my name is". Can be anything from computer-generated, clear, generic blank stickers that have the writer's name on them to elaborate stickers with little pieces and characters. Some writers consider stickers to be for people who are "afraid" to use markers/paint, while other writers use a combination of stickers with markers and paint.

SUCKER TIPS
The stock tip that comes with a can of spraypaint. So named because only suckers would piece or tag with said tip. That said, lots of old school kings used nothing but stock tips back in the day.

TAG
The most basic form of graffiti, a writer's signature with marker or spray paint. It is the writer's logo, his/her stylized personal signature. If a tag is long it is sometimes abbreviated to the first two letters or the first and last letter of the tag. Also may be ended with the suffixes "one", "ski", "rock", "em" and "er".

TAGGING UP
The act of writing a signature with marker or spraypaint.

TAGGER
As opposed to "writer"; this term is usually used to refer to those who only do tags and throwups and who never piece. Some taggers seem to like more destructive methods such as scribers and sandpaper in addition to markers and paint. Some taggers do get interested in piecing, some don't. Taggers who never piece are sometimes called "scribblers" by more experienced, piecing writers.

THIRD RAIL
On New York subway lines, this is the extra rail that supplies the power for the trains. If you touch the 3rd rail, you will most likely die.

3D
A three-dimensional style of letters, used for added effect on basic letters, sometimes applied to wildstyle for an extra level of complexity. This style was invented by Phase 2.

THROWUP
Over time, this term has been applied to many different types of graffiti. Subway art says it is "a name painted quickly with one layer of spray paint and an outline", although some consider a throwup to be bubble letters of any sort, not necessarily filled. Throwups can be from one or two letters to a whole word or a whole roll call of names. Often times throwups incorporate an exclamation mark after the word or letter. Throwups are generally only one or two colors, no more. Throwups are either quickly done bubble letters or very simple pieces using only two colors.

TOP TO BOTTOM
A piece that extends from the top of the car to the bottom, completely covering it. Can also refer to a wall or building that has been pieced from top to bottom. The first top-to-bottom car was done in 1975 by Hondo. Dead Leg did the first top to bottom with a cloud. Others who started rocking the style, and were known for the "T2B's" were Lee, Chain, the Fab5, and later, Newave crew.

TOY
An inexperienced or incompetent writer. Someone whose writing is either wack, who uses sucker tips, or whose style is just plain cheesy. One old definition of "TOYS" is that it stands for "trouble on your system".

ULTRA-WIDE
A type of marker that is extra wide (about an inch and a half), intended for making posters, etc. It too is easily refillable. Often called "Uni-Wide", which is a brand name.

UP
Describes a writer whose work appears regularly everywhere and who is currently writing.

UPS
Refers to people's tags, for example, "So and so's crew has mad ups on main street"

ULTRA-FLAT
A paint preferred by taggers because it sticks to things better than glossy paints.

WACK
Substandard or incorrect (derived from "out of whack"). Anything that looks cheesy or weak. Badly formed letters, incompetent fills, dumb tags, etc.

WET LOOK
No, it's not Jheri Curl, it's an old-school brand of spraypaint. No longer in production to my knowledge.

WILDSTYLE
A complicated construction of interlocking letters. A hard style that consists of lots of arrows and connections. Wildstyle is considered one of the hardest styles to master and pieces done in wildstyle are often completely undecipherable to non-writers.

WINDOW DOWN
A piece done below the windows of a subway car.

WHITE TRAINS
In '83 they started running the white trains on the 6's. Writers loved these cars because they were like canvas all primed and ready to paint.

WHOLE CAR
Obviously a piece covering a whole car. See "top to bottom". This one's by Futura 2000.

WHOLE TRAIN
The masterful feat of covering a whole train with pieces. Two whole trains were done in 1976 by Caine I and two more were done by The Fabulous Five soon after.

WRITER
Practitioner of the art of graffiti.

.dontask. · 06-24-2008, 10:45 AM

Graffiti History
STYLE HISTORY
STYLE DEFINITION
It's not easy to discriminate and define all the writer's styles as graffiti continues to develop all over the world. The time when a given style was brought to life (or when it was dramatically transformed) as well as the shape and the degree of complexity of letters can serve as criteria for difference of styles. The aim of the hierarchy, which is developed in this way is not to evaluate the style but only to describe it and set the borders between its versions kinds. That is why you don't have to agree with it, on the contrary it can be a reason for discussing the development of graffiti and its aims.

Both the writer's signature and his handwriting, which he uses to sign his pieces and to mark his presence on the walls and in public places, are called TAG STYLE. It is the oldest form of graffiti and it was started by TAKI 183. It's function is to popularize the writer's name so it would be visible nearly everywhere. At the beginning tags were only mere signatures, which didn't differ very much except for the content. However, nowadays tags are sophisticated and full of invention and this means that we are able to identify the writer only by looking at his tag.

THROW-UP is created when the outlines are added to the letters. The meaning of a throw-up - leaving an immediately recognizable signature - is the same but the painted surface increased in size. Bombing is the most common way of using throw-ups. The process of painting a throw-up usually shouldn't take more than 2 minutes as it is automatized to a great extent (outlines are sometimes made with only one continuous movement). Letters in the throw-up are frequently given shapes of the clouds or bubbles and that's why such throw-ups are called Bubbles (Bubble Style), however it's worth noticing that not all the bubbles are throw-ups. The throw-up is usually done in a hurry, which lower its quality, while some people use the Bubble Style to create colorful and precise styles.

BLOCKBUSTER STYLE has been the next step in the development of writer's styles as treated in connection to the history of graffiti and the shape of the letters. This style is characterized by easily readable letters, which are painted in rectangular (or equilateral) area. This style doesn't offer many alternatives for modeling, so we can observe it in almost unchanged form until today. Nowadays it's most frequently used while painting near highways, painting the railway or painting the whole cars.

The aforementioned course of development concers the oldest writers, pioneers of graffiti. However today is rare case when somebody begins with a tag to switch to throw-up later. That is the reason why at that point we stop discussing the history and hierarchy of writer¹s styles to go on to talk about the level of complexity of a style and its letters. We must start with defining the SIMPLE STYLE, which is the first step for the beginner writers and serves as the ABC of graffiti. Simple Style is characterized by not complicated and basic shape of letters. The letters are modeled separately, but they should show features which would determinate the unity of the style. There are no additional elements and actually the extensions of the tails and the shapes of the holes in the letters are the only ornaments. All the above makes it difficult for writers to create their own unique style of the letters in Simple Style, and achieving it is a proof of good understudy of the alphabet. Simple Style is usually used for signing the crews or in cases of long texts.

WILD STYLE is the next one when we take complexity into consideration. What is more, its definition is so broad that we have to discriminate substyles of Wild Style, for instance SEMI WILD STYLE. This variation is complex, but it can be deciphered by any writer or even somebody who takes no interest in graffiti. Some letter's ornaments appear in connection to that style (e.g. bars, arrows...). The letters have become more dynamic than in Simple Style, and they begin to blend with each other in many different ways, depending on writer's imaginations. As well as in Simple Style it is vital that the letters are compact and, so to say, they stem from one other. Consequently, similar elements should be used while painting letters.
Semi Wild Style is a very popular style. It is due to fact that it isn't time-consuming and when the piece is well done it can be attractive and legible for receivers. The fact that Semi Wild Style is dynamic and readable makes it popular with hip-hop culture. When we think about classic version of Wild Style we want to say that the letters are even more dynamic, there are more ornaments, counterweights, arrows, the links are more sophisticated and all that makes the style less legible. Such a style is sometimes hard to decipher even for writers and an average person can perceive it as chaotic compilation of lines. However a well done Wild Style piece should be an example of well shaped letters.

COMPLEX STYLE is continuation of Wild Style. We can even say it broadens the term of the letter as it uses a maximum number of ornaments, such as arrows, links, glass effects, blending etc. This term isn't wildly used, but it marks the difference the Complex Style and the Wild Style which separate letters, through total freedom of letters to liberation from the rules of conserving alphabet. We can find letters of loose shapes or the letters can atomize into the pictures of fragments. Complex Style closes the hierarchy of styles. Stays, which followed it, can be described as less complex but are more difficult to achieve.

3D is a completely different style. There are no traditional outlines and the division between the planes are by shadows. Although almost every style can be illustrated in that way there are only a few writers who use 3D. This style is very controvential. Some say that it is the highest level of writer¹s development, while others claim that those who paint 3D are rather artists not writers. Generally, especially this style was developed in Europe in the 90's thanks to such names as DELTA, DAIM, LOOMIT and NECK.

Those who have managed to create their OWN STYLE ruin the traditional hierarchy of styles. We are talking about those writers who have broken the conventions that still limit the other. They weren't afraid to use new tricks, which were unknown until now. Although their works can sometimes be recognized as belonging to a certain style, they passes a kind of magic which allows to discriminate them from the other writers at the first glance. Of course we can also say that there are some COUNTRY STYLE (like Sweden), and CITY STYLE (like Prague or Berlin). But it is a theme for much longer discussion...

OTHER INFLUENCES ON THE STYLE

We have already discussed different characteristics of various styles in detail, taking into consideration the shape of outlines. However there are other elements which influence the style such as filling techniques, regional factors and writer's individual features.
As our presentations concern monochromatic field, we must mention the influence of color. Outline has created free space inside the letters, leaving them for the use of colorful excesses of spray techniques. Colorful elements of filling give life to the frame of outline and they have direct effect on the dynamics. Learning colors and their proper application to a certain style may be a process, which takes years, but it's worth waiting for the outcome - a unique, individual style, shown not only in letters but also in filling.
The number of letters is also influential. Writer's name usually consists of 3 to 6 letters. The words that are chosen usually do not contain the same letters (one after another or in different places in the word). Thanks to this we can achieve a better dynamics because the sight is most preoccupied with double or repeated letters. Styles are usually one- or two syllable words. Short words require only a short glance, while long words require a longer and closer examination or taking a second look.
Two letters are usually abbreviations crew or throw-ups, three letter combinations are treated in the same way, but they can also be short names. The words consisting of 3 or 5 letters facilitate a proper and fast comprehension. 6 or more letter names are used only by tagstylers. The number of letters establishes the rhythm of the style. The information, which is to be conveyed, is also decisive when it comes to the formation of the style. Writer's name should show his individuality.

A style is a sort of mirror, which reflects the image of our technical environment. It tries to fit into the architectonic surroundings. It is placed on the means of communication of enormous weight. The bigger the piece is the less important unevenness is. Columns, windows, or doors are not treated as obstacles and its dimensions are more important. The shape and the size of train have considerable influence on the style. Panel piece, a style placed on the train under its windows and between the doors of the carriage, has become a standard size of the style. The lower edge of the train is made of natural lines, which can be used for a phasing a sequence of writing.

The fact that the style has developed on the moving trains has influenced the style itself, which is also moving. The necessity of swift comprehension of an images, the same is true about commercials, propels the creation of stronger and stronger visual cues. The influence of media such as comics, TV or computers can be seen in the styles. Pieces become bigger, more elegant, faster, more plastic, more dynamic, more various, more individual and they still continue to develop. Graffiti aims at showing ideas on free urban surfaces such as bald external surfaces of trains and buildings.

The current style is plastic and rough. It has one offer feature - it is rhythmical. The shape of letter directs the movement of eyes, the rhythm of reading and understanding. What is more the style is fast and short living, just as times which it was created in. It has to be precise and comprehensible. The very first glance should encourage receivers to take the second, close look, end examine the piece carefully.
Balance, harmony, unity and a sort of tensions are the features of a good style. To control the balance of draft you can turn it up side down or examine it in a mirror.
Thanks to being in constant contact with the present form of the alphabet the style is a mental argument with the existing rules. The style is becoming a more abstract, emotion-changing instrument due to the individual manipulations of those forms.
The style doesn't have any ambitions to become a form of art. This is also inhibited by mass, identical copies of tags and throw-ups, however tags and throw-ups may be sources of most extreme aesthetical pleasures for writers. The style simply is and acts. The style is lofty, fantastic, diabolic, mystic, psychedelic and majestic. It flows and glides, it is massive and light, it pulls, tears and burstsŠ

THE SYMBOLS OF STYLES

Symbols can illustrate whole philosophies and ideologies by the means of only one sign. We would like to present only those sign, whose influence on the style is considerable and which integrate with it and forms.

NUMBER or combinations of Arabic or Roman ciphers, often placed after the sign, serve as a supplementary element. They can help to differentiate already existing similar signs or point to the years of birth, the number of the house, street etc. Number formation must obey the rules of the style. Numbers are more frequently used in tags than in pieces.

ARROW is the most important symbol of the style. It was used quite early in tags to reflect individuality. It is used to express movement and direction in the style. It also shows its dynamics. It is most frequently applied in semi wild style, in large quantities at the beginning or at the end of the word. It is a justified choice as the arrow is a symbol of an offensive defense of the style and it can serve as a defense against the external world or other styles. Arrow may be painted in various ways and in large quantities. In many cases the arrows are broken or plaited, however some writers attribute certain functions and names to the arrows in certain places. The arrows drill through the letters of the style or even go deep into the structure of the style, sometimes having a destructive influence.

CHIPS can be often found at the end of the tail of the letter. They extend and finish its form. They may also appear as chipped off, destroyed elements of the letter, having the effect of disintegration of letters. Pyramid is a continuation of triangular fragments in 3D.

BATTLEMENT serves as the base for arrows, and chips and is frequently used on long tails of letters.

HEART (or lily) can be used as the additional for unstable letters such as T, F, P, I, Y. Hearts are painted in the places where strengthening of a shape throng a counterweight is needed. The heart may also replace O.

CIRCLE and STAR , these elements are closely linked. The circle is often used as O and the star (most frequently) in the middle - as a hole. The star often replaces the circle as the dot over the letter I. They rarely appears in their pure forms, more frequently used as designs.

INTERNAL FORMS - internal surfaces of letters often can take form of stars, arrows, keyholes, crosses etc, or they are edge shapes of letters in a certain style. We can say that they are negative shapes.

SERIF in some cases exaggerated, serves as ornaments of letter tails in the style. It makes the letters look more elegant and they often give letters new directions and create links between them.

EAR is a thin line which links letter tails. It can also stem from the tail of a letter and then it has the charm of blank.

A wild range of different elements can serve as ornaments or linking devises. Circles, hooks, spirals, snakes, snails are some of those elements, which introduce more movement into the style... And all of them can be found in styles shown above...

As we can see writer can use a wide range of devises to ornament his style and what is more all the styles can be ornamented. However you have to careful with using those devises as you can easily cover well-shaped letters and expose the worse ones. It can be easily seen whether somebody 'feels' letters, their links and dynamics.

Letters in the style can be linked together in different ways or they can be separated. In case when each letter is painted separately you should use a lot of basic forms and devises of some kind. Letters may invade each other and blend with each other in their meeting points. Glass effect is another possibility. It is created when the letters go through each other and the outlines of both of them are visible.
One letter can invade another or even break it and this is illustrated by the combination of invading and blending. One part of a letter disappears on in the whole of another one to appear on its other side. We can recognize the features of different letters in the style and the way they could be used in a combination. We are able to see how the letters cooperate with each other. We can 'order' letter to support other one, to dance, to fight, by putting them in accurate places in the word. The links between letters achieved by length extending beams don't have any limits in the style. Aslant supporting of links can go through behind, in front of, or in the middle of the letter. Those links frequently decide about the dynamics and eye movement. Supportive beam is one of the favorite links in the style. Sometimes it goes from the first to the last letter. The style is formed according to the drawing rules. Tension, symmetry, reflexion, golden cut and many others have a lot of influence on composition of the piece. They are connected with the writer's aesthetic requirements. That is way it vital and necessary to make your style more and more interesting and unique.
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History of Graffiti

The word "graffiti" derives from the Greek word graphein meaning: to write. This evolved into the Latin word graffito. Graffiti is the plural form of graffito. Simply put, graffiti is a drawing, scribbling or writing on a flat surface. Today, we equate graffiti with the "New York" or "Hip Hop" style which emerged from New York City in the 1970's.

The Emergence of Hip Hop

Hip Hop was originally an inner city concept. It evolved from the rap music made in Brooklyn and Harlem in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Donald Clarke, a music historian, has written that rap music was a reaction to the disco music of the period. Disco was centered in the rich, elitist clubs of Manhattan and rap emerged on street corners as an alternative. Using lyrical rhythms and 'beat boxing' the music was a way to express feelings about inner-city life. Hip hop emerged as turn tables began to be used to form part of the rhythm by `scratching' (the sound created by running the stylus over the grooves of an LP).

Change : Harrisburg, PA : 1995

Keith Haring

As Hip Hop music emerged so did a new outlet for artistic visibility. Keith Haring began using posters to place his uniquely drawn figures and characters in public places. Soon he began to draw directly on subway walls and transit posters. The uniqueness of his drawings eventually led to their being shown in galleries and published in books and his art became "legitimate".

Taki 183: Initiator of Tagging

At about the same time as Keith Haring, a delivery messenger began writing "Taki 183" whenever he delivered documents. Soon his name was all over the city. Newspapers and magazines wrote articles about him and Keith Haring. Both became celebrities. This claim to fame attracted many young people, especially those involved with rapping. They began to imitate "Taki 183".

Graffiti was incorporated into the Hip Hop culture and became a sort of triad with rapping and break dancing . Breakdancing has since lost much of its initial popularity, while rapping has emerged as a major style in American music. New York City was inundated with graffiti during the late seventies and early eighties. But as media coverage faded so do did the graffiti. Then in the mid-eighties a national TV program did a graffiti story and set off a graffiti wildfire which has become world-wide.

Graffiti Culture

Graffiti quickly became a social scene. Friends often form crews of vandals. One early crew wrote TAG as their crew name, an acronym for Tuff Artists Group. Tag has since come to mean both graffiti writing, 'tagging' and graffiti, a 'tag'. Crews often tag together, writing both the crew tag and their own personal tags. Graffiti has its own language with terms such as: piece, toy, wild-style, and racking.

Past - Center City Philadelphia Delivery Truck

Graffiti Tools

At first pens and markers were used, but these were limited as to what types of surfaces they worked on so very quickly everyone was using spray paint. Spray paint could mark all types of surfaces and was quick and easy to use. The spray nozzles on the spray cans proved inadequate to create the more colorful pieces. Caps from deodorant, insecticide, WD-40 and other aerosol cans were substituted to allow for a finer or thicker stream of paint. As municipalities began passing graffiti ordinances outlawing graffiti implements, clever ways of disguising paint implements were devised. Shoe polish, deodorant roll-ons and other seemingly innocent containers are emptied and filled with paint. Markers, art pens and grease pens obtained from art supply stores are also used. In fact nearly any object which can leave a mark on most surfaces are used by taggers, though the spray can is the medium of choice for most taggers.

Graffiti in the 21st Century

As graffiti has grown, so too has its character. What began as an urban lower-income protest, nationally, graffiti now spans all racial and economic groups. While many inner-city kids are still heavily involved in the graffiti culture, one tagger recently caught in Philadelphia was a 27 year old stockbroker who drove to tagging sites in his BMW. Styles have dramatically evolved from the simple cursory style, which is still the most prevalent, to intricate interlocking letter graphic designs with multiple colors called pieces (from masterpieces).

Graffiti Style Art

While most taggers are simply interested in seeing their name in as many places as possible and as visibly as possible, some taggers are more contented to find secluded warehouse walls where they can practice their pieces. Some of these taggers are able to sell twelve foot canvases of their work for upwards of 10 - 12 thousand dollars.

Commercialization, the Web and the World

Graffiti shops, both retail and on-line, sell a wide variety of items to taggers. Caps, markers, magazines, T-shirts, backpacks, shorts with hidden pockets, even drawing books with templates of different railroad cars can be purchased. Over 25,000 graffiti sites exist on the world wide web, the majority of these are pro-graffiti. Graffiti vandalism is a problem in nearly every urban area in the world. Pro-graffiti web sites post photos of graffiti from Europe, South America, the Philippines, Australia, South Africa, China and Japan. Billions of dollars worldwide are spent each year in an effort to curb graffiti.

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History of Graffiti

The word "graffiti" derives from the Greek word graphein meaning: to write. This evolved into the Latin word graffito. Graffiti is the plural form of graffito. Simply put, graffiti is a drawing, scribbling or writing on a flat surface. Today, we equate graffiti with the "New York" or "Hip Hop" style which emerged from New York City in the 1970's.

The Emergence of Hip Hop

Hip Hop was originally an inner city concept. It evolved from the rap music made in Brooklyn and Harlem in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Donald Clarke, a music historian, has written that rap music was a reaction to the disco music of the period. Disco was centered in the rich, elitist clubs of Manhattan and rap emerged on street corners as an alternative. Using lyrical rhythms and 'beat boxing' the music was a way to express feelings about inner-city life. Hip hop emerged as turn tables began to be used to form part of the rhythm by `scratching' (the sound created by running the stylus over the grooves of an LP).

Keith Haring

As Hip Hop music emerged so did a new outlet for artistic visibility. Keith Haring began using posters to place his uniquely drawn figures and characters in public places. Soon he began to draw directly on subway walls and transit posters. The uniqueness of his drawings eventually led to their being shown in galleries and published in books and his art became "legitimate".

Taki 183: Initiator of Tagging

At about the same time as Keith Haring, a delivery messenger began writing "Taki 183" whenever he delivered documents. Soon his name was all over the city. Newspapers and magazines wrote articles about him and Keith Haring. Both became celebrities. This claim to fame attracted many young people, especially those involved with rapping. They began to imitate "Taki 183".

Graffiti was incorporated into the Hip Hop culture and became a sort of triad with rapping and break dancing . Breakdancing has since lost much of its initial popularity, while rapping has emerged as a major style in American music. New York City was inundated with graffiti during the late seventies and early eighties. But as media coverage faded so do did the graffiti. Then in the mid-eighties a national TV program did a graffiti story and set off a graffiti wildfire which has become world-wide