Graffiti

Graffiti has existed since ancient times Roman, Caricature of a Politician Egyptian, Ancient Graffiti on Monuments Graffiti can be anything from simple scratch marks to elaborate wall paintings

What is Graffiti? Graffiti is a type of deliberate marking on property, both private and public. Graffiti artists would tag on public property without permission. This is called vandalism. In the past graffiti was used as a tool to mark the artist or gangs territory. Graffiti art has developed over the years into a respectable art form. Graffiti art has moved away from vandalizing buildings and subways to a form of public expression. Has anyone seen graffiti? Can you describe the images you seen in the graffiti? Tagging without permission is illegal. Is it legal if you have permission from the owner to do graffiti on their building? Graffiti has become a respectable form of art. Artist have permission to tag on public property. What sorts of pictures do you think they use? What about arrows , people, animals?

Is it a Legal form of Art? In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism. Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials, law enforcement and graffiti artists looking to display their work in public locations. The best thing to do is practice graffiti in a sketchbook or blackbook. Some artists even buy their own walls to practice on. Nowadays, graffiti artists can be employed by companies to advertise or create artwork to cover up boring walls.

Graffiti and Culture Graffiti is often seen as having become intertwined with hip hop Grew in popularity in the 70s; more protest 80s gave rise to stencil graffiti; more art

By the 1990s, Hip-Hop culture had become known worldwide and accepted as part of mainstream U.S. culture. Graffiti art became commercialized, appearing in the advertisements of Nike and Sprite. Marketing strategies targeted youth culture

Today graffiti art has become a common element in modern culture. Marc Ecko, urban clothing designer, and advocate of graffiti as an art form, states “graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career.”

Graffiti Vocab A "tag" is the most basic writing of an artist's name. A graffiti writer's tag is his or her personalized signature.

Graffiti Vocab “One” or “Oner” means the artist works alone. “Cru” or “Krew” or a crown with multiple stars can mean there are multiple people who do the same tag. Tagging is dangerous due to where people tag and because of rivalries.

More Graffiti Vocab The "throw-up," also known as a "bombing" which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacrificing aesthetics for speed. Throw-ups can also be outlined on a surface with one color. A "piece" is a more elaborate representation of the artist's name, incorporating more stylized letters, usually incorporating a much larger range of colors.

A more complex style is "wildstyle", a form of graffiti usually involving interlocking letters and connecting points.

Can you read it??

What does graffiti art say? Graffiti can take the form of pictures, and words. What do you see? What do you think they write? Show example…. Note that many artist create a sort of nickname to tag about the city. The artist do this because back then it was illegal so they didn’t want to use their real name. This graffiti art was done by the artist called OVIE.

What makes up Graffiti? Graffiti is composed of: Text Symbols Images Color Graffiti artist have designed and modified their own text to created imagery and not just text. Symbols- Symbols were used to help the flow of the text. Arrows and stars are most commonly used. Images- People, animals Color- Bright colors were used to stand out from public signs like street signs. As you can see this example of graffiti does not have an images. Graffiti artist can use as few or many of the elements they want to convey their design.

Ovie Ovie was born in Brooklyn, New York Ovie started tagging as a teenager in 1991. The artist personal tag was Ovieone Ovie tags can be found on trains. He calls himself a train bomber. Artist used a nickname and usually the number means the street they lived on. Artist liked to tag trains because they liked the idea of a moving canvas. Why do you think they liked the element of the train moving? (more people will see their work)

Ovie’s graffiti

Graffiti Artist: Banksy Banksy is one of the world’s most notorious and popular street artist who continues to remain faceless in today’s society. Known for political, anti-war stencil art in England but his work can be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest.

… A little about Banksy Much of Banksy's artwork can be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs. Banksy’s art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art while city officials and law enforcement have deemed all work by Banksy to be vandalism and property destruction. Many members of Bristol’s communities feel that Banksy’s graffiti reduces property value and encourages rogue behavior.

MODERN ISSUES: 1. Graffiti has become an expensive social problem in many cities in the world. U.S. cities spent an estimated four billion dollars cleaning graffiti in 1994. 2. School vandalism is an increasing problem that depletes educational budgets and delays upgrading plans. Cleaning graffiti in schools is also a struggle for many teachers, principals, and school staff. 3. Graffiti can spark “risk-taking” tendency amongst adolescents who do not think about the consequences of their actions before climbing on bridges or overpasses and hanging in dangerous positions to leave their marks.

Your Graffiti Project Check out the rubric to see what’s up… Here is a Graffiti creator which is a useful tool to help you with lettering and creating your own style.

Now, practice some lettering in your sketchbooks.