How To, for the Young-uns

Thanks to Omen...

From Toy to King from kreisone on Vimeo.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Here's an interview by Galerie d'art Yves Laroche with Omen, of Taichung Four Crew. Omen is currently painting in Montreal.

YL :You've lived in Asia for  a minute, right? Tell me about painting nights there.

O : It was awesome! I lived in Taichung,Taiwan. I lived there for 4 years. I can bust Chinese and everything. When I got there there was only about 12 graffiti writers in the whole country! With a population of around 25 million  you can see how that is just crazy. I was bombing around town with this paint called PP SPRAY ( all the pressure and twice the lead.haha.) with stock caps no less. And I saw some other guys were bombing as well. Mostly 3 other guys but I had no way of meeting them. So one day I was walking by my piece and underneath it was sprayed "omen. do you want to paint with me" and 2 check boxes with "yes" and  "no". later that night I checked "yes" and then went to another spot and dropped a piece with my email address. But before they could reply to that message my friend Jessica told me she ran into them (it was two guys SAME and BOBO) and they were coming to the restaurant I was eating at. It was pretty awkward because my chinese at this point sucked and all we were doing was meeting to paint. After that we did the first production in Taichung the largest piece in all of Taiwan and went bombing pretty much all the time together. I miss them. It's not the same as here. There you have freedom at the price of no laws while here it is the opposite. One day. One day. Now there is at least 30 writers there , ha, and I keep track of what is going on there via flickr.

Love Minus Zero/ No Limit

I don't get to get out as much anymore to find new graf around town, but this is right across the street from my house, so it was something to do on a busy Sunday. Seems like someone working in my neighborhood who calls himself Zero. I hope to see some more of his stuff soon.


















There was also some stuff left over from when the lot was a bar that I never saw open.

Angel Baby

There have been a couple new stencils here and there around town. Here's one from the corner of Da Long and Dong Hsing Rd.

Tips For Your Drawing Graffiti Art

In particular the use of the bold style lettering is really distinctive to graffiti art. The images themselves will usually be hard hitting, and be painted in stark colours utilising strong shadows and outlines to add depth and definition. Images usually depict social or political issues close to the artist's heart.

Before you start a piece of graffiti art, you should draw a small scale version of the large piece you want to create first, then when you begin your actual piece, its a simple task of just scaling up your graffiti sketch.

If you need ideas for a graffiti font to use, there are plenty of sites online that have examples for you to copy. For the outlines, use a fine marker pen. In order to produce a 3D effect, shade around the letters you've outlined with a different colour. Then use permanent markers to colour in your letters.

Once you are ready to paint your sketch on to your larger canvas or wall, you need to draw a reference grid over your small drawing. Sketch a full size replica of the grid on to your wall or canvas that you are using for your scaled up graffiti piece. Use either chalk, charcoal or diluted paint to draw the large grid. To make marking the grid out easier, the simplest thing to do is to use a piece of string.

Use chalk or charcoal to transfer your small drawing on to you larger canvas. Use an aerosol can to paint the background in using diluted paint, keep the layer thin and allow it to dry before you start your colouring. When you've finished the outline and the background, it's time to add the colours and detail. Again use aerosols to add the colours. Start with the lightest colours first and the largest sections, and then move on to the detail and the smaller areas last.

When you've coloured your work in, you can add the fine definition with a brush to enhance the fine lines and borders around your figures and letters. You can preserve it for years to come with a thin layer of varnish.

These are all the steps you need to master if you want to paint impressive graffiti art.

Graffiti Creator v2.0

Initial planning for Graffiti Creator version 2.0 has begun. This update will completely overhaul the user interface, having the Graffiti Preview on screen, full screen, all the time with hide-able toolbars displaying the several drawing tools. 

Also, a tutorial will be included , describing how to layer Graffiti within an image, and how to import images from the Photos app and use them as the background. Maybe a few videos, too. The layering wiring will also be redone, allowing for instant-layering instead of 1.) saving to Photos, 2.) import and use as new background. 

Possible new line drawing options, such as dashed, and maybe even patterned lines.

Release Date: End of Year 2009

Many thanks to everyone around the world who has downloaded Graffiti Creator! 

Michael Nolivos

SoviloN Software

Graffiti Creators and Graffiti Styles

 

 Graffiti is a form of art that is used to express the artists feeling and emotions. Just like pouring out your feelings in a diary, only using a different medium. Although many people see graffiti as a nuisance and also see it as vandalism, it is hard to not be interested in its unique style and free expression. Graffiti is a social expression, often a voice of the discontented youth, and is part of the urban world around us.

It is generally harmless, vibrant and creative and often brightens up walls and buildings. Graffiti has many different styles but the two most common types are tagging and hip hop graffiti. Different styles of graffiti fall into different categories.

Hip hop graffiti pieces are usually very large and are created using aerosol spray paints. They usually are a complex mix of letters or a cartoon sketch. Hip hop graffiti usually takes longer to achieve as it takes a lot of planning and designing first.

Tagging graffiti is used as a means to 'mark territory'. This type of graffiti is used as a way to mark one's presence, to say 'so and so was here'. Often the letter styles in one territory will be different to another and signatures are very territorial indeed. Some graffiti is racially motivated or sometimes even politically motivated and bears some relation to urban street fighting.

Commercial graffiti is seen as a big problem. This involves private organisations paying graffiti artists to spray paint advertising logos on walkways and buildings so that they can promote their product. This is an illegal form of advertising.

Graffiti is amazing and its a great way to express yourself through colours, pictures and words. Graffiti can mean everything to an artist so they use it as means of expressing their feelings if they have a lot kept in. It is a stress relief and it is fun painting a wall.

Some people like to express their feelings by writing them down or speaking to someone else. Others may choose to paint words in fierce, vibrant colours, that come across as a message in a piece of art. This could be a message in itself, indicating that they are being driven to the wall because no-one is really listening. So many young people, especially in the inner cities, find that their families are usually too busy trying to survive to have quality time to spend with them. So they form sub-cultures and their own styles of communication to express what they need to say.