Letters in English graffiti style. Dictionary of graffiti slang
Graffiti is images, inscriptions that are drawn, scratched, written with ink or paint on various surfaces. It includes all types of street wall painting.
Today there are such types of graffiti:
1.Throw up- This simple lines, which turn into letters filled with white or silver paint. The goal of bombers is quantity, not quality. They look for dangerous and hard-to-reach places that are visible to spectators. This style became popular thanks to New York writer I.N. His followers quickly deduce short names or they write first and last letters name with exclamation mark at the end.
2. Bubble letters- inflated letters that look like bubbles. The letters are rounded and become similar to each other. This style uses about two or three colors.
3. Blockbusters are large, wide and mostly three-dimensional letters. They are applied using outline or highlighting using white and silver paints. If the volume of work is very large, then connect whole group creators: one does the outline, the other paints over inner part letters, and the third gives the drawing three-dimensionality. This style originated in Los Angeles as a way for street gangs to mark territory.
4. Dynamic style unites all the directions that existed in the 80s in the New York school, which are characterized by the dynamics of forms. At first, such graffiti was applied to train cars, which is why it is worth viewing while in motion. Here are the most vivid examples:
— Wild Style or wild style- This is a carefully selected drawing, with carefully worked out contour lines and color combinations.
— Electic – reflects the level of skill of the writer and makes it possible to invent new trends.
— Computer Roc Style is a “breaking point” style. The letters are divided into separate fragments, each of which tilts in different directions. The style was created by Case 2 from New York.
- - in this style, the letters are written as if on separate sheets and superimposed on each other. It was invented by the New York creator of Vulcan.
— Camouflage style characterized by color and the original place where the letters are connected in the form of loops.
— Soft dynamic style similar to the previous one, but less impetuous and sharp. The twisted letters contain both curved lines and numerous soft decorations.
5. FX (Daim style, 3D)- This volumetric style, which appeared in the 90s thanks to a man named Dime. It is mostly legal and very complex. This is the most impressive style that is used when decorating the walls of clubs and when advertising various products.
6. Charaster (kerak) uses comic book style characters, sometimes with a speech frame. This kind of graffiti is only painted by writers with artistic skills.
7. Freestyle is a style without limits. It can combine several directions.
In principle, a real writer should be able to draw freely in any style. But in practice, everyone tries to work and improve in one direction. So find your style and become the best at it!
Outline (eng. Outline) - an outline in graffiti.
Bombing – (from the English Bomb – bomb) – drawing bombs – a type of graffiti.
Bombers – artists-writers who draw bombs. Their goal is not quality, but quantity, as well as covering other people's graffiti with their bombs.
Bubble (bubble - bubble, ball) - a type of volumetric letters in graffiti.
Blockbuster – very large letters made with a roller.
Wildstyle (English: Wildstile - wild style) is a complex type of graffiti, characterized by an explosive nature, incomprehensibility, and wildness. The main features are the intricacies of letters, an abundance of sharp corners.
Style Wars - the most famous documentary about graffiti (1983)
Graffiti – drawing, image on various surfaces. A type of street art.
Damestyle (Daim style) – graffiti style developed by the writer Daim. 3D type of letters.
Kep – cap, nozzle for a balloon for drawing lines.
Crewe – a group, a team of graphic writers.
Mural – large drawing, picture on the wall.
Reiter – (writer – writer) – a person who does graffiti.
Tag – signature, small inscription. Teggers are writers who draw only tags.
Stencil - a special device with which a variety of similar images(letters, symbols, pictures).
Toy – a beginner in graffiti (from the English Toy).
TAKI183 (TAKI183) – the first tagger, the founder of graffiti.
Trow-up – quick drawing with filling.
Stencil - the same as a stencil.
Sketch – image of the future drawing, sketch.
Sketchbook – album of graffiti sketches.
Spray art – applying drawings using aerosol cans.
Sticker art - (English sticker - sticker) - the use of stickers in graffiti.
Street art – (Street Art) – verbatim, Street art. Forms of street art - graffiti, sticker art, poster art, stencil, performance, etc.
Scratch - a scribbled drawing.
Peace (piece) – graffiti drawing.
Flop – quick drawing, without filling.
123Klan - the most famous group graffiti artists, which later became a team of designers and logo developers for the world's leading brands.
Sometimes a problem arises - you can’t find something. It can be especially difficult in a foreign city. Well, I recently found myself in this situation. So, if you need a map of Kyiv, you can find it here maplos.com. Such services are very helpful in Hard time. And that’s really all for today.
A site opened by old-school New York graffiti writers in 1998. It got its name from the most popular meeting place for writers in the 1970-1980s - the intersection of 149th Street and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx (the second and fifth lines of the New York subway intersect there). The site was created to document the history of New York graffiti: it contains profiles large quantity writers and teams of the first and second waves, as well as articles written by the writers themselves.
The dawn of graffiti: 1966-1971
Initially, graffiti was used by political activists who wanted to convey their thoughts and slogans to the public, and by street gangs who thus marked their territory. Although graffiti appeared in Los Angeles in the 1930s, among the "cholos" ( Latin American Indians or mestizos, predominantly of Mexican origin, living in the United States - approx. lane), and the inscriptions made on freight trains by tramps could be seen long before the colored drawings on electric trains, graffiti in it modern form originated in the 1960s on the East Coast. It began with train writing in Philadelphia, and the pioneers are considered to be Cornbread and Cool Earl, who covered the entire city with inscriptions and drawings, attracting attention not only local residents, but also the press. It is not clear whether by accident or not, but graffiti came from Philadelphia to New York.
Graffiti (Italian graffiti - “inscriptions”) - inscriptions and drawings on the walls of buildings, fences, trains, etc., made by hand with paint or markers. It's hard to give now precise definition this term, since it is quite multifaceted.
Train-writing, train-bombing - (eng. train wrtining - “writing on a train”, train bombing - “train bombing”) - drawing on trains, in which often many writers are more interested in the fact of drawing rather than the quality of the drawings.
Pioneers: 1971-1974
The history of New York graffiti usually begins with an article published in 1971 in The New York Times: It was about a guy named Dimetrius who lived on 183rd Street in Manhattan. He worked as a courier and traveled a lot by subway. Taking the pseudonym Taki 183, he began to leave his signature in different parts cities. People became interested in what this inscription meant, and journalists decided to find out. Naturally, Taki 183 was not the first writer or "king", but he was the first to be seen and recognized outside the emerging subculture. Some of the earliest pioneers of graffiti include Julio 204, Frank 207 and Joe 136.
Writer, graffiti writer - (English writer - “writer”) - a person involved in graffiti.
Tag, tag (English tag - “label”, “label”, “tag”) - the signature of the writer (his pseudonym), made in one color with a marker or paint. Verb - tag, tag. Occupation - tagging, tagging. The man is a tagger, tagger.
There was also movement on the streets of Brooklyn. There are many active writers. One of the first writers to become famous was Friendly Freddie. The subway became a kind of communication system: with its help, writers from the five districts of the city learned about each other’s existence, and then “competition between districts” arose.
King, king (English king - "king") - a writer who draws more and better than others, a recognized authority among other writers.
Graffiti quickly moved from the streets underground and the pursuit of fame began. At that time, tags were mostly written, and, of course, the main thing was quantity. Writers rode the subway and rode in carriages. Very soon they realized that there were many more cars to sign at the depot, and the chances of being caught were less. This is how a method was born that all train bombers still use today.
Tag style
After a while, so many people started tagging that we had to come up with something new way, with which you could stand out. The first way was to come up with a unique tag - various calligraphic styles began to appear. Writers added strokes, stars, and other design elements to tags ( many of them are still used today - approx. ed.). Some icons served simply as decoration, while others had a meaning. For example, crowns were used by writers who considered themselves “kings.” Probably the most famous tag in the history of graffiti is Stay High 149: a figurine of a character from the television series The Saint with a joint in place of the letter H.
Tag size
Super Kool 223
Then the changes affected the size of the tags. Writers started making more tags. The standard cap was quite narrow, so larger tags were still not attractive special attention. Writers began making the letters “thicker” and outlining them with a different color, and also using caps from other spray paints. This is how the “pieces” were born. It is not known who made the piece first, but the most commonly cited names are Super Kool 223 from the Bronx and WAP from Brooklyn. Thick letters gave space for the development of the name. Writers began decorating letters with circles, strokes, stars and checkered patterns. Adding color and decorative elements were a real breakthrough, but the pieces continued to strongly resemble the tags from which they originated. Among the famous writers of that time are: Hondo 1, Japan 1, Moses 147, Snake 131, Lee 163d, Star 3, Phase 2, Pro-Soul, Tracy 168, Lil Hawk, Barbara 62, Eva 62, Cay 161, Junior 161 and Stay High 149.
A piece (English piece - "piece", short for masterpiece - "masterpiece") is a color drawing made on a wall or on a train, which takes much more time than a flop.
Throw-up, flop - (English to throw-up - “throw”, “throw”; to flop - “drop”, “flop”) - a quickly made drawing, consisting of an outline and a fill of the same color. The letters are usually round in shape, and the most popular color combination is black and chrome.
Riff 170
Tracy 168
Stay High 149
Development of styles
The atmosphere of competition led to the development modern styles. Topcat 126 is considered the founder of the "Broadway" style ( Broadway), which later evolves into huge block fonts and oblique fonts. Then Phase 2 came up with rounded letters - "bubbles" ( bubble letters). "Broadway" and "bubble" were the very first styles in which pieces were performed, and they became the progenitors of all other styles. Soon arrows, curls and connectives begin to be added to the letters. They are becoming more complex and sophisticated and are leading to the emergence of a new “mechanical” style ( mechanical style) or, as it is now called, "wild" style ( wild style).
The rivalry between Phase on the one hand and Riff 170 and PEL on the other led to further development graffiti. Riff was one of the provocateurs of the “style wars” ( style wars). Flint 707 and Pistol made huge contributions to the development of 3D typefaces and brought depth to pieces that would become role models for future generations of writers.
This surge of creativity did not go unnoticed. Hugo Martinez, a sociology graduate from City College of New York, drew attention to creative potential illegal artists of that time. Martinez founded United Graffiti Artists: they selected the best writers who painted in the subway and presented their work in the gallery. It was thanks to UGA that writers had the opportunity to come out of hiding. At Razor Gallery, Martinez exhibited works by Phase 2, Mico, Coco 144, Pistol, Flint 707, Bama, Snake, Stitch.
In 1973, New York Magazine published an article by Richard Goldstein entitled “The Graffiti Hit Parade,” which contributed to public recognition artistic potential of young talents who “came” from the New York subway. Around 1974, Tracy 168, Cliff 159, and Blade began adding landscapes, illustrations, and characters to their fonts to surround the letters. This is how paintings appeared that covered entire carriages ( English whole car - “the whole car”, “the whole car”). The first hole cars were made by AJ 161 and Silver Tips.
Death
Cliff 159
Hondo 1
Heyday: 1975-1977
The main styles were formed sometime after 1974. All standards were spelled out, and writers of the new generation shamelessly used all the achievements of writers of the first wave. New York was hit by an economic crisis, and transport system no one paid attention. This period marked the heyday of painting in the New York subway. At this time, a demarcation began between those who paid primary attention to style (style writers) and those for whom the main thing was speed and quantity of drawings (bombers). It was no longer possible to surprise anyone with hole cards, and the favorite form of self-expression of bombers became throw-ups, also known as flops. Trow-ups grew out of “bubble” fonts: these are pieces made in a hurry, which consist of an outline and careless filling. Most of these works consisted of two or three letters.
Writing, style-writing (English writing - “the process of writing letters”, “writing”; style writing - “stylish writing”) - drawing on walls and trains with an emphasis on the style and shape of letters. Later, only painting on walls became more commonly referred to as writing.
Bombing (English bombing - “bombing”) - drawing tags, flops, pieces.
Blade
Particularly distinguished at that time were the teams POG, 3yb, BYB TC, TOP, and the kings of the flops: Tee, , Dy 167, Pi, In, Le, To, Oi, Fi aka Vinny, Ti 149, Cy, Peo. The real race began: teams and writers competed to see who could make the most throw-ups. The heyday of flops and hole-cars occurred in 1975-1977. At this time, following the path of graffiti pioneers Tracy and Cliff, writers such as Butch, Case, Kindo, Blade, Comet, Ale 1, Doo2, John 150, Kit 17, Mark 198, Lee, Mono, Slave, Slug, Doc 109 Caine One decorated subway and commuter trains with stunning hall cars.
It is customary to distinguish five types of graffiti depending on the place and method in which they were applied; in turn, they can be executed in different styles.
Types of graffiti
- Writing- this is the basic type of graffiti familiar to everyone, which is most often found, combining all possible styles. Those who draw graffiti are called writers, and the sketches of the work are sketches. The sketch can be drawn on plain paper or used special program.
- Bombing– an extreme type of graffiti, painted on transport, mainly on trains. Distinctive feature, this is the speed at which the drawing appears, while the detailing of small details often suffers due to lack of time for drawing graffiti.
- Tagging– this is simply the signature of the graffiti artist, his nickname. It is important to note that tags must be placed on your graffiti when it is painted just anywhere - this is vandalism. There is a special one.
- Scratching, or scraping– these are the scratches that you see in the subway or other transport. Even among writers it is considered a different tone, since rarely anything worthwhile can come of it.
- Clean advertising- this trend appeared relatively recently, but is quickly spreading in the West thanks to the support of advertising agencies that order and pay writers for their work. The whole point is that the place where you paint is where the dirt is washed away. in the right places thanks to which the drawing appears. If you want to learn more about this, read the article “”.
Graffiti styles
This is one of the very first styles in graffiti, it is characterized by the writing of exaggerated large letters and three-dimensional shapes, translated from English as “bubble”. Basically, only a couple of paint colors are used that contrast with each other. First, the outline of the letters is drawn, and then everything else is simply painted over. Creating graffiti in this style takes little time, so most often this style is used for illegal and quick drawing V busy places for bombing.
The simplest style originated in New York and is made in two colors. Similar to the Bubble letter style, the main thing is as much as possible larger size inscriptions and simplicity of lines.
Blockbusters- a simple style, sometimes even drawn in one color, characterized by large, wide, often three-dimensional letters, translated from English as “bomb” or “top seller.” Blockbusters, unlike Throw up, originated in Los Angeles, where it was used by street gangs to mark their territory.
Character– it uses images cartoon characters, often with some kind of replica, performed in the style of comics. Only professional writers with artistic skills can work in this style. When drawing, needle attachments are often used to help make fine lines. Not every writer has mastered this style, as it requires artistic skills. More often, a team of several people works in this style rather than single writers due to the high time costs.
Messiah Style- this style was invented by New Yorker Vulcan, in which letters appear to be written on different sheets and superimposed on each other.
Computer Roc Style- This style was invented by a New Yorker under the nickname Case2, this style is also called “break”. It involves dividing letters or images into separate fragments, each such fragment tilted in different directions.
Wild Style or “Wild Style”- This is a dynamic style, difficult to read. It is drawn in 3-4 or more colors, with many different details and weaves that make the text very difficult to read. Often only the authors of the works themselves are able to read what they have drawn. Experienced people draw in this style. street artists who thought of everything before the smallest details on the sketch, but even after all the preparations, drawing graffiti in this style takes quite a lot of time. The wild style was invented to attract the attention of passersby, the main thing is to make them pay attention to the graffiti and arouse their interest in deciphering what is written. There are many subspecies of Wild Style.
Your first graffiti drawing.??So, you decided to draw your first work on the wall, but where to start preparing for drawing??To begin with, choose a suitable sketch, not too complicated, but moderately successful.
For the first time, drawing in the Flop style" (Throw Up) is quite suitable. This style is most suitable for beginners due to its simplicity and relative ease of execution. Also, drawing in this style will help to develop well fine motor skills fingers, will allow the hand to get used to the cylinder, its shape and weight.? If you have already chosen a suitable sketch, it’s time to think about what kind of paint you will use (for more information on this, see the articles “How to choose paint” and “How to deal with difficulties winter season or art vs winter").
After choosing a sketch and purchasing suitable paint you need to find a place for your first drawing on the wall. Here are some criteria by which you should choose appropriate place for drawing:?
1. It’s best to start your first experience in writing graffiti on a wall on a “paintless” wall - a poorly visible, useless, quiet wall, so that if you are caught, you can get off with minimal punishment. But it is better to use walls specially designated for painting.?
2. It is advisable that the surface of your first wall be primed or plastered, you can also use a metal surface as a “canvas”, at worst you can paint on a concrete garage, but this will require much more paint.?
3. Under no circumstances draw on other people’s work! Especially on the works of artists who have achieved a certain status in the graffiti scene of your city (region).
4. If in front of you there is a wall completely destroyed by other people’s paintings, but it seems quite suitable for your first creation, think about whether you have other options. Try to “test” the balloon with which you were going to paint - whether it covers the painting and whether it is clearly visible. The fact is that not all colors, especially light ones, can cover the inscriptions the first time. Dark, black paints are especially difficult to cover. Are you happy with the result? Then read on! ?
5. In case you were unable to find a suitable surface, you can consult with your parents, friends and neighbors, explain to them the whole situation, because at least someone should respond to your request.
Also try to remember, maybe you’ve seen before, places in the city where other artists paint graffiti? After searching for a wall, it wouldn’t hurt to experiment a little and imagine a can of spray paint in your hand, take your sketch and mentally outline the outline of the future work several times air, then try to repeat the same thing while holding a real can in your hand.?
So, when almost everything that a beginning graffiti artist needs is at your fingertips, you should pick up the right clothes. First of all, it should be comfortable and not hinder your movements; try walking briskly around the room in your intended suit several times to make sure that nothing is pinching or rubbing.
Also keep in mind that it may get dirty with paint and perhaps the parents will not be very happy about this. When you are completely ready, fully equipped and suitably dressed, you can safely go to the place where you plan to apply the drawing to the wall.
And now you are alone with the wall. Having tuned in to the right positive wave, strengthened your faith in yourself, drawn a picture in the air with an imaginary spray can a few more times, carefully looked at the sketch, start drawing.? Then everything depends only on you, on your desire to draw, on believing in yourself...
