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What's with the style?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Taurus, Mar 21, 2010.

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  1. Taurus

    Taurus Member

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    Alright, so I fully appreciate the complexities and skill needed to create good graffiti, and it's great that toys are being shown the specifics of how to make decent letters etc etc. But what's the deal with keeping it super specific? Can artists just be individual and create stuff from their own style, and still be considered decent graffiti artists?

    For instance, if a talented landscape artist threw something up in their own style of something that inspires them, would that not be considered good graffiti?

    What if a good graffiti artist listened to thrash metal, or folk, as opposed to hip-hop? Is that not appropriate?

    Just a thought...appreciate all input.
     
  2. RFI. SPit

    RFI. SPit Moderator

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    I think who a person is definitely has an impact on their style. I'm a huge metal head and I think you see that come through in my letters

    ai40.tinypic.com_mtl3b6.jpg
     
  3. MAST

    MAST Elite Member

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    you sound like you've barely skimmed the surface of graffiti and are looking at it through an outsider's eyes still. all of your "hypothetical situations" are real situations and are very common and normal in graffiti culture.
     
  4. THEGREATSOUTHERNTRENDKILL

    THEGREATSOUTHERNTRENDKILL Senior Member

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    it has to be attractive to the eye and aesthetically pleasing. dont put your shit up on a wall where everybody can see it if you suck. its trashy.
     
  5. SALVO

    SALVO Elite Member

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    I agree with Mast, you sound like you've barely got your feet wet in the graffiti pool.
    Learn the basics before you go and get all wild with your stuff. Otherwise its just going to look like a bunch of squiggles and arrows. A tag in this very font that I'm type with looks better than toy ass hand style. Just keep it really simple.

    And no, you don't have to be a hip hop head to do graffiti.
     
  6. Taurus

    Taurus Member

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    Yeah, i'm definately an outsider. I love art and hip hop - all kinds of music really, and my art goes everywhere. But just reading through the toy pages made me wonder...

    I fully agree with THEGREATSOUTHERNTRENDKILL - if you're shit, don't put it up. But why do I have to learn the basics? What if i know the basics of my own art field, and want to use them to do graffiti? What if i don't want to do any tagging?

    I'm all about the art, if it looks good, then great- that's the aim. But if it looks good, but doesn't fit in with the style of graffiti, will you still tear it down?
     
  7. the cannabis evangelist

    the cannabis evangelist Elite Member

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    there is no style of graffiti, ppl see crazy colours and lots of arrows as graffiti but
    grafiti is based on letters
    how you personaly/artisticly depict those letters is what makes your style

    but you can only change a letter so much befor your just putting up random shapes
    so u definetly need to know the basics of forming simple ledgible letters before you start tweaking it.

    just like anyone at art school learn atonomy before they go nuts with there own work



    and for he love of god dont take the toy forum as gospal on graff
     
  8. Jackal1347

    Jackal1347 Senior Member

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    Im agreeing 100% with thecannabis.
    And Taurus, you really don't sound like a real writer. (Sorry)
    You sound more of like an art student who is inspired by the graff you see
    so you want to incorporate that into your art. In that case, style prolly doesnt matter,
    because your losing the illegal street culture of it.
     
  9. Spark391

    Spark391 Senior Member

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    All graffiti writers aren't a stereotype - like a lot of people believe that they all listen to hip-hop, are gangsters or some bullshit like that.. there are a lot of different people involved, i think that a big ammount of those people aren't connected/interested in other sides of hiphop, some are old, some are young, some listen to metal etc.. the variety is great..

    The thing when you enter to graffiti, is to understand that you have entered to a whole different ball game now, I create other type of more "regular" art also, and i know my shit about graffiti also, and i can tell that they are almost totally non-connected.. If you know how to paint, understand all the fundamentals in art, that dosen't make you very much off a head from someone who dosen't.. Sure some things you can apply to graffiti, (you'll know more about color, know perspective etc. ) but letterwhise (and letters are 100% what's graffiti is about) you won't know crap, unless you haven't studied typography/calligraphy. If you are beggining it really might seem a "hip abstract artform" but there are definet rules, every piece has a flow(if you draw, than it might be a little compared to gesture drawings in figure drawing class), movementh, style etc. Colors, characters, backgrounds etc are secondary.. Graffiti is like every other art form, learn the rules, master them, and then brake them, you can't brake the rules unless you know them. If you don't know basics about art, then you can't go and be like "umm.. i don't know really even about perspective, but i'll create my own style, fuck everybody who won't dig it.. it's art, you don't understand it maybe" .. because 99,9% is the chance that you'll make something that looks total crap, same in music and every art form. Imagine if you started playing piano straight ahead without never learning anything about it, and just making your own song.. There are no great graffiti artists who have become great without knowing the basic rules/styles of stylewriting.. And that shit is quite complex, it might seem easy, but it takes years and years of practice.

    But if you thinked with your question "am i allowed to paint that landscape that i usually paint on canvas on a wall?" .. sure you can, but it's not graffiti, or atleast not real graffiti, it's then just a mural. Sure if you do it illegally, then in the eye of the policemen it's defined as graffiti, but in reality it isn't.. and the thing is, if you want to paint it in a graffiti yard, I would think that that kind of a painting will get burned quickly by others, because it isn't really considered a "real thing", unless it's something really good/original.. and even if it is it still might get ruined, there are little kids/toys also visiting some of the yards and just fucking others shit up..
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2010
  10. the cannabis evangelist

    the cannabis evangelist Elite Member

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    yea the music metaphore works
    think of it like hiphop,
    the style of hip hop has basic rules you gotta aplie to to be called hiphop.
    u gotta have beats and rhymes, but what beats you rhyme over and how you rhyme is your style.
    same with movies to be pegionholed as a certan genre u have to include basic elements to qualify
     
  11. JazeTSK

    JazeTSK Member

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    I like the non conventional styles like Poesia and Task. I think they're really trying to get graff outta the box so to speak.
    I think styles just come from how you percieve the world and how you want to see letters. I guess alotta the younger kids who are first comin into this world are kinda closed minded with their styles and thats why alot of it sucks.

    It just takes time, but its cool to see when kids actually develop theira own really unique style.
     
  12. the cannabis evangelist

    the cannabis evangelist Elite Member

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    i here you about breaking the mold...but thats where the creativity comes into play....
    how can i make these predetermand shapes(letters) look fresh and new


    btw im not saying if u put up some ill non letter based shit on a wall it wont look good or be any less artistic....it just wont be graffiti
     
  13. Zookyook

    Zookyook Elite Member

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    bars and elementary graffiti is good... but some things that look crazy and not 'the norm' look good too, if ur doing either one with a graffiti medium 'spray paint' its considered graffiti in my opinion... its all about how u do it and on what surface u do it as far as im concerned
     
  14. Taurus

    Taurus Member

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    I see i see, so the entire medium of graffiti is about the letters. Words are, to the graff artist, what people are to the portrait artist. So the style is therefore reflected within the words and how they're written - Right?

    And no, Jackal1347, I'm not a graffiti artist and I'm not pretending to be, but it is something i appreciate. And thanks for clearing that up for me guys, i now look upon graffiti with fresh eyes :)
     
  15. lakim shabazz

    lakim shabazz Moderator

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    with all art you need to follow the basic outline you cant have a Renaissance style painting and have brush strokes present so you GOTTTTTA have letter structure in you piece to call it graffiti YOU need to have a fresh tag to even call your self a writer yah you can step outside the box but be conscience of the fact that you have to pay respect to the letters your pushing.
    NO HALF STEPPIN' ALLOWED

    heres my steez i fuck with shapes
    bringin' shit back to basics for you remedial fools out there
    ai43.tinypic.com_2j0mph5.jpg
    ai41.tinypic.com_2m0o5u.jpg
    ai41.tinypic.com_2iibqsh.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2010
  16. NICCSACC

    NICCSACC Banned

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    ...anywayz, it either looks like shit or it looks cool. fuck it (half the shit is garbage IMO but whatevs...)
     
  17. JazeTSK

    JazeTSK Member

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    So you guys are sayin Andre the Giant (Shepard Fairy for those who don't know) has nothing to do with graff? Kids bustin ass wheatpasting the shit outta everything isn't graff? Rollers? Markers? It doesn't matter if it's spray paint or not yo.

    Guys come on man... Graff is the all about the voice people refuse to listen to, and our shit is up to let the government know that they will never control everything. We're essentially the last cats to be free with our speech.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2010
  18. lakim shabazz

    lakim shabazz Moderator

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    nah mann graff is LETTTTTTERS it dont matter what you use marker rollers its about lettttters
    posters are cool its just another way to express your self but is it graffiti to me nahhhhhhhhhh i put him on the echelon as ron english.
     
  19. MAST

    MAST Elite Member

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    wheatpaste and stencils are street art. there's a difference between street art and graffiti.
     
  20. NoCanControl

    NoCanControl Elite Member

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    To me graffiti is letters, and street art is pictures or scripted emotion. such as obey, and stick heads.
    but all in all, i would say were all in a big family of vandals. we all have the same roots.