I feel ya. And obviously there's no exact science now that it is a world-wide art form, but I do know there are sticklers that think you have to do it exactly the way that they did or you're not doing it right. Gotta love the narcissism of people thinking their way is the only way. As I said earlier there aren't any other writers in my area so I am just curious as to the opinions of the people that share the passion. I can't even get an educated opinion on my sketches let alone someone to guide me through the culture or advice on techniques. Good thing there are places like this forum, YouTube and Google to help me find the way.

 

A nice basic tag can be turnd into a nasty peice.
Bacon does this alot .

Learning to walk befor you run is the main key .


I stated in 08-09 toy as fuck way worse then you are now . its time, pratice, dedication .
And learning the basics .
I didnt at first and had to go back and re learn them in just the past years and my shit got drasticly better
So when we say do simples and no extras it not to be a dick its the way to learn how letters should and shoulsnt flow . trial and eror . time and time again



I painted first befor any thing . was horrible . but was instantly hooked . after the first year of painting alot and not geting betters when I got a book amd shortly after found this site . got called a toy and left lol disnt want to listen ..did my own thing. geting up and painting. but never really progressing to wear i wanted to be luckly all the real ass hole dont troll this site no more the ass holes are now me and gum hahahahaha. So be it! Lol we will help people that will listen but when they dont listen and do the same shit over and over then you get called toy.
And go away hopefuly .
Its not for every body the harsh crits are just part of the game you think when you and the boys hit the trains and ya shits whack ya homie wont be like "bro thats shits garbage " they will lol. And jelly mofos be the wrost if they can see the potential they will hate the most lol.

As for yours the sketch on papper i had said to lose the extras but then you painted the same shit so I didnt want to say anything. Cus it would have probly been mean and along the lines of your a toy that dont listen lol
But thats being said seriously try to paint somthing simple no extras . keyboard leters one way 3d and a sheild . thats how you'll build your controll .save all cuts for the end as well . and always go bigger with paint its easy to cut a bigger line then a thinner one . .
I started to dudble out like my hole letters now and it looks solid as fuck

Heres some trash from december 08 and I rember writeing 09 and my homie was like thats a month away this will be buffed befor then . lol its still runing RN haha

 

Yeah man the harsh criticism is what I'm here for. I was sick of all my friends telling me how great my sketches were because they don't know a thing about graff. And it's not that I don't want to listen, it's just can be difficult to cut back and simplify when the images in my mind aren't simple. But then I see the contrast between sketch and wall and I totally see where you guys are coming from. I'm sure I'm not the only one whose ambition exceeds skill level. I'm just glad I finally got this wall built so that I can start practicing can control. But damn, some of these guys make this shit look so easy. Criticism and advice much appreciated!

 

Elbow is totally right...I started painting only 2 years ago and I'm still on pretty basic letter structure. The times I do go out most likely just gonna be throws and tags...but the personal wall does help you tremendously getting the understanding of the flow of paint...trail and error. And speaking of the tag to piece thing elbow mentioned...I tried it (was inspired by aches)...should have added a shadow or something extra prob. Would have made it look a little better

 

Word, back when me and elbo first came on here we would get dissed heavy, I remember we even dissed each other the environment was very elitist and we didnt know shit, trust. But both of us progressed a lot over the years after being called toys from different people, we took the beating and learned from it instead of harboring a resentment for writers on some "fuck them bro no one understands me". You need that annoying ass drill sergeant in your ear screaming shit or you wont grow thick skin you'll be a pussy and undisciplined.

 

Here are the more simple sketches that I have made. What are your thoughts? Should I simplify more than this? I just can't be the guy that makes the same sketch over and over with a different color scheme.

 

They are right. Practice. Having your own wall will help. Criticism will always be there, good or bad. You got to keep at it. You practiced until you learned how to write your own name, it's the same principle. Practice, seek advice and criticism. Practice, get better. Get up and stay safe.

 

This bottom on is the best one but needs work . like first thing that catches the eye is none of the letters are the same hieght / size .
Try makeing 3 lines like in school when you learn how to write all that same stuff applies here the cap hight, med line ,and base line .


Cap: the top pf each letter should reach about the same hieght every were .

Medline: where all the midle of your letter line up . you dont have meny middle letters but for instant the k and p have middle conections and should be close to the same height at the medline and where the conecting parts end .

Base line . only things that should go under this are the bottom legs on y ,g. And barley the g. But thats my opinion on that. It should be were the strongest base of your letter should sit



Then you got lines that go farther then the bar there coming from
The in side the k is right.. the n is wrong but with paint its good to run them long and cut it back but in the book deff practice where it should really end .

 

Heres a playlist .
some more advanced some for the less advanced id recomend checking them out if your trying to learn . these videos helped me alot.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL138C90A2F3C852DE

 

Alright man, I'll definitely try the 3 lines on my next sketch. That last one was simple and sloppy for the same reason, when I drew that one I was going for speed and to see what would happen without too much thought so I actually didn't even sketch before outline and the whole thing was done in 5 minutes. So to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, the 'n' is wrong because it's upper-case but it's shorter than the tallest letter? I'll try to start applying the less-is-more idea to some of my stuff. I do a little bit of everything because I want to learn everything. Only about half of my sketches are my name, and that's because I want to know how to do graff for more than 7 letters of the alphabet. Don't want to be a one-trick pony so my thoughts were that you had to swing and miss to learn how to hit the ball. Plus I guess I was hoping that the 10 art classes I took in highschool qualified me to jump a step or two. Haha. But it can't hurt to take a step back and really master the basics. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

 

And I'll check it those videos too! I am actually already subscribed to the artist block but I have probably a dozen other great channels so I don't think I've seen these yet. Do you ever watch Duplex Clone? His 'sketch a day may' videos have given me a lot of inspiration

 

Nah I havent and no I was strickly talking about this one line .
I colored it red so you know what it should look like

But really none of this maters today in this stupid fucking art form shit like this gets mad likes. When my ass dont get 40 lol

 

Oh okay, I understand now. And yeah I guess with the likes some of it is style preference and some of it is just the subject matter. So of course that one is at least partially popular and has mass appeal because it says kind bud, and everybody nowadays thinks smoking weed is the best thing in the world that you can do. Like when I was younger smoking pot I thought I had some kind of connection to other people just because they smoke, but now when everybody and their grandma smokes or dabs, there's a much higher percentage of people that do it just because they think it makes then cool. As for style preference, there are some styles-one specifically that I don't know how to categorize- that I just don't find aesthetically pleasing. Despite the fact that I realize how technical, and detailed it is, and I know that I could never create something like that, I just don't like the way it looks. And I know at least part of that is because I think legibility is key, and if you can't read it, it might as well say nothing. But just my opinion I guess. Like this one, what do you call this style?

 

Oh and definitely check out duplex Clone. Dude has a lot of skill

 

that's what you'd call a burner. shit took him a while to get all that detail and color in, it's the time it takes someone and high level of detail they put in it, like 1-2+hours worth of time and mad details is a burner. personally that shits corny, i love simple cartoony shit and i know there's maaad people that think it's childish/ lazy etc. but idc that shit's so cool to me and im not gonna change my graff for approval that's mad lame. everyone has their taste, can't really hate on it though y'know? like even if its not your tea you can still respect the raw skill behind it if there is skill to begin.

 

Shits a burner for sure ...buttt I also dont like it. Its not legible and the leters I can read arnt that good there just alot of extras added to it hideing thing and things that go no were and do nothing . But thats style after you figure out how it all works . is that were you want to get visualy or do you want that cartoony look or the modern vibey fuck leter structer look lol thats what you gotta figure out but learning the basic letters will deff help with all of that ..


Also gum he'll no I find some of them rounded lines and thick anime shits hella hard to pull off any body that can do it good def gets props in my book becuse i cant lol even my own cartoon guy doesnt look that cartoony lol its fucking hard

 

My thoughts exactly. There is certainly a great deal of talent involved in a piece like this, but it's not anything I would ever strive to create. I agree with you on the cartoon styles too, I mean I like a lot of varieties but it's the same thing with some of the more technical wildsyles that have some dope elements, but overall it feels too crowded and distorted or abstracted. That's why I'll just keep practicing and learning how to create my own style instead biting a YouTube style just to learn how they did it.

 

Here's round 2! Let's start with the obvious issues: streaky fill, and inconsistent drop shadow but I feel a bit more confident overall

 

Looks good homey. Take your time and practice. Nothing was ever achieved in a day. It looks like you got a wall in your yard. That's a good step before hitting the streets. Practice on that, a lot. But listen to Elbow and Gum. They have been giving you dope advice. And if its on your own wall, don't be afraid to use guide lines to keep everything straight and in proportion. But who am I, just an old head getting back into this after years away.