Thanks for the feedback. I'm still trying to get a handle on what makes a tag good or bad. I get that my top right one is the cleanest, but to me, my top left seems more interesting. I'm not sure how to make something more interesting without it seeming sloppy.
Noted, thanks starfox. VerceVisa: To my understanding, that's just something you figure out over time. The top left one to me personally looks cool, but the switches from capital to lowercase letters in the middle of the tag throw it off a bit. I think it's because the lowercase letters get crowded (for lack of a better term) and end up looking like visual white noise (again, can't think of a better way to put that).
Visa Versa I like the tags on the top row 2 one and last row one. They need a tiny bit of work but I see potential. Bt98 I like the top row. But for sure needs work. Take off the dots and the underline for now and try to make the letters the same height as best you can. I don't like how it starts off with small letters then expands to big letters.
Verse and BT, you're looking for "tracking", the name of the space in between letters of the same word. Tracking applies to the whole word, so a loosely tracked word will have a lot of space between letters. Kerning is the name of the negative space between letters. Because tracking applies to the whole word and doesn't necessarily account for individual letters, kerning applies on a letter basis to help describe the little tweaks to get the flow right. You can have a loosely tracked word with great kerning, and a nicely tracked word with shit kerning. Both terms refer to spacing of the letters, but one is about a consious style choice, and the other is proper balancing. Really the best practice for kerning and tracking is to download a well made font and type out a few sentences; "A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a good one for English. Either print it out if you can or copy from the screen as closely as you can. Go over it over and over like you're doing keyboards. These are keyboards, really. Tl;dr The words you guys are looking for are 'tracking' and 'kerning'. Best way to learn it to copy from well made fonts until your own style develops.
Thanks guys, really. And really good to know starfox, I'll be taking that advice. Appreciate the help!
You're welcome man. Understand this applies mostly to basic proper letters. Graffiti is a wonderful expression of playing with those rules. Which rules you break, bend, or extend depends on both your personal style and your understanding of your history, local and otherwise. Tldr you're welcome and bourbon makes me rant.
Parents finding out about habits, your hobbies, and everything you've done that may disappoint em'. Its not a good feeling, parents finding my paint, mops, blackbooks, and even a few grams. Its a bad feelin. Had to give up any form of writing, for the past two weeks. They watching every last thing Im doing. Gotta be careful. I knew I would be caught at some point, but, I thinks its time to make some new mops, get some paint and keep doing what I do. btw - my parents despise graffiti, and I dont want to disappoint em, but sometimes, we have to go out on our own you know! Anyway Check out some of this.... Crits much appreciated, ik its really sloppy, just messin round
unless you were one of those toddlers who's never picked-up a crayon and drew scribbles all over the wall, there's no arguing that graff isn't natural ..if they didn't put a stop to it then, then all this is their fault.
Get into calligraphy, tell em you're into graphic design, throw some chaff in the air nahmean? Like with anything this side of the tracks, have a front on the other side. It'll make your graff better too, cross training.
Thanks guys! Yeah, they found out bout this, and were more pissed than when they found out bout my substance abuse. But, the simple truth is, graffiti has been slowly making me, honestly a better person. I suffer from depression, got a whole lot of problems, but even just making some slap art, trying out a new mop, it all provides a sense of accomplishment, makes me feel amazing. I know you all know where im coming from. People says graffiti destroys the streets, I say, it makes em unique, gives em flare. The paint on the sides of the roads looks beautiful. Color the streets you hear me! Haha, sorry for ranting Graffiti is at an all time low where im at, barely any artists left, and its heavily frowned upon by the preppy residence. In the past few years graffiti management and clean up, has been accelerating, anything on a major street is gone in an easy 48 hours or less. The Artists have quit, and honestly with good reason. But, I do not want to see this art form leave. Ever. I hope to run across a few local writers, and get together and do some substantial work to the streets. Once again, sorry for ranting, especially in the "tags" section.. Thanks for reading though
Graffiti and street art are the only two artistic disciplines created by, maintained by, and made for the youth. It's as old as punk music, and about as respected by mainstream adults. In a hundred years it might be appropriated and Co opted by the general public, or it may fade away, just like every other prominent art movement. Now who's ranting! Can we get a graff rants board or something? "Toy rants"? Dictators from Boston?
I decided to write about why graffiti should be legal in school just cuz it was a topic and Zoalz your little rant there is perfect proof to point out why graffiti should be legal and why it would help lol. If you dont want me to use your post I don't have to haha.
Feel free to use the post! The more that people know the better! And we definitely need a rant board. Until then, i will argue my point on here. haha Today, the majority of society will frown upon the art form. Giving it a bad rep and giving people information that is heavily opinionated. Even though, they express what they oppose in art galleries, clothing, accessories, decor, and more. I find it hypocritical to a point. I get that they may not enjoy when people "vandalize", or as they say, destroy property. Public or privately owned. I am not saying that we should vandalize peoples cars, their private homes, churches, or schools. The earliest form of graff (over 30,000 years ago) is depicted in this piece. Now, imagine if we were to wash that piece of history away... It would be frowned upon to wash away history like that, now wouldn't it? Now, lets say someone find a piece from today in 30,000 years from now? Will they try and preserve it or try and remove the history that had been made? We must look at the writers point of view. They have many good points. Ill start with my story, Born and raised in a "preppy white neighborhood", I myself am white as well, and I grew up in a nice neighborhood, and still am growing up in one. I remember being real young and riding my bike with my parents through trails and the streets, admiring the colors along the walls, the shapes, the beautiful pieces of art that i will never see again. All the art I grew up with is gone years of it, buffed away, painted over. Years of history gone in a matter of seconds. As of now, i suffer from depression, and have always looked for ways to "escape" from the pain that ensues. Bad and good. But graffiti has been the best of them all. It seems like yesterday, I picked up a crayon and scribbled my way to a skill that will never leave me. I am an artist. A graffiti artist. We have to understand that from all bad comes good. In Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail he says "To put in terms of St. Thomas Aquanis: An unjust law is a human law not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." I realize this has to do with the on going war against racism, but we can apply this to graffiti. People find happiness in viewing the art form, no one wants to see a blank gray slate while taking a walk at a park , or driving down the highway. While going for a road trip, we can spend our time looking at grey, or we can spend time deciphering the art that is to often removed. Not only do the viewers enjoy the art, but so do the writers, it sends a sense of accomplishment down their spine. Bring happiness. A Writer can tell a story in a piece. They can express them self through an art form that is be eradicated. Do we want our history to tell the story of an art that came and left, or the story of an art form that has existed through thousands of years. Rant Over
Did I come to toy rant battle section? Holy nice tag and the Y especially but too much extra shit and the arrow is bad
Its been over a year since Ive even thought about graff but i miss it. So heres me messing around with some handstyles. Crits and tips welcome.