Monday, September 29, 2008

Graffiti Removal Made Easy with Specialized Formulas

CRL Motsenbockers Lift Off 3 Remover for Pen, Ink and Marker Graffiti - Stain Removal Made Easy with Specialized Formulas for the Toughest Stains. Excellent Results on the Job, in the Shop, or in the Home.


CRL Lift Off 3 is a biodegradable and water-based product designed to remove most inks including: permanent markers, indelible inks, ball point pens, hiliters, stamp pad and fountain inks Important Note: Check can label and Material Safety Data Sheet for any additional limitations and warnings. Contents of Bottle: 22 fl oz (651 ml). Buy from TechnologyLK.

The Graffiti Cleaning Tips!

Paint and markers have got to be two of the most hard-to-remove stains on the planet. Bar none. Follow these tips, though, and your graffiti will be as good as gone!

1. Take into account the canvas material.
Graffiti art is difficult to remove because the canvas isn't fabric but most of the time, concrete walls. Stones and concrete absorb spray paint quite well due to their porous natures. Once the paint seeps into the pores, there's no easy way to take it out.

Take into account the canvas material before you begin to think about what to do next. Different canvas materials require different cleaning methods and using the wrong method can put you in a tight spot. Put that into consideration next time.

2. Paint it over.
You're going to need some tough luck if you want to effectively remove graffiti from your property. Graffiti art is popular with street kids these days, and it'll take more than your fair share of watch dogs to keep these punks from vandalizing your property for good. The moment the spray paint seeps through, you're done for-you and your property. Either have the wall taken down or leave it be.

You can also just paint the wall over. You got that right: just paint it over. It will leave your wall intact and looking shiny and new.
3. Call the police.
This has less to do with cleaning graffiti and more to do with fighting back against vandalism so you won't have to clean it up in the first place. Some kids get away with vandalizing dozens of houses. Then they get caught by the police for vandalizing one property, fulfill the hours required for community service and next thing you know they're back on the streets again, vandalizing your dog house.

Call the police and file a report on the vandalism on your property. Have the police officers take pictures and conduct their own investigation. If enough people complain, the graffiti artists will be gone for awhile, at least.

4. Blast the darn thing.
There are a number of ways to remove graffiti, and sand blasting is one of them. Sand blasting can be effective if used right, disastrous if used incorrectly. Most of the time you're better off hiring someone instead of doing it yourself. A bit of sand blasting here and there is sure to take care of even the toughest wall stains.

Blast the darn thing! Use an attachment probe and try to work as precisely as possible with the nozzle. Different types of walls require different sand pellets, but it seems round silica works best on most surfaces. So blast the wall already and enjoy the show!

5. Call a professional cleaning company.
One of the easiest methods to get rid of graffiti on your property is by letting your money do the talking-that is, by calling a professional graffiti cleaning company. Let's face it. These guys know the ins and outs of the job, they know how to do it effectively and safely. Just watch them at work and you'll be more than half convinced within minutes that you did the right thing when you called for their help.

Since it's difficult to prevent graffiti from showing up at all, finding easy solutions can be key to enjoying a clean and mark-free property.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Simple Graffiti Sketch

I get this video from youtube. It's about Graffiti Sketch, Show for you if you like it, please leave my comment... Thank you

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Graffiti and Street Art

Since the early Neanderthals scratched out the Bison on the moist caves of Eastern France, Graffiti and Street Art have remained a very raw form of expressive Fine Art, which have shunned all class barriers and have emerged as a separate thread of work. Graffiti is derived from the Italian root meaning, "scratched out." Technically, to narrow down its scope would be to define it as a surface art on the surfaces it is "not meant" to be displayed. For example, you would not define a ramshackle wall, or a car, or a window as a canvas to any artist worth his/her salt. For Graffiti Artists however, that would be a perfectly normal platform to present their body of work.


Graffiti & Street Art so boldly lie on the border of vandalism and art that it is difficult to eulogize them without feeling a bit like singing Paeans to LSD or Morphine. However Graffiti and Street Art, even though pursued doggedly by law and order have steadily metamorphosed into an important mouthpiece of rebel expression.

Simply put, Graffiti and Street Arts are art pieces by artists with no inclination or the wherewithal to resort to the conventional forms of display, who though are bubbling with a strong urge to express themselves.

The profiles of Graffiti and Street Art closely follow an underground, anti-law route because of the angst they carry. They are art forms, usually generated in ghettos and tough neighborhoods, where there are few rules and therefore explosive creativity. Graffiti Artists are people, seething inside to stamp their territory, on walls, buildings, bridges, and yeah toilets too.

Graffiti and Street Art took a long time to come out of the ghettos, and be recognized as art. Although they are omnipresent phenomena, Graffiti and Street Art came onto the forefront only towards the development of the Hippie Culture in 70's. This was a time when people broke out of conditioning to see Graffiti & Street Art as art. The first opening of Graffiti was at Rome by Fab5 Freddy and soon other artists flooded the New York, London, and Paris art scenes.

Graffiti Artists are most often, nameless personas who treat art as a hit and run (often from the police and anti-graffiti squads). The process of claiming a patch of property (a wall, a car, a piece of tin, rooftops, and so on) is called "tagging" and it is a cross between turf war and creativity. Often gang wars have erupted on claims to turf. This is also, where Graffiti and Street Art connect with rap as an underground culture, which is always at odds with the civilized society. However, this edginess is what has given this art form a spontaneity that "designer" arts lack. The nervous energy is almost visible in the stark graphics and bold designs that spring out from the most unlikely of spaces. It is difficult not to appreciate this "vandalism" art form despite the gore and anger it carries.

Apart from the aesthetics of art, this art form is a visual documentation of grassroots societies, especially in western and Japanese sub cultures. Since Graffiti and Street Art are more a form of youth rebel art, the message that they seek to convey is at once in your face and subtle. There are subtexts that can be read from these Graffiti and Street Arts. For example, Graffiti Arts in Roman times is an important source of the study of society at that time (there is a Graffiti Art on the crucifixation of Jesus found in ancient Roman ruins).

However, with the lateral movement of Graffiti and Street Art into living rooms and art galleries, owing to avant-garde artistes, indicates that they have been accepted at large but the doubts remain. For example, Michael Fay stays hung between being labeled a criminal and an artiste in Singapore when he defaced a car. Whatever be the motive and the background of the creators of Graffiti and Street Art, it is undoubtedly an expression of passion, which finds many patrons.

Graffiti Mural - Changing Outdoor Exhibition

The new Graffiti Mural is in process to replace the current Iraq War piece covering the walls that surround the SPARC parking lot. The new work is being produced by a group of invited graff artists who do wonderful work in any medium, but whose "can control" can be considered at the level of mastery.


As part of our changing outdoor exhibition, the new Graffiti Mural is addressing the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in our country and in the world. Look in on this uncensored, free space that will showcase the graff artists' new work.

Watch the work as the artists post their drawings for the new Graffiti Mural .


Graffiti Murals

With any art form, the hallmark of success is often in the preparation. This also goes for creating a graffiti mural. Here are some things you can do to ensure that your masterpiece will turn out the way you want it to.



Step1 Find a location. Because graffiti murals are often seen as vandalism, the most legitimate way to do a graffiti mural is to either have it commissioned by a business, or to paint on your own private property. If you opt to do one inside, be sure to work in a well ventilated area.

Step2 Connect with local graffiti groups in your area. Many communities have walls set aside for people to legally paint graffiti murals. It's a great way to meet people, get involved and create something beautiful.

Step3 Decide on a design or design concept. Know your design before you start. Having a detailed painting or drawing beforehand can help the novice graffiti artist avoid the pitfalls of running out of space on your work area or ending up with incorrect proportions or colors. Consider doing a practice run on a large piece of wood or fiberboard.

Step4 Determine size and limitations of workspace. If you are working on a textured surface with different depths like brick, consider how this will affect your end design. Optical illusions can be created if you are putting a 2-dimensional image over a surface of different depths. When painting over these areas, be sure to take a step back to review how it looks, so you don't end up with warped images.

Step5 Outline your design on your work surface using base colors. With murals, you want a skeleton to go back and fill in later so you can have a better idea of what the finished product will look like when it's done.

Step6 Add color and depth. Layer color over your initial working outline. This will give body to your design. Once you have done this, go back and add darker shadows and highlights to give your image depth.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Play Yahoo! Graffiti

Yahoo! Graffiti is one of the most popular games on Yahoo! Games. In Yahoo! Graffiti, players take turns drawing pictures and everyone else has to guess what the person is drawing. Rack up points by guessing words and having others guess your words. Read on to learn more.


Step1 Choose your difficulty level and find a table to join. The "Apples and Orange" rooms in the social level are usually the most occupied and are a good place to start for a beginner. Click on the "join" button of any table to be inserted directly into the game, whether it's in progress or yet to begin.

Step2 Watch as people draw pictures in the large window in the middle of the screen. Guess words by typing them into the text box and hitting enter. You can see what other people are guessing by looking at the list of words to the left of the drawing window.

Step3 Get ready to draw when it's your turn. When you see your first word, select a color and begin drawing by holding your mouse button down and moving it the direction you want to draw in the drawing window. You can erase your canvas by clicking the eraser button or skip a word by clicking on the "skip word" button. When a person guesses your word, the canvas will clear and the next word will appear. Keep drawing until your time runs out.

Step4 Win the game by compiling the most points at the end of eight rounds. You can score 50 points for every word that you guess and 50 points for every one of your words that another person guesses.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Create a Stencil Graffiti

A computer can be used to help make detailed designs, designs with downloaded fonts, or designs from photos. If you wish to simply draw a graphic by hand, that works too. Also, photoshop shapes are a stencil waiting to happen.

In order to make a design from a photo, you will need a photo editor that allows you to adjust the threshold, and brightness and contrast of the photo. Basically, you want to get rid of the unneeded background of the photo, giving you just the subject you desire. Then adjust the contrast and brightness, or adjust the threshold, of the picture to the point of having a picture that is two colors - black and white - and still recognizable. Make any needed touch-ups, or adjustments to keep there from being areas inside of holes (that would fall out of the stencil). You could also preform this step while cutting, but it may be more difficult.

Add a border around the picture and print. Once printed, just put your stencil over the item you wish to use as the stencil...cardboard, paper, thin plastic, contact paper, whatever. Next you must cut out the design. An x-acto knife is best as it makes a clean cut and is easy to work with.

To use the stencil, hold or tape to the surface, and spray or roll paint over it. Remove the stencil (by lifting off, not sliding). If it needs any touchups, use your finger or a brush.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Stencil Graffiti - makes use of a paper

Stencil Graffiti makes use of a paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproduceable. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint.


The process of stencilling involves applying paint across a stencil to form an image on a surface below. Sometimes multiple layers of stencils are used on the same image to add colours or create the illusion of depth.

Those who make and apply stencils have many motivations. For some, it is an easy method to produce a political message. Many artists appreciate the publicity that their artwork can receive. And some just want their work to be seen. Since the stencil stays uniform throughout its use, it is easier for an artist to quickly replicate what could be a complicated piece at a very quick rate, when compared to other conventional tagging methods.

One of the foremost graffiti artists who uses stencils extensively is Banksy.

Stencil on bikeway in Seville (Spain).Stencil graffiti subculture has been around for the last twenty-five years, starting with Blek le Rat in Paris. Blek le Rat is considered the godfather of stencil art. His first stencil was spray painted in 1981 and has continued to the present. Le Rat was influenced by the graffiti artists of New York City but wanted to create something of his own. Over the years this form of graffiti has become a worldwide subculture. The members are linked through the Internet and the images spray-painted on the urban canvas they place throughout the world.

Many of its members connect through blogs and websites that are specifically built to display works, get feedback on posted works, and receive news of what is going on in the world of stencil graffiti. Stencil graffiti is illegal and many of the members of this subculture shroud their identities in aliases. Banksy, Blek le Rat, C215, Vhils, 157, Haha, Logan Hicks and Shepard Fairey are some names that are synonymous with this subculture. As for local stencil artists, they are fairly veiled and are hard to reach.

Amazing Street Art - Graffiti

Those graffiti are very interesting, some looks very weird and some cool. It seems that the artists of those really have rich imagination.


Traditional graffiti also has increasingly been adopted as a method for advertising; its trajectory has even in some cases led to its artists' working on contract as graphic artists for corporations.[2] Street art is a label often adopted by artists who wish to keep their work unaffiliated, and strongly political. Street artists are those whose work is still largely done without official approval in public areas.

For these reasons street art is sometimes considered "post-graffiti" and sometimes even "neo-graffiti".[3] Street art can be found around the world and street artists often travel to other countries foreign to them so they can spread their designs.







Inspire yourself with Graffiti Art

“Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art and other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted. Some people think of it as art, others vandalism, and others, a culture of its own.” I have respectively linked to the page or photographer that took the images, but was extremely difficult to find out the original artists. I personally think it’s art, do you?

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Graffiti Dub Fast Forward

A graffiti artist at work, a 2 hour piece sped into two minutes. - See how graffiti (Dubs) are made!!!




How about this VDO, please comment it

Setting Your Blogspot to Absolutely Free Domain Names

If you want to change your blogspot domain. It very simple to setting by CO.CC "Absolutely Free Domain Names" ... it is very easy to setting - co.cc is a free domain. It's not only URL forwarding but we can setup DNS Records, A, MX, and CNAME records. We can change our blog's name to become "name.co.cc". It's more simple than we use domain "name.blogspot.com". To change our default blogspot name to co.cc domain name there are some steps to do. Here is the tutorial to setup domain co.cc

1. Open your browser to co.cc (click link)
2. Then regiter a domain that you want to use.
3. If it's no available you have to find another domain name. But if it's available then you can register it.
4. The you have to setup your domain. Got to "setup-->Manage domain"
5. Choose "Zone Records"
6. In the coloumn "Host" fill it with your domain name (www.yourdomainname.co.cc)
7. Choose "CNAME" for "Type"
8. In the "Value" box fill it with "ghs.google.com"
9. Then click "Setup" Button.

The next step is make some setup in blogspot.

1. Login to Bloggr/blogspot then choose "Setting-->Publishing"
2. Then choose "Switch to: • Custom Domain
3. Then click on "Already own a domain? Switch to advanced settings"
4. Fill it with your new domain in the "Your Domain" coloumn.
5. To Finish click "Save Setting" Button.It will take 1-48 hours for your new domain to work. So be patient....

Graffiti L.A. - Street Styles and Art

This book is the best of its kind. It starts out with the history of gang writing then follows up with the evolution of the art including techniques, paint and cap types, run-ins with the law, etc. The pictures are as clear as can be, and the forever present artist commentary is the perfect compliment to the fantastic collection of pics. This is a must own for any fan of graffiti.

The culmination of author and photographer Grody's 17-year obsession, this stunning examination of Los Angeles street art should prove to be a definitive work on the subject. Beginning in the 1930s, when stylized calligraphic writing (often called "Old English") was first used by Latino gangs to mark territories, Grody quickly moves on to the art form's explosion in the '80s, when four distinct forms were spreading throughout the city: tags, a name in stylized script; throw-ups, one-color designs quickly applied; pieces, more elaborate and colorful efforts; and productions, a collection of pieces.

The book truly takes off among the hundreds of beautifully photographed pieces Grody offers, along with testimony from the artists and "crews" who created them. Grody describes the anatomy of a piece, crew dynamics and the politics of what is still an illegal art form, but knows when to step back and let the artists speak for themselves; he elicits comments on everything from overcoming early technical obstacles to close calls-both with cops and injury-to the history and meaning behind their art.

The importance of Grody's work-as in any other street art roundup-is in capturing these short-lived pieces before they're inevitably defaced by rivals or painted over by the authorities; what makes this beautiful book stand out is the way Grody completes his vibrant picture with the voices of the street artists themselves. CD-ROM included.

Price: $23.10 Click here for more details

Graffiti Restaurant - Steak Seafood Pizza and Paintings

This is the place with Elvis and the paintings. Elvis is at the door holding a welcome sign. The paintings are everywhere else. Graffiti is one of Destin’s older dining establishments. If the walls could talk — from the look of some of the artwork, they probably can — they’d wonder at all the changes that have taken place around the old-fashioned little building. Graffiti adjoins the Funky Blues Shack, and one can move freely between the two places. There are three dining rooms, one of which contains the bar. Diners can choose between booths and tables. We chose tables, which got us a room to ourselves. Booths seemed to be the seating of choice on the mid-week night we ate there.

Our server was Ashley, a friendly young woman who brought us water and menus, and told us of the day’s specials. I used to eat at Graffiti frequently when I lived in the Destin area. The menu has retained many of the same dishes, obviously proven favorites, and an extensive pizza list.

One cannot ignore the walls, even while studying the menu. Graffiti is known for its collection of paintings and freestanding artwork, displayed on every available inch of restaurant space. All are for sale, and the pieces bear the names of both celebrated and up-and-coming local artists. The colors range from muted to near blinding. There are also crayons on the tables for drawing on the paper placemats. ... read more!

Friday, September 19, 2008

How to draw your Graffiti Name

While many people associate graffiti with tasteless vandalism, it is also an art that has been appreciated since antiquity. The Italian word from which the word graffiti was derived, coming from Greek graphein meaning "to write," was first applied to writing on walls in Roman times.

While today the term is more loosely used, graffiti still generally denotes artistic writing or drawing. It can be done in a way that does not vandalize or violate the law. Over the years, distinctive styles have evolved that can be instantly recognized as graffiti, even when the writing is on a piece of paper.


As with any art, there is no right way to draw graffiti, and you need to develop your own style. This article will provide you with the basics to begin drawing graffiti names on paper, along with several inspirational examples.

What is Street Art - Graffiti?

Street-art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. Typically, the term Street Art or the more specific Post-Graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Free Graffiti Fonts Download

Hi member of my Blog! To day i post about download graffiti fonts.This website i search form google, it very nice and more "graffiti fonts" for free download. I think its helpfull for you. Enjoy Download Free Graffiti fonts!

http://www.graffitifonts.net/FreeFonts/FreeFonts.htm

Feel free to download any of our fonts by clicking on the name of the font you'd like. Support the growth of our Graffiti font library by adding new fonts ...

Sexy Graffiti on Girls

I search the keyword "Sexy Graffiti" on youtube. eiei I see this video. share for you.



Please Comment about this Video!

Free Skin Hi5 - Graffiti Girls

Share for people that use HI5. This is skin hi5. It very nice! Download Here : http://ba88c02b.thesegalleries.com

How to Change Hi 5 Skins and How to Create Your Own
In this tutorial I will show you how to change your skins on Hi 5 and how you create your own. This tutorial is for beginners. If you are new to social networking or Hi 5 this tutorial will get you started with changing your profile skin. Go ahead and login to your Hi 5 account and we will get started.


Once you login to your account you will be carried to your home page. On your home page you will see the links at the top. Click the My Profile link. On this page you will see your profile. Under your default photo, you will see a list of links. Click the Skin My Profile link.

On this page you will see the different skins that are available. To preview a skin, click the Preview link below the skin. Once you have previewed it, click the Back button on your browser. If you want to use that skin, click the Use Skin link below the skin. To change your skin, click the Change My Skin link under your default photo on your profile page.

To make your own skin, follow these instructions. Go back to your profile page. Click the Change My Skin link under your default photo. On the skins page you will see a link at the top right corner that says Make a Profile Skin, click that link.

On this page is where you will create your new skin. Open your profile page in a new window so that you can keep looking at it to see what is what. The first step is to give your skin a name. So enter a name in the name field.

We will start with the Page Global section first. The first part of this section is the page background. You can use an image for the background or a color. To use an image, click the browse button and locate the image that you want to use. To use a background color, enter the hex code for the color that you want to use. Then select the position of the background. You can leave the other two fields as they are.

The next section is the Text Header. Select the font that you want for this header and then enter the hex code for the color. In the next section you will need to enter the hex code for the text color and link color.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Free Movie - Graffiti Movie Style Wars

The famous street art movie Style Wars by Henry Chalfant now for free on Google.

Style Wars tells the story of the development of New York Graffiti Art during the early 1980's. It shows the development of the many graffiti letters styles, graffiti artists discussing over graffiti blackbooks and the surrounding cultural development like hip hop breakdance, etc.

The movie features artists like His famous book Dondi White , Seen and many more.

Henry Chalfant was the main person to documentate the development of the New York Graffiti Art movement during the 1970' and 1980's. Subway Art is recognised as the main source for Graffiti Train Art and Graffiti Letters Styles development.

I found this video on http://video.google.de

Click here to watch Graffiti Movie Style Wars

Monday, September 15, 2008

Open Air - Street Art - Graffiti Documentary

In 2006, Their created this short for the University of Southern California's Public Arts Studies Program.This documentary explored the studios and methods of six of the top street artists in America: Faile, Skewville, Mike De Feo, Dan Witz, Espo and Tiki Jay One.Official selection of the Coney Island Film Festival and the Freewaves International Film Festival.

Video form Youtube: Open Air, Street Art / Graffiti Documentary ESPO FAILE KNOX




Please comment and discuss about this VDO!

Tribute To Graffiti Artworks

Street culture and graffiti are well-known for being provocative, appealing, bold and uncompromising. Originally used by gangs to mark their territory in some urban area, graffitis have now become a rich medium for unrestricted expression of ideas and statements. In fact, creative designers and artists across the globe use this form of art to deliver their message and showcase their work.


Probably the most prominent graffiti artist is Banksy, a famous pseudo-anonymous British artist whose works focus on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His art has appeared in cities around the world; it’s worth mentioning that Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti or mount exhibitions of screenprints in commercial galleries. You can explore Banksy’s works in the Time’s slideshow The World According To Banksy. However, many different artists explore graffiti in a variety of ways.

Works of Reverse Graffiti

Welcome to the world of reverse graffiti, where the artist’s weapons are cleaning materials and where the enemy is the elements: wind, rain, pollution and decay. It’s an art form that removes dust or dirt rather than adding paint.


Some find it intriguing, beguiling, beautiful and imaginative, whereas others look upon it in much the same way as traditional graffiti – a complete lack of respect for the law. Reverse graffiti challenges ideals and perceptions while at the same time shapes and changes the environment in which we live, whether people think for the better, or not.
We thought we’d compile a collection of some of the most incredible works of reverse graffiti and the artists behind them for your viewing pleasure.

Original Post : 35 Greatest Works of Reverse Graffiti

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Graffiti Creator Machine

Demonstration of a machine built to paint with spray paint.
It very nice tool.

Please comment about it :


Graffiti is often seen as having become intertwined with hip hop culture as one of the four main elements of the culture (along with rapping, DJing, and break dancing). However, there are many other instances of notable graffiti this century. Graffiti has long appeared on railroad boxcars.

The one with the longest history, dating back to the 1920s and continuing into the present day, is Bozo Texino. During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and its filtering into American popular culture. In the sixties, its popularity was eclipsed by American graffiti proclaiming that "Yossarian lives!", a reference to the protagonist of Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22.

The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchist, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary"). A famous graffito of the 20th century was the inscription in the London subway reading "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967.

The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. A popular graffito of the 1970s was the legend "Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You," reflecting the hostility of the youth culture to that U.S. president.

Graffiti also became associated with the anti-establishment punk rock movement beginning in the 1970s. Bands such as Black Flag and Crass (and their followers) widely stenciled their names and logos, while many punk night clubs, squats and hangouts are famous for their graffiti.


Saturday, September 13, 2008

GRAFFITTI ART VDO

Nice Gaffiti Video

History of Graffiti : Art And Crime

"Basically, when I look around, I see us living in a modern day Babylon, full of temptation, sin, distraction, corruption, injustice, and misguided fools being mentally enslaved. It seems to me the only way to wake people up from this kind of numbness is to destroy what they know: Their business, their places of commerce and their biggest place of gathering, the cities! Put it on their trains, on the lines they take to work, on their rooftops, on their highways, on anything just to make some people realize that culture isn't lost and that, at the very least, a small group of kids is fighting to keep it alive."

The word GRAFFITI simply means--words or drawings scratched or scribbled on a wall. The word comes from the Greek term "graphein" (to write) and the word "grafitti" itself is plural of the Italian word "graffito."

Art in the form of graffiti (graffiti by style and considered so only if it appears on public or private property without permission) originated in the late 1960s, but graffiti in term of public and unsolicited markings has been around for ever. Some say it represents man's desire and need for communication, and the history of this type of communication dates back to one of the first communicative acts--drawing.

It was in the late 1960s when "Julio 204" began writing his "tag" all around the city of New York. Soon following Julio came a Greek youth from Manhattan named Demitrius who tagged his own "Taki183" all over the city as well. Taki also focused on writing on the subway in New York. Even though what Julio 204 and Taki 183 did in New York eventually developed into what was called by some "New York Style" graffiti, these New York writers only popularized it.

It is said that tagging first started in Philadelphia with the emergence of the legendary "Cornbread" and "Top Cat." Soon after the Philly development and the start of New York Graffiti, Top Cat's style started showing up in NYC and was called "Broadway Style" because of the long skinny lettering.

In 1971, the New York Times found and interviewed Taki 183 to try and explain this new phenomenon. Within a year of the article, "Taki 183 Spawns Pen Pals," hundreds of new writers emerged and took New York City by storm.

As tagging and graffiti started blowing up in the early 70s, people were caught off guard. One day there were the "natural colors" of the city and then came all the names out of nowhere.

Now there are some interesting points to be made about kids defacing property. You see it was much more complex than just "defacing," there are many ways writers "deface" things.

One type is the individual marks, slogans, slurs or political statements usually found on bathroom walls and stalls or on other exterior surfaces. Some refer to this as "latrinalia" or some just call it junk; this is the stuff that gives writers a bad name. There is also the individual "tag" which is a fancy way of writing ones name or nickname (nicknames often include the street number that a writer lived at, such as Taki 183, on 183rd Street in Washington Heights). A tag is usually decorated with a variety of stylish marks. Although they may have style, they still lack an aspect of quality art work--anyone can come up with and practice and put up a tag. But it is not really meant for artistic purposes--it basically indicates a writer's presence. The tag is one way that graffiti artists are similar to gang members, although gang graffiti doesn't usually evolve into anything very skillful, its purpose is to also, like for writers, indicate a presence (a gang presence) and also to mark around specific gang turf.

Although lots of writers would not want to be compared to gangsters, the two groups do have several things in common: "both seek recognition from their peers, use aliases, take part in illegal activities, see themselves as noble outlaws and are young and most often poor."

Even though graffiti has grown in style and artistic quality, even though graffiti crews can now be found everywhere from (my own) Louisville, Kentucky to mainland China, most people would still say that "New York City conceived graffiti and it will always be the capital and cultural centre of graffiti."

Also, when graffiti first started coming up, it was done predominantly by Puerto Rican and African American youths from poor inner-city neighborhoods. Now, graffiti has attracted people, male and female, of all races, religions and nationalities from the broadest types of backgrounds from all socio-economic classes, and you can regularly find writers ranging in age from 8 to their 30s.

What is Graffiti ?

Graffiti or tagging as it is commonly referred to in every day life usually takes the form of publicly drawn, painted, sprayed or stenciled text (tags), designs, logos or images covering public structures and buildings. Although it's often considered a public nuisance or outright vandalism it's subjects vary from prose, to signatures (or sigs), personal, social or political statements or advertising and images.
It is sometimes recognized as a modern art form with it's origins in urban life and hip hop culture based on creative expression and it is encouraged.

Nice Graffiti Video :


Monday, September 8, 2008

Beat the physical graffiti

Do you remember your mother saying, 'Pick up your clothes (or books, or toys, or ….)? Funny thing is, a modified version of the same philosophy - 'Put it away as you go' - applies at the highest level of business.

Perhaps it's because our mothers told us to do it that so many seemingly well-organised, highly paid and otherwise neatly-turned-out adults ignore this sage piece of advice! How many desks do you see covered with dead trees and miscellaneous equipment? How many drawers and cupboards hide a fascinating selection of junk?

How many factories and workshops have areas with an embarrassing mess of lurking clutter? What's the archival storage room like? (And how about your home garage?) Piles of 'stuff' are physical graffiti, a visible sign of deferred decisions. Next time you open the mail, pick up a file or handle any object, take a second to decide where it needs to go before it jumps out of your hand.

This is not to say that you major in minor things, running around all day putting things away. However, once the decision is made you can safely put things in a pile (either on the floor beside you, or just out of eye range to avoid distraction) and quickly put them away the next time you stand up. If you think you'll forget your decision, pencil the destination on the top right-hand corner of the paper or attach a temporary post-it note. The trick is - don't let yourself leave your workstation without the latest 'put-away' material.

Whilst the action is still fresh in your mind you will only take seconds to put things away. Someone's waiting? Even the most important person will wait 30 seconds; you'll feel efficient; and it feels great when you walk back in to your tidy office.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Graffiti and our Real Estate Investments

Recently there has been a rash of graffiti in the Fergus Falls area, and it is a disturbing modern trend of vandalism. Graffiti, when left to fester and multiply, can make neighborhoods look run-down and eventually lead to a reduction in property values for an entire area. That is why it is important that property owners, especially owners of commercial property, remove or paint over graffiti as soon as it appears.



As graffiti is usually a vandal's attempt at attracting attention to themselves, removing it as quickly as possible eliminates the satisfaction they receive knowing that people are viewing their name or whatever usually rude message they have left behind. If left alone, graffiti tends to multiply, as other vandals see the area as an easy target. Therefore, especially in urban areas, but potentially anywhere, it is important that a property owner keep a can of paint on hand that matches their building's exterior color. Conducting a regular tour of the outside of the building, and requesting employees or tenants to inform you immediately if any graffiti is visible, will make sure you can nip any problem with this form of property vandalism in the bud before it becomes a major problem.

It is sometimes controversial whose responsibility it is to clean up graffiti: a property owner or city officials. While many cities conduct graffiti clean-up programs, these often happen only once or twice a year. In addition, the volunteers or city staff responsible for the effort will likely only choose one or two colors with which to paint over graffiti, leaving an unsightly paint mark that isn't much better than the original eyesore—the graffiti. Therefore, while I would encourage any city to go forward with such graffiti clean-up measures, I assert that any responsible property owner will take removing graffiti upon themselves, and do it in a timely and affective manner.


A clean and attractive neighborhood is a valuable neighborhood.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Graffiti Workshop in School

This year’s batch of 25 students assigned to my 15-weeks graffiti workshop is not much different from the previous year. There is somehow the same mix of jokers and dreamers that look alike, but overall they are good kids. I must stress that the principal of this school is a progessive thinker and is supportive of the programme.
She dropped by one lesson and told us how this year she does not even have to sell the idea like previously due to the success of last years programme which taught the kids about social issues and responsibility. It is one of the nicer school I’ve worked in and it is also the shooting location for a TV musical ‘Schoolhouse Rockz’ on Kids Central. If you watch closely, you’d probably see some of the damages done by my crew. This workshop is still ongoing so we’ll see if this years batch is better than last years.





Resourse form: http://kamaldollah.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/second-graffiti-workshop-at-outram-secondary-school/

Graffiti Rock and Other Hip Hop Delights

Yo, I don't own the DVD, but having seen the show in its initial (and ONLY) airing, I remember it like it was yesterday. WPIX Channel 11 in the New York area...at 8pm in the evening. I just knew Hip-Hop had arrived officially!!! The world was finally witnessing what I had been into since 1978...yeah I goes back!! This show, corny as HELL by today's standards, gave you the nuts and bolts of what Hip-Hop was all about. The 4-Elements of Hip-Hop (emceeing, djing, graffiti art, and breakdancing) fully represented!

It's sort of like your average party that was happening back in '84 (minus the guns & weed) and you were invited. New York City Breakers (Rock Steady Crew's competition in "Beat Street") did their THING!!! Mr Wave, Chino, Powerful Pex...etc...killed the dancefloor with their breakdance/popping skills. Co-hosts Kool Mo Dee and Special K of the Treacherous 3 did their thing (in their HOT A$$ leather outfits - and I mean HOT as in perspiration). Run-DMC came thru and did "Sucker Emcees" (RIP JMJ), and then "battled" Treacherous 3....kinda weak, but it was on TV, it was Hip-Hop and THAT'S what made it cool. Then Shannon (Let the Music Play) came thru and did her thing.

All throughout the show, the "most host" Michael Holman would interview kids from the crowd and they would speak on what they were wearing. When Michael asked one kid "how do you sport your gear?", he said "I sport it FRESH homes!!" WOW, that was wack, but so cool back then...lol When the show broke for commercial, a word used by Hip-Hopers would fly on the screen (written in graffiti of course) the words "Fresh", "Wack" "Word".

I must agree with some of the writers above, this is sorta corny but still loveable in its own way. You sit back and laugh at yourself, because you know if that were you being interviewed, you would have said and done the same things. You were wearing the same clothes (kangols, shelltoe Addidas with fat laces, a name plate chain and belt buckle, and Cazals, windbreakers, etc), so you could identify with EVERYBODY at the party.

In all I highly recomend this DVD to all true Hip-Hoppers who recognize the true school of Hip-Hop, before commercialization, before gangstaism, before the bull crap, when Hip-Hop was all about getting girls and having fun!

As I said, I don't own this DVD, but considering nostalgic value the show itself contains, this is a true gem that MUST be owned by anyone considering themselves in any way part of this Hip-Hop culture.
Peace!

Only 9.95$ click here if you want to buy

Thursday, September 4, 2008

You can see graffiti in every country in the world

You can see graffiti in every country in the world. It often defaces walls, poles, trains and the fronts and sides of buildings. Graffiti is considered undesirable vandalism to its victims who spend time and money to paint over or wash it off their property. Indeed, graffiti painting is an ongoing problem in many subway stations and on public walkways, signs, cement walls, and other locations.


However, on the streets of the United Kingdom near London, an artist called Banksy continues to gain international recognition and fame for his graffiti. The fact is that Banksy's "street art" has become immensely popular with both pedestrians and private art collectors alike. In the last several years, there have been a number of exhibitions and auctions of Banksy's art work as his popularity has soared.

The growing popularity of his art is in evidence in the secondary market where a painting titled “Space Girl and Bird” sold for $575,000 in an auction event last year (2007). In fact, Banksy's art can now be found in many private art collections worldwide. Banksy has also produced leaflets and books on art and has his own website. He self-published his first three books, “Existencilism,” “Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall,” and “Cut It Out.”

His latest book called, “Wall and Piece,” was published by Random House and has already sold more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies. Nevertheless, Banksy continues to keep his real identity secret to avoid arrest and prosecution. His anonymity is said to be born of a desire to be a “quality vandal” and to elude the police. He once said, “Imagine a city where graffiti wasn’t illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked, where the street was awash with a million colors and little phrases. . . . A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business.” He has a unique view of the art world as well. He has said, “The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the over-privileged, the pretentious, and the weak.”

Banksy's graffiti began appearing on trains and walls around Bristol, England in 1993. By 2001, his street art could be seen all over the United Kingdom. His art has a distinctive style which makes it easy to recognize. It features attention to detail and uses layered stenciling and spray paint. Banksy uses familiar images and his pictures contain dark humor and are often controversial. His art is often focused around anti-war, anti-establishment, and anti-capitalism themes. Sometimes Banksy's works have a pro-freedom message.

Banksy uses rats as images in many of his pictures. His most famous street paintings are a series of black-and-white stenciled rats. Many of these rats are created to be larger than life. The rats have become immensely popular with London pedestrians. A “gangster rat,” painted on a wall near the Smithfield market, wears a peace-sign medallion and carries a sign that says “Welcome to Hell.” Another rat holds a sign that reads, “Please love me.”

Other Banksy art features the image of two policemen kissing painted on a public wall. In another picture a military helicopter is adorned with a pink bow. Winston Churchill has a Mohawk haircut in another. He has even produced revisionist oil paintings such as Mona Lisa with a yellow smiley face, and a pastoral landscape surrounded by crime-scene tape. Banksy, dressed in a disguise, installed them in the Louvre and the Tate.

Banksy often uses public walls as a background to display his art. Although recently he has been creating art on canvas as well. In addition, Banksy sometimes enters museums and galleries to add his own art to the museum collections. In the last several years, Banksy's street art has been seen internationally. It has been found in the Middle East on Israel's West Bank barrier, and in various countries worldwide including Spain, Palestine, Germany, and the United States. He painted the security fence at Bethlehem with a scene of a hole in the concrete barrier. The hole revealed a glittering beach on the other side.

Banksy is viewed by people in many different ways. To some he is an anti-hero who touches the public conscience. Others think of him as an anti-social rogue who vandalizes public property. Some people who have done business with him consider him to be both a genius and a madman. Many view him as unique and irreverent.

On his website Banksy states that he has bought a taller ladder to use in his work. So there can be no doubt that his graffiti (“street art”) will continue. For their part, the authorities in the United Kingdom will continue to try to identify and subsequently arrest Banksy, the world's most wanted graffiti artist.

Urban Graffiti Art presents street art


How do you sell graffiti? If it's the usual variety found on surfaces in cities the world over, then, short of equipping buyers with a pneumatic drill and a very large bag to take it home in, you can't. But as the success of street artists such as Banksy proves, these days it's possible to couple a career in clandestine urban decoration with more commercial activity.

Showing for one weekend only, The Gascoigne Gallery's selling exhibition, Urban Graffiti Art, features screen prints by ten diverse graffiti artists. From Parisian pioneer Blek Le Rat, whose stencilled designs have been cropping up since the 1980s, to Swoon, who pastes life-sized and delicately detailed portraits of people she knows on to New York walls, the show presents each artist's distinctive style in a format suitable for enjoying at home. This fact is apparently not lost on London artist D*Face, whose Green Lady gives an icon of kitsch 1970s living rooms a ghoulish twist.

'If people are expecting to see 1980s-style tagging, that's not what's in this show,' says Daniel Syrett, a local artist and graphic designer whose work is also featured. 'It's very grown-up and very beautiful.'

To promote the exhibition, Syrett left copies of his print Weapons Of Mass Decoration in locations around Harrogate and Leeds. It seems a generous gesture at a time when similar artists are seen as hot investments. 'Some of the work goes for phenomenal prices. Blek Le Rat's last print that was released in London sold and was changing hands for double the money at the same show,' he says.

Although some might accuse the artists of betraying their underground roots, Syrett doesn't see a conflict between the two channels of expression. 'If people who've started out on the streets can move into the galleries and make a living from it, then that's fantastic,' he argues. 'There are plenty of people who claim to be artists and host exhibitions who are, quite frankly, talentless.'

Photograph Graffiti

There are a few basic things to remember when taking pictures of graf. First of all, you are documenting an art form, and not creating art on your own--don't be creative with your shot. Get as big an image of the piece as possible, disregarding other interesting things that might be close to the piece. If you are interested in showing where a piece is located, fine, do that, but if you are interested in getting the most info out of the piece, only consider it when you are taking your flix, and get as close as you can to the wall, billboard, train, or whatever it is you're taking the picture of.

Use 100 speed film. I don't know anything about film, but this is all I use. From what I understand it is for still things (not action shots), and allows the most richness of color to be captured. You will notice a difference when you start to use 100 speed as compared to 200 or 400.

Stand directly in front of the piece you are taking pictures of. This is one of the most important rules. If you are standing on the side, not directly in front, you get a weird perspective and miss the full impact of the piece. Sometimes it is necessary to take a shot from the side, but most times taking more than one picture of the piece from right in front will alleviate these problems. (see cheesy diagram, below.)

If you need to take more than one picture to capture the whole piece, then make sure you stand at the same distance from the piece with each photo.


___W_A_L_L______
\ x x x x / Illustration of taking more than one
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ photo of a single piece. 1-position of photographer
1 2 3 4 5 in first shot, 2-position of photographer in
2nd shot
\/--view of camera

Using this technique, it's possible to get all the details in a piece and get a bigger image of it.

(Susan says) Make sure the photos overlap a little when using the technique Brett describes. That way you can put them back together later easily. Also, if you have to take pictures at night, remember to point the flash up or down, or at an angle other than straight on the wall, so it won't make a glare spot on the piece.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Examples of Graffiti Writing and Graffiti Street Art

Graffiti writing dates back many centuries, even back to Roman times when art work was scratched in and painted on to walls. In modern time graffiti writing and graffiti street art became much more than just decoration.

Graffiti writing became an outlet for political activists to express themselves and also as a way for every day people and artists to express themselves.

It turned decrepit walls into beautiful pieces of artwork and quickly ingrained itself in many subcultures, eventually becoming a world wide art form. Many modern artists have roots in graffiti and the art form has worked its way into many other areas such as graphic design and digital photography.

Graffiti writing and graffiti street art have become one of the most popular subjects for photographers to shoot

American Graffiti - Collector's Edition 1973

Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant."

The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.)

The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound.

The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies.
More Detials On Amazon : American Graffiti (Collector's Edition) (1973) Price: $9.99

GRAFFITI - HIP HOP ART MUSIC

Hi all today i a showing your about the hip hop graffiti video. I see it on youtube. It is very interwst it. How about it please comment?



Since the dawn of early man, public walls have been used as a prime surface for the creation and communication of ideas. Artistic symbols like the ones discovered in the caves of Lascaux, have been used by groups to identify, exemplify and edify philosophy for roughly 15 000 years. These scribbles appear everywhere from prehistoric caves to modern day urban alley ways and are visible in hundreds of different sizes and styles, colours and forms. One of the most exciting genres of wall art hit New York city in the early seventies and has been growing and evolving for the last twenty-five years. Hip hop graffiti and those responsible for upholding the hip hop culture use a vast array of tools (namely the spray can and microphone) to communicate the goals of this movement.

Now in the United States, a war has been declared on writers of graffiti and in this time of emergency we are forced to stop and ask some important questions. Where did this hip hop community evolve from and what are they so angry about? Where and who do these artists gain their influences from? How can this form of vandalism be minimized and should it be? It will be the function of this article to define the role of the graffiti artist in a historical perspective and to argue the validity of this new art form in an aesthetic, art minded manner.

Read more : Hard Hitting Modern Perspective on Hip Hop Graffiti

See you next posting, thank for visit my blog.

Monday, September 1, 2008

GRAFFITI BRIDGE MOVIE

GRAFFITI BRIDGE was originally conceived as a movie for Kim Basinger and Prince, but they broke up before it went into production. Then Prince thought he would make a movie centered on THE TIME, but Warner Brothers demanded that it be a sequel to PURPLE RAIN.


They filmed it all on sets to avoid the Minnesota weather, and also because Prince wanted to create a true 1950s musical feeling. It's about the Kid and Morris squaring off against each other on how a club they share ownership should be run. A mysterious woman enters both their lives (Aura - Ingrid Chavez), and she becomes the catalyst for them to both change in spiritual ways. The DVD is fine - almost a direct port of the laserdisc print. It's a little grainy at times, and sometimes the soundtrack seems off ... but overall you get a nice package with the movie and the music videos. Watch GRAFFITI BRIDGE for the music scenes first and foremost -- that's where all the passion is.

If you want to buy it Click Here :

Learn to Draw Bubble Graffiti Letters

If you are designing a sign, flyer, or poster using hand-drawn letters, an interesting and fairly simple effect is to draw the letters as if they are formed from bubbles or balloons. By using color pencils, crayons or watercolors, you can create eye-catching headers for your signage. In this example we will use color pencils to draw and shade the lertters.

Step1 Sketch Letter Framework Sketch out the basic frames of your letters using a block-letter format. All you need is a simple straight-line sketch of each letter. (Stencils can be also be used to sketch in the framework.) Sketch the lines very lightly so that they can be easily erased later, after you draw in the shapes of the bubble letters around them. By placing the letters close together, you will have an overlapping effect when you draw out the bubble shapes. In this example, the letters are placed on an arc, rather than a straight line, to add motion and expression to the word.

Step2 Outlining Letters Draw the bubble-shapes by sketching a line parallel to the basic center-lines that make up the frames of the letters as pictured here. When you reach the end of the frame-letter lines, just continue to the other side by drawing a rounded arch. In areas of the letters enclosed by the framework, draw a rounded shape that follows the general shape of the inside of the frame. Your letters will take on the shape of a 3D, inflated shape. By allowing the letters to overlap, they will appear more dimensional.

Step3 Shading Letters Erase the lightly-drawn framework of the letters. Begin shading in the letters from the edges inward. Use smooth, light strokes to make a smooth blend, fading as it approaches the center. Shade around the holes on the inside of the the letters in the same manner. Leave an un-shaded strip of white in the center of the letters to depict the reflected highlight on the letter surfaces.

Step4 Completed Lettering Smooth the shading by gently smudging with a piece of folded paper or cardboard. Smudge with strokes that follow the contours of the letters. Use an eraser to pull out and define the highlights more sharply. Touch up the outlines of the letters to make them more even and sharp. You now have the technique for drawing fun and interesting bubble letters! Try experimenting with multi-color letters or more opaque or transparent colors. You are sure to enjoy the effects you produce.


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Learn to Draw Graffiti Letters

In this tutorial you will learn how to get started writing graffiti. You see it everywhere you go, but for some reason you just cant seem to be able to illustrate similar wild style letters some graffiti writers are able to form.


Step1 Not very good, but you get the idea. Very simple. First you need to start by learning letter structure. For a while you can put down the pen and markers. First try sketching just normal keyboard letters. Use bars by keeping and keep standard widths throughout the letters.

Step2 Now you can start to bend the bars a little bit. After you learn letter structure a little bit by doing extremely simple keyboard style letters. You can begin to mess around with your bars a little bit. Try making bars that bend different way, bars that get bigger or smaller. But notice that the letter structure stays the same.

Step3 The lines go to the vanishing point. Once you are comfortable doing that. You can add 3d to your piece. This is done with a vanishing point where all the lines point to.

Step4 Adding Extensions You can also try adding extensions to your letters to make them look cooler. This takes time to get a feel for where they can go to still look good.

Step5 Last you can color your piece. Its nice to add some type of a halo or forcefield type thing around it so it stands out.

A lot of people will start trying to do wild style pieces and things with a ton of arrows and extensions. You need to start simple to really get a feel for letter structure and where extensions go to compliment your actual letters. So stay simple.