I sat and sketched in my “black-book” – as one called it many years ago – a sketch-book that was originally black on the outside and had white papers filled with ideas for graffiti murals and so on. Nowadays I sketch lots in my “black-book” too… but it is filled with many ideas for my clients and projects. Now and again though, I just can’t help sketching some old-school stuff too – like the graffiti dude.
Here is a sketch from the black-book again. I was sketching away on a spray-can dude standing and looking at his art-piece. It has a floating feeling and he has written the word “Super”. He got the floating part, but his dilemma is that it is crumbling to pieces. Is it as super as it should be? Is there always something extra he wants to add? Is it the problem of not adding too much, otherwise it would then make the piece crumble into something that wasn’t intended from the beginning? – So what are we learning? – Never to add more if you already feel satisfied. It can make your whole masterpiece crumble and fail.
Go with your gut feeling – enjoy art.
Get a nice wallpaper for your screen.
I made a graffiti-game – or more exactly I have started making a game in graffiti-style. It is going to be a board game and the pieces used by the players would be “caps” from the cans or maybe subway-trains. One would start out in one part of town and pass by different obstacles or places to make “murals” or “whole-cars”. One hops along on the red buttons on the board and you have to stop and see what your “scroll” says, watch out for cops and being sent to jail. Finally you will arrive at the end to paint your final “whole-car” that will ride all day.
Something like that – would be the game I am thinking of making. One could have a black-book contest at the same time – so when you stop at different walls you get to draw up a “black-book” sketch and your opponents will judge and give you points. So maybe the game will have a timer too – “…so you got until morning to finish your mural sketch…” – which in reality would be a few minutes.
So stay on the look out for the game or send me an e-mail if you are interested to get to know more about progress with the graffiti-game. This would be a super idea for a consol-game too. Really interactive… maybe would be perfect for simulating spray-can art!
If you feel like directing your art-piece in a special way, or want your viewer to look at a special part of the piece first – think of what you want it to say, or what feeling you are going for. For example, this time I have a skull in the middle and the surrounding letters give you the whole piece. The letters make the word “Skull”. I have placed small skulls as a pattern in the letters to enhance the “skull”- feeling. The “u” – I have made as a circle round the centred skull – this gives the centred skull an even stronger point of view. The ends of the “u” point in to the skull as you can see – all to enlarge the feeling of the skull.
A lot of talk about the skull, but it might help you out when designing a piece with an important focal-point. I usually start out with the sketch in black and white at first – even if you have a colour-scheme you want to use. This to get the right balance in the artwork you are coming up with. Colour itself can give a lot of character and strengthen a lot in your art-work – but as a hint – try to start out in black and white – (now, of course, this is not a rule that you always have to stick to…)!
This is a little girl walking up the stairs reaching for your hand. She has her head-phones on listening to “Linkin Park”. Carrying a bucket of some mysterious substance – almost as smoky as the music coming out of here ears.
Well this could be a modern kid’s story-book idea with inspiration taken from “Alice in Wonder-land”. Might be that it would turn out totally different if I wrote a little story – but a fairy-tale of today. These are some of the things I thought of when I drew the sketch. I was listening to “Linkin Park” at the time too. Good inspiration for this sketch I must say.
A sketch from the “Black-book” again – could be a nice wall-piece!
The years go by and graffiti has been around for ages. One probably even could call cave-paintings graffiti too – but if one counts more modern graffiti I would think that some of the young kids from the 60:ies, 70:ies and 80:ies have grown up and the rebellious lifestyle from their youth mostly lives inside a grown person’s body…
Maybe he or she has kept the old dream alive… design the town. Concrete walls and whole-cars have turned into computer-design and advertising. Still they are posting their stuff on town – but in a more grown up way.
So this dude is still hanging in there, and still got the cool and rebellious ”T-shirt”. Only a few initiated other people really know what it stands for… and the rest, ahh they just think: well he is the designer – that’s what we expect him to look like.
Keep up the good spirit.
I just sat down the other day after passing through the hectic city – everybody running around everywhere looking stressed and troubled.
Now I thought that the dude I drew this time would hold on to the city with big hands and just shout out to – Calm down! I understand that you have to go there – and then there – in just so little time – but enjoy the calmness of sitting on the subway or bus. Check out people around you – look up – give them a smile… See if you can pass it on.
The sketch I have made – I made with some toned colours to give it an evening feeling. You know the after-work feel – when you are on the way home – just a quick sketch in all.
By the way – I’ve got to rush now!
See you soon.
I remember the first times I came in contact with graffiti-art. It was in the streets of New York. I was there for a few weeks – Mainly on vacation. Checking out everything from plays and movies to city-life in The Big Apple. Architecture and tall buildings were impressive sites. One early morning I woke up in my hotel-room and the sun was just rising above the buildings. It hit me right in the face. I jumped out of bed to close the curtain… I stopped for a minute to check out the view. On the rooftop on the other side of the road – I saw four or five silhouettes opening the stair-case door from the roof. The last character was just finishing off the mural they had done on one of the walls on the roof-top. He was writing a text on a scroll and signing off with his tag. Pretty cool – I had just seen my first wall-piece ever. I was amazed. Especially then – back in those days the techniques weren’t perfect but the ideas where there.
So this time I give you a sketch from my “black-book” with a classic spray-can in clouds of paint. Until next time… Enjoy wall-art – if it’s in the right place.
This is a dude hanging out and holding his coloured spirit in front of him. I made it like a flame-ball. It is dripping a bit into his hand. I also gave his hair a spiked flame-look. Most of the drawn lines are thin but the outline is a bit thicker – this gives him a nicer feeling and look.
The flame also represents a colour-ball that he soon will throw at the wall in front of him. Making the sweater he is wearing a bit too big gives him more of a cartoon feeling. Modern art – wild style, you name it. This might inspire you to get creative and make more cool characters in the future.
Today’s graffiti has really developed into art – or perhaps even it has always been classed as art – I guess and especially by the artists themselves. The techniques and trends have changed but not to non-recognition. It can still be arrows penetrating text and the colour scheme is still very powerful. I have chosen the letter ”R” to illustrate a graffiti style. I like to compare it to a calligraphic “R” so you can see that even then one used, and still uses, the same thoughts when creating a letter – also searching and wanting the letter to give the right impact and feeling.
In both cases you need to get the right flow and you want the letter or letters to look good.
Feel inspired and compare styles – this can give new styles and ideas and new ways to look upon design.
