Negative space might sound like a science fiction phenomenon, a Doctor Who concept or something from Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy but to be totally honest it’s not.
Negative space is the concept of space surrounding an object, if you where to draw a car, then that car would be positive space but the surrounding area around it, would be negative space.
As you can see below the surrounding area, known as the negative space, still depicts the outline of the car and can be just about recognized as a car, making this an example of how negative space can be used to depict an image, that is not actually there.
The example below will help you understand this better, I am sure.
Beatles and a Honda Civic, positive, negative space what is it?
The space around an object, is important and deserves consideration, as it can be used to suggest objects, when they are not even there, saving you a lot of time because they are only used as outlines, saving you the time of rendering the detail.
MC Escher provides, probably the most celebrated examples of how negative space can be used, to great effect and below is an adaptation of his ideas, for illustrative purposes but best seen in his own work.
An example, a version of flying geese, birds and fish taken from work by MC Escher.
The image above taken from Day and Night 1938, with the original being made from a woodcut print in black and grey, printed from 2 blocks and another image Sky and Water II, which is another woodcut of the same time, both mashed together.
These are just two pieces of work from a vast collection of work by MC Escher, that convey the use of both positive and negative space, the same image in both spaces creating a clever illusion, which can be seen in many other examples like, the Chinese, Yin and Yang, which is another very popular example.
In its visual form, the Yin and Yang concept is conveyed as opposites, of equal size and proportion, where each contains some of the other, represented by the opposite neutral tones portrayed as, black and white dots in its opposite portion.
The use of negative space to convey, other double illusions, can be seen in the images below, where the use of simple outline cutouts, portray a similar image to the main figure, on the same theme of popular culture and music.
The example above takes contemporary images, to convey them in both positive and negative space, through the use of outline cutouts.
Below is a further development, using outlines as silhouettes?
When drawing an outline of something, as like, when you are constructing a drawing, what you are trying to recreate is the line, between the positive and negative space, for this reason, it is important to be able to see that line, distinguishing the two.
The point where one stops and the other begins is the outline.
The Beatles and the 5th Beatle, negative, positive space.
The official MC Escher site: http://www.mcescher.com/ is a place to look if you would like to see, some of the very best examples of negative space illusion, as MC Escher was/is the grand master of optical illusion and negative space.
Sketching, draw and drawing are the same thing right, are they really, but of course they are, aren’t they?
To draw and sketch, are they the same?
Dictionary examples:
“To draw is to sketch (someone or something) in lines; delineate; depict: to draw a vase with charcoal, to compose or create (a picture) in lines, to mark or lay out; trace: to draw perpendicular lines.
A sketch is a hasty or UN-detailed drawing or painting often made as a preliminary study.”
Many years ago when I was in school, I took an option to do Technical Drawing, I didn’t like it because it was more about mathematics, accuracy and precession with no room for mistakes, I did not consider it to be drawing at all. I believed it was too mechanical, too calculated and I did not realize then, that all drawing is about these same processes of measurement but carried out in different ways, using your eyes rather than a ruler. When doing Technical Drawing, you know how to do it and how it will look, before it has even been done but when you do some sketching, these restraints are not as important, as just getting something down on paper.
To me there is a big difference between them are: drawings are about accuracy and detail, where as sketches are about speed and experimentation, but to clearly define them individually, is difficult because aspects of both spill into each other.
When you draw with accuracy, the information you record becomes visual knowledge, so when you sketch, that same visual knowledge spills over into your practice, which in turn informs you’re sketching.
Sketching is about getting things right and wrong, to test or find new ideas, to drive your ability, where as drawing is about doing this but also it is about getting it right, with all the details in all the right places.
Drawings can sometimes also go wrong, which often inspires new ideas but with sketches, there is less emphasis on accuracy, so more opportunity for errors of judgment and greatly increasing the chance of finding happy accidents.
Happy accidents, are where people find positive outcomes by accident and many great discoveries in art, science and all other areas are found often, in this way, the one premise for doing this is, you won’t find anything if your not looking.
When people draw they first sketch an outline, then they sketch where the detail goes and then they draw in the detail. This process is one of the basic rules of drawing and sketching, along with working from light to dark.
When people draw, they first make small light marks identifying where everything goes, in relation and proportionate to everything else in the drawing, as compared to the subject of your drawing or sketching.
Drawing focuses on conveying subjects, through the deeper understanding of details contained within them, both require you to think, about what you are doing, at least in the beginning, both require you to constantly look, from subject to work area.
Both teach you to see and to look for more, even when producing less detail, you still learn to see in terms of plains, angles, curves, contour, light and dark, the process of drawing or sketching, will both aid the development of this ability.
The more you do it, the better you get at it, sketching, draw and drawing are the same thing right?
In the video above the wildstyle writer only gives basic instructions and examples of doing this kind of writing with good reason. Knowing how to draw wildstyle graffiti is something that is best developed with practice and not influenced too much by others.
How to draw Wildstyle graffiti, is a question most difficult to answer, perhaps the name gives us some indication, as to it’s demeanor, the character of Wildstyle is that of being a secret message, of the street but more so a message of the artist.
Each reputable artist has their own nuances, distinct from each other.
Take your name/handle or what ever you care to call it but take it, as far as it can go and just that little bit more because you can. I am old school so arrows play a major role, in all graffiti styles because they point and without trying to be smart, that is the point. Graffiti is an extreme form of forced advertising, a counter force rebellion against conformity and control, from the media giants, the masters of a brainwash plan, conform or be executed for resistance. Graffiti goes back to the beginning of time and has always been measured as a form of protest but it doesn’t have to be because it can just be fun.
Our social masters do not want us, to be free and scream anarchy, if we try to push the envelope beyond the norm, conform, you must conform, saying it’s rubbish because we can’t read it, as if it was ever meant to be read. Words and letters are deformed, beyond recognition into the secret language, known as Wildstyle, stretched and misconstrued, into the words of an anti social song, I am me, have it.
The media moguls conspire in secret but the Wildstyle writer secretly stands alone, like a warrior on the edge of time, forcing his message on an unsuspecting world, I am me, have it.
Long live the king, the king is dead.
An example of Wildsyle Graffiti with plenty of traditional arrows for good mesure.
Above is a quick example of how to draw Wildstyle graffiti, with heavy play on arrows and black outline, I am sure you could do better, so please do, if you want to write Wildstyle.
Study other writers, in the same way old school fine artists study the masters such, as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Rembrandt to name only a few, this preparatory work, informs your further development. Copy the Wildstyles of other writers, in order to understand them, this will enable you to mix and match, when drafting your own secret codes of resistance and form your own style.
Always start out with basic, everyday readable letters, then keep working them into oblivion, distorting them into the unrecognizable entangled mass’s, known as Wildstyle, then do it all over again because you can. It pays to revel in your obsession, I do digress for reason because that is how to draw Wildstyle graffiti, by getting way off the subject but keeping, the tiniest thread of whence it came.
The guy in the video below shows three different letter styles that are also known as graffiti styles. He is drawing them big on a wall area with spray cans and gives a great demonstration of his interpretation of how to draw wildstyle grffiti as a basic wildstyle, as well as others.
Make your own graffiti art because it’s not as difficult, as you might think, it only takes, a basic knowledge and some practice. There are numerous styles of graffiti, but the most common factors are as follows.
They are painted in strong vibrant colors, that often clash.
They are intended to be attention grabbing.
They are often emotive concepts, that question the norm.
They often contain 3D lettering.
They often contain lettering that overlaps.
The heavy bold 3D lettering is very apparent, in the majority of graffiti art images and is usually the starting point, for most potential artists, as it most often starts with your name, tag or handle. Many of the same, distinctive, bold style lettering’s, used in advertising to create impact, are also used by the graffiti artist, so are a good place to look, for ideas. It most often reflects and resembles, the branding or advertising art world, in many ways but chiefly as a counter alternative, usually with a strong, social, political massage, that the artist is passionate about.
The pictures or pieces of work themselves, will contain sharp hard hitting contrasts.
They will be painted in stark vivid colors.
They will be well defined, with strong shadows and outlines.
The best way to start, your piece of graffiti art, is by drawing smaller ideas and outlines, that you can later scale, up to any size, this will help you to understand, the problems you might face, when attempting to create something bigger. Scaling your ideas, is a simple task, once you have a smaller drawing or painting to work from. There is an endless supply of ideas online, if you need them, for fonts to use in your graffiti, as well as examples of graffiti, created by others to feast your eyes upon and incorporate into your own work.
The tools to use for your designs or ideas are, pencils, felt tipped or marker pens and fine line drawing pens, all of these come in a very wide range of distinctive and vivid colors, that make them an ideal choice, for graffiti artists. If you need ideas for a graffiti font to use, there are plenty of sites online, that have examples for you to copy.
Outlines can be created with a graphite pencil and or any permanent black ink pen but fine line and wide chisel or bullet tipped markers, are a preferred choice of many. Shading around the letters you’ve outlined, with a range of different colors will enhance the 3D effects of your lettering, to make it more distinctive.
Make your own graffiti art because it is really easy, if you use these methods and it is not as difficult, as you might think.
Make your own graffiti art, Images of Brynteg, Caia Park Nursery, Gate Hangs High, Chester, Blacon YPP murals on buildings and an installation piece at Caia Park Nursery.
Yes I know, that there are many who would not consider this graffiti but I say “make money not trouble”.
When you are ready, to paint your outline drawings and ideas onto canvases or bigger surfaces, you can use the grid reference method, by marking out a grid over the top of the drawing, you want to enlarge. You then recreate this grid onto the area, where you want to redraw, your original drawing and then use it to measure, where everything goes by comparing grids. Very large areas can be marked out with string, by impregnating it with chalk or charcoal, simply by rubbing it into the fibers, when the string is in this condition, you stretch it out tightly, across the area that you want to mark out. Then you pull it out from the middle and let it go, so it then snaps back against the surface of the new drawing area, leaving a mark imprinted on to it.
You can then use the chalk or charcoal to redraw, the outlines onto your new drawing area. Spray paint the main outlines, with a similar color to the background but a couple of shades lighter or darker, so it will cover more easily if you need to change anything later, allow this to dry before continuing.
Then you can begin to fill in the details and your areas of color, with spray paint in much the same way, by starting with the lightest colors first and the largest areas, then putting in the details. Finally you can carefully fill out the black outlines, with your spray paints, adding highlights and finishing touches at the same time, you can even use a brush, to do your very fine details. Once again let me say make your own graffiti art because it’s not, as difficult as you might think, it is really easy, if you use these methods.
Julian Beever 3d paintings are great but I would also like to give mention to, Kurt Wenner, Edgar Müller, who are three other artists, known for doing, modern anamorphic, perspective, 3d paintings, 3d street art and these three artists, give us some proof, that there is more to looking, than just pointing your eyes, in the direction of an object.
Everybody and the dog will tell you, drawing is about looking and do you know what, all of them are right but do you want to know something else, very few of them actually explain what they mean, do they?
How important is it to understand, some basic principles about looking, when trying to understand Julian Beever 3d paintings better?
I don’t know about you but I see so much, I cannot possibly take it all in, we live in a very visually informative world, 80% of all the information we receive, is visual any way. So we are literally, being bombarded with it, saturated with it, we even see things in our sleep or at least, we think we do.
But we actually see very little because it doesn’t register, we are not really looking, we are just seeing, browsing you might say but if you are going to learn to draw, then you need to look, with reason.
Here are some obvious points, that weren’t so obvious, to me once upon a time; I used to lie on the bed, as a kid and draw, but no matter how hard I tried, my pictures never looked right.
When I used to draw at the kitchen table, they always turned out, much better and it was because of the angel I was drawing at, if you try to draw at an angle, lying down, then you will usually end up with, a distorted image. If you only look at this image, from the angle at which it was drawn, it will look more accurate, than if you hold it up squarely in front of your eyes, to view.
This information is very useful, when you look at the fantastic work, created by chalk sidewalk artist’s, Kurt Wenner, Julian Beever and Edgar Müller, these are modern day artist’s, doing chalk, 3d pavement art, that completely turns, this whole problem to an advantage, not only do they make this, a unique selling point but they also, make it their trade mark.
Before Julian Beever, 3d paintings, there was Andrea Pozzo.
There is a name for this type of art, it is called, anamorphic perspective and the earliest examples of this are, by Leonardo Da Vinci and Andrea Pozzo.
Some examples of this early work, can be seen in Andrea Pozzo’s work, on the ceilings of the Jesuit, St Ignatius’ Church, Rome, 1685 – 1694, this masterpiece, is a fabulous example, of illusory perspectives and the dome being of particular importance.
Sant Ignazio ceiling.
Image taken from Wikipedia as example please click image to see full size.
Sant Ignazio ceiling further away.
Image taken from Wikimedia as an example of this work please click image for bigger full size version.
The dome is not real either and from a certain point, marked with a brass plate, on the floor, you find it very difficult, to see that it isn’t.
Kurt Wenner, Julian Beever and Edgar Müller, these guys do this, on the street and also create, fabulous examples of illusory perspectives, so the question for me, is how they do these illusions.
Julian Beever, Edgar Müller and Kurt Wenner.
Julian Beever, 3d paintings.
Kurt Wenner, 3d paintings.
Edgar Müller, 3d paintings.
Edgar Müller uses the computer, to digitally render the work, concepts, ideas, if you can use computer photo editing software, then this is the way to go.
Looking at the way Edgar constructs his drawings, shows that he uses, what looks like masking tape, to get parts of his street paintings accurate, it also looks like he takes an approach, similar to that used in Julian Beever’s, 3d paintings.
Here are just a couple of ideas, I tried, after looking at work done by these other guys but mostly I used Edgar Müller, for inspiration and I was pleasantly surprised.
Image done with photo editing software, to give an example of an Edgar Muller, type theme.Another image, done with photo editing software, to give an example of Edgar Muller, Jillian Beaver , Kurt Wenner, 3d street art, type illusions.
Julian Beever explains, that he is not a mathematician and has no mathematical skills to speak of; he says that he uses, the good old grid method, in order to construct his drawings. He also uses, a camera on a tripod as a viewer, which enables him to use the fixed position of the camera, to always be able to identify, the exact position, to view the street painting accurately.
A statement made by Kurt Wenner, that explains, how he approaches his work, “Artistic geometry was the most fascinating subject” this could be mathematics, in another name, exactly the opposite to Julian Beever.
If I was going to create the illusion above, then I would do it like this, first of all I would do a scaled painting, on paper of the above image, that would be four times bigger, than the original image, which is A4, so my preparation painting would be A2 in size.
This will give me a greater understanding, of how to construct the drawing and mix the colors, it will give me a feeling for the picture, plus it is a desirable image, in it’s own right. This would also give me two images, to work from and a more informed understanding of what, I would be attempting to create.
I would find the farthest point, from my camera tripod, yes I would use a camera because after carrying out some experiments, I found it to be very helpful for viewing, not just this type of work either, so thanks to Julian Beever.
I also realized that these illusions, don’t have the same impact to the naked eye and after reading extensively, about these artists, I find that they also hint at this.
From the farthest point, I would run a tape like Edgar Müller does, to use this, as an anchor point, for the rest of the picture. Then using identifiable points, in the drawing space, environment, with this actually being the street, I would construct my drawing outline, from reference points identified, when doing the preparation painting.
A plan, showing how elements in the picture, can be used to mark out the drawing.Street art construction plan with text to explain in more detail.
I would construct my outline by marking in key areas, identifying them from my original image and marking them, with a chalk stick, until I was confident I had enough information, to create my painting. I would keep going back, to the camera to view the image and check for accuracy, I would basically draw it, like any other drawing, by using reference points, from the surrounding landscape, to identify reference points in the drawing/painting. This is a necessary, continual and ongoing process, when doing any kind of drawing but even more so, when doing anamorphic perspectives, you need to be checking and double checking for accuracy, just like Julian Beever and others, my favorites are the Julian Beever, 3d paintings.
If you would like to find out more, about how to do this, then follow this link, to Julian Beever sidewalk art, chalk art and see some more of his work, and get a better understanding of Julian Beever, 3d paintings.
Julian Beever pavement art, sidewalk art, chalk artist, has new work that can be observed in his book (Pavement Chalk Artist) 2010, it’s a lovely full color book, showing some wonderful new images and insights about how, exactly, he found his path, to creating, this popular form of street art. I loved reading through this book and attaining a glimpse, into the artist himself, I purchased mine from Amazon . com, it was worth it, much better than any e-book, I could down load off line and sits nicely on the shelf, in my collection, begging visitors, to also take a look.
Creative artists, rule the world, if we think about it but we are not doing that, today because everybody should be able, to at least understand, the creative process and creative techniques we use, if you just keep on reading this simple explanation, you will. Creative drawing is a pastime, that many people enjoy, all over the world and I am no different, it has been, so many things to me, throughout my life but one thing, it has always consistently been, is pleasure. The wonderful thing about drawing, is you only need, a pencil or pen, some paper, your eyes and your mind, in order to draw great pictures, a pleasure so easily obtained, it’s little wonder that many people enjoy it, the creative process is simple.
When I draw pictures, I often get lost for hours, fantasizing and dreaming to myself, about all sorts of imaginary ideas, concepts, stories or worlds, people, creatures and places, magic, and illusions. This is often the realm of creative artists, things that don’t exist, until you draw them and they are released from the imprisonment, of your mind, onto an unsuspecting world, it’s amazing, when someone looks at your work and says wow.
The creative artists and process.
Below is an image of Gearman, he is an attempt at showing, the workings of how creative artists, with their imagination, create illusions from everyday objects, something I have done many times, when drawing because you can often see things, in other things.
Image showing, the constructional stages of building an image, from another different images.
Yes, I know this is not, a creative drawing as such but is it, because it is not a photograph either, except for the, LX mountain bike gears, the rest could be considered a digital drawing, rather than a pencil drawing but in this format, it more easily shows the process, of seeing things, as other things.
If you draw pictures, any pictures, out of you imagination, from a picture or from life and you look, at what you are doing, you will start to see other things, this is not likely to happen at first because you will need, to build up visual memory from doing, a stock of past works, this is often called a repertoire. This is why, it is important to practice by doing drawings, all the time but if you like drawing, like many people do and you are a creative artist, it will not be a problem, as you will soon have a repertoire.
I want to tell you a little story, it is a bit of a dark story but a true story, all the same and also a good reason for understanding, a little bit more, about what I am trying to explain, about visual memory and creative artists.
I had a bit of an obsession, from when I was a small child, I wanted to be able to draw the human likeness, I wanted to be able, to draw portraits of real people, that looked like them. A large part of my young life, had been focused, on trying to do this accurately, so as others, would uphold my observations and confirm that I had, the ability to capture the human likeness, through drawing. I eventually reached the pinnacle of my success, in this, by drawing and painting portraits for people, getting paid by them for this work. During this time of about 3 years, doing portraits, I sold over a hundred of these, to the expressed wishes of those, I was drawing them for but I also drew many more, in the process, that I also sold, how many I do not really know, but in total, a couple of hundred. I was at it, all the time but it was causing me other problems, I discovered, I was so over exposed to faces, that I began to start seeing them everywhere, in everything I looked at. I seen faces in trees, bushes, the drawings I was doing, buildings, everything, it was fun at first but it soon became annoying, for me because I felt it was restricting my imagination, unless I was drawing faces.
I never wanted to be like that, I wanted to be able to draw faces, as well as cars, robots, landscapes, mountain bike scape’s or what ever but not just faces, and I had to stop.
I am glad I did, I don’t just see faces in everything, I look at anymore but, the only way to do this, was to stop and go back, to drawing anything but not faces, only when I needed them, for something else now.
This leads me to believe, that all creative artists, can hone their skills into a focused but restricted visual memory, by repetitively doing the same subjects, over and over, it seems to be a reason, why some of these creative artists, can draw from memory, without even looking, which is something I did not like because it felt like, my creative abilities where being restricted, to only one type of subject.
My new obsession, is to be able to draw everything and I am joking because I can do that anyway, so that’s what I do, we are all creative artists, developing a creative process, in every thing we do because that’s what humans do, when they focus their attentions on a task, this dose not just apply to drawing.
How to draw graffiti, the first step you need to take, is deciding, what you are going to write, are you going to write, your name or are you going to give yourself a handle, like many graffiti artists and writers do, all over the world, all of the time. If you want to get a better understanding of, what a handle is, then you can, by following this link to graffiti creator,graffiti art.
Now take a sheet of paper and write your name or handle on it, with a pencil, the way you would normally, write it and have a look, at how you write it. Write it again, only this time make it all capitals letters, with plenty of space between them, now try writing it, in as many different ways, as you can think of and don’t worry, about the end results, it is only the start of a process.
Please see my example ideas, design sheet, below.
3D graffiti design sheet of ideas drawn with a 3B graphite pencil, cool anybody can do this.
As you can see, I have used different types of letters, curved ones, square linear type letters, boxed, three dimensional letters and some, that are hardly readable as letters at all, the more you create, the better. If you find yourself stuck, after only drawing a few, then look for some ideas, in the news paper, a comic, magazine or anywhere, you might find ideas for lettering.
When you are happy, that you have generated enough ideas, then you can look over them and pick out one or two, that you like, for further development, it can be as many as you like, not just one or two, if you like them. Now, redraw these out on their own, in the center, of a clean piece of paper, try to fill the paper, as much as you can and make these drawings, more accurate, correcting or altering, anything that needs it, as you go. Try to keep your lines faint and not too heavy because they will be harder to cover later.
You can also look online, for lettering and graffiti art because there is an abundance of it, even videos that show some fantastic work, with it all being, a great source of ideas and inspiration.
You can create block lettering easy, by just redrawing your letters, over the top of each other, again but out of line, like in the example below.
You could trace your name or handle and then move it a little, to the left or right, up or down and retrace it, over the top, then fill in the area, where you can still see, the first letter outline in black, to create the illusion of shadow.
You can also overlap letters, so the second is hiding, slightly behind the first and the third behind the second, to create the illusion, of one being in front of the other, this overlapping, is a very common feature, in graffiti art.
Please see the example below, to understand this a little bit more, in a visual context.
An example of 3d box lettering using outlines over the top of one and other.
Notice the black shadowing, created by moving the letters, up and the black outline, around all the letter shapes, you can also see that the colors have been added, any old how but are still effective because of the, well defined black outlines.
Now you can take some of your original ideas and try some of this, with them, below you will find some of my designs, taken from the first sheet of simple pencil drawings.
3D lettering example of how to use letters doubled over the top of each other to make box letters.
I have added color and black outlines, which is something you should now be trying, with your own designs, you could try many different combinations of color or black outlines, you could even try, colored outlines.
Now you can, further develop one idea and try it, as many different ways, as you can think of or combinations or color, see the examples below, for further development of ideas.
Some of the earlier examples that have been further developed.Examples of further development with graffiti letter ideas.
The tools I use:
Paper or drawing pad, A4 printer paper is good and not very expensive but pads are better, you can carry them around with you, if they are not too big.
Soft graphite pencils, preferably mechanical, pop a point type pencils, 0.5, 3B, if you can get them.
Fine line permanent ink pens, 0.5 and Biro’s, in different colors.
Permanent marker pens, the more colors, the better.
Water soluble felt tip pens, the more colors, the better.
Colored pencils in various colors.
Quarter inch, flat brush and water.
Learning how to draw graffiti, is not difficult or hard and you can get, very good, very quickly, if you put a little effort in to it, honest.
The graffiti starting point, is the creation of a handle, what is a handle you might ask, it is a name, alias, nickname, code name, tag, moniker and soubriquet, yes it is all of these but it is not, your real name, so the first task for you to do, is get a handle.
Graffiti writers, have always used false names or handles, as they are called but not their real or own name, for obvious reasons because graffiti is illegal, when done on other people’s property, it is considered to be vandalism. I don’t put graffiti on other people’s property but I do have a handle. You don’t have to use a handle, you can use your name, if you want but in order to get into the whole concept, of being a writer, then why not give yourself a handle? A handle works really well, in all areas of art, writers often write under pen names, which are alias’s, so why can’t you, also have one?
Get your handle right.
To do this, you could take, the first letter of your first name and add other letters to it, for example, Peter could be, poP, toP, stoP, floP or you could use your initials, perhaps your initials make a word, like LOB, Lindsay Ogden Bradshaw, aim for something attention grabbing, like boG if your name starts with the letter G, something off the wall, so to speak.
This is where you can be what ever you want, like a piG, just a little side note on this: it was discovered, that in the burial chamber of an Egyptian emperor, there was a statement about him, being a fat pig. This is now regarded as graffiti and a form of political expression, of it’s time, which of course, much graffiti is because would you allow yourself, to be called a fat pig, let alone, an Egyptian emperor doing so.
Graffiti on other peoples property is illegal, it is a crime, punishable with imprisonment in some cases, in other cases it has been punishable with death, many young and older people have died, in pursuit of this lust for self actualization. I will not tell you that you must not to do it because I do not think people, take notice but I will say this much, there is far more to be gained elsewhere, without risking your freedom or your life.
Do not take my word for it, take a look below.
Make money not trouble, pimp you art not you freedom.
Yes you can make money from doing this, especially if you get good at it; the design processes for graffiti, are not much different, from any other design process, that could be graphic design or illustration.
The handle, is your own personal graffiti art logo, starting point, people get paid, lots of money for creating these, examples of this are the Nike tick or the Mc Donald’s M, your aim, is to personalize your own unique handle, so as to do this, you need to get one. My advice when creating a handle, is to keep it short, about three to four letters, like, zit, xon, Lxxx or xxx, the possibilities are endless.
So get yourself a handle, as the starting point for your graffiti art, as an example I decided to use is the name BoG but I wouldn’t use Banksy, it’s too big. Big usually means time and the bigger it is, the longer it takes to create, time is money.
Graffiti style art, makes money for many artists, not just me, it has also been the starting point and tool, that has enabled many artists, to progress, so it is not worthless vandalism, unless you make it that way, by doing it on other peoples property.
Now I have got my handle, I will show you examples of ways, you can learn how to improve your own skills and develop, your own designs, enabling you to become a graffiti creator.
Simple pencil drawings do exist, yes they do, and the most difficult part, of any drawing, is the construction, so to make it easy, eliminate, the construction problem. Now to be honest, if you eliminate, the construction process, then you might be thinking, there is nothing left to draw, but you will only be half right because there are two parts to a drawing, construction and shading.
If you trace the basic construction, of your potential drawing, then take the time, to fill it in, by doing the shading, you are actually reducing the work load, by at least half but still learning, how to draw. This is not to say, that you are cheating because you still have to do the shading and although, the grunt work of the construction, has been done easy, you still have to make sure your construction, of the shading is accurate. This means that you still, have to do important work, on your picture or drawing but with, less effort. The end results, are that you end up learning, how to draw better, producing very nice drawings, that are accurate, with only having to put half the work, into doing it.
Just in case, you need some further reassurance, that it is OK, to do this, then take a good look around, for information about how to draw. You will find much reference, to using a viewing grid, to help you, construct your drawing and viewing grids, are just a slightly more, difficult way, to trace pictures. Many artists world wide, use viewing grids, as their preferred method, of doing construction drawings and what they are doing in actual fact, is tracing their construction drawings, by using a grid, instead of using a picture, to trace over.
Simple pencil drawings, do exist and people do them all the time, they just don’t explain, how they are done because you never ask.
Let me tell you of some ways, that you can use, to do your drawing easy, there are a number of different ways, you can do this, one of them is, by keeping your drawing to a minimum.
Perhaps we can call this, the minimalist KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid-KISS.
Minimalism, is an art form in its own right, just in case you didn’t know but in my brain, I most often consider, that less is more and without getting into any deep philosophy, on this, I often feel that simple is best. The process used, for all drawing is, construction through sequential building blocks, with each being a step, to the next and so on, to completion.
When shading a drawing, you can keep it to a minimum, by using, the white of the paper, as much as possible and only shading, the darker areas, so as to reduce the amount of work needed, in doing all of the detail. This can be very effective, producing some nice drawings, that are in a style called chiaroscuro, where there are strong contrasts, between light and dark. These where often practiced, by drawing statues and plaster busts, which would be, very light in tone because they would often, be white in color or very near white, making it easy, to keep the shading, to a minimum, only emphasizing the darkest tones.
To make drawing easy, we need to reduce, the amount of steps we take, to get to an end result, so we can do this, in a number of ways. Reduce the drawing, down to use a minimum number of marks, in order to make the drawing more simple. This can be accomplished by making line drawings and examples of this, can be seen in, cartoon type drawings, Bart Simpson, Mickey Mouse characters, are just a couple but there are probably, thousands of others, meaning that simple is just as legitimate, as the complicated.
Another method is tracing because it will reduce, the time spent, on doing a construction drawing and reduce the drawing, to only be made up, of simple lines. This can be a big saving, depending on how much you know or understand about it and your ability, because somebody, who is good at drawing free hand, by sight drawing, can sometimes, draw faster, than they can trace, some drawings. Tracing is also, a very good tool for learning to draw and is, I consider, largely undervalued, under exposed and practiced by many, if not all professionals because when, you do drawing, as a job of work, time is money.
The key to drawing easy is, to keep it simple, less is more because if you consistently draw, in ways that are simple, the harder ones, get easier, as well.
