GRAFFITI STREET ART

The word 'graffiti' has been derived from the Italian word graffiato, which means scratched or itched. Although there have been popular graffiti artists who have enjoyed tremendous popularity, graffiti is often synonymous with vandalism. Graffiti might have started out with simple scratch marks made on walls, but evolved with time to include colorful additions with spray paints and markers. Frowned upon by many, graffiti still continues to be an effective medium and a unique art form that can be used to depict social or political messages with a dash of confidence, bold colors, and witty messages. However, running a person's personal property or valuable public property by depicting wrong things at the wrong place can be considered as vandalism and is punishable by law in most of the countries.

History:
The word 'graffiti' was first used to refer to the inscriptions found on the walls of ancient sepulchers. The earliest instances of vandalistic graffiti were found in an ancient Greek city, which depicted a handprint, a footprint, and a number, which was supposed to be an advertisement for a brothel. During the Renaissance, artists such as Michelangelo Pinturicchio, Raphael, Filippino Lippi, and Ghirlandaio descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea and carved or painted their names, which is supposed to be similar to graffiti art, but not vandalistic in nature. The Signature Rock along the Oregon Trail is an example of graffiti in America. In1790, there were instances of French soldiers carving their names on monuments. There also exists Chinese graffiti on the Great Wall of China. By mid-1986 the Metro Transit Authority was putting in strong efforts to abolish graffiti. The Clean Train Movement in New York during 1989 aimed at removing all subway cars with graffiti out of the transit system. 

Some of the graffiti styles are:

-Piece Style:
This is a very complex form of graffiti and three colors are used to create the distinctness. It cannot be adopted so easily unless you have been taught. Thus, illegal use of 'piece' is rare. A lot of effort, patience and time is required to learn the piece art. Artists are either given permission to paint pieces or they are commissioned. Pieces have rugged elements in them.

-Tag Style:
According to the research conducted by The University of Minnesota, Duluth, tag style is the earliest version of graffiti. Curlicues and basic fonts are utilized to represent the graffiti. Tags are seen everywhere, having a stylish signature of the writer. They are done with markers, spray paints or sketch pens. The tags or the writer's name should not merge with other's graffiti.





-Stencil Style:
Using definite objects like stencils, creating different styles of graffiti gets simpler. By using spray cans, the evolved picture is still considered as a random image, but by holding a stencil against the wall and by merely spraying it, you can acquire a much more elaborated picture. In minimum time, a stencil graffiti style can be thrown up creating two or three layers of intricate pattern which you can quickly color. In modern days, this graffiti style has been taken hold by many graffiti writers, which was once made popular by Blek le rat and Banksy.

GRAFFITI STYLES

Graffiti style alphabets are customized today with different styles of fonts available online. Having a prior knowledge in art and painting will help you to expertise in the various forms of graffiti styles and techniques. Graffiti lettering styles are then colored with oil colors, water colors, spray paints, etc. Graffiti that is scribbled on walls is usually painted with sprays. You can also teach your children the simple fonts for writing their own graffiti. Explained below are common styles of graffiti that are popular across the world.