Project #5 - Graffiti Lettering Styles

Step-by-step design of the Spanish word "nosotros" (We or Us)

Practicing 6 different styles of the Spanish word "amigxs" (friend, gender neutral)

Materials - Paper, pencil, pen/marker

Making - The image on the left side above shows five steps you could use to design a word. Of course, you don't need to show every single step in this way. I just wanted you to see how each step leads to a finished design.  The image on the right side above shows one word done in six different styles.  I don't worry about being perfect, and you don't need to either. Graffiti lettering is very much about free style, trying different things to see what will happen. 
1.  Choose a word and write it lightly on your paper. The letters should be spaced apart to give you room to change each letter from line to shape. The word could be your name or any word that represents something meaningful to you.
2.  Any style you try is basically done by creating a boundary or space around each line. You  can choose a style that is round and bubbly or full of angles and sharp corners.
3.  After you've given your letters some shape, you can add sides or shadows. I always work those into the left and bottom edges.
4.  When you draw a line or lines around a word, that is sometimes called a "force field".
5.  Next, you can add shine lines or shapes and other embellishing details.

Inspiration - Graffiti or street artists create art in public spaces, which makes their work accessible to everyone who passes by. By putting their art in a public space graffiti artists are choosing to start a public conversation. Often, their messages are about a social justice issue.  Sometimes artists are hired to paint on walls, or they work on spaces that are abandoned or neglected. Graffiti is sometimes seen as vandalism when it is put on privately owned buildings without permission. More and more, the talents of street artists  are being taken seriously by the art world and by the general public.

Because there are so many talented graffiti artists, it was difficult to choose just one to share with you.  Shamsia Hassani is a graffiti artist who was born in Iran. She teaches at the Kabul University in Afghanistan. Her art has been exhibited in several countries all around the world.  Shamsia's personal motto is "Art is stronger than war".  She has painted on buildings that have been destroyed by war. Her art is filled with details from her own life and positive images of women in their traditional clothing.