The graffiti art of the 1970’s has made one of the biggest historical impacts on the visual arts. It has impacted and changed fashion, style, graphic design and even marketing and promotion used in advertising. Graffiti is a style of art and painting done with cans of spray paint. Surprisingly Its origin is the urban subways of new york city and it is still one of the major aspects that helped create the hip hop culture.

Graffiti was very unique for so many reasons. It is the only visual art form known to be created with no “physical touch”. Meaning the hands and fingers don’t touch the surface that the artwork is designed and painted on. The actual art is done with spray paint, held from a short distance of the surface, which means the artist had to have an accurate aim and there own perfect technique in shaping and designing the actual art. Another thing that makes this style of visual art so unique is that ninety percent of it was done outside in public. You could easily find graffiti on busses, trains, buildings, and walls. You not only understood the look and artwork of hip hop graffiti, you also understood that you were in a hip hop culture environment. Last but not least, and sadly, it is still the only art form that you can get arrested for doing. As beautiful and fascinating as it is, it is illegal to spray graffiti art on the subway trains and public buildings. It just goes to show the love these artists had for this craft, they were willing to take the risk of being arrested just to perform and display their artwork.

In many eyes this was not just a new form of self expression, but it was the most artistic form of self expression that the hip hop culture had to offer. Each artist has their own individual style, from the style of letters, to human and non human drawn characters, to the ways they blended different colors of paint on the walls. This art form was about not only expressing yourself, but also building a reputation as one of the top graffiti artists. All graffiti artist had their own special signature which at the time was called tags. Your tag was the signature “nick name” for your graffiti artwork if you were a graffiti artist. The tags was how these artists made a name for their selves and got recognition in the urban communities.

To this day, graffiti can be seen on Hip Hop album covers, posters, t-shirts, and flyers. It is consistently used in graphic design art that is used to promote hip hop concerts, albums, and other hip hop events. It is incorporated into our technology through graphic design. Hip Hop music changes but the graffiti never does! Even air brush graffiti is an extension to the original graffiti that was done with spray cans. Air brush graffiti can still be seen on fashion today.

Overall, hip hop graffiti art told a short story of an urban lifestyle and the hip hop culture. Painted walls of hip hop ciphers rapping, painted graffiti of break dancers dancing, and even painted graffiti of neighborhood kids rolling dice in the alley. This was more than visual art, it was also visual story telling. New york subways and walls tagged with graffiti will always be looked at as landmarks of the birthplace that originated and elevated the “graffiti art” in the urban community.

The site is selling all types of specialist spray paint, for graffiti and many other art & DIY projects such as youth workshops, stage building and general media art use.

What is the one stroke painting technique?

As its name suggests, the one stroke painting technique simply means you achieve everything in just one stroke. This includes shading, highlighting and blending - you get all this from a single stroke instead of having to use multiple strokes. All you have to do is load different colours on to a flat brush. It can be used on a variety of different surfaces.

Is it for beginners or advanced painters?

Both! Even though the one stroke painting technique was developed with beginners in mind, it’s fully accessible to everyone. People who have never painted before find it just as enjoyable as people who’ve been painting for years. One of the reasons why it’s become so popular is because it’s so accessible and easy to learn. It’s attracted lots of new people to painting and it’s intrigued and caught the attention of many professional painters.

Who came up with the idea?

The one stroke painting technique was devised by American author and artist Donna Dewburry. She paints flowers and animals in her demonstrations, but the technique can be used to paint practically anything. Why has this painting technique become so popular? Simply because it allows you to very quickly and easily create very beautiful works of art.

How do I load my paintbrush?
For one stroke painting you should use paintbrushes developed by Donna because they are best suited for this technique. On her website there are loads of different options to choose from. To load your paintbrush, simply make little puddles of paint on your palette. Dip one corner of your brush into one colour then turn it over and dip the corner into the other colour. Keep stroking the brush back and forth across the paint to fully load it. You can add as many different colours as you want, but for beginners, it’s best to start off with two.

How do I do the strokes properly?

Brushes are usually flat and have a chiselled edge. To do a typical stroke, simply have the brush standing on the chisel edge then press down while moving the brush and ending up on the chiselled edge. The more pressure you apply, the wider the stroke will be. Move the paintbrush in different to create different effects. A good way to practice different techniques is to paint different flower petals.

Flower petals

To create a teardrop petal shape, have the paintbrush on the chisel edge then press down so the bristles bend. Then pivot the paintbrush around till you’ve created a teardrop shape and lift the paintbrush up to the chisel. Thin, pointed petals are very easy to do; simply lean down on the chisel and slide the paintbrush up to the tip of the petal and release. Twist the paintbrush to have the petals bend. Petals with jagged edges are done by pushing down on the bristles and slowly wiggling the paintbrush up. When you’re near the tip of the petal, smoothly slide the paintbrush the rest of the way and lift it up to the chisel edge. Then reverse the direction of the bristles and lean down on them. Work your way down to the base of the petal by applying pressure to the paintbrush and slide slowly back to the base.

A community for sharing cool street art and graffiti you find and discussing your favorites. Some of the coolest street art around.