Joker

In the age of social media and practically everyone thinking they're more important than you, and their views are more important than yours, the idea that we need to be more civil to one another is a tough ask. We've come to a time where civility is no longer valid on its own - it's only part of the bigger picture. I can't tell people that I do my best to be a good person and treat everyone with respect because that will bring the hammer down on me from both sides of spectrum. It's lose/lose. Well, at least that's how it feels to me.

Only thing we all know for sure is that these mass shootings will never, ever stop. Like, ever. More than likely the shootings will only increase. And no amount of government regulations is going to stop it... if anything it'll just make it worse. So shrug your shoulders and move on.

Powertap... that's a brand I've not heard for a while. I wore through three of those damn things about ten years ago. So good.

@Aristo- That is definitely coming along! You're correct, the A and R are too squished, but knowing you know, is all I need to know 😉 Have you tried curving the left leg of your A instead of the right leg? Maybe don't curve it so much? Having the right leg more straight might work to your advantage when flowing from the A to the R. Looking at your sketch, it kinda feels like the A and R are perfectly flowing together... like two letters in one. A few thoughts around that...

@KaneVCB- Yep, definitely can tell you're being more fluid with your writing, now. Looks much better. Nice job! As for other writers to check out for inspiration... well, there's an endless amount, really. Everyone is going to have their favorites and who twists their nips the most, so it all comes down to what you're looking for. Personally, my favorite handstyle is by Ekser. No idea who they are, where they're located. All I know is I love the handstyles. Creative, flows super-well, and has the perfect amount of "flare". I've always liked what Revok put up, too. Pieces, throwups, and definitely tags. So much style in just about everything he does. It's beat=utiful to see. And finally, you can't go wrong with Faust. His classic styling is perfect in every way. There's also guys like Canser and SomeOne who have great handstyles with heavy "flare". And I mean that in a good way. Their writing is definitely an art form. All that said... getting to their level takes practice, lots and lots of practice. I would wager years of practice, honestly. I don't mean that to discourage you but more to inform you that a good handstyle doesn't happen overnight.

Looking at your sketch the first thing that jumps out to me is that it's too rigid. When you're learning to do throwups (and this is my personal opinion) I thin it's best to go with a loose, bubble-like feel. You'll get a feel for doing them much faster if the lines are loose, round-ish, and easily executed. When I was learning throwups (honestly, I'm still learning) the guys who taught me said think of a semi-deflated balloon... now shape it into a letter. Think about how the balloon looks when you squeeze it in half - how the air is forced to the ends and those ends expand creating two bubbly shapes (writing that made me laugh... sounds weird). Anyway, keep it loose and as simple as possible (I mean, think about how simple Adek's throwup letters are but they're absolutely perfect). And really try to do each letter in one quick swoop instead of "sketching" the letters out. Sketching them will definitely help you get the letters down how you want them, but make sure once you're there that you teach yourself to do those lines in one go. Here's a few ideas to inspire you...

@nachodik- here’s a few examples that show the D curved at the bottom instead of pointy, and a few options for the descender of the K. I think what you have is pretty good but wanted to play out a few ideas to see how it looked.

Hey... sorry for the delay. I thought I had replied to this already but I apparently I did not. I like it! Looks pretty good. My only feedback is the E connection to the C is a bit much. I get it, that flow from one to the next is perfect, but your extensions might be too tall (?), at least on the one in the middle. Have you tried it without the connection from the E to the C? Just wondering how it looks. I really like the ECK, they flow so well. You could even add a little flare/kick-back/kick-up to the end of the K for a lil' somethin' extra. The D works, but feels like the one thing that doesn't belong. I wonder if it was slightly rounded at the bottom how that would look. I could trace your tag and try to work a few things out, and share with you later.

Interesting thread. Unfortunately, I don't pay enough attention to MSM or social media to participate. I'll just sit on the sidelines and read this one out.

I'm not overly paranoid... but I am old and completely washed. And I promise... I will settle down. I have to, all this typing is exhausting.

Toys can paint wherever they want, it's up to you to make sure they don't want to paint your spot.

There's definitely stories about a writer using another writer's name to dis another writer, and I'm sure some of them are true, but I've not heard of any instance where someone went around as a copycat bombing the city with another writer's tag/throwup for fun. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time putting up another writer's name. If I'm going to go out and risk it... I'm putting up my name.

Is it not his job to be concerned for the citizens of Texas? I guess technically you can still be concerned while sipping over-priced margaritas on a warm beach. I know there's not much he can really do, but to be a representative of the people and leave them all behind during a crisis is kind of stupid. If it were me I wouldn't apologize for getting my family out of harms way, but I would have stayed with the people who elected me to represent them, and help in any way possible.

Sorry for the delay - power outages meant conserving battery life. I tried to keep my two sketches as close to your original drawing as possible, but I definitely took some liberties with a few things and drew them how I felt they might work better... in the hopes it would help you with future outlines. The first thing I noticed is that your T looks like a J. I assume you looped the descender of the T back toward the S to fill in the empty space, which worked, but you created a J... no way around it. In my two sketches I gave you some options for how to fill that dead space left by the T. The second thing I noticed is the flow from the R to the I. My mind immediately went to the example I've shown in both of my sketches as a way to bring those two letters together for better flow. The way you have the R and I can work but it takes some finessing. You'd need to bring the descender of the R down further, then kick it back and up toward the base line of the I. You'd then need to add some length to one or two of your other letters so the descender of the R isn't lonely way down there. As for other technical bits... I added some bits and doo-dads here and there as a way to fill dead space and add some overall style. This can be done by adding the bit at the end of a letter - like the little one on the T in the top sketch, or by adding extensions - like the extension on the bottom right of the S in the top sketch. Finally, the plaque to the right of your sketch can be many things, but I still like the old-school scrolls for adding a phrase or shot-out. Let me know if this helped.

Let me work on a couple ideas and I'll get back to you in a day or two.

@KaneVCB Nice! I love seeing all the effort on one page. I used to do this every day... just fill several blank pages of tags. Sometimes I'd start with a lighter color, like yellow, and fill the page. Then go over that with green tags, then black. Almost looked like a piece of art when the page was full. Anyway... The biggest thing that stands out to me is the K. On most of those tags, not all, the K is in danger of looking more like an H because you're ascender and descender and mushed together to look like one, instead of two defining parts of the letter. I tried to define that in the drawing below so hopefully it makes sense. The second thing is the shapes of your A and E. The shapes feel more oval when they would benefit, and look better if they were more rounded. So what I did was trace right over the one tag I felt was the best from both pages. I gave the K and little more definition and gave the A and E a more rounded feel. Question: When you're tagging on these sheets of paper - are you just moving your hand? Are you resting your arm on the page and moving only your hand/wrist to write? If so... try to use your shoulder to write instead of your wrist. Imagine your arm and hand are in a cast, from knuckles to elbow. Meaning the only thing touching the paper/desk is the tip of the pen. Your entire arm is in motion as you write. This could help your lines be more fluid. And, more importantly, will help you translate your tag properly to surfaces outdoors.

Pretty much how it started, with WVA gaining time on MVdP. Then WVA flatted, lost focus, and MVdP won it. I was hoping Pidcock would finish 2nd or better but that course doesn't suit his riding style. That he finished 3rd is impressive. Excited to see how he rides the Classics in his first year as a pro on the road with Grenadiers. I could see him do well in races like Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Milano San Remo, and Giro de Lombardia. I think he's too small for races like Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Definitely not the same genre of electronic music we're talking about in here. To me, that is Dance electronica. This thread is more about Noise, Experimental, and Minimal electronica.

This is my favorite of the three. It's legible, Has a good lean, flourishes on the K and E which balances it out. Nicely done. I'd keep pushing that one. Paper: I tend to stick with smooth papers when I pick up a blackbook or sketch pad. My favorite sketch pad is Canson. The paper is great for sketching - mostly smooth but a slight tooth to it which is great for shading. I've always been partial to Strathmore hardcover blackbooks because of their quality craftsmanship, but the paper is very similar to the Canson. Honestly, any paper works if you're just practicing handstyles. One of those Newsprint sketch pads would be prefect. The big ones, like 18x24, are only $15 at Blick. That's a lot of space on one sheet to practice your tag. Of course, if you have an iPad with Apple pencil - you've got unlimited sheets of paper to practice on. Those Krink markers are great for hitting up spots outside but don't waste the ink on practicing your tag on paper. Pick up some cheap chisel tip markers and use those for practicing. Save the good stuff for when it matters.

Watched the Cyclocross World Championships in Oostende, Belgium for Elite Women and U23 Men, today. U23 was kinda boring, but still interesting to watch. The Elite Women race was awesome. One of the competitors, Clara Honsinger, is a local racer so every racer in town has been watching her race all season. I was gunning for her to finish on the podium in today's race. Definitely a seat-edger of a race all the way to the end. Tomorrow is the Elite Men and U23 Women. Both races should be really good to watch. The course should be nice and muddy by then, and all the wet sand should make it interesting.

@nachodik- Answers to your questions - practice, and yes, yes, and yes. I started writing Graffiti in 1985 as a 16 year old goofball looking to get into trouble. I didn't take it seriously for at least a year, and was absolutely horrible at it. "Toy" would be an understatement. When I started taking it seriously it took me about a year to get decent at simple style letters, even longer to get to the point of feeling like I knew what I was doing without my Mentor helping me along the way. Surrounding myself with writers who were better than me and willing to teach me connections, flow, etc. was key in my development. All I did was practice, practice, practice. I used to write Dez when I first started and my Mentor would draw my name in several styles and share them with me so I could learn. I would copy those outlines over and over to learn the flow, eventually adding my own connections and flavor to make those outlines feel more my own. This was a common way for Toys to learn the ropes and develop, but over time the Mentor/Toy apprenticeship has waned in favor of learning from photos on the internet (I'm assuming... no idea really why apprenticeships have died out). This is why I'm doing what I'm doing here in this thread. I was gifted Mentorship when I first started and without it I would not have developed into the writer I have. So if I can give back to the Graffiti community by helping others learn the ropes... I truly feel like I should. Plus it helps me keep my skills sharp by forcing me to sketch out letters that are not the same ones I've drawn for years. In short - it's really about how much you want to put into it. Practice is by far the quickest way to develop your skills, but a Mentor or guidance from someone who knows the ropes is going to make the process move along much quicker.

@nachodik- Alright... my initial feedback on your piece a few posts prior was the starting point, but here's how I would approach reworking the same outline: The first thing I notice is that the top of all your letters are similar. So what I did was draw out two guides, first. One straight line at the top, one straight line at the bottom. Now, were you to paint something like this the best wall would be a brick or CMU wall so those are "guides" built in. From there I quickly sketched out your letters as the are, but within the guides. Then I went back in and reworked the E and C to make them feel less crunched. Opened them up a little. I gave the C the same bottom I gave the E. I then noticed that the D felt weird now that the E and C looked similar, so I worked in some continuity and gave the D the same bottom as the E and C. Once I got to the K I initially worked it out as it's own letter but realized I could have it come off of the C, and that would flow nicely. The kick-bar seemed plain so I gave it a return at the bottom and added some bits to keep in theme with the D. The angles of the D and K are kinda similar, which I didn't plan, but it worked out. Then I added some bits to the empty spaces at the top of the E and C letters which helped fill those dead spaces, and keep in theme with the D and K. Finally, added a drop shadow and it was done.

Initial thoughts are that the E and C looked like they're crammed in between the D and K. I'm inclined to make the E a backwards 3 style E and have it overlap the D. I can show you what I mean when I have some time this evening to sketch it out.

To start... I've got no feedback on the sketch above. I probably would have given it a "cool" color 3D, like blue or green, to pop from the warmer red color, but that's about all the feedback I have on that one. Letters are good, 3D is correct, shines are correct, doo-dads look good and well placed... nice. The second Deck outline isn't all that bad, honestly. The E is the only thing that's holding me up. I would have gone with a lower-case E or curved the bottom like your letter C. The D looks like it got squished into the side of the E and is trying to pop its way out the top of the piece. I tried to help by redrawing it... but I think I went a little too far. I put too much into it, sorry. Hopefully it helps, anyway. The throwie is fine but feels forced... if that makes sense. Almost like you're doing a simple piece rather than a throwup. Throwups are meant to be done real quick, like real quick, which is why they're typically soft with little to no angles. When you have to stop for an angle... that's time. I see what you were going for with the tops of all the letters being the same but when you got to the K, well, it ends up looking like an H. Consistency is popular in throwups, and looks good, but it's usually executed by the pros - bombers who've put in the work. Lots of hours of practice. So I did a simple throwup for you that might help.