Looking for a mentor

[Rustofills]

You dont need a mentor. You need pratice.

 

Shit I was toy and painting like a toy for my first 5 years. This was way before the internet. So I didnt see alot of REAL GRAFFITI ART until I was a little older. I was young, and only when I got old enough to actualy venture out to places where there was actual graff that looked good, did I notice how toy I was. Fuck I was so toy for my first 2 ana half ta 3 years of getting up that I didnt know what a toy was. As most 12 and 13 year olds even these days dont know what real graff is. I just tagged because it felt good and I liked seeing my tag. I thought it was like. ( See I was here and here's my message.)

 

5 years to really get you style tight and right isnt unreal. You new school kiddys got it made. You got so many venues for veiwing graff that its changed the entire face of the art form.

From graff mags, Books, Video/DVDs and the web. To spray paint made exclusively for graff. In alot of ways the best years of writing are your toy years. So I suggest you sit back and enjoy them. Practice on paper at first for a while, then a little can time at some spot you find chill enough. Recon spots now way before you actually try paint them with something beyond your ability and for fucks sake. WALK SOME TRACKS GET OFF THE COMPUTER!

 

Also I have only learned 2 things from other writers. One was this trick to make little electric bult looking looking shit and the other is that most writers are total asshole, cock sucker, farther fucking drama queens. Everything else I learnd on my own with a can in hand.

 

Guess what? Im still learning shit and its been at this nonsence for a long fucking time.

 

I will end this post with the same thing I tell every toy I have ever met. Good luck with that and keep on working at it. That and fuck off toy.

[Swindle]

I support you on the whole taking your time to find out the history and to see if others have your names but 5 years? really i say learn and paint as you go. that way you'll be getting up and you get practice on the way while learning your shit...

 

you don't sit in your room and sketch for 5 years then one day walk outside and go "it feels good to stretch my wings, my cocoon state is complete!"

 

just the same as you dont go and crush every single building and sign with your super cool tag.

 

you paint chill spots. go exploring. throw down some good tags

 

if someone told you hey dont write in other people shit before you got your ass beat - that would be a good thing.

if someone told you hey dont write on the all the buildings and what not in the yard before you got arrested that would be a good thing.

if someone said start simple and develop your handstyle before you just looked ant all the pretty wild style pieces on 12oz before you made a complete ass of yourself - that would be a good thing.

 

this isn't learnt from mentors. this is common sense. if people can't comprehend this they won't last long in graffiti anyway and should go back to skateboarding or guitar hero.

[Rustofills]

you don't sit in your room and sketch for 5 years then one day walk outside and go "it feels good to stretch my wings, my cocoon state is complete!"

 

just the same as you dont go and crush every single building and sign with your super cool tag.

 

you paint chill spots. go exploring. throw down some good tags

 

this isn't learnt from mentors. this is common sense. if people can't comprehend this they won't last long in graffiti anyway and should go back to skateboarding or guitar hero.

 

Agreed.

[emergONE]

http://www.sturdywings.org/

[iloveboxcars]

fuck all the bullshit.

 

this is how you start.

 

do tags. walk around and fucking tag. on everything. just write on shit constantly. always have a marker with you. any time you get a chance take it. only practice tags. tags tags tags tags tags tags. tags are the basis of graffiti. learn them. learn your letters. dont try to make your tag all "graffiti" looking. do some straight ass letters until you got that shit down and it actually looks good. keep doing tags. tags tags tags tags tags.

 

after that you'll have to get into some other shit, but dont worry about that because

a) you'll probably never get there seeing as how most people drop out the game before they get anywhere near not-horrible

b) you'll meet some other cats that do the same shit that will be willing to chill and show you a thing or two.

c) you get caught and will probably decide it isnt for you.

 

 

buy a map of your city. go on all night missions covering a 10 block radius and just crush that shit. walk up and down the same street 3 times to make sure you didnt miss anything you could put your name on. quantity is important. be that guy.

[Swindle]

walk up and down the same street 3 times to make sure you didnt miss anything you could put your name on.

 

the only gripe i had with the entire post was this. this is ludicrous to me. go check out the spot in the day time and make mental notes of where you want to paint. then at night come back and do it in one run, you cant afford to walk up and down a freshly painted street waiting for someone to notice you. apart from that the post was spot on.

 

its not uncommon to fill up entire black books just with tags (and not improve) but dont let that discourage you. thats my job

[wisetuxedo]

agree with boxcars, but for the non city writers, find the highway, drive down till you find a bridge/overpass, pull off and explore that area/make a note and find it on google maps later take pictures, shitloads of pictures and get them physically printed if you get a photoalbums worth of flicks from your area then you can see whos who,

not gonna lie ive always had a mentor and the shit was awesome, /nh

going out to paint with other people makes it more fun and while you loose a bit of your own style its good to have someone else there to tell you where you fucked up so you can change it before other people see it,

[iloveboxcars]

the only gripe i had with the entire post was this. this is ludicrous to me. go check out the spot in the day time and make mental notes of where you want to paint. then at night come back and do it in one run, you cant afford to walk up and down a freshly painted street waiting for someone to notice you. apart from that the post was spot on.

 

its not uncommon to fill up entire black books just with tags (and not improve) but dont let that discourage you. thats my job

 

well, im used to big cities where even if something is freshly painted the police wont notice.

 

3 times was a bit of an exaggeration. i was just trying to get my point across.

 

and that point is crush shit.

[abcs]

i used to smoke brunts and watch cartoons

to laugh but the yard is so much better...

I wasnt introduced to some drawing on walls shit

didn't have any friends that were doing it.

More than half my life its been a comfort zone

and something thats kept me going and

im thinking that if you need a mentor to

inspire you to do your thing then whats the

point?

in all actuality this sounds like some Rok1t

ass shit.

[niceguy]

do you need friends or a mentor?

[JustHereForTheNight]

do you need friends or a mentor?

 

ha ha ha ha

 

best reply

[tells]

not anymore you dont.

 

if you take graffiti seriously, spend 5 years learning the history, practising hands and sketching. they are more important than actually painting.

 

then after 5 years when you have some clean simples and show some kind of committment and originality then do you have the right to ask for mentoring.

 

 

im still learning the old fashioned way so you can shut the fuck up and put in work like everyone else.

 

i learn basically nothing from people on the internet. i learn the most from flicks and books and other peoples pieces.

 

 

You serious kid? 5 years reading books about graffiti? Hahahah. People get so serious about writing on walls.

[iorts3]

cmon man you just opened up a big can of worms for everyone to bust your chops.. me and my dude in high school would snatch a 12pack, sit on grand ave and watch the trains roll by.. those freights were mentors.. just look around you, pick up styles from the swirls on a coke can, look at everything like your peice should be on it.. wait, wait, wait.. the Mickeys got me buzzn.. kid, mentor your fukn self.. take what you know and expand on it, if you dont know shyt, then expand your knowledge before you pick up a can and decide to wreck shit..

[Edward Orenthal Norton]

[P3ZS]

look. i dont have a mentor. there are people who are better than me who talk to me about it. there is one or two people that tend to help out. but i mean. would you call the dude selling you training wheels a mentor? honestly ive had to learn what i know(wich im not saying is much) on my own. i guess you could say im just kept in line by my friends. idk why im telling you this. your clearly some form of retarded. you just told potentially everyone in the world with access to the internet what you write/wrote. and it aint hard to track someone down. keep your shit low key for a while. observe dont be observed.

[abcs]

Fuck yo mentor i'm lookin for a

big booty bitch will go ass to mouth

[Mos-One]

Hey Wen I First Started My mentor was a kid about One year older than Me. I saw him doin Sum Bubble Shit that I thought was Hot, I just tried to do it. It came out shitty but that made me wanna try harder. I was finishin books in a day He told me a couple things,gave me pointers, and wen I got to a certain level he let me learn on my own. Now he's not much better than me but has more ups than me.

[Mos-One]

Hey Wen I First Started My mentor was a kid about One year older than Me. I saw him doin Sum Bubble Shit that I thought was Hot, I just tried to do it. It came out shitty but that made me wanna try harder. I was finishin books in a day He told me a couple things,gave me pointers, and wen I got to a certain level he let me learn on my own. Now he's not much better than me but has more ups than me. See who writes in your school. Or if your out of school (I doubt It) ask around work or any other place you chill. Feed off each others pieces andyoull get better.

[Mos-One]

Hey Wen I First Started My mentor was a kid about One year older than Me. I saw him doin Sum Bubble Shit that I thought was Hot, I just tried to do it. It came out shitty but that made me wanna try harder. I was finishin books in a day He told me a couple things,gave me pointers, and wen I got to a certain level he let me learn on my own. Now he's not much better than me but has more ups than me. See who writes in your school. Or if your out of school (I doubt It) ask around work or any other place you chill. Feed off each others pieces andyoull get better.

[esar71]

I find this to be an interesting topic. I was self taught and have written graffiti my entire life. I was drawn to Graff from the age of about 5,or 6 when I saw it all over the trains and streets of the 5 boroughs. As soon as I could write English I started copying the tags of the writers I liked to learn the styles. I had always heard or read that a good writer was a well rounded one that could write anything in graffiti in all forms ,piecing,throw ups, tags ,etc. and many styles and forms of each.Unfortunately , although I was born in Brooklyn, I moved to the suburbs before I was 10 and never knew any writers. I spent the years practicing the entire alphabet in notebooks , piecing and doing all sorts of throw ups but never painted until about 88, when I ventured out alone on many little tagging missions. Eventually in 1990 I had a friend who wanted to go out and he lived in the city where we started to go out for real. Since then I spent many years on and off it due to life.These days I am somewhat experienced at piecing and all the rest, but am far from the man and still know hardly any writers. Although I learned over the years that was often a good thing, because no one ever knew who or from where I might be. With that said I feel that in a way you should have to pay your dues and put in the time, but I also think that with the right knowledge it can make all the difference. I have said it before I paint for the shear love of it. I believe graffiti picked me , I didn't exactly pick it. It truly spoke to me and I couldn't and still can't get it out of my head or life. It's a shame that these days like I read earlier and agree with, there are so many issues that can come from mentoring someone ,especially trust. I often hate on advancement and all the change in these times, but because of a site like this, it truly allows people who are really looking for some insight or to learn something a place to look. Even though mostly anything you write gets someone looking to bad mouth it..71 Truly thankful for this art form since the beginning. Respect to all who paved the way and are true to this game. Thanks to 12oz. Prophet for giving me a place to unload my graffiti drenched thoughts and read those of my fellow writers.peace.

[Swindle]

You serious kid? 5 years reading books about graffiti? Hahahah. People get so serious about writing on walls.

 

that must have gone way over your head if all you took away from that was "he shut himself away and just read books"

[pedoe]

let that nigga read books for 5 years...shit, hating on education and shit.

 

i did that, but i ended up biting Salvador Dali's style mad hard, brO

[n8galicia]

oh yeah, dudes got stylez for milez yo.

[rekos]

Why are you guys hating on him so much when he just wants to learn.

[sorrow]

 

actually lol'd

[i got dreams]

i read this earlier in the thread but write in your black book for five years and learn your history before you try to burn shit. i say this because: 1 you will know if you really want to do graff and if you have the skills to do it. 2 you will probably develop some style (don't think because you can do a piece in your book you can do it on a wall, if you try it will look like shit) 3 you will probably end up running into someone that does graff and you will have the mentor you always wanted. I don't know if there are just no writers around you like me (a poor kid in a rich bastard suburb) or what but i have only one friend that is serious about painting and i know if your saying that you really want to learn and shit you can figure it out your self just look at some flicks and vids there is plenty of them.

 

OR just paint and sketch your ass of and be a whack toy i wish i would have done this. it turned out alright but i wish i would have got to the paint sooner

[idigscars]

I feel bad for this kid, Dude just soak in every ounce of whatever you can see in the street and find in books and vids...and learn yourself. I havent had anyone holding my hand in this shit...doing this DIY.

[zoic79]

wow shit's wierd, I used to write pure.

[emptycan400ml]

dude, just look at the graffiti that is already around you... let the streets mentore you. if that doesnt catch your eye than you are not an artist.

[WesternSuburbs]

i agree with empty can whats around you will influence your style and BITE every you see

trust me everyone does it. the difference is that they blend it into a style of their own and fuck the history it doesnt mean shit to a toy you'll learn your cities history after a few death threats and chasings.