Archive for the ‘Graffiti’ Category

Before you get yourself a tattoo, you must be prepared to put in the effort to take care of it. The fact is, if you have any problems or complication such as infection on a fresh tattoo, the tattoo artist you’ve put your trust on is not going to be responsible for it you do not take any care for your new ink.

A well drawn, sharp and beautiful tattoo can quickly become a disaster if good tattoo aftercare is not given to it. There are some simple guidelines you can take to care for your tattoo. The artists who drawn the design will put in the initial care by covering up your new tattoo for good reason. The reason is to prevent any air born bacteria from invading your wound.

A new body ink is literally a wound on your skin even if it looks pretty. The open flesh is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and for infection. You have to leave the bandage for a minimum time of up to two hours.

When you got your first ink, there will be some excitement and everybody will be asking you to remove the bandage so that you can show off your new tattoo. This is not a good idea though. It is best to ask your friends to be patient and wait for two hours before removing the bandage that came from the tattoo parlor.

There can be one exception for this restriction. If your artist covered your tattoo with saran wrap or with some kind of plastic, it is best to remove it immediately. Saran wrapper is not recommended because it restricts oxygen from reaching your new ink.

After removing the bandage, you must wash your new tattoo. Use lukewarm water together with a mild liquid antibacterial or with antimicrobial soap. The generic brand antibacterial soap is better for this purpose. Wash the wound gently to remove any ointment, plasma or dried blood and making sure the entire area is completely clean. When you’ve done washing, use a soft cotton towel and dab your new tattoo area dry.

Ever since you were a kid, if someone asked your favorite flower, chances are you’d say, “a rose!” I mean, arguably, one of Shakespeare‘s most famous lines is “A rose with any other name, is still a rose.” Without question, the rose is the most adored type of flower there is. Sure, one could argue about the bird of paradise or any other types of flowers, but face it, the rose wins! Anyway, you wouldn’t be reading this article if you already didn’t think highly of the rose, right?

Another great thing about the rose is that it works as a romantic symbol for lovers. All women value a bouquet of roses or even a single-stem one as long as it’s given by a lover or at least a close friend. Given all the symbolism of roses, it’s no surprise that they’re incredibly popular as tattoos.

Among the most popular is the red rose – a long-standing symbol of love. On the other hand, other peoples have given different symbolic meanings to this particular rose. For example, it is known that Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love, and Venus, who is the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite, valued the red rose. Furthermore, the red rose contains a religious implication since it’s used as a symbolic representation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Those people who claim that they have experienced a vision of Mary would say that the incidence is always accompanied by the sweet and passionate smell of roses. I know.. one can’t make up these things, but that’s what they say.

In case you are thinking about getting a rose tattoo design, but you still feel hesitant, don’t be anxious – there are a lots of masculine guys out there who have a rose tattoo. (I have a cool looking one if you follow the link at the bottom of this article.) For guys, sometimes it represents an homage to departed loved ones. Moreover there are creative guys who have transformed the image of the rose into the renowned multi-image tattoo like the famous snake which is curled around a blade surrounded by rosebush.

In addition, another manly use of the rose tattoo design would involve the connection of the rock band‘s “Guns ‘n’ Roses” in 1980s and ’90s.. All of the members of this band were well-known for their extreme hard rocking music as well as “rocking” lifestyle even though they are known to wear rose tattoos together with tattoos of guns. Because the band is famous and people think that it’s really cool to have a rose design SOMEWHERE on their body (let your imagination fill in the blanks), a lot of these fans, both male and female started to imitate the band members by having their guns and roses designs as well. And don’t even get me started on Bret Michaels. Great love ballad: “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” I haven’t looked, but I’d bet dimes to dollars that dude has a rose tat.

For a more personalized effect, rose tattoo designs can be employed with different colors to improve the distinctive look of the tattoo. For whatever reason, RED as a color, really translates nicely in a tat. Green does as well, for that matter – which means given a choice, a rose tattoo really conveys well. You’re going to want to really think about the colors you want. For example, a dark red rose are used to symbolize unconscious beauty while the gold rose on the other hand would represent accomplishments. Furthermore, pink rose talks about friendship, grace, appreciation, happiness and gentleness while a light pink rose depicts the value of understanding and sweetness. Choose colors that will show your individuality – and of course, will wear well for a long time.

It’s hard to imagine that a simple, stenciled picture on a wall could inspire so much praise and criticism. There are views in both of the extremes ranging from embracing the art as part of the city it is located in to writing the images off as nothing other than illegal tagging, but one thing is for sure: artists like Blek le Rat and Banksy have managed to make huge names for themselves and stencil graffiti as an art form around the world.

Stencil graffiti is similar to standard graffiti you might see decorating a city, but it uses stencils created by the artist to make the picture much easier and quicker to apply. In addition, the use of stencils leaves a distinct style specific to this type of art and even though it leaves crisp, often single color, images, the artists still seem to leave their own special touch with each one.

As the art of tagging is still illegal (depending on where and who you ask), some of these artists have moved from painting their visions on public spaces for all to see to the inside of gallery space like more traditional artists. This might not have the same far reaching, rebellious effect as standard graffiti but it has managed to become extremely popular around the world with pieces created by Banksy being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Although Blek le Rat and many before him might have been the first to use stencil graffiti as art, it has continued to develop and evolve for many years. Despite the huge growth of the art, it can still be traced back to the ideas of each artist, probably sketched in his or her graffiti blackbook. Everyone might not be able to appreciate it, but it is clear that graffiti has had a lasting impact on the art world and continues to produce some of the most interesting art in recent times.

Man cave art is completely relative to the man who occupies the cave. For some, it may mean a few favorite posters thrown up but for others the way the man cave is decorated is a reflection of the man himself. Nothing less than something cool or something that will be talked about long after everyone has left the cave will do. One thing is sure, decorating for the Cave must be Quick and Easy and of course fun. The easiest way to do it, is have someone else do it…but it still has to look good, the man cave has a reputation to uphold! One of the easiest ways to decorate those bare walls is to create a graffiti wall which can be created over time (memories in themselves) and everyone who enters the cave can help!

Learn how to easily create a graffiti wall for the cave that will become legendary:

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

1. Supplies for framing graffiti wall area (optional)
2. Paint (spray paint if you are really daring) & various size brushes
3. Large markers
4. Whatever else you can think of… (like old newspapers, pictures, old calendars etc)
5. A bucket or cool box to store it all in

Framing the graffiti wall is optional, although sometimes it is a good idea to set boundaries of where things can be put before the gang starts drinking, just saying. You can even do multiple, smaller areas of “wall art”, maybe even give one to the girls who you have to let in because they made the food. You know you don’t want them messing up the “real art”.

Now go ahead and start “tagging” the cave…be creative, let your imagination run wild, just remember who may be visiting the cave at some later date, the ladies, future man cave trainees. Your best bet is to keep it clean but still have fun. Maybe you can have a frame with a black curtain if you can’t control yourself.

You can have an official graffiti wall party or just create the wall as you go, it’s up to you. Remember to just have fun with it, what is put on your wall will ultimately remind you of the many fun times you had in the Cave. And the good news is, is that it can always be painted over if it needs to be.

You can even have TWO walls, one a “Serious” wall and one the “Drunk” wall and then have fun trying to decide at any given moment who should be posting which stuff where. This is surely going to bring some fun memories in itself!

Man cave art does not have to be too serious, just let your style be your guide!

Graffiti art has, over time, become a form of artistic drawing. In another article, I’ve captured the main characteristics of artistic art in more detail but let’s do a quick review here.

We know that graffiti art is often loud (meaning brightly colored), has a 3D look and feel to it, and looks mostly stylish. One might even classify graffiti art as contemporary art. Everything about graffiti is an expression of the culture of some group or country.

Although graffiti art is most widely known as art drawn by vandals on public walls with spray cans, the same term can be extended to represent art with similar characteristics as mentioned above.

You may be drawn to drawing graffiti names because graffiti art looks stylish with its bright attractive colors, and that applies to graffiti texts as well.

To start drawing graffiti names, you need to prepare the following drawing tools. You need a light pencil, preferrably HB, and a set of permanent magic markers with a variety of colors.

Next, you need to decide on the style of the texts. There are literally thousands of styles to choose from. Just take a look at the thousands of font types available freely on the Internet for download. You may want to visit one of these websites and choose a font design that you really like. You’ll be using this as your reference. Some websites even allow you to create a preview image with the selected font type. Simply save the image to your computer for reference.

Start drawing with your pencil on the surface. Draw lightly at first so that you can erase any mistakes you make. Sometimes, your texts may be too big or small, and you can easily rectify this by using a dust free eraser.

Once you’re satisfied with how the graffiti name looks, trace the outline with a fine magic marker. The shapes will start to emerge now. Then start filling in the different letters with colors. Be bold and creative here. After all, it’s graffiti texts, so you want it to come out attractive, bold and stylish.

Use a different color to create some shades just inside the outlines. This will create the illusion that the texts are 3D. If you’re familiar to using Photoshop or any image editing software, this is similar to creating the emboss effect.

Drawing the drop shadow is optional but if you want your graffiti name to look more alive and realistic, by all means give your graffiti name a light shadow below.

Learning to draw great graffiti art requires lots of skill and practice. There are several genres of graffiti art, but usually, graffiti art will mostly:

– be painted in vivid colors, to create emotive images and grab attention

– include graffiti style lettering with letters that overlap and are drawn in 3D

In particular the use of the bold style lettering is really distinctive to graffiti art. The images themselves will usually be hard hitting, and be painted in stark colors utilizing strong shadows and outlines to add depth and definition. Images usually depict social or political issues close to the artist‘s heart.

Before you start a piece of graffiti art, you should draw a small scale version of the large piece you want to create first, then when you begin your actual piece, its a simple task of just scaling up your graffiti sketch.

If you need ideas for a graffiti font to use, there are plenty of sites online that have examples for you to copy. For the outlines, use a fine marker pen. In order to produce a 3D effect, shade around the letters you’ve outlined with a different color. Then use permanent markers to color in your letters.

Once you are ready to paint your sketch on to your larger canvas or wall, you need to draw a reference grid over your small drawing. Sketch a full size replica of the grid on to your wall or canvas that you are using for your scaled up graffiti piece. Use either chalk, charcoal or diluted paint to draw the large grid. To make marking the grid out easier, the simplest thing to do is to use a piece of string.

Use chalk or charcoal to transfer your small drawing on to you larger canvas. Use an aerosol can to paint the background in using diluted paint, keep the layer thin and allow it to dry before you start your coloring. When you’ve finished the outline and the background, it’s time to add the colors and detail. Again use aerosols to add the colors. Start with the lightest colors first and the largest sections, and then move on to the detail and the smaller areas last.

When you’ve colored your work in, you can add the fine definition with a brush to enhance the fine lines and borders around your figures and letters. You can preserve it for years to come with a thin layer of varnish.

These are all the steps you need to master if you want to paint impressive graffiti art.