Sketching graffiti is like shadowboxing—you’re just practicing
Sketching graffiti is like shadowboxing—you’re just practicing. When you catch a dope spot, that’s like winning a tough fight.
Not every fight is a championship match, though. Sometimes you gotta cherry-pick some of your opponents to help your record.
I love finding those semi-chill daytime spots, just off the beaten path. When I’m painting, I think about how years from now, some other would-be explorer might stumble across them and get juiced—just like I did when I found pieces from the generation before me.
It’s not the same rush as painting a huge billboard or smacking a street-side fill, but it still scratches the itch of getting in the ring.
You won’t know what type of adaptions you’ll need to make to your style to pull off a particular spot until you’ve done it plenty of times. You gotta feel the bumps though the feedback of your marker to really understand what writing on different surfaces is like.
Punching a heavy bag doesn’t make you a fighter. Just because you draw some rap letters in your composition notebook doesn’t mean you’re a graffiti writer.
Overcoming the obstacles and risks that come with painting the streets—that’s a part of the art of graffiti. That’s why we call it catching a spot. Because they’re elusive.
**Hello My Name Is Ebox update**
I don't know why it is for me, but it's so hard for me to sketch. I did for a minute, and my letters got a lot better! But for some reason I just like winging it.
Some of the best spots I ever painted were daytime chill spots. Vacant lots waiting to be developed, back yards of abandoned buildings. Eventually they became our hangout spots - we would drift by, start work, maybe a friend would come by with sandwiches and a coke. Have a chat, paint some more then head home and make beats or go to a bar. Just the best. Thanks for your column it brought back memories.