5 Ways Graffiti Artists Get Up!

Graffiti artists are a resourceful bunch who’ll find any way to get their names out there! Today we’re going to check out 5 methods graffiti artists use to tag, but there’s a catch. We’ll exclude common things such as using markers, spray paint, and stickers because these are common and obvious enough to anyone spending more than a day in graffiti. Including those on the list would instantly take up 3 of our five, so having them feels like a bit of a cop-out. You can check out the video on YouTube here, "5 Ways Graffiti Artists Get Up”, or you can watch it above.

Fire Extinguisher - #5

Fire extinguishers are one of the most chaotic methods used to get up in graffiti. The goal with these is to cover as much space as possible in as short of a time as possible. Being clean and cut goes out of the window with these given the mass output of paint is hard to control. While fire extinguishers are common for this method, there are products that do the same thing on a smaller or the same scale. Anything of this sort works and normally this is done by the dedicated writer. It’s not the most common method to get up, and to be fair its not the best or most practical method either. Not only is this method cumbersome, but it’s certainly not for everyone.

Rollers - #4

Rollers are one of the most effective ways to stand out in graffiti. These cover huge amounts of space similar to the extinguishers, but the versatility of the average roller is much higher. Rollers can be massive, like Saber and the LA river, or the MTA on the LA towers, or they can be much smaller similar to the average piece. Not only do they vary in size, but they also can eachieve a range of complexity, going from very simple with no outline, to great amounts of detail featuring outlines, interrior detail and more. That being said, this is another cumbersom way to get up as you need to carry the roller itself and a bucket of paint along with it. The larger you want to go, the more paint you need to carry, and the more paint you need, the more people you may need to bring to help you.

Scratchies - #3

This one is pretty straight forward and pretty laid back. Scratchies are the kind of tag you take when you dont have anything on you and a spur of the moment strikes so you improvise a little something. Rocks, coins, a metal tip pen, a key, any hard object will work for this but what you gain in convenient, you lose in quality. Often times these tags are sloppy since you might have to repeatedly scrape into the surface to leave the mark. More experienced writers often dont mind this drop in quality because everyone is familiar enough with their work to know they’re good. Newer artists may not have that same credibility, but they hardly need it when doing scratchies as the lack of clean letters is expected here, so in a way this helps new artists get away with ugly letters.

Spray Paint Pole Extender - #2

Alright, this next one is a bit weird, but I think it’s not only unique but useful. Similar to rollers, there are spray can pole arms you can purchase that will hold, and spray your paint while extending your reach. Walking around with this is certainly suspicious, and even a bit of a pain if it doesn’t retract, but in select situations this can let you do the same clean tag in spots you normally couldn’t climb to. The issue here comes more so from a can control issue, you sacrifice control of the cap, pressure, for the reach you gain. While you can still adjust the proximity of the can to the wall, it will become much harder to control since you’re no longer directly holding the can. Considering all of these factors, you’ll likely see a decline in the quality of your tag, unless you keep things simple, or you do some practicing using the pole extender. Not the most common or practical but in some situations it could be usefull.

Drone Graffiti- #1

Let me start by saying this is not only very rare but not practical at all! However, I personally would not be surprised if we begin to see this become the norm in a decade or two. I think if you give the more skittish writers a way to commit the crime without actually having to be there, then they’ll find any way to make that work. Thats exactly what drones do, they allow the writer to be as far from the danger as possible while they still get all the benefits. Now the feat of doing a tag with a drone is awesome, there is no denying that getting up in this way takes out the whole point of getting up. A large part of graffiti is based on respect and that respect is given because we understand the risk one must take to get up. If you’re doing drone tags then there’s no risk, yet the individual would still want respect despite putting nothing on the line. Luckily we’re still years away from this being the norm, and hopefully, it never becomes the norm.

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