GRAFFITI LA

I was talking with Use YR the other day and he told me something very surprising. He works as a scenic painter for Hollywood TV/movies and said that when an art director used to want a reference for graffiti in a background, they would pull out Spray Can Art or Subway Art and say “Do something like this piece.” Now, he said, they pull out my book and have some piece in there they want the style of. Kinda cool. It would be even more cool if they contacted me and I could actually get some more guys some of that work. Although Use is a veteran with strong skills and I’m sure they are always happy with his work, he would love it if they just gave him free reign instead of just wanting him to duplicate the style of someone else.

Use YR (Yard Rats, one of my all time favorite crew names), Belmont, Nov. ‘97:

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An interview I did with Aerosol Planet finally came out. It’s always weird to have people ask “Who’s your favorite writer? Favorite crew?” questions. I’ve had favorite writers/crews at different periods, but I’m not interested in saying who they are, because I’m not interested in the winner/looser mentality.

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I had a chance to talk with Nicnak CBS UTI DCT the other day, and he brought up those memories that early generation guys are lucky to have about their discovery of graff. He was a kid growing up in the Palms/Venice area and paying hide and seek, and when he jumped over a wall, there was a piece there, the first he had ever seen. He was totally captured by it and remembers running his fingers across the wall wondering just how they did it. When he discovered the Venice Pavilion, he would hang there and just watch the painting. There’s a certain magic that the early generation in any discipline have when discovering something. It would be interesting to hear some other stories about the first time people saw graff, so send ‘em in!

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Since Mark7 wrote in about good times at the RTA yard on Jefferson back in the day, I thought I’d put a quick couple of images here and in the Gallery as a visual aid. One for Mark7 and one for Ink5.. There will be more to come.

“Last To Serve” Jimer and Ink5/LTS 8-94 (Sorry that the Mark7 bookend characters aren’t in this shot).

Ink5 (RIP), 10-94

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If you come to this site, that must mean you love letters. If you love letters, you owe it to yourself to get the “Letters To Live By” Lettering Reference Guide Vol. 1 by none other than Big Sleeps, a guy at the sharpest cutting edge of dope letters. Go to letterstoliveby.com and get this NOW!

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In my book I quote SINER and RISK about the inspiration and influence of SOON ONE who came out to live in L.A. But to make it more clear about his place in L.A. history, he was the first to start bombing L.A. in ‘82, from Venice Beach, to Pasadena, from Watts to Compton.

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I recently passed a few photos on to some parties involved, now in the GALLERY section.

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Just a quick few more from July 1991 now in the Gallery section.

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This is a crude merge composite of an old landmark K4P production in South Central, but it’s still worth showing.

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I’m going to leave the contemporary stuff alone for a bit, unless there’s something particular to post, and go back to the continuing archive posts which you can view in the GALLERY section. For the most recent posts, scroll to the bottom. The latest are continued from July 1991 and include Wist, something dedicated to Defer, Angur, Cest, Dream and Drez. Enjoy.

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