Graffiti is more than just painting your name on a wall, it’s about finding the right spots and connecting with the community of writers around you. For many new graffiti artists, one of the biggest struggles is figuring out where to paint and how to meet other graffiti artists. In this guide, we’ll break down the most reliable ways to discover graffiti walls in your area, whether you live in a city or a small town, and share proven tips for meeting graffiti writers and becoming part of the culture.

Extensions can take your graffiti from basic to advanced, but only if you know how to use them properly. Done right, extensions can add flow, depth, and personality to your graffiti tags, throwies, and pieces. Done wrong, they can throw off your entire design and ruin the fundamentals of your letters. In this graffiti tutorial, we’ll break down everything you need to know about extensions: what they are, how they work, the anatomy of extensions, and how to apply them in your own graffiti.

Whether you’re just learning how to do graffiti or you’re already experimenting with wildstyle, these graffiti tips and tricks will help you level up your work.

When people think of graffiti, they often picture bustling cities filled with tags, throwies, and wildstyle pieces covering walls, trains, and rooftops. But what happens if you live in a small town with no visible graffiti scene? Do you just give up on learning graffiti? The truth is, graffiti finds its way into every corner of the world, even in places you’d never expect. On a recent trip to the Poconos, I set out to explore what graffiti looks like in smaller towns, and what I found proves that graffiti is everywhere, no matter how remote.

When most new graffiti artists get started, they dream of painting big, bold throwies or wild, intricate pieces. But here’s the hard truth: skipping the basics almost guarantees failure. If you want to master graffiti, you can’t skip learning tags. Handstyles are the foundation of graffiti art, and without them, everything else, throwies, pieces, even wildstyles, will fall apart. In this post, we’ll break down why learning tags is so important, what skills they teach, and why ignoring them can hold back your growth as a writer.

Cornbread makes the claim that he started graffiti and spread it worldwide back in 1965, but what if I told you it was all a lie. Cornbread begins the story off with a lie, as he used to claim he began in 1967. These claims were made when he was first coming into his fame and back when it was commonly thought that New York started graffiti in the early 70s. This would put him as the first, but there’s an issue. There were writers in Philly that even Cornbread knows personally, who started years before him. Not to mention, Johnny Cool in New York started even before, back as early as 61. Now that’s just graffiti as we know it today, but what about before then?

Graffiti is more than just spray paint on walls; it’s a visual language, a cultural statement, and a unique form of self-expression. Around the globe, regional graffiti styles have evolved into distinctive art forms, each carrying its own history and culture. In this guide, we’ll break down five of the most iconic graffiti tag styles that have shaped the scene, from the intricate Philly handstyle to bold New York tags. Whether you’re learning how to do graffiti tags for the first time or looking to refine your skills, these styles offer a blueprint for mastering the art.

We kick off with a submission from Ceace, who submitted a classic basic throwie. Right off the bat, there’s a lot to appreciate—his letters are well-proportioned and the flow feels natural. But once we look closer, some key areas for improvement emerge.

If you've ever looked at your graffiti and thought, “My handstyle feels off,” or “My throwies don’t come out like I imagined,” you're not alone. In this graffiti tutorial, we’re breaking down real user-submitted artwork to show exactly how to improve your graffiti—step by step. Whether you're struggling with throwies, tags, or straight letter pieces, this video and blog will help you tighten your style and level up your graffiti skills with clear, actionable advice.

In the world of graffiti, few words carry as much weight and controversy as the word “toy.” Whether you're a newcomer sketching your first throwie or a seasoned artist working the streets of LA to New York or around the world, chances are you’ve heard this term used, sometimes casually, other times with real bite. In graffiti culture, being called a toy can either be an honest critique or a direct insult, and understanding the nuances behind its usage is crucial for anyone trying to find their footing in the community.

If you’ve ever looked at a graffiti piece and wondered how the drop shadow makes the letters pop off the wall, you're not alone. Drop shadow is one of the most common effects in graffiti lettering, yet many artists—especially beginners—struggle to get it right. In this graffiti drop shadow tutorial, we’re breaking down how to do drop shadow for your throwies, graffiti pieces, and even complex wildstyle letters. Whether you're sketching in a blackbook or painting on a wall, these techniques will help you master the fundamentals and take your lettering to the next level.

Welcome to another lesson in our Letter Science series, where we break down how to draw individual letters in graffiti. In this graffiti tutorial, we’re focusing entirely on the letter S—one of the most versatile letters in the alphabet. Whether you’re just starting your graffiti journey or looking to sharpen your skills, this post will walk you through everything you need to know about mastering the graffiti letter S across handstyles, throwies, and pieces.

If you've ever wondered how to draw graffiti letters or how to write your name in graffiti, this comprehensive graffiti tutorial will walk you through everything you need to know. Whether you're just getting started or want a structured way to build your skills, this guide will show you exactly how to do graffiti, from pencil sketch to final outline and even 3D effects.

When we talk about graffiti history, it’s impossible to ignore the role of the tools that shaped the art form—from the earliest graffiti markers in New York City's subway system to the highly specialized graffiti paint we use today. In this post, we’re taking a time-traveling look at how graffiti tools and supplies evolved over the decades, the innovations that defined each era, and the stories behind some of the most iconic brands in the scene.

If you're brand new to graffiti and wondering where to start, this post is for you. In this guide, based on our latest video, we’ll walk you through how to start doing graffiti, what tools you need, the difference between a graffiti artist and a graffiti writer, and what it takes to go from a beginner to a king or even a legend in the graffiti world.

Graffiti is more than just paint on a wall. It’s an expression, a way of life, and often, a lifeline. But with so much risk involved, it raises a key question: Is graffiti really worth it? In this post, we’re diving deep into the reason people do graffiti and the consequences behind the decision to write on walls, especially for young people just starting out.

Colors can be broken up into two groups those being additive and subtractive color. Additive color, is color from light that doesn’t need to bounce off of anything to be seen. When additive colors mix they all combine to make white light. This white light can be directed into a prism and you’ll be able to see all of the colors on the visible spectrum. Subtractive colors are a little different though, in this category, light comes from the source, hits the object, the object absorbs all of the colors except for the one we see. The color it doesn’t absorb gets sent out back into the air and into our eyes, allowing us to see that particular color. Because this process causes light to be absorbed, the more colors we mix, the darker they become, eventually becoming black.

Most graffiti artists know about drop shadows, but few take full advantage of their power. If you're learning how to do graffiti, you probably started placing your shadow close to the letter. That’s a great foundation—but it’s flat, and lacks the same impact as what we’ll recommend.

Try this instead:
Push your drop shadow farther away from the letter structure. This creates a stronger illusion of depth, making your letters appear lifted off the wall. Also, doing this mimics a cast shadow (a far more dynamic shadow as seen in the picture above). In the video example shown in the video, we see how the increased distance between the letters and the shadow instantly makes the graffiti look more three-dimensional.

Also, don’t always use hard edges for your shadows—go with a fuzzier, softer shadow in areas you want to appear further from the wall to make it feel more realistic. Think about how light works in the real world: shadows get softer and blurrier the further they fall from the object.

If you're trying to learn graffiti or take your skills to the next level, mastering your color fills is essential. A well-executed fill can make your graffiti pop, show off your letter structure, and give your piece real visual impact. In today’s guide, we're breaking down three powerful tips on how to do graffiti fillings the right way. Whether you're new to the game or a more experienced writer looking to level up, these tips will help you understand how to color graffiti using real design principles and color theory.

When you're learning graffiti, it’s important to start with basic letter structures. For the letter B, you begin with a strong vertical stem. From there, you add a bowl on the top half and another bowl on the lower half, both connecting back to the stem around the mean line.

These bowls form closed counters, which play a huge role in defining the B’s visual style. Adjusting where these bowls connect can change the entire feel of your graffiti letter. For example:

• Connecting the bowl higher on the stem creates a more bottom-heavy B and can make some variants of B appear more sturdy

• Connecting the bowl lower makes the B top-heavy, giving it a potentially more dynamic appearance.

These small tweaks are foundational when you're trying to learn graffiti lettering and bring your own style into the mix.

If you’ve ever spent hours filling your blackbook with handstyles and throwies but still felt stuck, you’re not alone. Learning graffiti isn't just about repetition—it’s about intentional practice. In this graffiti tutorial, we’re going to break down five powerful tips to help you improve your graffiti faster by focusing on fundamentals, structure, and strategy.