Creating a street art design is not always easy. Artists have to go through different steps, and the Coronavirus lockdown has activated people’s imagionation.
We wrote a small glossary of terms that anybody within the urban art industry should follow:
- Activity
- Crew
- Fun
- Never give up
- Spread the word
- Time
1. A is for ‘Activity’ in the street art design industry.
First of all, when do usually graffiti writers paint in the streets? Can they do it while the virus is easily spread among the population?
We know it’s actually quite difficult to walk in the streets without noticing a police control, that’s why artists need to find a different way to create their street art design.
How does the audience keep it moving?
While not everybody is lucky enough to afford travelling and its expenses, there are still some projects where we could find a beautiful street art design.
We could visit new cities thanks to technology. Haven’t you discovered yet the recent artworks in the most avant-garde European cities? For example, let’s see our two favourite tools for remote street art exploration:
How do artists stay active?
Graffiti writers are constantly active in the streets in a normal situation, always on the hunt for a new wall. Covid-19 brought to Spain all the population’s confinement, and consequently they cannot keep on searching brilliant spots where to paint.
If there’s one thing we know about the graffiti community is that they are constantly using markers to create new pieces at home with a blackbook.
When we look at murals we may think that it must have taken a lot of time to produce it, but what about the first steps?
It seems like creators are not taking part in festivals or producing in the streets at the moment. Most of them are locked in their studio, creating canvases or prints to continue making a living!
2-. C is for ‘crew’.
Belonging to a group of people with common interests is amazing! At the beginning, it may be hard but as soon as time flies there will exist a beautiful sense of ‘friendship’.
Urban art fans may have heard this word before. Therefore you should be familiar with names such as ‘1UP’ or ‘Berlin Kidz’, for example.
A street art design created with teamwork!
Human beings are sociable animals, in every aspect of your lives we try to make communities, so not surprisingly this is super present in the street art design conversation.
By being a part of a crew, or a collective, artists have the opportunity to feel part of a community. Team work proves that artworks developed by collaborative processes are way more incredible!
These are some of the crews present in Madrid related to street art:
- Boa Mistura
- Petronza crew
- El Keller
What are the benefits present in team building?
There is an endless list of reasons to work with other people, not only in street art but in every field. Here is what we find interesting about collaborating with others:
- Little chance of stepping into a ‘blocked’ area.
- The advantage of delegating tasks.
- The interesting results obtained!
- Last but not least, the pride with which you show your work to others.
3-. F, did anybody mention ‘fun‘?
Thirdly, we could find a key aspect in any street art design. How much do you enjoy painting? There are countless cases of now renowned artists who used to have office jobs. As a result of their mixed feelings, they quit to fully dedicate to modern art.
Make art not war.
If politicians had the same attitude than some artists show, we could have more huge dimension murals around the world. Would you imagine the city councils inviting ordinary people to help color the city?
Let’s put it this way. Would a sculptor harm anybody by creating a beautiful artwork in the streets? Would the street art design of canvas painter damage a wall?
We are all aware that there are always exceptions to the rule. In the case of street art, sharing is caring!
How could a street art design change a boring wall?
There’s a colorful change that took place in Madrid last 2018. A giant grey concrete wall was re-designed by a Spanish collective called Boa Mistura. After the piece was produced, the scenario turned 360º.
Their street art design is now one of the most photographed in Madrid, Spain.
4-. N is for never giving up.
Only those artists who persevere in their daily works get to a famous level. Considering tools such as Instagram or facebook, sharing a street art design with the rest of the world should be a must for you!
Different trends & styles available.
There exists the possibility to learn from scrap. There are many artists who started drawing in one specific way and then become famous with another. For example:
- Figurative artworks
- Lettering
- Street art design based on paper or plastic.
All these techniques are available for the public audience to start creating from the basics. We have observed how several artists from the graphic design industry turned into urban art.
In conclusion, anybody could give it a try. In order to become the best you just need to follow a rule. Never give up!
Why not trying at this moment a new street art design?
There are many resources available to improve your technique. Whether you already experimented with street art or not, you should get hands on!
We would especially recommend you to follow Youtube tutorials!
5-. ‘Spread the word’, our S in the glossary.
Artists’ goals are clear. They want to create an impact on you, so you pass it on to the next one. Whether they create something for the city’s embellishment or with a social background idea, there’s always something behind each artwork we see.
How does a street art design transmit an idea?
Messages could be categorized in two big areas:
- Verbal art: the language tool to communicate its message.
- Non-verbal art: images or visual references to express ideas.
Could words change the world?
There is a way in which a street art design serves to the communities in order to report injustice situations. It highlights the issues that regular people are struggling with.
We are aware that “changing the world” could start from your own. As an example to illustrate that, we feel people’s empathy in our guided visits when talking about political art. That’s a good start, isn’t it?
6-. T is for Time.
Time is a key aspect to talk about within the graffiti culture. It determines how fast and skillful artists can be, specially when achieved on trains or surveilled places. On the other hand, it is also a reality for street art creators.
An ephemeral street art design. How long will it last?
Let’s use the example of street art festivals. They take place yearly or other edition. A lot of them, at least in the case of Madrid, reuse the walls where artists receive the permission to paint.
When artists decide to take part in this kind of events, they’re taking for granted that their artwork will disappear in a certain period of time.
The interesting thing about ephemeral installations is that artists don’t really mind about the fact of losing their artwork.
Time reset, it’s all about to start over!
Another aspect as interesting as ephemeris is the time used to create an artwork. For instance, the creation of handmade posters or the street art design of stickers could take almost nothing. Above all, it’s the moment you take in front of the computer!
Paste-up artists do not only spend a lot of time at home creating their art, but also they have to deal with the fact that their pieces may be gone on the following day.
7-. Y is for you, me us.
Street art designs are always present and ready to be shared with everybody. We don’t need to go to any museums to enjoy this art discipline.
The only important rule to take into account is to tag the artists accordingly if you are using their images on the internet.
How do artists integrate the communities in their artworks?
A lot of artists travel the world to create new pieces in foreign countries .So how is it possible that some murals feel so universal?
For what we’ve observed, it’s a common trend for artists to travel for work. First of all, they research prior to developing the artwork. This step will allow them to continue with the representation.
Some of the artists who have become popular for doing this previous processes are for example:
How can I support a street art design and its creator/s?
In order to thank these creators for the art they create, there are many ways on how we could assist them:
- Tag them on pictures you’ve taken.
- Check their websites, a lot of them have online shops where they sell their artworks for a wide range of prices.
- Spread the word, tell us for example! We’d love to know what your favourite street art design is!
Our opinion on a street art design.
We hope this glossary helps you understand a bit better how this art circuit works. We think that is important to keep these ideas present also in our daily lives in order to stay positive and keep enjoying art creations.
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