Thanks for joining my street art exploration!

While you walk in streets or surfing on Instagram, have you ever seen a painting or a drawing on a wall, and wondered “Is this also a piece of art?” Now, it’s time to figure it out! You are going on an adventure of “Street Art.” You’ll learn about its history, types and techniques of street art, and make your own art. Continue scrolling to start your adventure! (You can click on the menu above to see the content in a clear format.)

Who Am I?

I’m Ebru Gül Şahin. I’m a junior student of Foreign Language Education Department at Boğaziçi University. I love street art because it turns usual, public places into an art exhibition. I prepared this site to share my enthusiasm about street art, and make people respect it as a form of art. I hope you’ll enjoy!

Inquire

What comes to your mind when you hear “street art”? Vandalism, illegality, scribbles, freedom of expression, colorful murals?

  • Is street art a legitimate form of art? Does it violate people’s rights?
  • Does street artists have a right to protect their pieces?
  • How street art has gained popularity from just being an illegal activity?
  • What are the types of street art?
  • What are the techniques?

Let’s find answers to these questions…

Hook

Street art has many forms like graffiti, wheatpaste, installations, stickers and stencils. For example, worldly-known political activist and street artist Banksy uses stencils because it’s fast to do, so he doesn’t get caught by the police. Yet, some street artists keep working legally, even open their own gallery exhibitions. For instance, eL Seed was awarded the Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture by UNESCO for his innovative “calligraffiti” style. Here are some more interesting facts:

  • The earliest examples of graffiti were found on ancient Roman architecture as images carved onto walls.
  • Probably the pioneer of street art or at least graffiti is Darryl McCray a.k.a Cornbread starting tagging his nickname on Philadelphia walls, even on the plane of Jacksons 5 group!
  • While graffiti is mostly illegal wherever you go, there are about 1,650 legal graffiti walls around the world.
  •  Some associations against graffiti and street art have been founded like RAGE-Residents Against Graffiti Everywhere. The Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network was founded in 1984 to fight the spread of graffiti.
  • Many street artists remain anonymous to protect their identity and reputation, as well as avoid legal consequences.

If you want to explore more facts, you can check out these websites:

source 1

source 2

source 3

You can dive into the ocean of street art with the following websites. Google presents the artworks and processes of them from all over the world, offers online exhibitions, share stories of street artists and more.

google street art

google street art project

To learn more about street artists and their work, take a look at this site!

street artist biographies

Here is a video about interesting street art examples:

Now, how about making your own street art? Let your creativity sparkle! Here are two websites for this (click on the pictures) :

First, choose a background. Then you can change your spray can’s size from the first 3 can images, and choose a color. After finishing your work, you can download your art piece by clicking on the arrow.

Click on the start button. To create your art, you can use rollers, spray cans, stamps and stickers. You can change the color at the bottom of the wall, and download your work by clicking on the save button.

Organize

In this learning adventure, organizing your newly-learned knowledge would be a good strategy to get a long-term benefit. In the attachment, there is an organization chart I prepared for you. You will fill the charts as you progress through sections on the website. You can print it if you want.

organize

Explore

Now, it’s time to find out the answers of the questions at the inquire section. I’ll provide some sources for you to search. You can expand your research starting from these example sources.

1)Is street art a legitimate form of art? Does it violate people’s rights?

The sites below discuss whether street art is legal or illegal-in other words vandalism. They provide some important information about under what conditions street art is legitimate.

Street art or vandalism?

What is Street Art? Vandalism, graffiti or public art – Part I

Is Street Art a Legitimate Art Form?

2)Does street artists have a right to protect their art pieces?

Following sources discuss street artists’ copyright issues under UK and USA laws, and give some example lawsuits about these issues. Because they are written by attorneys, you can skip unnecessary details.

Unchartered Territory: Enforcing an Artist’s Rights in Street Art

Copyright Protection of Street Art and Graffiti under UK Law

3)How street art has gained popularity from just being an illegal activity?

Here are some websites to learn about street art’s history.

The History of Street Art

About Graffiti and Street Art

From Style Writing to Art

4)What are the terms and types of street art?

These sources introduce street art terms like stencil, mural etc. and explain different types of street art like installation and wheat-paste.

14 Street Art Terms—Illustrated!

Top 10 Types of Street Arts

9 Different Forms of Street Art

5)What are the techniques for making street art?

The most popular forms are graffiti, murals and stencils. That’s why I give sources for these forms. If you’re interested in the other forms, information is beyond a few clicks. Also, I give the links for just the 1st parts of the tutorials. Click on the channels to see more. You can subscribe to Spray Daily and Bombing Science channels.

Graffiti Letters, Sketching Techniques Part 1

Graffiti Sketch Tutorial (PART 1) // GRAFFITI TUTORIALS

Basic Graffiti and street art techniques

Street art course 1 of 10 / Basics

Basic Mural Techniques + Character Challenge

STENCIL GRAFFITI ART Tutorial – Banksy Example

How To: Cut a Stencil EASILY

Don’t forget to fill the organizing sheet if you want your knowledge to be long lasting.

 

 

Show What You Know

Now, it’s time for practice! I want you to choose a type of street art which is easy for you to do in terms of materials, techniques etc., and create your own art. You can use pencils and a paper, use web-based softwares or apps in your phone, it depends on your resources. You will post your works on the comment section. Your works will be evaluated according to its type, whether correct techniques are applied and whether it reflects the characteristics of its type. If you think you’re not advanced enough to produce your own work, you can choose a street artist, and make a work that artist can do, I mean a piece with their style and their works’ characteristics. Below I provide some example websites and apps to make your work easier:

Free Picture Stencil Maker: a website for you to turn your images into stencils

Make Pixel Art: a website for you to create art from pixels like the street artist Invader

Sketchpad: a software for you to draw art by using many different tools

Silk: a website for you to draw lighted symmetrical shapes

Graffiti Creator: a website for you to create graffiti

SketchAR: a telephone app for you to draw easily by using augmented reality

Street Art Creator: a website for you to create murals

Street Art Maker: a website for you to create street art by using different techniques like stickers or rollers

Stencil Graffiti Creator: a website for you to create stencil art

Apply

If you want to pursue a career related to street art, you can check out the following occupations. Of course every job including art can be your choice.

Street Artist

You can turn your hobby into a job. By getting orders from clients or selling your artworks, you can gain money. If you’re in doubt, search for worth of Banksy’s works.

Graffiti Artist

A working life: The graffiti artist

Graphic Designer

If you want to carry your work into a digital environment, you can think of being a graphic designer. Graphic designers utilize all literal, symbolic and technical means available to artistically convey an employer’s or client’s targeted message. The field inherently embraces all methodologies applied to the creation of Art in the 21st century, and is interwoven with nearly every major industry and profession that involves visual communication.

Graphic Designer

 

A Letter to You

Welcome to Street Art Explorer! Here are a few things you should know before starting your learning adventure:

The purpose of the activities:

You will go through different sections to know more about street art as an art form, its history, types and techniques. After getting some basic knowledge, you will create your own street art. These activities will prepare you for this outcome.

Helpful hints:

You may need to download the organizing sheet to put your knowledge onto paper, and make it long-lasting.

Materials needed:

They depend on the availability of your resources. At least, papers and pencils would be necessary to produce a work.

Opportunities for extension:

Wandering around streets, surfing on the internet, Instagram or street art apps will enable you to see more street art. If you want to explore more, here are some books about street art:

Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art

Arabic Graffiti

Street World: Urban Art and Culture from Five Continents

Street Sketchbook: Inside the Journals of International Street and Graffiti Artists

How to Draw Graffiti Style

The Art of Spray Paint: Inspirations and Techniques from Masters of Aerosol

Learning objectives:

You will be able to define street art, differentiate between its early and recent characteristics, discuss its legitimacy, distinguish different types and techniques of street art, and create your own street art at the end of this learning adventure.