Graffiti Tags Tutorial - Everything You Need To Know

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In this video you're going to learn all about tags and handstyles in graffiti. I'll teach you everything you need to know about tags in todays tutorial. This will not only show you how to practice them but also how to develop your tags. Tags in graffiti are the basis of all graffiti so learning this and getting a good foundation in this is super important. If you dont get this down pat you will not improve.
#howtodograffiti
#graffiti #streetart
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Music
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Jeff Kaale
Song name:That Day and Dancing in the Moonlight
music by : soundcloud.com/jeff-kaale
Instagram : jeffkaale

[@armyofkittenszyzzbruh62]

btw thank you so much grim i really appreciate all the help you have given me even though we dont really know eachother much thank you for mentoring me it really means alot to me man so thank you!

[@Theartistblock]

no problem man I'm glad I can help so many people including you and you're right, it really is a mentorship and im glad i can be that for people

[@xDRAGONSHAGGERx]

@@Theartistblock it really is! You just have that magic Bro, people wanna learn from you and you wanna teach :) it's a beautiful thing! Thank you!!

[@John-mf6ky]

@@Theartistblock a few weeks over uh-huh o iu here 😂😂😂😂😂💀

[@nkarma4491]

Jesus Christ is King of all things and He is Lord of Lords ! ! ! He loves us so much that he did die on the cross for us, for our sins ! ! ! ❤️✝️❤️

[@Emofilmermaybe]

@@Theartistblockwhere can I find proper variant charts?

[@spencergeller2236]

I’m serious when I say to everyone watching this video that this is ALL you need to get better at graffiti. Watch carefully, practice diligently and with purpose and you WILL improve. Letter structure, name weight, negative space management, staying on your mean line... this dictates how good your work will be, whether it be a tag or a wildstyle. Grim is a world-class teacher of this subject and it’d be a disservice to yourself if you ignored the basics he lays out here.

[@Theartistblock]

lmao thanks man that was very sweet and kind of you, i really appreciate it man! Thanks truly lol

[@ChineseIsEasy]

You’re seriously next level as a teacher and an artist. It’s stuff like this that makes KZbin life-changing. Thanks mate

[@jmartin9865]

This is absolute genius. I’m pushing 50 and grew up around guys bombing NYC cars and whatnot and always tried to apply my own talents to the can but never could. I’m a graphic designer by trade and never heard of graf described like this and always thought of it as a free for all with zero rules. Makes so much sense. Thanks!

[@moke-snipes2952]

I'm sure alot of people been waiting for this tutorial

[@darkshark1995]

I have

[@oscarc.rivera3450]

Go out and practice graffiti while you "wait" u better take over yiur nearest billboard >=]

[@jaqummh]

Tags are shit and the little destruction bombs of respect towards street art, reason for graffiti is notorious

[@3low232]

@@jaqummhlmao thats because graff aint street art

[@jaqummh]

@@3low232 true, tags are like dog shit 😅

[@huntersmall4373]

One thing that impacted the most is, "Style is the exaggeration of the fundamentals'" I've been trying to figure out how artists do really cool things with their letters for a while. Thanks!

[@Forklifter87]

This one was long awaited!!

[@catbat06]

Thank you for approaching this from an angle of legitimate theory, 90% of tutorials are either artists that don't know real graffiti or writers who don't know how to articulate the rules.

[@robw.7139]

Big props to this dude. Helped me out ALOT a few years back when I had I had no contacts in the graff world. Don't know WHERE I would be if it wasn't for Grim Thanks for keeping it real,

[@earth2malak]

I’m like dat rn, any tips u got?

[@robw.7139]

@@earth2malak keep it up

[@robw.7139]

@@earth2malak you'll find them

[@jahnniii]

Facts

[@williamibanez394]

This was extremely helpful. I do graphic design full time and sometimes we're asked to emulate certain aesthetics. Amazing how there's overlap between the professions.

[@llllllllllll270]

“you need to know the rules before you can break them” nice quote

[@maadenramos2068]

i cant stand watching alot of the artist on youtube, they're such dorks. i can watch you no problem... nice tutorial man!

[@Theartistblock]

lmao thanks man but im afraid i just might be a huuuuge dork myself lol

[@bepodujmovic4984]

@@Theartistblock well at least you know what youre talking about

[@cit2braine]

Dorks or dokes? ;)

[@bigfootlza6177]

@@cit2braine haha nice one!

[@prisma8525]

@@cit2braine I see you're a Doke fan as well :D

[@galopeian]

this should be the first video that new people watch. tagging is the most important. you need a good tag before anything else. study this and if u come from a city with regional handstyles (sf, baltimore, sao paulo, philly, L.A.) , study the letter structure. then u learn how to do throwups and then block letters. keep it simple and put your name up everywhere real legible for years.

[@brake2064]

Thank you Grim! Although I wouldn't say that I am a Beginner Writer, I am super hyped about this week and can't wait to see the next one!! Now it's clear- I AM ADDICTED to the tutorial series😂😁😊

[@CrimsonSkyz500]

Youre such a great KZbinr. The information and tips you provide. The techniques you provide. Theres none other like it on KZbin. You were a major step for me in getting into Graffiti. I was "doing" it on paper in art class since I was 13. But it had no form. No basic boxes. Found your channel when I was 17 and it helped guide me tremendously. Im 19 now and one of the main 10 artists in my city. I would absolutely love and appreciate more videos on Pieces. Ive tried and tried again. But nothings great. I got a really basic semi stylized straight letter that I got an outline for and its been sitting on the shelf for months because I dont feel like its worthy of being a piece. Have no clue where to go or what to do with a piece.

[@Theartistblock]

i really appreciate it man that is crazy flattering :D . i have a video on pieces coming out today actually, it should help clear some stuff up

[@Ihealstupids555]

I’ve been following you for many years and I appreciate all the hard work you’ve done for us who want to learn.

[@matthewpatterson1943]

I started practicing at least 10 minutes every night for the past week and i keep rewatching this video to try and help, I'll watch tag machine to get inspiration

[@adevore1971]

Did you keep at it?

[@matthewpatterson1943]

@@adevore1971 for the most part tho i branched out to other forms of spray paint art

[@Idkbru78]

all i do is practice my pieces and occasionally throwups so this is a huge help i haven't been in the game for a long time but what i do know is that a handstyle shows the overall skill level of a graff artist

[@hgas69]

for the past couple months i’ve been re watching these videos again and again every couple weeks or so and i think it helps a lot

[@Bkesal14]

This right here is that dope shit. Thank you so much for packing in a tremendous amount of helpful info into such a concise video. You're a natural teacher, my man!

[@valdo.8159]

i always come back to this video it’s nostalgic been following for 2 years already

[@keaton5282]

this man keeps me running through out the day and the only reason i want to get my lazy self up and do something with my life. thanks grim!!!!

[@andrecosta2611]

This is exactly what I needed

[@blackboard212]

hey fam the 2nd var style he showed off do u know any website i could goto to see how the other letters look in that style of writing. looks clean as fck.

[@Xiluasofficial]

im so glad i found this video, been doing calligraphy for years and it never clicked in my head that graffiti is calligraphy by definition and its strikingly similar to traditional styles. ive always wanted to do graffiti and now i will

[@kerewlol3677]

How is it flowing?

[@uncledeath6785]

Dope shit as alwaysss

[@javarjav7523]

I Can't Believe How Far I've Come Just From Watching This Video A Million Times. Thanx Grim

[@porkpk8621]

brother this is an excellent starting point for everyone. thank you for uploading

[@snarkparkmarklark]

As robert welsh, my fave makeup youtuber, says, "there are no rules to creativity in make up, but there is a theory!" and i think that applies to graffiti as well.

[@davidguthrie5708]

As someone who's almost 50 learning cursive allowed us to do a lot of one liners and different freedoms.

[@JTHINNNN]

Dear john, thank you this is great i have been working on my tag for two years since i found this information ive been trying to perfect it since. Tagging is the basic foundation i remember your videos in the darkest places i could do sll three before i souly just started working on my fundamentals only nothing else and someone highjacked my stuff 😢😢

[@charlesrobillard190]

Hey Grim. Love your channel. You are a very good teacher from what I see. I have been blessed to have spent many many years in many art forms. I just wanted to help elaborate on the explanation you gave about character space management. Kerning is individual letter space management. Tracking is overall word space management. Overall negative space management, deals with the combined management of space and how the letters/characters become balanced art. The overall negative space management takes into consideration the relationship between characters and the included surrounding objects and or background. Thank you for all your efforts. God Bless.

[@Theartistblock]

Lol thanks you hit the nail on the head

[@adriansimmons5700]

I have re-learned a lot of stuff from you Grim. When I was growing up in the A(Atlanta) I never knew anybody my age back then doing graffiti. I got my lessons from graffiti documentaries on GPTV, the first time I saw style wars and always looked for more. I started looking up stuff back in 2013-14 on the art and none of it seemed to be as informative as your channel and a few others, but your channel has helped me see I was doing a lot of things wrong and some things right. Im re-doing it all and thank you bruh. I mean it.✊

[@DJO1O1]

So incredibly useful! Also, all the typography theory stuff was super interesting. I'm definitely about to go into a rabbit hole.

[@kotacaelum9428]

i’ve picked up on throwies and pieces faster than handstyles so thanks for making something that can help

[@AS34N]

The whole "x" representing a "y" axis is hella messin with me. But as a new artist I can confirm the validity of your statements at the beginning of the vid. I learned alot, thank you. You earned my sub for sure!

[@flordevloto9267]

omg loved the video! i actually learned the basics two years ago with ur channel!!!!! keep up the good work playa

[@JunoCat1890]

You are like the Marc Brunet of the graffiti yt, ur content is super educational

[@saintscordo222]

something i love to do that looks good in a blackbook nd is just all around fun, do a tag with a highlighter and outline and add some 3d or drop shadow to give it some depth, looks really sick if you’re not very good at piecing or just starting off

[@moneybagsrivera3009]

Bro I can watch u all day ur awesome bro, I wish I lived around u so we can do something big but keep up the good work bro God bless

[@bestyoueverhad100]

Dude I’ve watched every video he has teaching/breaking shit down I when I tell yu that I thought I knew everything about graff until I seen his shit...ohh boyyy! He’s the shit tho man

[@cav141]

Thanks for helping me out with tags, now I’ve watched this I can write tags 👍

[@Chizbizzy]

Been awhile since ive honestly enjoyed a video of yours. Not only was this longer than 5 mins, but it captivated me from beginning to end. Great job man well done. Thank you.

[@Theartistblock]

lol im glad to hear that man thanks a ton!!!

[@amaj5687]

It feels like he's teaching us how to write....just as a kindergarten

[@smokintoes]

That's exactly his point, too. You gotta perfect the fundamental, elementary letterwork before you can exaggerate it.

[@benjiarias9599]

not really. At type class in the DesignUniversity we need to do this lines to understand the shapes and components of typography, like lowcase letters heigh and all of that. Pretty cool they use it in graffitti actually

[@Chaotic-m7u]

Cry abt it

[@jezzapromtesausrap]

Yesss! Thank you! This kinda helps! Was only asking about this in most recent clip! Scroll through your list, BOOM! This beauty pops up! Now to get more confident! Thank you legend

[@fixihartmann4574]

I just started graffiti and thougt it wad just basic lettering and now that i am a little more deep into it i realised its WAYYY more than just that. Anyways nice tutorial it really helped me out and keep going like this!

[@STiiiLO]

This was dope. I’m excited

[@dmercy946]

Please continue this !!

[@Theartistblock]

next video drops tomorrow 3:30 pm est homie! I'm excited to share it with you guys

[@frankcastle4715]

@@Theartistblock im still waiting. Jk your work is awesome 😂😂

[@ImRefraction]

very well done for sure going to be sending this to anyone who hits me up looking to get into it

[@blackboard212]

hey fam the 2nd var style he showed off do u know any website i could goto to see how the other letters look in that style of writing. looks clean as fck.

[@Theartistblock]

its just different print fonts is all, nothing fancy or hard to find.

[@kodubbe]

thanks so much for doing this bro, much respect! cant wait for the series!

[@graffseason7887]

When I first found this channel I had mixed feelings. I’m kinda old and I’ve been raised in graffiti culture so at first I resented the idea if someone “teaching” graffiti .. after watching a lot of your tutorials however I’ve come to respect your analysis and breakdowns of the art form .. the initial resentment was probably just because there was nothing like this when I came up - we had to learn from older writers, lots of practice - and if you were lucky someone skilled would break down the concepts and origins of different styles for you. I still somewhat resent how social media has affected graff but it’s not all bad. .. the internet has made the world small. Back in the day each boro had a distinguishable handstyle . That’s no longer the case. Now people can bite from around the world .. but on a positive note : social media has brought graff culture to the entire world and it will never die. .. ✌️

[@adevore1971]

May I ask how "old" you are? :)

[@yaboivinny5843]

This guys videos have helped me A LOT thank you bro ❤

[@maxparker3963]

Yo thank you so much for this tutorial. I’m a high school sociology teacher and gonna use this for one of my lesson activities on graffiti.

[@skatenate7252]

Super appreciate your approach to creating a legit teaching style . As far as that R being toy...if the letters are all basic and looking a certain way than that r doesnt make sense. Look at crazy mexican writers like BUSTER [ best tagger imo ...all subjective] Have created alphabets based on Cartoon style letters ...that zig zag in the r is common but works with every other letter. Might not be conventional but there is no denying he is amazing

[@Richard-od3gc]

Chino occasionally comes to London in England. He writes with oker and dels ykk crew. Oker has done quite alot in NY

[@2pac1411]

Really good stuff man,can't wait for more!

[@Theartistblock]

next one is tomorrow 3:30pm est. i believe it's straight letters tomorrow seeing as i already have 2 really good videos on throw ups

[@2pac1411]

@@Theartistblock hyyyyype! also I wouldn't mind even more videos on throws hahah

[@yourboiFluff]

Back to the basics.

[@deanbaker3418]

Grim. As a fan of Graf. Love your knowledge. As a teacher, I have a few pointers. Add some more structure to your lessons with title cards and lists of important info. Given that your teaching writing you can use the cards to highlight and give examples of what your talking about. Regardless, the like has been smashed. I Appreciate your content.

[@Theartistblock]

Thanks man I'll try to do better with sectioning off important info and all that for sure. thanks

[@deanbaker3418]

The rest of the series has been great! Keep up the hard work. Love the hands on demo segments!

[@JohnDoes620]

God even just a simple line with a chisel tip looks great

[@teralee4987]

Finally - some good graffiti tutorials! Thank you so much for the great videos

[@RayenVenzor-Enrique]

thanks grim😆

[@jasondsuttle5833]

Dope thats what i was looking out for

[@shesacutedoll]

i remember watching this video when i first started and my tag was absolute shit 😭, now my tag is actually quite nice ! tysm

[@webbspinner57]

Another reason many new graff artist have weird tags is the idea that it has got to be super fast... which isnt the case

[@Theartistblock]

TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTH

[@hawkeyr6]

Oath to that and they try to make the whole letter one line when it can be done in multiple

[@jankuavs3578]

yes I’ll admit when I started about a year ago I kinda thought that that’s why I had a weird looking hand style but then I practiced and learned from my errors and by watching this channel I’ve learned so many ways on how to improve

[@ricolaw2571]

Back when I started and we're talkin in the 90s, I was taught that your tag had to be done in 4 seconds or less. as I progressed I learned that there is a time to have to be quick, and then there is a time where it's not as critical

[@hawkeyr6]

Rico Law yeah for sure I have a mix of tags quick simple ones, one liners, and ofc stuff that I wanna take my time with while using a fat cap or something

[@alexpopovic8522]

it is always good to go back to basics and refine my knowledge, i guess i have seen it more than 10 times

[@alaysjaclark861]

this is super helpful!! you're great at explaining and relating ideas

[@KersekGraff]

Dropping in after a year of doing graff to brush back on those fundamentals!

[@taevs]

great video homie, and very helpful tutorial

[@angels9615]

thank you for sharing your knowledge for free like that 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻❤️❤️

[@booper343]

Years ago I watched a documentary on graffiti and SEEN was shown a lot. I've waited to see it and hope I will someday.

[@Theartistblock]

style wars my friend, i believe thats the movie you're talking about. its also where my intro comes from

[@rbdriftin]

Excellent video, it really changed the way I view tags and lettering.

[@erickuster9128]

Oh man been waiting for this series excellent

[@vilmariehernandez1189]

Thanks so much all of this advice was super helpful!

[@filo5930]

great to know all this homs , love the content!

[@shillionaire]

Used to have to learn all of this out in the cold. Thanks!

[@J_liz]

My dad use to do graffiti so this is very helpful 😊👍🏿

[@Asian_Kid]

Could every name have a *clean* one line tag? Or are some names/letter combinations just impossible to do that?

[@Theartistblock]

@@Asian_Kid all names can do whatever you need them to do including oneline tags, throwies and pieces

[@AHeadC]

The 'R' looks like a guy that would be on an Operation Ivy album cover.

[@graffitiatoz649]

Great info. Keep up the great work. Love it.

[@kennethwalkerii7339]

I appreciate ur "product knowledge" very clear and inteligable. Big words. . I grew up in East San Diego inner city schools... Don't let the smooth taste fool ya. I know grimey but I SPEAK more proper being mixed... I caught A LOT of $#!+ but 8ts like being bilingual... And I can hear ur "accent" too bruh lol. Good content

[@Theartistblock]

Lol grew up in norther jersey with a hard jersey accent and tons of slang not to mention growing up around tons of Spanish speakers on my moms side. My dad always put a focus on speaking properly and being well spoken. It's something I held onto and as an adult I'm glad. Thanks for the love man

[@niconine268]

Great frikkin tut. Negates all the BS straight up. You're one hella teach

[@rogerschneiter]

Hey Grim, I just stumbeld upon your tutorial series and I'm excited to go through all of it. One Question about this video. Can you see all Variant Structures for the letters somewhere? Because you said, theres a finite amout of possible variations. Thanks for your work man. Appreciate it

[@xzr4yzx]

we gettin out of the toybox wit this one boys ✊✊✊✊ [fr though this is an awesome video, I hope to learn the correct way the first time I try graffiti and not be stuck doing stupid shit for years LOL.]

[@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX-]

I think I'm really lucky because my graphic designer dad taught me some basics of calligraphy from a young age. If im not mistaken the romans had specific rules for their letters which we still reference today right? (keep in mind i was like 7 or 8 when i learned this). Not to claim that it is the key to gitting gud at graff, but i really feel like it helped

[@spencergeller2236]

Learning Calligraphy is more than enough to being great at graffiti. Calligraphy is much harder than graffiti AND has most of the basic fundamentals that govern them both.

[@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX-]

Spencer Geller also i should clarify. I dont actually know know calligraphy. I only learned enough to get a feel for it and that really helped

[@nathancad]

some of the maddest piecers out there have some of the most basic tag styles

[@donaldkoestel]

Loved this! I definitely learned some stuff

[@mrMarkGaruda]

When you're too early and don't know what to say

[@chriscoralAloha]

Style is just an exaggeration of the fundamentals. As a surfer I cannot agree more.

[@Goldbeakswe]

the funny thing is that a writer by the name "Resk12" actually uses a similar crazy R in one of his tags

[@mdrdisini6978]

i just want to comment something , by the way good video man i really appriciated it!!!..

[@chillpainterchannel5043]

You rock! Excellent tutorial. Thank you!

[@MrTokinwhiteboy]

This is awesome. Will you do a video on all the variants. That would be amazing

[@ericmoore4819]

Thank you thank you thank you !

[@badabingbong2756]

Yo Grim, where did you get the variant structures from? I need to learn them

[@Theartistblock]

I just studied font lol, I'll put out a list of all variant structures that exist. It will take some time but keep an eye out

[@badabingbong2756]

@@Theartistblock Thanks

[@eswareinmalineinemla]

Would you recommend buying a font book to learn them?

[@lcummings4146]

YES please give those variant structures lol

[@mrtamayo85]

Awesome info man! Ty!

[@Maassive]

Heya! In the video you talk about Basic St and Variant St and the need to memorize these finite structures. Where do we find these things to memorize? Bought the tutorial book, but it wasn't in there. Thanks for the vidz!

[@Theartistblock]

its just the basic print fonts we all learned in elementary school. Im going to cover this in its own e book and in the book I'm publishing but ya this is all stuff we already know from penmanship class.

[@Maassive]

@@Theartistblock Thanks. I looked at some of those, but I wasn't able to find one with the variants.

[@Theartistblock]

@@Maassive I'll be sure to put out a full comprehensive list once i wrap up the perspective tutorial I'm working on.Till then a variant structure essentially is an alternate print font. some letters have many and some have none. an example would be normally you have a 3 Box R but the 4 box R would be a variant. the 4 box could be the R that has the two box leg or the two box Bowl R

[@Maassive]

​@@Theartistblock That's great. I look forward to the list. I've been mostly just playing around with Kingspray Graffiti VR during shelter at home, which means I can do a lot of large scale practice.

[@Maassive]

@@Theartistblock Excellent! Also, please let us know if you set up a patreon. I'd subscribe.

[@zubinipedavid6179]

i love how you say “maybe even 400 likes” and the video is at 12k likes😂♥️

[@ghxstly6]

im new but i keep it simple and basic

[@broski6679]

Its sick

[@powdermuaythai]

this is great - thank u

[@exprexyt3532]

so much help thank u