Graffiti is much more appealling if you can decipher the letters in the first place. Reading tags around town and then being able to match them up to the bigger brighter pieces is one of the greater joys of the art form. The secret to figuring out the letter styles is actually in the tags (and when I say 'tags' I mean the little, monochromatic signatures that are rarely no larger than a writers own wingspan. Any bigger than that and you're qualifying for throw-up status. Larger and more intricate than that is the piece, short for masterpiece.Uhh...how lame do I sound breaking this down...)
Whatever. This truck that I saw in Manhattan iss a true wonder of the craft and obviously executed by some serious masters. I want you all who read this blog to be to be able to read this piece and really look into it. The way I was able to unlockout these names in the first place was by first finding the tag next tothe pieces. "The tags next to the pieces: A signature of a signature" There's usually always one there like the legend on a map.
Once you've found the tag and read the name, the letters in the piece begin to reveal themselves. If you can see the original letterforms you can begin to appreciate the permutations of the artist's own style. This piece by KEO on the back of this truck is full of extra bits and serifs and vroom-vrooms that make the letters go zoom-zoom. With all that there it can be hard to cut through all the adornments and see the letters. So here I've redrawn KEO's piece for easier legibility in hopes of allowing greater appreciation for what he did.
Its commonplace for two letters side-by-side to share a leg or a stem but this is the first time that I can recall ever seeing three letters all come together on one common point. The white triangle in the middle of my drawing is for KEO a nexus for the leg of K, the bottom rung of the E, and the base of the O. Whoa. Word. And the alligator character poking out of the manhole cover to boot!
Also: Having just gotten that BK book back today, I'm giddily flipping thru the pages and admiring all the signatures I amassed on my campaign northerly. No less than 7! And not one of them some scribbled crap I can't boast about. In fact, the morning I ran into that all-woman production on the corner of Bedford Ave and S. 5th St., this guy showed up to watch: TATU the founder and president of the XMEN crew, the same crew KEO reps on the truck. I asked him to write in my book and this is what he gave me back
Read his story here and check out KEO's blog too while you're at it.
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