How to create a Piece Part 1

The word Piece comes from 'Master Piece' and was the original term used by graffiti writers for doing their name in a more elaborate way then say bubble letters (throw-up) or a signature (tag). There are many ways to create a piece (good & bad) and of course there are many, many styles within graffiti hip hop culture.

Here are some simple steps toward creating a piece: Start with the line-up. This is a basic outline of what your design looks like. The better artists will use a light colour (white) for their first sketch and then improve on it with a secondary line up colour (Blue in this case) to make it perfect.


The 3D: Pick your colours and fill in the 3D drop down or block shadow section. This give a 3 dimensional effect as the name suggests. There are many ways to fill in the 3D, it can be simple or complicated and is usually a contrasting colour to the letters. You can see that the beginning of the background (black) has also been added here after the 3D is completed.


The Fill: Next post will continue the project with the next elements, the base & detail fills, outlines and more.

How to create a Piece Part 2

Base Fill: So after doing the line up and finishing the 3D, we move onto the base fill. With this part of the piece the options are limitless. Some artists try to cram as much crazy into their fills as possible, whilst other keep them very simple. There are as many reasons as there are styles as to how you would do your fill. Essentially, the fill is done to create or 'fill in' the letters and usually a contrasting colour to the other elements is used. In this case greens and browns are used to bounce of the pinks in the 3D. A series of fades are done to blend the colours in a rough way to each other. As you can see the fill starts giving some body to the overall piece and it becomes more visible.



Detail Fill & Background: From here we can add extra detail elements to the fill, they could be fine lines, dots, bubbles, stars and almost anything else you can think of. Again this is a time for considerations, too much detail can ruin the overall visibility of the piece. There is often a big temptation to cram as much into the piece as possible, this is usually not a good thing.

After the details in the fill is complete, you can move onto the background, this allows for keeping a very sharp edge around the overall lettering and helps to make the outline easier and better to do. In this case complimentary colours to the 3D are used which is a nice tie in and offers some balance. As you can see the 3 yellow crowns are also filled and outlined, while a black bottom bubble is finished.

How to create a Piece Part 3

The Outline: So after working on our line up, fill and background, we come to the final part, the outline. It's the outline that defines the letters and brings the whole piece together, so it's pretty important to get right!

There are many ways of doing the out line, from fine lines with can control, to cutting back or just using a one stroke outline with a slightly fatter nozzle on the can. Each technique has it's own merit and skill involved (which goes beyond this post). Essentially, you want to pick a colour that will give good contrast and bring the whole piece together. The outline goes around the letters & the 3D.


After the outline, you can put a key-line around it (blue) and add some highlights & sparkles to give it some bounce (white shiners). Once that's done, you can add any other messages or shout outs and your finished!


Sign it off & don't forget to take a photo.

This process of creating a quality piece of Aerosol Art is what HYPED Edutainment does to help young people at Schools, Community Groups and with Councils all over Australia. If you think you might gain some extra knowledge or skill by participating in one of our workshops or if you know someone that might, then please drop us an email.

It's all about positive engagement, breaking down stereotypes and being creative. It could be a one on mentoring program, a group workshop & exhibition or a large scale public mural project, HYPED Edutainment is here to help bring about meaningful outcomes for young and emerging artists and connecting with the community in a positive may.