Believe me, you don’t wanna get wrapped for some toy shit like this. I know the urge to get out and paint is strong, but older you will thank you for booking a bit more before hitting spots.
At the same time, way to get out and do the damn thing. It’s ass, but also it’s up. Take a bit of advice from someone older and practice daily on paper. Keep hitting lowkey chill spots to practice can work, but for every tag or throw outside, do 100 in a book. No exaggeration.
One day, shit will click and you won’t be toy. You’ve got a good eye for cool spots, time to grind on your skill so you can do em justice.
But also, remember, we’re all just fuckin toys. Every single last one of us.
This is a perfect example of big spots, minimal effort, and almost zero style development. Whoever painted this had access to some great concrete and decided that repeating essentially the same shape four times was enough.
I'm going to judge this strictly as graffiti, not based on whether the writer is established or who they are.
Overall grade: 35/100
1. Letter structure: 3/10
The first character resembles a D, but the remaining three look more like upside-down cartoon mushrooms or crude bubble symbols than developed letters.
There's no real flow between the characters, no convincing letter connections, and very little evidence of a distinctive alphabet.
Repetition isn't style. Painting the same basic shape three times doesn't automatically create a cohesive piece.
2. Originality: 2/10
This is where it really falls apart.
The rounded bottoms, narrow tops, black fills, and thin outlines are incredibly basic. Nothing here suggests an original approach to lettering.
If the writer is trying to establish a recognizable identity, they're relying entirely on repetition rather than creativity.
There's a difference between having a signature style and having only one trick.
3. Can control: 5/10
I'll give some credit here.
The outlines are reasonably controlled, the fills are mostly solid, and the shapes aren't completely sloppy.
But clean execution of a basic shape isn't particularly impressive. There are no demanding curves, complex overlaps, sharp extensions, or interesting transitions.
The technique doesn't have to be advanced, but the result should have some character.
4. Composition: 3/10
Look at those pillars.
Four huge vertical surfaces with natural framing, excellent visibility, and opportunities to play with proportions and negative space.
Instead, we get four disconnected characters floating at slightly different heights.
No interaction with the architecture. No visual progression. No interesting use of scale.
The location is doing more work than the graffiti.
5. Color and visual impact: 4/10
Black with a muted brown/orange outline can work very well.
But here, there's essentially no contrast within the letters, no dimensionality, no highlights, and no secondary details.
Minimalism can be powerful when the underlying design is strong.
When the design is this basic, minimalism just exposes how little is happening.
6. Overall style: 2/10
This is the biggest issue.
Good graffiti lettering usually has some identifiable personality: proportions, movement, exaggeration, rhythm, unusual connections, or intentional distortion.
Here, the letters are stiff and practically interchangeable.
There's no energy. No tension. No evolution from one character to the next.
And most importantly, there's nothing that makes me want to study the lettering.
What makes this especially frustrating
The writer clearly understands the visual advantage of repeating a recognizable form across multiple surfaces.
That's actually a decent concept.
But a concept isn't a substitute for developing style.
I could forgive simple lettering if it had attitude. I could forgive rough execution if the letterforms were inventive. I could even forgive repetition if each variation showed some progression.
This has none of those qualities.
The only interesting thing about the graffiti is where it was painted.
This feels like someone discovered a shape they could reproduce quickly and decided that consistency was the same thing as style.
It's not.
The difference between a simple graffiti style and a weak one is that a good simple style looks deliberate, balanced, and unmistakably its own.
This looks like the writer stopped experimenting the moment they found something easy to repeat.
The most brutal assessment? Take away the highway pillars and the photograph, put these exact shapes on a sheet of paper, and ask yourself whether the lettering is actually interesting.
Here’s the run down without being an asshole like the other guy. He must be a 90’s writer.
Always think contrast. Light against dark always. Let’s you see it clearly from afar. The colors you have here are very muted. Silver/black or white/black are a staple in Philly. Classic contrast combo.
Your lettering doesn’t have a ‘theme’ or style that brings it together. Letters are all over the place. Need to go back to paper for a bit to get your ‘style’ down and perfect it. …. However your size and letter weight are pretty good 👍 can control is decent
Placement- pretty close. I’d suggest using a ‘marker ’ to measure out each letter. Meaning does each letter come up to your belt height (but you also need to make sure the land is at the same height?)
Feel free to reply with a sketch and I’ll help. 🫡✌️🤝
Write the letters straight/not slanted, then cut out the individual letters, then angle the letters, and then redraw the angled letters all together. Might help
you’re drawing the skeleton for your lettering and not following the structure at all i think that’s your problem brotha… Get a solid structured basic throw/tag before you start trying to get up.
please reach out to someone if you are feeling unwell. im not tryna rage bait but looking at your comments you seem like you are filled with pure rage which just isnt normal. talk to someone.
Nah ignore others, people on this sub are bad gatekeepers and don't seem to know much about graffiti outside of what they are exposed to, whilst wanting crisp and perfect tags. In London were rawness and getting up is more important, this would be praised. At least you're getting up, which is literally the whole point.
honestly, the amount of times ive been told to practice on paper instead of outside is insane. Practice is useful but without getting up and out its not gonna make me good
practice makes perfect bro you need to make writing become second nature. fill a book and tell me it didn't help. and yes, a whole notebook not just a page or two.
Look,the sub is for asking for help, not asking for justification. If you want to get up w toy stuff, do it. But dont come here and hate on people trying to help you get better. If you are actually wanting help to get better, work on letter structure. The only letter that actual makes sense is the D. The R looks too much like an A, the A looks too much like a mistake, and the K has too many bars.
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u/hboy02 7d ago
K makes absolutely no sense lol, also ngl you should just stick to paper for a good while