Graffiti letters may conform to any number of styles.
Graffiti tags color many urban areas, and over the years it has become an art form unto itself. No hard and fast rules apply to creating graffiti tags so styles change based on the artist. Developing your own personal alphabet begins and ends with your imagination. Start small and simple, and as you become more confident in your abilities your graffiti will continue to improve.
Instructions
1. Consider what type of graffiti you want to draw. Styles of graffiti range from the cute and popular bubble type to the jagged-edged wild style graffiti. Looking at photos of graffiti tags may help you decide on a style that suits you.
2. Decide what you want to write. While you can write anything, you might want to start by developing a personal signature.
3. Use your pencil to lightly write your name--or whatever text you decided--on a sheet of paper. Leave plenty of space between the letters as this will serve as kind of "skeleton" for your graffiti.
4. Flesh out your letters using your original writing as a guide. Still using a pencil, sketch the shape of each letter. Let the characters overlap in areas. Depending on the style you decide to emulate, you might use soft, curving lines or sharp, angular lines. Stretch points or curves in the letters to achieve the stylized look prominent in graffiti art.
5. Add embellishments to your basic outline. Continue working in pencil so that you can erase lines that don't please you. For softer styles of graffiti you'll probably need very little embellishment beyond maybe adding some reflections in the letters. If working with an edgier style, consider extending points on a few of the letters' corners or even creating shapes that twist and turn, and envelop the primary word.
6. Go over your outlines with a black marker once you are happy with the sketch. Use varying line thickness to create the illusion of depth. If your tag has shapes in the background, use thinner lines for those. The focal point--usually the word, but not always--should have thick lines.
7. Allow the marker to dry completely and then erase all the pencil lines.
8. Color your graffiti using markers or colored pencils. Both mediums have their own advantages; markers provide brilliant colors, but colored pencils allow for smooth blending of colors.
