Graffitipix

Graffiti As An Art Form

2010-10-31T01:37:00.000-07:00

By Melanie Ullman
Graffiti is a term used to describe drawings or writings on a wall or public place. It is commonly seen in subways, alleys, or other forms of public property. Some people consider graffiti as vandalism, while others insist that it’s art.

While it’s true that graffiti is sometimes used as a weapon of subversion, it can actually be an immensely positive form of artistic expression. Crude graffiti sometimes involves cheap barbs at symbols of authority, or even vulgar messages. But sometimes graffiti can be a force for change. For example, shreds of the Berlin wall contain graffiti that expresses the feeling of the post-cold-war generation. Many of these artists have no experience of the wall except through history classes. They have no real concept of the pain, suffering, and sacrifice that the long slab of concrete represented. But they do have feelings about it, and these feelings can be understood by analysing the graffiti on that wall.

Another example of positive graffiti is the concept of reverse graffiti. It ranges from using your finger to write ‘wash me’ on a dirty car to scraping images into a dirt stained wall. The concept was popularised by street artists, and is sometimes called grime writing, dust tagging, or clean advertising. Commercial entities use it for guerrilla advertising. These artists suggested that instead of cleaning the accumulated dirt on public surfaces, they should simply modify it. They did this by using chisels, wire brushes, and other tools to scrape images into the grime. The images were mostly themes from nature like trees, animals, and fish. The clean patches of concrete contrasted the dirty patches to make calm, serene pictures.

Graffiti as we know it began in the 1960s, and mainly consisted of images painted on public walls using spray cans. The art is considered illegal, because permission was not sought. Today, some commercial companies hire graffiti artists to decorate their property. It is used as a form of advertising and sometimes promotes social causes. This form of graffiti is more easily recognized as art because of its legality.

Some argue that placing images on public walls is not necessarily a bad thing. From as far back as the Stone Age, people painted animals and other motifs onto rocks and cave walls. We generally assume that these paintings were done on the cave dwellings of the painters, so that wasn’t necessarily graffiti. The walls were private property and were painted with the permission of the owners.

But others argue that very fact that graffiti is illegal proves it’s an art. Many underground movements have produced some of the greatest art, and this is especially true in the music world. This argument is built up by mentioning the time factor. Many graffiti projects are done at night, because the artists don’t want to get caught by the authorities. Yet despite the time limits and the darkness, they are still able to produce immensely beautiful and intricate images. The ability to create such fine work under so much pressure is the mark of a true artist.

Been a while - back in action!

2010-09-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I last updated this blog. The main reason was that I had to put Graffitipix on hold - for a long time.

Much of the issue has been time. I've been caught up in other business ventures which have taken most of my time and energy. However, now that those other businesses are more-or-less stable, I'm able to get back to what I love - great artwork!

I've focused on graffiti art for many years, and have assembled a wonderful collection from Miss Van, Fafi, Banksy, and others. Most of my collection is in the way of 'private' graffiti photographs rather than canvases. I continue to collect photos of great art - and please feel free to continue contacting me if you have any great photo's that you'd like to talk about or sell.

One area that I had gotten into in a big way was Prison Art. In fact, I had started The Prison Art Project (http://www.prisonartproject.org), specifically to collect, show, and sell prison art.

Now that I have the time and opportunity to get back into the whole art thing, this is going to be where a good deal of my focus will be.

If you have any prison art, or correspond with anyone who is locked up and creates art, or has buddies on the inside that do, please contact me.

It's been a long time, and I really look forward to picking up where I left off, and then taking this whole thing way, way further.

I'll be completely revamping the Graffitipix.com website, as well as re-designing and re-launching The Prison Art Project. I still have what is probably one of the largest collections of prison outsider art in existence, at least on this side of the bars.

And so look here for more (and frequent) updates as I kick this whole thing back into gear. In other words, come back and visit soon, and often! If you have any questions, comments, or anything you like to communciate with me about, feel free to leave a comment below.

You can also expect that I will be posting some of the images, both graffiti art and prison art, on this blog. That should be beginning in the next coming weeks.

Thanks to all for your ongoing support!

How To Do Stenciled Graffiti

2009-01-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Stencils, which can be used in graffiti, can be found through the centuries, and this artwork is just as prevalent as acrylics, oil painting, and others. Stenciling can be made from simply a pair of scissors and a cardboard or plastic sheet.

Stenciled graffiti has been getting popular. This form is derivatives of typical spray-paint graffiti and is used to make tagging easier. The idea is to have a stencil and spray over the stencil, leaving a clean mark on the surface.

You can really become creative with this type of graffiti. For a basic form, all you need to do is print out or design and cut it open over a piece of paper or cardboard. Then hold up the design to your canvas and spray paint over it. Simple, right?

Now, here’s where you can have some fun. You can do print screens! Take your design that you wish to paint. You can run it through a computer program and isolate each color. You then print out each design in a layered format, with each color being predominant on each sheet. I would start with two or three different colors.

When you are ready to make your mark, you hold up one of the stencils, and spray it with the first color. This is usually a dark color like black. Then you place the next stencil on top of the picture and spray it the next color. Continue on with the next sheets until your picture is finished.

The effects are nice; you can create a clean and impressive picture with relatively no artistic talent whatsoever. Others may scoff at your work, but point out that it takes talent to create the stencils and to make the silk screen process work correctly.

Want museum-quality prints of some of the most gorgeous and sought-after graffiti art - at absurdly cheap prices? Check out the graffiti prints at GraffitiPix!

Banksy - Protest Graffiti Art!

2008-12-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Banksy is a protest graffiti artist. He is residing in Bristol, UK and his art features an alternative political view that goes against the mass media perspectives. Banksy has been featured in numerous magazines and galleries. His primary use of stencils has lead to groundbreaking artwork that many have tried to emulate and use as inspiration for their work.

Banksy is known for his paid works as well. He has been hired by numerous charitable organizations like Greenpeace to do work for their causes. His canvas works have been sold for up to 25,000 pounds. Banksy is knows for his reclusiveness and no one really knows who he is or his real history.

Banksy is a self published artist, he currently as of 2008 has 4 books out. His first is in black and white called “Banging your head against a brick wall” This was followed by his first full color book, “Existentialism”. Later in 2004, he published his first book called “Cut it out”. His latest book “Wall and piece” came out in 2006.

Banksy’s art is unique. His pictures are all painted from odd perspectives and no one really knows much about him and how he does his work. He does comment and talk about his craft on his website. It’s speculated that he was either too slow for freehand graffiti and would get caught, or he just was not good at freehand.

His work has been seen around the world. His work has shown up after hurricane Katrina on derelict houses. Banksy has been known for his outrageous demonstrations. At the Glastonbury festival, Banksy arranged the portable toilets into a Stonehenge formation. At the art museum that housed the Mona Lisa, Banksy went and put up a replica picture in the men’s room with Lisa having a yellow smile on her face.

Banksy prefers his identity hidden, he has refused receiving many awards to keep up his mystery. All we can do is sit back and enjoy his work, and see what new feats he will come up with.

You can purchase large, museum-quality prints of Banksy's art, starting under $30, at Graffitipix.com!

Graffiti Styles

2008-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

There are many styles of graffiti art in the world. The most basic style was random carvings or paintings that are depictions of the artist’s life, ideals, or values. Through out history, from cave paintings to depictions of life in Pompeii, graffiti gives archeologists and sociologists an idea of the mindset of the general population. Even though in modern cultures, graffiti is considered vandalism, it still leaves a clear message of the education, political mindset, and overall vision of the artists.

The first kind and most popular graffiti is called “tagging” or “bombing”. This was created in the early 70’s when the artist would develop a signature and a handle. Tak182 was the first one credited to start the “bombing” movement. Being a foot messenger, he would ride subways and mark the trains he would ride with his signature “Tak182 was here” The popularity of bombing grew and an artist’s reputation was increased with the number of places (and more difficult) they could tag.

Subway cars were the prime canvas for New York graffiti artists until the anti-graffiti movement in the 80’s. People would break into the stations when the subway cars were stationed for the night and have time to do elaborate murals and even decorate a full car.

This was the start of the “Piece” or masterpiece. An artist would use three or more colors to create block or bubble letters for their signature, along with background images and even some characters to represent the artist.

Another form of graffiti is the “throw-up”. This is similar to the “tag” but uses a few more colors to outline and highlight the work. Speed was the key, as the artist usually does not want to get caught.

The last most common form is stencils. The artist usually will create a stencil from cardboard and will hold it up to their “canvas” and spray over it. This from requires no real artistic talent, but it does make up for speed and intricacy of design.

Miss Van - The Original Graffiti Girl!

2008-12-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Miss Van is a graffiti artist that has been around the graffiti scene since 1991.Born in 1973, Miss Van has been working on her craft since 1991, when she turned 18. Vanessa Alice Bensimon was born in Toulouse, France and has been in love with the art form since she was a child. Currently, she tours the world. Miss Van showcases her artwork in many countries and promotes her craft to as many people as she can.

In 1993, she finally discovered her unique techniques and her preferred medium. She is well renowned in the graffiti world and is an iconic figure for women across the world. When Miss Van hit the scene, she paved the way for women artists in France. Her medium is acrylics. Her style is very cartoonish and charming. Soft features of well rounded women are charming. As does in Europe, a lot of her paintings of women are in the nude form. This is because censorship and nudity are not as taboo for art forms as they are in other nations.

Most of these figures are of women in various moods or stages in life. There are many websites that offer Miss Van prints for reasonable prices. They will ship to various parts of the world and are a great way for someone to familiarize themselves with the wrok of such a great artist. Wall paintings of Miss Van’s work can be found in many places in Toulouse, but she has been hired to paint other areas as well. Currently she showcases her art in a gallery. Her website will show times and places for the viewings, so if you wish to meet the artist and view her work up close and personal, there might be a viewing near you!

NOTE: You can order Miss Van (and Fafi, Nina, Banksy, etc.) prints and receive them in time for Christmas! Go to: http://www.graffitipix.com

The Graffiti Art of Banksy

2008-12-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

Banksy is a protest graffiti artist. He is residing in Bristol, UK and his art features an alterative political view that goes against the mass media perspectives. Banksy has been featured in numerous magazines and galleries. His primary use of stencils has lead to groundbreaking artwork that many have tried to emulate and use as inspiration for their work.

Banksy is known for his paid works as well. He has been hired by numerous charitable organizations like Greenpeace to do work for their causes. His canvas works have been sold for up to 25,000 pounds. Banksy is knows for his reclusiveness and no one really knows who he is or his real history.

Banksy is a self published artist, he currently as of 2008 has 4 books out. His first is in black and white called “Banging your head against a brick wall” This was followed by his first full color book, “Existentialism”. Later in 2004, he published his first book called “Cut it out”. His latest book “Wall and piece” came out in 2006

Banksy’s art is unique. His pictures are all painted from odd perspectives and no one really knows much about him and how he does his work. He does comment and talk about his craft on his website. It’s speculated that he was either too slow for freehand graffiti and would get caught, or he just was not good at freehand.

His work has been seen around the world. His work has shown up after hurricane Katrina on derelict houses. Banksy has been known for his outrageous demonstrations. At the Glastonbury festival, Banksy arranged the portable toilets into a Stonehenge formation. At the art museum that housed the Mona Lisa, Banksy went and put up a replica picture in the men’s room with Lisa having a yellow smile on her face
.
Banksy prefers his identity hidden, he has refused receiving many awards to keep up his mystery. All we can do is sit back and enjoy his work, and see what new feats he will come up with.

Fafi For Christmas...?

2008-12-08T07:29:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again, and what better way to show someone you care than with a gorgeous Fafi print?

The folks at Graffitipix.com have ramped up production in order to make sure that all those celebrating the season with Fafi's art will get their graffiti prints in time.

In fact, you can order Fafi prints, Miss Van prints, Nina prints - any graffiti art print - and receive it in time for Christmas!

Take a look at some of the stunning work that our favorite graffiti girls have created. You can get many of the graffiti pictures on large museum-quality photographic prints. You can even order many of the prints on canvas!

Imagine the love you'll get when you're favorite person opens up their gift and finds Fafinettes printed on canvas! Better yet, purchase a canvas print, receive it before Xmas, and have it framed for them!

Graffiti art is one of the most unusual, interesting, and beautiful gifts you can give. Whether it's Miss Van's art, one of Fafi's girls, a stunning and bizarre Nina print, or just one of the lesser-known graffiti artists!

Graffitipix even has MC Escher prints that you can order!

Visit us and see what wonderful gifts you can give this season...!

Miss Van - The Original Graffiti Girl!

2008-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

It would be impossible to approach the subject of “graffiti” without mentioning Miss Van, one of the “girls” who adorn the walls of the old Toulouse.

Now based in Barcelona, Miss Van earned her stripes on the streets of her native Toulouse – a city in Southwestern France that is home to a world-famous graffiti scene - where she set the standard for her peers and discovered an early affection for ruffling feathers.

An artist from a young age, Miss Van dedicated herself to art school and graffiti at the same time, and made no efforts to hide her love for street art from her professors. In the early 1990s, she began tagging and going around with friends. It was not long before she began to develop her trademark “sexy, erotic images that will disturb or seduce people on the street.” She likes to explore the symbiotic relationship between artist and public space, especially the fact that she can deposit images freely into a fully engaged environment and thereby encourage a heightened level of interplay between the viewer and her work.

You can see some of Miss Van's work - photo's taken of some her very best graffiti - at Graffitipix. In fact, you can order museum-quality, exhibition grade prints at absurdly low prices now.

While you're there, check out some of Graffitipix's other extraordinary images, including Fafi and some of her original Fafi girls and "Fafinettes" - photo's taken before her paintings starting appearing on lunch boxes!

GraffitiPix and Prison Art Project Scheduled For Major Update

2008-09-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

Graffitipix, the premier website for exhibition grade museum-quality graffiti prints from artists like Miss Van and FAFI is about to get a major overhaul and improvement.

The entire web site will be upgraded with additional new pictures from FAFI and Miss Van, as well as many other graffiti artists.

The long-awaited release of The Prison Art Project website is coming as well. This site, www.prisonartproject.org will be coming online in mid-October. Prisonartproject.org will be featuring hundreds of extraordinary original pieces by inmate artists incarcerated throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

There will be numerous prison art pieces featuring pen & ink, colored pencil, pen, graphite, Magic Marker, and more.

These "Outsider Art" originals range from smaller pieces, to many 8.5"x11" pieces created on notebook paper, to larger works created on linen from prison bed sheets.

You can see some new pieces posted on Graffitipix.com already, with many more to come.

Look for the updates to Graffitipix at around the same time as Prisonartproject.org. There will also be an emphasis on women graffiti artists, as well as some up & coming new taggers.

We welcome your suggestions about new artists to feature on the premier Graffiti art website.

Graffitipix also welcomes and solicits your original photographs of graffiti art from around the world. Please feel free to leave a comment with contact information for us!

Presidential Politics?

2008-09-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

I try to stay out of politics - well, actually that's not true. However I don't usually blog about it.

Recently though, I decided to voice my opinions (Obama for President!) on a new blog, The Presidential Zone.

Please stop by and voice YOUR opinion. You don't have to agree with me - it won't be the first time! But I'm a big believer in activism. Whatever your opinion, it matters. And being silent won't ever change anything.

I'm one of those who believes the United States has really declined - fiscally, morally, and in almost every other area. I also believe that Obama represents a legitimate chance to change, for the better.

Go ahead, visit The Presidential Zone and make your voice heard:

PresidentialZone - a new political blog on the 2008 US Presidential race.

Looking For Graffiti Artist Suggestions

2008-07-26T06:49:00.001-07:00

In my ongoing efforts to improve Graffitipix.com (http://www.graffitipix.com), I would like to ask for some help - from you!

Right now, most of the interest we get is for Miss Van and FAFI. There is still a lot of interest in many of the other graffiti artists, but I would like to ask for suggestions.

Who should we be looking at, contacting, supporting?

It doesn't necessarily need to be new graffiti artists or taggers, anyone tagging, bombing, painting, or otherwise creating beautiful graffiti art is of interest.

Are there women graffiti artists we should be looking at? Graffiti art that has somehow escaped our attention?

You are our eyes and ears. Please post a comment and let me know what new (or old) graffiti art has been catching your attention, which graffiti artists you would like to see more of.

Thanks! And don't forget to stop by and visit Graffitipix.com, the premier graffiti pictures web site!

Graffitipix Does Well in Google!

2008-06-23T13:38:00.001-07:00

Someone recently pointed out to me that Graffitipix.com shows up very high in Google!

I did a quick search and found that the site is listed very high for some very good search terms.

In fact, Graffitipix is on the first page of Google for Miss Van, Fafi, Graffiti Artists, and other related phrases.

On another note, it looks like I might have to sell Graffitipix, due to some personal issues. I was actually offered $20,000 for the site once, but at the time had no desire to sell it. In fact, I don't want to sell it now, but some personal emergencies have arisen, and it looks like I might need the money.

If you know of anyone interested in the BEST Graffiti Art Sales website in the world, send me an email!

Big Changes Coming to Graffitipix!

2008-06-14T11:42:00.001-07:00

We have BIG changes coming to Graffitipix.com this summer!

We will be adding some TERRIFIC new photos of Miss Van, FAFI, and some other graffiti artists "to be named later" - you can check the site beginning mid-July.

We will also be adding to the Pop-Art, and Pulp Covers categories, as well as adding some new categories.

Also, there will be additions of some incredibly cool and beautiful "anonymous" graffiti art - some from taggers we don't think we have ever seen before.

I'd also like to mention that The Prison Art Project is coming along very nicely!

Lastly, we've had so much fun with our Graffiti Pictures, that we are creating new websites in some entirely new (well, new for us) art categories:

Native American art;
Religious art;
Vintage and Classic Automobiles;

as well as a few others, also "to be named later".

Check back here often!

Prison Art Project Coming Along!

2008-06-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that I had begun putting together a new project: The Prison Art Project.

Here's a brief update. I have acquired almost 300 incredible Prison Art works. What I've done is get in contact with prisoners, mostly in the US. I have explained my project, letting them know that I would like to offer their artwork for sale online, and that they would receive money for anything that is sold.

They are given the option of having me send money into their prison commissary account, or to relatives/friends on the "outside" - some prisoners aren't allowed commissary accounts, and some have restitution judgements that automatically take any money they receive.

I am hoping to get The Prison Art Project up online over the next few weeks.

The address is: http://www.prisonartproject.org

Let me know what you think!

Been a while, but I'm back!

2008-05-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I last posted, but I'm back! We have quite a few plans in the works for Graffitipix, including many new pics that will be offered, as well as some exciting new categories.

Lots of very cool Miss Van and Fafi pics coming!

The biggest "addition" will be an entire gallery of Prison Art for sale! These will be individual artworks. We've been working with about 20 inmate artists, and now have over 300 pieces of amazing artwork that we will be offering!

One reason for my absence is that I've been helping out an Internet Marketing group - you can see their blog at Improve Your Internet Marketing - these guys really know their stuff, and I've learned a lot about marketing on the internet.

Look for the Prison Art and other very cool additions coming in the next few weeks!

Graffitipix is back on Ebay!

2008-02-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post... we had a series of back-to-back family crises, but fortunately they have passed.

The big news is that we are back on Ebay, auctioning some FABULOUS new graffiti prints from Miss Van, Fafi, and others.

You can see what we have on auction - our Ebay ID is, you guessed it: graffitipix!

We are also very excited to be working on our next big project, The Prison Art Project! This will be a web site similar to Graffitipix.com, except it will feature exclusively Prison Art. This is "outsider" art created by some incredibly talented inmate artists that we have begun co-responding with.

Look for The Prison Art Project to come online in the next month or so. In the meantime, stop by Graffitipix.com and see what's new!

2007-12-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for vintage Cover Art from the great Pulps of the Golden Years: 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.... Well at Graffitipix.com We specialize in the latest and greatest prints from Graffiti artistist around the world. why not stop in and take a look around, you will be glad you did.

2007-12-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Miss Van graffit i art prints as well as other museum-quality fine art prints from FAFI, Banksy and more are available at Graffitipix.com. These Miss Van Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-12-21T11:16:00.001-08:00

Miss Van graffit i art prints. Graffitipix.com sells museum-quality fine art prints from Miss Van, FAFI, Banksy. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-12-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Miss Van graffiti art prints. Graffitipix.com sells museum-quality fine art prints from Miss Van, FAFI, Banksy. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-12-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

Miss Van is one of the first women to break onto the street art scene, making it very clear that grafitti is not just the domain of men. Born in Toulouse, France, she began painting her dolls with acrylics in the early '90s, eventually developing into her own highly recognizable style.Sex, glamour, fantasy, and a large amount of imagination have earned Miss Van's art international recognition, and has been featured in major exhibitions in New York and Paris. Check out her prints at http://graffitipix.com

2007-12-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Get great deals on the latest and greatest graffiti art prints from Graffitipix.com. We offer a variety of museum quality art prints from graffiti artist such as Miss Van, FAFI, Bansky and more. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti. Shop now for the Holidays.

2007-12-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

Way cool Cover Art from the great Pulps of the Golden Years: 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.... now at Graffitipix.com We specialize in the latest and greatest prints from Graffiti artistist around the world. Sign up for our newsletter and recevie special discounts.

2007-12-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

Museum quality graffiti art prints from Graffitipix.com. We offer a variety of museum quality art prints from graffiti artist such as Miss Van, FAFI, Bansky and more. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-12-13T11:16:00.001-08:00

High Quality Fafi Prints are at Graffitipix.com. For those of you who do not know FAFI is known inside the graffiti scene because of her libidinous sexy girls. Fafi has had exhibitions in Paris, Los Angelos, Tokyo, and New York.

2007-12-12T08:38:00.001-08:00

FAFI pictures from Graffitipix.com. Fafi is known inside the graffiti scene because of her libidinous sexy girls. She began early in the 90s painting her work all over the streets of Tolouse; now her “Fafinettes” have been painted worldwide. We offer a variety of high quality fine art prints from FAFI, Miss Van, Bansky and more.

2007-12-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

Fafi Pictures available at Graffitipix.com. Fafi is known inside the graffiti scene because of her libidinous sexy girls. Fafi has had exhibitions in Paris, Los Angelos, Tokyo, and New York. We offer high quality fine art prints from FAFI and other Graffiti artist around the world.

2007-12-10T10:04:00.001-08:00

Banksy is Britain's most celebrated graffiti artist, plus we have great gilcee prints from FAFI, Miss Van, Nina and other great graffiti artists.Visit Graffitipix.com for all of your graffiti art needs.

2007-12-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

Fafi Pictures available at Graffitipix.com. Fafi is known inside the graffiti scene because of her libidinous sexy girls. Fafi has had exhibitions in Paris, Los Angelos, Tokyo, and New York. We offer high quality fine art prints from FAFI and other Graffiti artist around the world.

2007-12-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

2007-12-05T08:09:00.001-08:00

2007-12-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

Miss Van Prints at Graffitipix.com. We sell museum-quality fine art prints from Miss Van, FAFI, Bansky and more. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-12-03T09:57:00.001-08:00

2007-11-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

Fafi girls museum quality prints from Graffitipix.com. She began early in the 90s painting her work all over the streets of Tolouse; now her "Fafinettes" have been painted worldwide. Since then, she has had exhibitions in Paris, Los Angelos, Tokyo, and New York.

2007-11-29T06:52:00.000-08:00

2007-11-27T07:22:00.000-08:00

Banksy is Britain's most celebrated graffiti artist, plus we have great gilcee prints from FAFI, Miss Van, Nina and other great graffiti artists.

Visit Graffitipix.com for all of your graffiti art needs.

2007-11-26T05:18:00.001-08:00

"Non-standard" graffiti - now there's a contradiction! After all, the heart of graffiti is to be creative outside the norm, to go beyond (or around, over, underneath...) the traditional formats. Graffiti artists are the non-conformists of the art world! So what in the world do I mean by "non-standard" graffiti?Most graffiti consists of spray-can art: pictures, tags, etc. We'll call that "standard" graffiti. Then there are "variations" on the theme: tagging with markers, painting with acrylics, even using stencils. And there are the targets: walls are pretty "standard". But some of the best graffiti consists of drawing on other surfaces and objects i.e. lamp-posts, billboards, etc. Some terrific graffiti is created by marking up statues and the like!I find myself increasingly drawn to "non-standard" graffiti. I've recently seen entire books of the stuff!One of the more interesting concepts is what I call "collage" graffiti. The idea is to use 'stuff' in place of 'paint'. The image up top is a great example. Created by Swoon, (and of course available at www.graffitipix.com) it basically consists of a paper illustration pasted onto a wall. It is simple, creative, and captivating, hallmarks of all good graffiti.It also amazing how much of the stuff is out there. Once you start thinking about, you begin to see it everywhere!So, seen any neat "non-standard" graffiti? Taken pictures of any?? Send 'em in, and I'll post them on the site!

2007-11-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is often regarded by others as unsightly damage or unwanted vandalism.

Examples of Graffiti Art can be seen at our website GraffatiPix.com

2007-11-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

2007-11-20T07:42:00.001-08:00

TAG - Graffiti Research Lab does it again!
Those ever-resourceful folks at G.R.L. (Graffiti Research Lab) have done it again! In an earlier post I talked about their Laser Tag system that allows someone to create building-size graffiti using a laser pointer.The system uses a camera connected to a pc that tracks the laser pointer, then outputs what it sees with an attached LCD projector. The result is graffiti sprayed across, well, anything - buildings, bridges, etc.Now they've constructed a TAG-mobile, building the entire system onto a large tricycle! You can see the TAG-mobile diagram here. Theres also a pretty cool video of the TAG system in operation here.Of course, given the leanings of G.R.L., they are imploring users to write "Impeach Chainey" and other slogans, and well, maybe thats not such a bad idea!

2007-11-19T07:44:00.001-08:00

Museum quality graffiti art prints from Graffitipix.com. We offer a variety of museum quality art prints from graffiti artist such as Miss Van, FAFI, Bansky and more. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo prints or canvas and are exhibition grade pictures of urban outsider folk tramp street graffiti.

2007-11-16T08:09:00.001-08:00

2007-11-15T07:29:00.001-08:00

2007-11-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

2007-11-13T08:43:00.001-08:00

2007-11-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

Miss Van Pictures at GraffitiPix.com. Miss Van is one of the first women to break onto the street art scene, making it very clear that grafitti is not just the domain of men. Born in Toulouse, France, she began painting her dolls with acrylics in the early ’90s, eventually developing into her own highly recognizable style. We sell museum-quality fine art prints from Miss Van Pictures, FAFI, Bansky and more.

2007-11-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Fafi graffiti art prints. www.graffitipix.com sells museum-quality fine art prints from Miss Van, FAFI, Banksy. Graffiti fine art prints available as photo of museum quality canvas prints.

2007-11-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Graffitipix.com is the place to buy
museum-quality graffiti and other cool pix!

2007-11-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

Fafi is known inside the graffiti scene because of her libidinous sexy girls. She began early in the 90s painting her work all over the streets of Tolouse; now her "Fafinettes" have been painted worldwide. Since then, she has had exhibitions in Paris, Los Angelos, Tokyo, and New York.

2007-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Improve Your Internet Marketing with SpeedPPC

2007-08-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

SpeedPPC is a software program and system that claims to ‘revolutionize’ Pay Per Click affiliate marketing - and actually does!

There is a cool video on the (”PPC 72,500% Faster Watch the Video Evidence“) web site, as well as case study examples. If you are serious about Internet Marketing, and trying to figure out how you can possibly reach that 5-figure per month level, you simply must consider SpeedPPC. And once you understand what it is, like me you will find the only question is how quickly you can get started.

Improve Your Internet Marketing

2007-08-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Graffitipix.com earns it's living selling online. Improve Your Internet Marketing is a new blog aimed at the beginner and professional Internet marketer. Geared towards affiliate marketing, the site offers tips, strategies, tricks, and reviews of programs for ad spying, keyword tracking, and PPC campaign management.

Good info is hard to find. Improve Your Internet Marketing aims to offer solid, reliable, and honest information. If you are looking to get into the world of online marketing, take a look!

Cam Studio Screen Capture Video

2007-05-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update: if you haven't looked at Cam Studio yet, you should take a look.

This program does exactly what Camtasia does, but is about $270 cheaper! You can make screen capture videos of artwork, drawings, even videos of you making your artwork!

And you can upload videos to Free IQ which will host them for free. You get a link you can put into your own site or give to someone to watch your video.

Make Money from What You Already Know!

2007-05-10T21:25:00.001-07:00

A lot of us have gotten pretty good with Photoshop, or other photo-editing programs, not to mention surfing various graffiti-related places. Imagine making money - even a lot of money! - just doing what you do?

I came across one of those "too good to pass up" opportunities and wanted to share it with you. Cam Studio Internet Marketers Version - it's a full system for creating screen-capture video. These are where you do things on your computer while narrating over it, and Cam Studio records the whole thing. The result is a screen-capture video you can sell, give away, leverage.

Now imagine recording while you work through Photoshop, talking about what you are doing, and ending up with a "How to do ___ in Photoshop" video? Believe me when I tell you, there are LOTS of people who would drop $10 or $15 for that. I would have when I started out!

So what's new? Aren't there programs that do exactly that? Sure, if you want to pay up to $300! Cam Studio Internet Marketers Version does all that - for $29! Now I don't care who you are or what your plans are - if you can't afford $29 to profit from stuff you do everyday...

Actually, this Cam Studio thing has a money-back guarantee, so you're not risking anything anyway. You gotta get through one of those long sales letters to actually buy it, but that's a small price.

Ok, I'll bite - where would I start? Well, you can record yourself using just about any program you're competent with and create "Beginners" or "For Dummies" videos i.e. "How to use plug-ins in Photoshop", or "How to use Craigslist", or "How to setup a MySpace profile"... you get the idea.

And if you've been following this blog, you know you can sign up at Free IQ (for free), and post those videos (also free). They make them available for sale, collect the money, and pay you!

$29 to start a business? One that could just maybe possibly make A LOT OF SCRATCH?? Grab Cam Studio and start your video content empire right now!

Make Money from What You Already Know!

2007-05-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

A lot of us have gotten pretty good with Photoshop, or other photo-editing programs, not to mention surfing various graffiti-related places. Imagine making money - even a lot of money! - just doing what you do?

I came across one of those "too good to pass up" opportunities and wanted to share it with you. Cam Studio Internet Marketers Version - it's a full system for creating screen-capture video. These are where you do things on your computer while narrating over it, and Cam Studio records the whole thing. The result is a screen-capture video you can sell, give away, leverage.

Now imagine recording while you work through Photoshop, talking about what you are doing, and ending up with a "How to do ___ in Photoshop" video? Believe me when I tell you, there are LOTS of people who would drop $10 or $15 for that. I would have when I started out!

So what's new? Aren't there programs that do exactly that? Sure, if you want to pay up to $300! Cam Studio Internet Marketers Version does all that - for $29! Now I don't care who you are or what your plans are - if you can't afford $29 to profit from stuff you do everyday...

Actually, this Cam Studio thing has a money-back guarantee, so you're not risking anything anyway. You gotta get through one of those long sales letters to actually buy it, but that's a small price.

Ok, I'll bite - where would I start? Well, you can record yourself using just about any program you're competent with and create "Beginners" or "For Dummies" videos i.e. "How to set up use plug-ins in Photoshop", or "How to use Craigslist", or "How to setup a MySpace profile"... you get the idea.

And if you've been following this blog, you know you can sign up at Free IQ (for free), and post those videos (also free). They make them available for sale, collect the money, and pay you!

$29 to start a business? One that could just maybe possibly make A LOT OF SCRATCH?? Grab Cam Studio and start your video content empire right now!

What the heck is "White Balance" anyway?

2007-04-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you take pictures, you've heard the term "White Balance". Maybe you saw it in the instruction manual of your digicam, or in a post about photography. But what is it? Simply put, it is how white white is; if you pointed your camera at a truly white object, how accurate would the picture be? This is important if you take pictures of graffiti, which are often shot outdoors and sometimes at night. Amy Renfrey from www.DigitalPhotographySuccess.com
wrote a little piece about the subject which she has allowed me to post here:

Understanding White Balance

In digital photography terms, and traditional, you will most likely hear the term “white balance” quite a lot. It’s an important meaning because many digital photography enthusiasts concentrate on the lenses and digital camera without first learning about how light works.

In a nutshell, “white balance” in digital photography relates to the ‘temperature’ of light. If you notice when doing your digital photography indoors, the photo will have a bluish colour through out the digital photo. Then if you take your digital photography outside you will notice the photo then has a warmer tone to it. This is your white balance feature on your digital camera working to adjust the image.

To give you a direct example of how white balance works in your digital photography think of this; have you ever noticed how your colour pictures come out a more bluish tone in the shade? The problem is that because light has temperature, the camera has to analyze this change in its own limited way compared to the human eye.

You can help reduce the blue by altering the setting on the camera or adding a warmer color filter such as yellow. Some colour filters have different shades or hues of the same colour. Each warmer colour filter moves towards a warmer feel and increases in density.

Your white balance in digital photography also works when you walk into an office building. The fluorescent light might be different from that of the doctor’s or a drug store? Well, you’re not imagining things! The reason is there are over 40 different ranges of fluorescent lights and the problem for us digital photographers is that each one has its own colour temperature. It’s not to be avoided, please no! It just means you need to be aware that all florescent lighting is not the same and that you’ll have to consider this when shooting under this type of light.

You can work well with white balance by switching indoor shots to an “outdoor” setting to eliminate the bluish tone in indoor shots. And alternatively you can set the white balance mode to “indoor” when you are outside to reduce some golden/yellow saturation in your outside digital photography shots.

TAG - Graffiti Research Lab does it again!

2007-04-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Those ever-resourceful folks at G.R.L. (Graffiti Research Lab) have done it again! In an earlier post I talked about their Laser Tag system that allows someone to create building-size graffiti using a laser pointer.

The system uses a camera connected to a pc that tracks the laser pointer, then outputs what it sees with an attached LCD projector. The result is graffiti sprayed across, well, anything - buildings, bridges, etc.

Now they've constructed a TAG-mobile, building the entire system onto a large tricycle! You can see the TAG-mobile diagram here. Theres also a pretty cool video of the TAG system in operation here.

Of course, given the leanings of G.R.L., they are imploring users to write "Impeach Chainey" and other slogans, and well, maybe thats not such a bad idea!

FreeIQ Blog

2007-04-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note; I came aacross FreeIQ Marketing, a blog dedicated to FreeIQ - and after searching Google, I found there are LOTS. Remember, you heard it here first: FreeIQ will be the Next Big Thing!

Molly

The NEXT BIG THING - Really!!!

2007-04-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't often go off topic, but-

I just discovered (ok, someone pointed me to it...) what has to be the coolest, soon-to-be-bigger than YouTube and MySpace Web 2.0 thing... FreeIQ!

It's billed as a "Marketplace of Ideas", and has all this amazing free content, video, books, etc.-

It's MUCH easier to see it than explain it: sign up for a FREE ACCOUNT: www.freeiq.com/loginfree - then come back and tell me what you think.

Graffiti Research Lab

2007-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Pratt Institute, a well-known, well regarded art school in Brooklyn, NY (I was born in Brooklyn!), is the home of the Digital Arts Lab.

The Digital Arts Lab is a research facility dedicated to the interdisciplinary exploration, invention, study and creative inquiry at the nexus of the arts, technology, and culture through rigorous scholarly research and innovative thinking to establish new knowledge and forms of creative expression.

The Digital Arts Lab recently hosted a presentation by G.R.L., or Graffiti Research Lab. Now if you have never heard of G.R.L., you are in for a HUGE treat! G.R.L. has done more for moving the art of graffiti beyond traditional boundries than perhaps anything else ever has!

I posted an earlier entry on L.A.S.E.R. TAG - one of the absolutely coolest non-traditional graffiti efforts ever concieved -mentioning G.R.L. But the sheer number of projects going on under their umbrella is mind-numbing!

Some of the projects revolve around "Throwies", little self-powered colored LED's attached to magnets that are 'thrown' - hence the name - against anything magnets stick to i.e. doors, bridges, buses, etc. to create a whole new form of graffiti.

Do yourself a favor and visit G.R.L. - much of the inspiration for my site, graffitipix.com, comes from their. Just remember to come back up for air!

Molly

Bullied by Gallery Owner

2007-04-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

As you know, I run graffitipix.com, a site that sells pictures of graffiti street art. I recently received a disturbing email from a French gallery owner claiming to speak for all these graffiti artists - who shall remain nameless for the time being - threatening all sorts of actions; going to far as to suggest even "bigger" consequences than legal actions! I dunno, maybe they plan to come to my apartment and beat me up...

This comes from some misleading (intentional?) notion that a gallery owner showing some pictures from an artist somehow 'owns' the rights to anything and everything that artist might have done!

Now let me say, I respect intellectual property. And an artists rights. But we're talking graffiti here! Art intentionally put into the public domain! First, unless you are the photographer, you can no more claim copyright to a picture of the side of a building than you can to a picture of the statue of liberty! Does Michael Jackson write to People Magazine when they publish a Paparazzi's picture on their cover??

Second, what copyright? - graffiti is illegal in most places.

Now in fairness, we inadvertantly posted pictures of some works that were not public access public space pictures. We apologized, and they are all in the process of being removed. But to knowlingly try and bully us away from something we have every right to do, suggesting some dangerous "big" consequences, flies right in the face of what graffiti is all about! Graffiti is about free expression, about transcending boundries, and yes, thumbing their nose at the establishment.

Now that the establishment is making a buck from it, all of a sudden greed kicks in - and worse yet, under the guise of "what the artist wants"! What the artist wanted, at least before the gallery owners got there, was free creative expression. What happened?

Molly

Miss Van and Fafi - different, yet...

2007-04-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Doing one of my frequent Google searches on Miss Van, I came across a blog that had comments on her work going a few years back.

Now, I have a *lot* of photo's of Miss Van's work, pictures that I've taken or acquired, and some of them are available for sale on graffitipix.com. Needless to say, I'm a true fan of Miss Van. I think her characters are sexy, sophisticated, and her work has evolved pleasingly.

I can say exactly the same for Fafi. And having looked at *so many* Miss Van and Fafi images, though similar in that they both paint girls and cute creatures, everyone is strikingly different.

Of course, not everyone feels the same way. I know this. Still, it was interesting to read some of the comments:

"Her stuff looks like Fafi’s artwork. And thats not good to begin with."
"I can see a similar inspiration in both Miss Van, and Fafi’s works, but one can see that Miss Van has a far better feel for the paint and her mark making…not to mention color. I wouldn’t even compare the two."
"I knew of Miss Van before Fafi…I think it’s a case of great minds thinking alike."
"i like em both, but yeah.. they get balled into the same person quite a bit."
"Indeed Miss Van has been painting a bit longer than Fafi, and it shows. Miss Van’s linework has more of a sophistication to it, with a greater handling of the stylized characters and colors than Fafi."

'Course when you really consider...

"Interestingly enough, both are from the same area of Paris, in Toulouse, so I’m sure that they know each other."

Opinions, they're like &%$#% - everyone's got one. Anyway you look at it though, no one can argue, that they both produce Serious Art!

Molly

Track tragedy ruled accidental

2007-04-05T10:46:00.001-07:00

Just passing it along - sad!

Islington Tribune [London] - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 23 February 2007
Graffiti artist died on tracks

A graphic designer was electrocuted when he slipped on train tracks after drunkenly reverting to the graffiti lifestyle he had abandoned since the birth of his child, an inquest heard yesterday (Thursday). George Andrew King, 22, was hit by 750 volts of electricity when he fell on the live rail near Caledonian Road and Barnsbury railway station during a graffiti spree in the early hours of Saturday September 16 last year.

After a night at a media party, he had gone on to the rails with friend and fellow spray-canner Jason Edwards, who ended up trying to prise his convulsing body from the line with a plank of wood before calling for an ambulance.

Mr Edwards said he had been walking ahead of Mr King as they returned to the station after tagging a bridge.

He said: "I just turned round and he was lying on the rail. I know from before - it's instant death on that track."

Though they risked their lives and broke their own safety protocols by rushing to the still-live line, the paramedics could see instantly that Mr King was dead, Coroner Dr Andrew Reid was told. Katherine Ketchaev, Mr King's partner and the mother of his young son, said he had given up graffiti on the railways since she had become concerned for his safety - but had given in to temptation after a few drinks while she slept.

Police experts said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

Verdict: accidental death.

No More Graffiti!

2007-04-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Have I lost my mind???

Surely the owner of a site that sells graffiti prints (www.graffitipix.com), and writes a blog on graffiti (you're reading it) can't be advocating the end of graffiti, right?

Right. I have not lost my mind - yet! You see, among other pastimes, I surf a lot of graffiti sites. I also manage my own, which included creating ads with Google Adwords. When I create my ads, they are based on keywords, as in what searches do I want my ads to show up for? The most obvious one, of course, is "graffiti".

And so, the ads for graffitipix.com (hopefully) show up on sites searched using "graffiti". Other keywords include "spray paint", "graffiti writing", "writing on walls"... you get the idea. Well guess what - those are the very same terms you might want if you were in the business of removing graffiti!

I mean, if I'm a city planner, property manager, builder, etc., and I wanted to have graffiti removed, these are some of the keywords I would search on: "removing graffiti", "removing spray paint"... you get the idea.

The ironic part is that the companies that perform these services and sell these products ("graffiti removal solvent") buy the same Adwords keywords. And so, their ads show up right alongside mine! "Beautiful Graffiti" right next to "Remove Graffiti"!

Next time you browse graffiti sites, pay attention to the ads. You might see mine. And right next to it, you might see one on how to undue all that beautiful art.

Perhaps most ironic of all, one can imagine, is that someone legitimately looking to rid their outside wall of graffiti may find "Graffiti Removal Experts" - and if they look close enough, an ad promoting graffiti!

(That picture up top is either a very sad picture of art gone away, or a pristine wall just begging to be tagged!)

Happy Passover and Happy Easter, one and all!

Molly

"Non-standard" graffiti

2007-03-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

"Non-standard" graffiti - now there's a contradiction! After all, the heart of graffiti is to be creative outside the norm, to go beyond (or around, over, underneath...) the traditional formats. Graffiti artists are the non-conformists of the art world! So what in the world do I mean by "non-standard" graffiti?

Most graffiti consists of spray-can art: pictures, tags, etc. We'll call that "standard" graffiti. Then there are "variations" on the theme: tagging with markers, painting with acrylics, even using stencils. And there are the targets: walls are pretty "standard". But some of the best graffiti consists of drawing on other surfaces and objects i.e. lamp-posts, billboards, etc. Some terrific graffiti is created by marking up statues and the like!

I find myself increasingly drawn to "non-standard" graffiti. I've recently seen entire books of the stuff!

One of the more interesting concepts is what I call "collage" graffiti. The idea is to use 'stuff' in place of 'paint'. The image up top is a great example. Created by Swoon, (and of course available at www.graffitipix.com) it basically consists of a paper illustration pasted onto a wall. It is simple, creative, and captivating, hallmarks of all good graffiti.

It also amazing how much of the stuff is out there. Once you start thinking about, you begin to see it everywhere!

So, seen any neat "non-standard" graffiti? Taken pictures of any?? Send 'em in, and I'll post them on the site!

Molly

Another word on cameras

2007-03-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

As you might imagine the paradigm shift from traditional film-based photography to digital is rapidly creating new opportunities to learn and grow. The photography industry is moving at an incessant pace, and digital cameras sales have surpassed their film-based cousin at an alarming rate each year. On January 16, 2004, Eastman Kodak announced it would end its sales of film cameras in the United States and on June 15, 2005, Kodak announced it will discontinue production of black-and-white photographic paper by the end of the year as it continues its transition to digital photography. Soon digital cameras will hit critical mass and film will only represent a minute segment of the industry.

What are the main differences?

The differentiator between a traditional 35mm film camera and digital cameras is how the pictures are captured, processed, and stored. A conventional camera exposes an image on a roll of silver-halide coated film. A digital camera captures an image on a photosensitive silicon computer chip called a charged couple device, also known as a CCD. The camera converts the image captured by the chip into digital data and saves it in a camera's memory as a digital photo. These photos can then be copied onto your computer's hard drive where you can email, edit, and save them.

CAMERA SELECTION

Just as with traditional film cameras, digital cameras come in two offerings: point and shoot, and digital single lens reflex (DSLR).

Both types of camera use flash memory cards (“digital film”) to store images and are immediately available for viewing through the camera’s rear liquid crystal display (LCD).

Point and Shoot

Point-and-shoot cameras are extremely affordable and remain the most popular in current market conditions. These cameras are easy to use, give outstanding results, and for all practical purposes are compact. Point-and-shoot cameras mainly offer a limited feature set, offering mostly automatic features such as: auto flash, auto exposure, and the camera selects the shutter speed and aperture for you. Cell phone cameras are low-end point-and-shoot.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)

Digital SLR cameras offer photographers the ability to use interchangeable lenses and accessories, which give the photographer greater artistic control and flexibility. DSLR cameras allow photographers to visually check image sharpness and composition. The effects of changing lenses, changing exposure values, and viewing the camera's hisogram are immediately visible in the LCD viewfinder and/or eye viewer. There are many advantages of using DSLR digital cameras. They can handle a variety of lighting and focusing situations unlike point and shoot cameras. DSLR cameras offer optical zoom as opposed to just digital zoom, which essentially crops pixel data and will add unwanted noise to an image.

IMPORTANT TIPS

• Look for cameras that can save files in RAW. Saving your image as a RAW file will provide you with a higher quality image to work from in post processing. Images shot in RAW remain uncompressed, unlike JPEG images. Through repetitive opening/closing of JPEG files image -- image degradation occurs.

• Equally important is finding a camera with a minimal amount of shutter lag. It can be rather frustrating with some of the point and shoot cameras available when there is a long lag between clicking the shutter and the camera taking the shot. Choose a camera with a large buffer memory. This allows a number of images to be continually snapped before stopping to allow them to be downloaded and processed.

• Digital camera quality and the size of the created images are continually rising. As a general rule you will need at least 1800 x 1400 pixels (2.5 mega pixels) to print up to 6 x 4 inch with good quality. To date recommendations include the Canon Rebel XT (8.0 Mega Pixels), Canon EOS 20D, Nikon D70 and so on.

DIGITAL FILM: FLASH MEMORY

Manufacturers of cameras, namely Canon, Olympus, and Sony use memory cards that are usually not compatible with one another. Canon uses compact flash cards and/or IBM micro drives. A micro drive is similar to a compact flash card, but it was formerly recognized for its larger capacity. Olympus uses an xD Picture card and smart media card, and finally there’s Sony. Sony uses a memory stick. File formats generated by flash memory for digital cameras are RAW, TIFF, JPEG. RAW being a memory intensive format uses several megabytes of data on a memory card and does not compress the image at all.

Both RAW and TIFF are known as ‘lossless’ file formats because compression algorithms are absent, thus giving the photographer more pixel data and better image quality. However, since RAW is not as widely recognized as JPEG in the photography marketplace, special conversion software is necessary to convert images from RAW to TIFF or JPG. Some camera manufacturers include RAW conversion software with their higher end point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras, but it is not as great as some RAW applications developed by cutting edge companies such as PhaseOne, a Danish company that markets an outstanding product called Capture One DSLR. It is made specifically for photographers that wish to process RAW files.

One peripheral that will save battery life on your camera is a compact flash card reader. It plugs into your USB port and permits you to download your images by inserting a memory card in it. This is preferred over downloading from your camera/cable because your camera’s battery juice will quickly render your camera's battery dead, especially if you are downloading several hundred photographs. The memory card reader acts as an auxiliary drive. Just make sure you get a memory card reader specifically made for your type of memory card and that it can handle a high capacity card such, i.e. 4GB (Gigabyte) flash card.

At graffitipix.com, we use mainly a 10-megapixel Canon camera and save in RAW format. That's why our prints look soooo good!

Molly

Taking good pictures

2007-03-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm old. 45 to be exact. Old enough to remember when "Instamatic" camera's came into being. In fact I can remember the very christmas (ok, it was Hanukah...) that I received a Kodak Instamatic camera.

I was perhaps 8 or 9, but old enough to understand what I was given and be thoroughly awed! Back then, "Instamatic's" were a big deal for a number of reasons: they were inexpensive, small, and usable by just about anyone. This was the birth of "point and click".

As with the advent of desktop publishing many years later, it put the ability to create and record into the hands of the masses. And just like with desktop publishing, it spawned hordes of terrible, 'creating it because I *can* create it' junk.

The problem, again as with the desktop publishing phenomena, is that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you're gonna do it well. If you are old enough or were involved with computers at the time, you well remember the newsletters that had 19 different fonts, random rows & columns, etc. Pictures were the same way, and for the same reason. In order to produce something decent, you have to follow some basic should-be-obvious-but-isn't-always rules.

I take pictures for a living. Or more accurately, I sell prints made from pictures, many of which I take myself. My site, graffitipix.com, sells graffiti pictures that I and my partner have taken. But I also solicit and buy pictures that other people take. And I cannot begin to tell you how many unusable pictures could have been terrific if those basic tennets of good picture taking were followed.

And so I've posted the 'top 10' suggestions for better pictures from Kodak. They may sound very intuitive, but when you're standing there, eyeballing a terrific tag and getting ready to point your digital camera, it's worth pausing for a moment and running through a mental checklist:

1.	Look your subject in the eye
2.	Use a plain background
3.	Use flash outdoors
4.	Move in close
5.	Move it from the middle
6.	Lock the focus
7.	Know your flash's range
8.	Watch the light
9.	Take some vertical pictures
10.	Be a picture director

Thanks Kodak!

Molly

Collaborative online graffiti fun!

2007-03-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

I came across a neat little time-waster... ok not so little, I just spent over a half-hour before I even knew it. A very interesting idea: collaborative online graffiti.

Here's the premise- you enter a "room" that basically looks like a subway station platform. You get a spray can and a pick-box for spray type and color, and a few different brush types. Using your mouse, you tag away. Here's the neat part: you are not alone!

Each room has some number of fellow taggers. You see what they are doing, and they see what you are doing. As might be expected, there are the annoying "ruin everyone elses stuff" riff-raff, but you can click on their names and they are subsequently ignored! Now you see only your stuff and whomever you aren't ignoring!

Needless to say, there's lots of garbage, childishness, vulgarity, etc. But there's also some wonderful stuff!

All in all, a neat little diversion and a very clever idea for a few minutes of rec!

Even the name of the site, Graffiti Playdo, is suggestive of what you will find. But don't just listen to me, check it out!

Molly

Are copyrights on graffiti illegal?

2007-03-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

Let me first say I believe strongly in copyright, and Intellectual Property (IP) protection in general. I believe an artist's work is their work. In an earlier post I talked a bit about copyright issues on graffiti art.

But what are the boundaries on copyrights when it comes to graffiti in a public access public space? (If you're reading this, you know I run graffitipix.com, a site that sells pictures of graffiti. We are careful to use photographs that we took directly or acquired the rights to.)

I recently had the opportunity to talk with an IP expert, and he said something very interesting - for the most part, graffiti is illegal. That is, tagging the side of a building is illegal without express permission from the building owner, and even then most states and municipalities make it illegal anyway. But here is the interesting part: under US law (and many other jurisdictions), you cannot profit from illegal activity. And as J.D. Lasica of "Freedom To Tinker", points out, it is unclear whether you can copyright an image created illegally.

Most would agree generally that the artist owns the rights on the art, the photographer owns the rights to their own photographs.

I've discussed with this with a government legal expert. It's not at all clear whether you can or would want to claim copyright over an image that you've created illegally.

My opinion, based in part on my own research into copyright law as well as my own personal feelings is that that when a graffiti artist tags a building, they are intentionally putting their work into the public domain. You cannot copyright public access public spaces. If you take a picture of the Statue of Liberty, you own the rights to that photograph.

What do you think? Can you - and would you want to - claim copyright on graffiti if it is illegal? And does that invalidate the copyright?

Molly

A graffiti glossary...!

2007-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this, you no doubt know that "bomb", "tag", "paint", and "spray" are different ways to describe creating graffiti. We probably understand that a "tagger" is "tagging up" when he/she does their "tag".

But unless you're an active tagger - or reading this blog! - most of us wouldn't know the terms "Icy Grape" or "Jungle Green" (old, discontinued Krylon spray-paint colors that are prized by taggers when the odd can turns up.).

Well, thanks to Zimbio and 149st.com, we can all learn the vernacular. I came across a graffiti glossary, and just had to pass it on...

Molly

A (brief) word about digital cameras

2007-03-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

One of my recent posts talked about scanners and scanning technology. While a good scanner does an amazing job with flat art, obviously you cannot take your scanner downtown to scan the side of a building!

Once upon a time, you had to use a film camera to take a picture, and even up until a couple of years ago, you still needed film for high-quality pictures. At graffitipix.com, we make hi-end prints, and in order to do that you *must* start with a high-quality original.

Today's "good" digital cameras are now capable of creating high-quality original images. What constitutes a "good" image, or for that matter a "good" digital camera?

Just as with scanners, quality revolves around three criteria: spatial resolution, color depth, and optics.

Digital cameras, like flat-bed scanners, use CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) chips to "see". These are light-sensitive chips that convert an image into digital information.

CCD's are tiny matrixes of silicon that react to light. The size of the matrix i.e. number of rows and columns determine the spatial resolution of the image. A 2000 x 2000 matrix results in a 4,000,000 pixel (4 megapixel) image. Some cameras use software to create higher resolution, but basically thats how it works.

Color depth refers to how many shades, or gradations each pixel can be (most CCD's are 24-32 bit, meaning they can create millions of shades for each pixel).

The optics, of course, refer to the lense and the mechanics used to focus the light on the CCD.

Though decent CCD's are increasingly put into cel phones, you still need one of the 'better' digital cameras to create a good-quality original.

More on this shortly...

Molly

L.A.S.E.R. Tag - how cool is that...?

2007-03-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this video on a Zimbio blog, and was blown away! Imagine using one of those laser-pointers to tag the side of a building 10 stories wide and half a block across?!?

Well, thats not exactly possible (yet!), but these guys at Graffiti Research Lab have combined some neat technology to simulate just that!

L.A.S.E.R. TAG video

Basically, they've outfitted a pc with a camera and software that tracks the light from the laser pointer and superimposes it over what the camera is looking at. Pointed at a building, the camera displays that image on the pc. Someone with a laser-pointer "tags" the building as if the laser-pointer were a paint brush or spray can. The camera then "paints" it onto the building!!

Whomever wrote the software really nailed it: the "paint" from the laser-pointer even drips after its applied!

Molly

Creating good prints Part II - Scanning

2007-03-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

So, you have these *awesome* photographs you took while meandering down the streets of Toulouse France, Sao Paolo Brazil, or NYC - incredible shots of an abandoned building tagged with incredible spray painted images - and the shots came out pretty good - now what?

Well, for this post, we'll assume your pictures are photographs, ya know, the traditional "chemical" process prints that you have developed and get back as prints. Now what?

Well, in our case, you must digitize the images - get them from the physical prints into digital format that can then be cleaned, cropped, maybe enhanced, and then printed. So the gist of this post will be scanning.

SCANNERS

There a few types of scanners available, notably drum scanners and flat-bed scanners. Used to be, in the pre-press and art world, drum scanners were the first and last word. They were technically superior to the flat-bed scanners of those days - and they were prohibitively expensive! A good drum scanner could top $50,000!!!

(FWIW- the term "drum scanner" referred to a cylindrical drum that the picture to be scanned was mounted on. This drum then spun at high speed, while a light was focused on it, and read through a shutter.)

Oh, how times have changed! You can buy a flat-bed scanner at Staples or CompUSA for less than $100 today that surpasses the performance and speed of a $20,000 drum scanner of just a few years ago!

Still, if your objective is "museum-quality prints" such as those we sell at graffitipix.com, then you still need something beyond an "all-in-one" printer-copier-scanner-fax machine!

One of the chief differences between a drum scanner and today's flat-bed scanners is how they acquire the image. Drum scanners use something called PMT (Photo Multiplier Tubes), whereas flat-bed scanners use CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) technology. CCD's are essentially chips that convert light into data, and are what made camcorders, digital camera's and the like possible. Just like other chips i.e. memory, CPU's, etc., CCD's came in a wide range of "sizes" and capabilities.

Optical scanning via a flat-bed scanner is measured by a number of criteria: bed size, spatial resolution, and color-depth. Bed size is just what it sounds like, namely how large a picture it will take. Most can accomodate 8 1/2" x 17" (ours is a larger bed that scans up to 18"x24"). Next is spatial resolution, which is basically like the dots-per-inch of a printer. The higher the spatial resolution, the more data the scanner sees, the better the resulting image file. 600 dpi x 1200 dpi is common on low-end scanners. Higher-end scanners can go as high as 4,200 dpi and higher. Last is color depth, a measure of how fine gradiations the scanner sees. 24-bit is a functional minimum, the scanner we use is a 32-bit scanner.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, are the optics. Just like on a 35mm camera, the higher quality of the lenses, the better the picture. And, again like camera's, this is what seperates the good from the great. Once again, like with camera's, this is where the majority of the cost comes from.

Ok, thats the 5-cent scanner lesson; next we'll look at what happens once you scan, or acquire the image.

Molly

Giclee... Huh? What is "Giclee"??

2007-03-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

One of the terms used in the art world, particularly regarding digital fine-art, is "Giclee" (pronounced "Zee-clay").

Giclee comes from the French word "giclée" and means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The term is specifically used to indicate prints created typically using professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers. Among the manufacturers of these printers are Epson, MacDermid Colorspan, & Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets. Giclee prints are sometimes referred to as Iris prints, which are a printer pioneered by Iris Graphics, and now owned by Scitex.

I use a Scitex Iris printer to produce the prints on graffitipix.com.

The quality of the giclee print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.

Numerous examples of giclee prints can be found in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Chelsea Galleries. Recent auctions of giclee prints have fetched $10,800 for Annie Leibovitz, $9,600 for Chuck Close, and $22,800 for Wolfgang Tillmans (April 23/24 2004, Photographs, New York, Phillips de Pury & Company.)

More about printing next post...

Molly

Creating good prints Part I

2007-03-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

I spend my days creating prints of graffiti. I term them "museum-quality prints". Prints of graffiti? Huh??

Yeah, my business sells art prints, the kind you put on the wall in your living room, dorm room, bed room, waiting room... and they happen to be of graffiti.

Basically, I take, or acquire, photographs of graffiti art that I like. That's the easy part. Turning them into "museum-quality prints" is a little more involved. I'll start Part I of this by defining "museum-quality prints":

First, what constitutes a print? In art-land, a print is usually actually a "re-print", meaning it was created from the original, it is not the original itself. There are lots of different types of prints i.e. lithographs, photo prints, canvas prints, etc. Generally though, a print is a reproduction of an original.

Now, a 75 cent color copy from Kinko's qualifies as a "print". It would not, however, qualify as "museum-quality"! In the art-world, the term "museum-quality" generally refers to the quality of the medium, whether it's photo paper, canvas, etc., the quality of the ink or pigment, the quality of the process i.e. lithography, photography, etc., and the "fastness" or longevity of the piece.

Without going into each and every possibility, I'll focus on photo prints, the most popular prints we carry. First, the medium: the paper itself. While the term 'photo' is misleading in this case as they are not done using a photographic process, the paper is termed photo paper. As you can imagine, there are varying grades. To qualify as museum-quality, the paper should be at least 240 g/m - this the weight of the paper. Higher numbers indicate heavier paper, lower numbers lighter, flimsier paper (we use 270 g/m paper). Next, the fastness, or longevity. As with the ink or pigment, the paper is rated on how long it keeps it's original characteristics i.e. resistance to fading, yellowing, etc. Museum-quality would be considered "archival", meaning under normal circumstances, it will look the way it did the day it was produced for at least 40 years.

Ok, to sum it up, creating "museum-quality prints" means they are produced on high-quality, heavy media, and using media and inks, that are "archival" - they will look the same way after hanging on the wall for at least 40 years.

Next entry: the mechanics, or how a photograph of graffiti is turned into a print you can hang.

Molly

$$ for your graffiti photographs

2007-03-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello! As the owner of graffitipix.com, I would like to buy any photographs you have of interesting or unusual graffiti. I sell prints of graffiti art on my site, including Miss Van, FAFI, Banksy, DAZ, Camille, and others.

If you own any photographs of graffiti that you think would look good as prints, I am willing to buy them from you, or make them available on my site and split the proceeds with you.

Just drop me an email.

Molly

Copyrights on graffiti art

2007-03-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

As you already know, I run www.graffitipix.com, which sells graffiti prints. Prior to launching graffitipix.com I sold these same prints on ebay. I was often asked about copyright issues, namely do I have permission to reprint and sell the work of another artist.

Well, as you might imagine, I've done some very extensive research on the matter prior to launching the business. Here's how it works:

Graffiti artists intentionally put their work into the public domain when they create something on public access public spaces. Public spaces are not copyright-able. If I draw something on the outside wall of a publicly accessible building, anyone can take a picture of it. Whomever took that picture owns the copyright on that picture, and may do with it what they may.

For instance, papparazzi take pictures of stars. They are free to sell those pictures to sleazy tabloids because they own the copyrights on those pictures, not the stars they took the pictures of.

Let me say I am a strong believer in copyrights, and the rights of artists. But when a graffiti artists tags a public space, they are putting those images into the public domain. That is afterall what they are after. When you see a book or mag of graffiti art, the money paid for those pictures went to the photographer, not the graffiti artist. And in the case of graffitipix.com, these are all pictures I or my partner took, or that we acquired from the original photographer.

Molly

The very first graffitipix post!

2007-03-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Molly and I run a new website, http://www.graffitipix.com. The site, graffitipix.com as it is known, offers museum-quality prints featuring graffiti from Miss Van, FAFI, Camille, Banksy, DAZ, and others. The purpose of the site is to offer graffiti as ''serious art"!

The prints we produce are truly museum-quality, and are made on photo paper and canvas. Currently, most prints are either 19"x13" unframed prints, or 8"x10" framed prints.

I plan to use this blog to talk about some of the artists I like the most, background on the graffiti scene, and post some pictures. I invite you to post anything related to graffiti. If you have a graffiti site, I'd like to add your link, and maybe you can link to this blog, and to graffitipix.com also!

Molly