Blog #4: From Spray Can to Light: Graffiti Revisited

Street Graffiti Illusions

By Julian Beever

I chose this particular street graffiti because of the illusion of what it looks like to be people trying to get out of a dungeon-like hole. It has that 3-D effect that makes it look realistic. Even seeing it in person, it would make you think it was real. There are many more street graffiti that create illusions by talented artists like this one. It uses a variety of elements and principles of design such as line, shape, tone, and balance. Lines and shapes were used to create the dungeon and the bodies within it. These lines and shapes varied from size and colour. There is shading within the dungeon to show shadows of both the bodies within it and the dungeon itself. The shading suggests that the sun is coming in from the east. This was a clever incorporation of tone and value. Colours used were different shades of brown and some black and yellow for the sun. The size of the bodies and windows in the dungeon was well planned out in relation to the size of the dungeon. The artist. The size of the windows and bodies allows us to get a sense of how large the dungeon is. It was a well use of space of the area as it fills up enough of the floor and extends out which is shown by the rope. The space of the floor was used well as a 3-D illusion. Principles used include balance, emphasis, repetition, unity, and harmony. The dungeon was created symmetrical as shown by its rectangular shape and the two windows on both sides of it with one in the middle of the back wall. The is an emphasis on the man reaching out of the dungeon as his hand is reaching toward you. This man grabs your attention. Repetition was also used in the bricks. However, some of them do vary in size, shape and colour to add variety. This piece is visually satisfying as it combines similar, related elements such as colour, shape, size, and lines within the dungeon. This enforces unity throughout the piece. 

I had come across this light graffiti piece and I thought it was quite appealing. It is a light graffiti of a Porche 918 Spyder. I was impressed by the amount of detail the artist included. Just like the traditional graffiti piece, it uses elements and principles of design. However, in a light graffiti piece like this, the elements and principles focus mainly on lines. Lines are used to create the outline of this car. Different thickness was used to contrast the shading of the car. Colours are also used, but it is limited to the colours available with the light source. In the traditional graffiti, coulours and lines help us identify the difference in shape, as opposed to light graffiti which only uses lines. Colours used are just white which I assume is from a flashlight or LED light, green, and yellow which could be from a glow stick. The tone was light in contrast to the darkness of the space used. The artist must have studied the car's size very well as it looks quite accurate from an actual car. The front was created bigger to show the direction the car is facing. Size is equally as important in both traditional and light graffiti to the appearance of the subject.