GRAFFITI
Term, Lingo, Jargon, Glossary, Etc...
167: To kill someone. Street Gang numerical code only used in Graffiti.
23rd Yard: Graffiti Hall of Fame in East Oakland California.
3D Style: they are letters that were blocked out. either up, down, left, right or to a focal point. (first to have done this on the NY subways is graffiti artist Lonny Wood aka Phase 2 UGA from the Bronx 1974.) around mid-90's to modern times it started to mean a piece that twist and turns into space (first to have done this is Scum TFP from West Germany 1994") or bends into space and rendered realistically (first to have done this is graffiti artist Mirko Reisser aka Daim TCD from Hamburg Germany 1996) these two graffiti artist pioneered the contemporary terms of 3D style.
(See Animorphic 3D for similar)
(See Animorphic 3D for similar)
5-O, Five-Oh: a cop. comes from the tv show Hawaiian 5-O. originated in NY in the early 80's. it was first documented by New York Times in 1983 about teen slang.
(See similar: PoPo, One-Time)
(See similar: PoPo, One-Time)
5 Pointz: legal place to do graffiti located in New York.
Aerosol Artist: artist that uses spray paint as a medium, not necessarily a writer.
ACAB, 1312: you may have seen this graffitied at Black Lives Matters protest rallies it is acronym for "All Cops Are Bastards" it originates from the punk rock community.
(See similar: "Fuck 12")
(See similar: "Fuck 12")
Acid Tags, Acid Marker: a type of homemade markers. chemicals put in markers to melt surfaces like metal, glass or plastic.
(caution when using. fumes are highly dangerous and get on your skin is highly corrosive)
(See Plastic Eaters, Concrete Eaters, Metal Eaters and Glass Eaters for example.)
(caution when using. fumes are highly dangerous and get on your skin is highly corrosive)
(See Plastic Eaters, Concrete Eaters, Metal Eaters and Glass Eaters for example.)
Adbusting: often mixed up with Culture Jamming which is basically the same thing but with minor differences. it's to distort advertised message of a business to create a different, sometimes humorous message. This can be done by adding or subtracting words or images. Usually done with signs and billboards.
(see Culture Jamming for slimilar)
(see Culture Jamming for slimilar)
Add-Ons: European term. mean to add extra markings, design and symbols to a tag or a piece.
(See "Dress Ups" for similar)
(See "Dress Ups" for similar)
All City: originally meant having graffiti pieces, throw-ups and tags running on all subway lines in New York. todays meaning is "to be every where in a city by any means."
All Technique And No Substance: comes from the fine arts scene and is applied to graffiti. it when an artist paints as if he is painting a masterpiece but end results is crap.
Anaglyph 3D: when an image or piece displays red and blue offset images that overlaps next to each other and is to be used with 3d glasses to make it look as it is protruding space. sometimes graffiti artist imitate this visual effect without it working properly.
Animorphic 3D: graffiti painted in a certain angle. when standing at a certain location the graffiti art looks like its floating in mid-air. pioneered by Sergio Odeith of Portugal in 2005.
Ant Hill: a high and really really really steep hill in San Francisco. well not really a hill it is almost vertical it is located right next to a freeway. If you fall you’ll fall into traffic. The first graffiti on it were crude spray paintings of ants by an unknown street artist (probably civilian graffiti.) its been on there for a long time and without any other graffiti and has become a landmark. But recent times people have dared to write their name on ant hill and only a small handful has succeeded and some have known to die.
Anti-Graffiti Vigilantes: people who work independently. they go out buffing legal and illegal graffiti. some even go as far as to sit and wait in an area and record graffiti artist in action and post their face on social media in hopes to expose them. or spread rumors in hoping to ruin their reputation.
Anti-Graffiti Window Film: a thick film that is placed over windows, it protects windows from defacement and against vandalism. stops paint, scratches and acid attacks. when vandalized all it needs to do is be peeled off the window.
Army: When "other" people battle for you. you are known to have an army.
Autorack, Auto Carrier Freights: boxcars that holds automobiles that has corrugated surface.
B-Team: refers to a group of people or a person that put up the work of a graffiti artist without the artist help and without being present. people who does it usually stays in the background and USUALLY don't get recognition. done by the artist family and friends in support or sometime by people who are big fan of the artist work.
Back Jump: European term for when a train pulls up into a station for 15 minutes and can be painted quickly before taking off again.
Back Up (Name): When the cops know your name. you start using another name to get up.
Background: an image, scenery or a blank area behind a piece. usually done to cover up other tags and to make your graffiti standout.
Backpiece, Back Patch: Piece of painted fabric sewn onto the back of a jacket with Graffiti artwork.
Bar: its a simple line but when piecing its called a "Bar." its a basic structure of a letter or a connector.
Bars Style, Platforms: developed in California in the early 90's. uses connecting bars to make letter structures.
BART: acronym for Bay Area Rapid Transit. it is the white elephant of the Bay Area. OMG you are a legend if you successfully hit this virgin subway train.
Basketball, Softball, Tennisball etc: old school way to describe a type of cap found by comparing its spray width to balls.
Battle: to compete in Graffiti.
Beef, Beefing: When it's beyond competing creatively and it is on a personal level.
Bench: hangout spot for graffiti artist. to trade flicks and talk about graffiti stuff.
Bencher: describes a type of person who only takes pictures of graffiti artwork.
Benching: sitting in one place taking pictures of graffiti passing by or your own.
Bendy: European Term for Articulated Busses and Trains. Busses and Trains that have permanent joints to another car.
Bevel Style: surface of a letter that collapses on itself. making the letter look like a pyramid.
Big Wally Wall Washer: The can where the original Fat Cap was found.
Bit-Map: 8-Bit graphic style art.
Bits, Chip, Do-dads: sliced up bars in a piece. Do-dads was coined by Seen in 1983 in the documentary Style Wars.
(see Rounded Chip for similar)
(see Rounded Chip for similar)
Biter, Bite or Bit: Plagiarize. To copy other people's graffiti.
Black Book, Piece Book: a sketch book filled with art for graffiti.
Blacklist, Blacklisted: in graffiti its a graffiti artist wanted by the government or some organization. either for doing a total of a thousands of dollars worth of damages, being prolific in a short period of time, damaging something irreplaceable, thousands of dollars worth of stolen items...etc.
Bladed Stickers: Stickers with razor blades placed behind them. they are place behind them in hopes that if someone removes their stickers they would get their fingers cut up and stop them from removing it. usually has a strong political message or anti-LGBTQ message on the sticker.
Blaster: a spray tip made without a pinhole that sprays the spraypaint really fast and in mass amount. it's like spraying straight from the can. you can buy these in specialty stores or in the wild you can find these tips on air duster cans.
Bleeder: Paint that bleeds through other paint and can't be painted over.
Blind Tag, Double Take:
when you tag your name with white paint onto a white surface. or black on black etc.
when you tag your name with white paint onto a white surface. or black on black etc.
Block Out, Box Out: to make your letters into block-like by extending it into space.
Blockbuster: huge block-like letters that takes up an entire wall, freight or subway car.
Blown Out: refers to a throw up. the letters are too big or too high so you reach up to your full extent and the line fade outwards. usually the top part of a throwup. usually unintentional.
Blow Up Spot: to give up information on a graffiti's location. usually a bad thing to do and looked down upon if the graffiti is still running.
Bodē Character: illustrated characters created by Vaughn Bodē. A popular 70's goto character amongst graffiti artist since the 80's.
(See Mug Character for similar)
(See Mug Character for similar)
Bomb: (1) a type of graffiti artwork, simpler pieces, all of your letters, more than two colors, not much details just enough to look good and be on your way. (2) to graffiti an area excessively. (See "Bombing" for related.) (See "Bomber" for similar.)
Bomb The System: 2nd name for the "Scrapyard" graffiti based art store in New York.
Bomber: a type of graffiti artist who only specializes in tagging, throw ups or bombs. they like to focus on quantity more than quality. they don't like to stay in one place for too long. they usually lack the skills of piecing. (See "Bombing" below for related.) (See "Piecer" for related.) (See "Bomb" for similar.)
Bombing: to go out and do graffiti.
Bombing Run: Tagging spree with friends.
Bounce, Dip: to get out and leave an area after doing graffiti.
Broadway Style: dots used as fill-ins or outlines to imitate broadway lights. mostly done by 1st generation Graffiti Artist.
Broken Window Theory: a criminological theory stating that signs of urban decay (e.g. broken windows, graffiti) signal that an area is not monitored, encouraging more destructive criminal behavior.
Bubble Letters, Softies, Soft Letters: rounded letters with soft edges. these are popular with throw ups. bubble letters already existed in poster art. but, legend is. Phase 2 was the first to do these on the subway cars during the graffiti movement in NY in the early 70's.
Buff: originally meaning was to remove graffiti with a buff machine on a train. but now it means to "remove graffiti on anything and with any means". buffers can roll over an entire piece with a roller and this would be considered buffed. even tho a buff machine was not used.
Buffer: city worker or anybody who cleans graffiti.
Bulkhead Flat Car: type of freight. flat bed transport car with end walls.
Burner: (1) in the eighties it meant "Masterpiece" or the artist BEST work. (2) some people now a days use it as interchangable with the word "Piece" to describe an artwork of letters. and the piece doesn't have to be the best one.
(See Heater for similar)
(See Heater for similar)
Bus-Hopper: graffiti artist who travels from bus to bus doing graffiti on the bus or bus shelter.
Calligraffiti: calligraphy influenced graffiti.
Calligraphy Cap, Transversal Cap, Fan Spray: aerosol nozzle made especially for calligraphy. they have a special movable tip that you can turn to your perferred angle to spray. instead of spraying a circle it sprays a vertical line.
Can Control: having the ability to spray perfect lines.
Cap (1): To go over other graffiti.
Cap (2), Tip: spray can nozzle.
Cap Cleaner: Acetone Spray. you put the used spray tip that is filthy onto the acetone spraycan and press down to clear the insides.
Child Style: graffiti art done intentionally in a manner of a childs artwork.
Character: Illustration of a subject or person. done realistic or cartoony.
Chromy: throw ups done with chrome paint. comes from the word "chrome" and "throwy"
joined together. Urban legend says it was Cope2 from NY who first started doing chromys. He would do them on Freeways so when cars headlights hit them... they would shine. (See "Flowy" for related) (See "Throwy" for similar.)
joined together. Urban legend says it was Cope2 from NY who first started doing chromys. He would do them on Freeways so when cars headlights hit them... they would shine. (See "Flowy" for related) (See "Throwy" for similar.)
Chill Spot: an area where you can relax and take your time painting with no bother.
Chisel Tip: its a type of felt nib on a marker that narrows out and is wide. good for calligraphy.
Chuck Check: at one point in San Francisco the streets were littered with bright neon orange check marks next to peoples graffiti. a police officer Lt. Chuck Limbert started using the chuck check to intimidate graffiti artist. he wanted them to know they were being watched and investigated. His scare tactic didn’t sit well with the community and they started to complain that his check marks were worser than the graffiti.
Civilian Graffiti: graffiti done by your average joe or jane.
Clean Car Program: New York City Subway program that took subway car offline instantly if they had graffiti on them.
Clean Train: when a train system is known for pulling out subway cars out of service to clean any graffiti it is known as a "clean train" type of cars.
Clean Writer: theres this unknown phenomenon amongst the hardcore graffiti artist. the idea is to bomb a train and take a picture of it even when knowing it'll be pulled out of service and buffed.
Cloud: a background effect in piecing. Popular amongst old school writers.
Clipped: when a piece or throw up partially covers another from it sides. usually because they over estimated the placement. sometime done intentionally to challenge that graffiti artist.
Collaboration: when two or more graffiti artist gets up together either Tagging, Throw Ups or Bomb using the same can with same color or color scheme.
Computer Rock: Coined by Kase2 to describe his style he was using. which had a lot of hard turns like a pcb circuit board.
Concrete Eaters: type of acid tags that eats up concrete. Swimming Pool cleaner called Muriatic Acid can dissolve concrete.
Connector: its a bar that attaches from one letter to another for creative purpose only. isn't part of the basic structure of a letter.
Conspiracy: a charge you will definitely get when you get caught when you go out bombing with friends. What it means is you and somebody else (or more people) agreed to commit a crime together in secrecy.
Cool S, Universal S, Classic S of Graffiti, Sorry So Sloppy: The origin is unclear but the earliest documentation of this phenomenon is in a 1973 photograph that was published in 1974 in a book called "The Faith of Graffiti." This S has been passed down through word of mouth and copied thru peoples doodles in slambooks, notes and bathroom walls.
Cornbread: considered the first modern graffiti artist. from Philadelphia. the first to gain fame. started in 1965 but wasn't recognized by the media until 1968.
Crime Number: Police Penal Code mostly used by Street Gangs
(Example: 187 Homicide, 594 Vandalism)
(See Street Number for slimilar)
(Example: 187 Homicide, 594 Vandalism)
(See Street Number for slimilar)
Cross Out, Slash, Hack: to put a line or a X across someones graffiti in an effort to disrepect or compete againts that graffiti artist.
Cross Out with K: mostly done by street gangs. they would tag their rival gang on the wall and cross it out and put a "K" next to it. "K" means killer and it means they're a killer of that gang.
Crown: a symbol to let everyone know you are the best usually the people will draw this over you if you are worthy. self proclaimed kings or queens will get dissed.
Culture Jamming: often confused with adbusting but this is done specifically to non-buisness adverts. mainly done to religious, political or cultural images or signs displayed publicly. to create a different sometimes humorous or mocking message.
(see adbusting for similar)
(see adbusting for similar)
Cut, Cutty: Alleyway or out of the place area. a good place to do graffiti.
Cutting Lines: a technique in piecing where a line goes very sharp by overlapping. and can create fine lines finer than what a skinny cap can do.
Dabber, Dauber: a bingo marker applicator that can be filled with ink.
Dead Mans:
Dedication Piece: a piece created in celebration of a person or thing. pieced in their name or a word.
(See Tribute Piece for similar)
(See Tribute Piece for similar)
DGA: abbreviation for "Don't Get Around."
Dis: short for "Disrespect." when someone crosses you out or makes fun of you in graffiti.
Double Up: when doing an outline and the line breaks and you continue the line by overlapping. which is a bad thing cuz it looks terrible.
Downtown Hands: how people described the San Francisco graffiti artist "Jade" vertical tag style.
Dress Ups: to add extra marking or adding a suffix to your name.
Drips: (1) Intentional drips is stylized. (2) unintentional drips is a sign of an unexperienced graffiti artist.
Drip Tag: origin 60's. originally done by hippies. squeezed tube of acrylic let it drip to the floor to write out your name. other mediums other than acrylic can be used like insulation foam.
Drop Shadow: a shadow in background to make it look like the letter or an object is floating.
Droplets: water droplet effects. used alot by old schoolers.
Dub: European term that describes throw-ups or bubble letters done in black and chrome specifically.
Duboce Tunnel:
Duo Spray Adapter, Multi Spray Adapter: a gadget that you apply to a can so you can spray more than one spray.
Duster: to tag on dust with your finger.
Dusting: to spray a mist of one color over a another color to slightly change it.
Effect Spray: spray paint that has special paint that creates effects.
Egg Shell Sticker: a type of sticker that when try to peel off a wall will break apart in pieces so the graffitied egg shell sticker will not be removed completely.
Ego Trippin: A graffiti artist with too much pride, conceited and a cocky attitude. often treats other graffiti artist bad cuz they think they're the shit.
Electric Shadows: started in the 90's. Outlining silhouettes of ordinary urban elements such as traffic lights and mailboxes. etc
End To End, E2E: graffiti that reaches one end to the other end of a subway car or freight. E2E an acronym for End To End, an engineering term borrowed.
(see "Top To Bottom End To End" for similar)
(see "Top To Bottom End To End" for similar)
Extension: its a bar that extends out from a piece and does not connect to anything its for design purpose only and is not part of the basic structure of a letter.
Extinguisher Graffiti, Soaker Tags: A fire extinguisher modified to spray paint very high. first to pioneer this is Graffiti Artist Katsu in 2007.
Eye Sore: borrowed term used by civilians that describes graffiti in general for graffiti that is done by "toys" (unexperienced graffiti artist).
Fade: to blend colors from one to another.
Fame, Illegal Fame: this is the goal of every graffiti/street artist. there are two ways to get it. Quantity or Quality or both.
Fat-Cap: spray tips that sprays big.
Female Adapters: adapter you can attached to a Female Can and use Female Cap.
Female Can: spraycan with no stem. only male caps can be used on these.
Female Cap: spray nozzle with no stem. only used on male cans.
Fill-In, Fills: painting in the inside of a hallow letter. either solid or a unique design pattern filled into the space to give the letters form.
Flare: a spraying technique. its while you are spraying a can you flick your wrist up or down causing the paint to fade outwards or inwards.
Flat: Suitable surface for painting. Refers to Older slab-sided type of "subway" car.
(See Ridgy for Opposite)
(See Ridgy for Opposite)
Flatbed, Flat Car: not to be confused with "Flat" that refers to a subway car. this is specifially a freight that carry heavy duty specialized loads that can't fit in an enclosed car. it is a rolling platform that has no walls.
Flicks: photos or videos of graffiti.
Floater: graffiti that floats above ground level. not attached to the bottom of a surface of a wall.
Flowys: its a throwup style. its when an outline of a throwup thats in a continious line that don't stop or break. its a mixture of words of "Flow" and "Throwys". (See. "Flow-Tags" for similar.)
Frameline, Skeleton Sketch: first rough outline sketch of your letters.
Free-Walls or Sanctioned Walls: a place where you can go paint freely without permission and without getting stopped by cops. freewalls are scarce now a days. psycho-city in san francisco was a known famous free-walls. (See. "Legal-Walls" for similar.)
Freestyle: Graffiti done without thinking or planning.
Freights: Graffiti on Freight trains. made popular in the early 90’s in the San Francisco, Bay Area California and spread to the rest of the states.
Fuck 12: you may have seen this at Black Lives Matters protest rallies. 12 is a slang term for the Police. it comes from Atlanta Georgia. the origins is unclear at the moment but people believe it originates from "Adam 12" an 80's cop TV sitcom or it comes from the meaning of 12 jury in a court.
(see similar: "ACAB")
(see similar: "ACAB")
Funk Style: another word for wild style.
Gate Keepers: in Graffiti, it's people telling you what's Graffiti Art and what is not.
Gang Graffiti, Cholo Graffiti: Gang-Graffiti is not to be mixed with Tag-Banging tho both originated in LA. Tag Banging was a term coined by the media in the 90’s as something new and controversial and mostly spoke about a lifestyle rather than the art itself. Gang Graffiti was done by the cholos of the 1920’s until modern times and they developed their own distinctive graffiti art style.
German Montana: it bought the distribution rights to Montana in 1997 it also specializes selling product towards graffiti artist but it is unrelated to Spanish Montana. in the graffiti community they are considered big business cuz they partnered with Motip Dupli a large maker of spray paint for automobiles.
(See Spanish Montana for related)
(See Spanish Montana for related)
Getaway Driver: a friend that waits for you in a running car while you bomb something to jump back in quick and make a quick get away.
Getting Up, Got Up: to do Graffiti.
Ghost Car: Law enforcement would park police cars in areas or by walls to deter graffiti vandalism. These cares are empty decoys to scare away would be vandalizers without a police officer present.
Ghost Hack: when someone crosses out your name but don't leave a name behind.
Ghost Unit: plain clothes officers, who ride city buses watching for graffiti vandals.
Ghost Yard, Scrapyard: a place where they store abandoned rail cars.
Glass Eater: type of marker that is filled with etch bath or armour etch products used to do graffiti. creates acid etching tags that melts into glass. it was first reported use in california in 1999 which then quickly spread to the eastcoast. a home made marker is usually used. sometimes a shoe dabber is used with the etching solution mixed with the shoe polish to create swirls on windows.
(See Similar: Metal Eater, Plastic Eater and Acid Tags)
(See Similar: Metal Eater, Plastic Eater and Acid Tags)
Gleam: Hightlights put on a throwup or piece.
Gondola Car, Gons: low freights with ribbed sides. freight used to transport rugged, unfinished commodities used in construction and manufacturing.
Got Over: describes a graffiti artist. its when you don't have to get up anymore cuz you already achieved your fame.
Graffiti Bible:
Wild Style 1983 (Movie), Style Wars 1983 (Documentary), Spray Can Art 1987 (Book), Subway Art 1984 (Book). these are probably what started the craze when it first hit the scene and told the whole nation of Hiphop and graffiti in the 80's. Graffiti and Hiphop magazines did not exist and these were the only source they had. the Hiphop/Graffiti scene was already dying in the late 70's but a whole generation across the nation caught on to what the New York underground was doing. if you are going to bite! (copy)... bite from the pioneers in these first recorded documents! its considered a compliment! cuz all modern kings (top graffiti artist) has done so. or expand from it atleast.
Wild Style 1983 (Movie), Style Wars 1983 (Documentary), Spray Can Art 1987 (Book), Subway Art 1984 (Book). these are probably what started the craze when it first hit the scene and told the whole nation of Hiphop and graffiti in the 80's. Graffiti and Hiphop magazines did not exist and these were the only source they had. the Hiphop/Graffiti scene was already dying in the late 70's but a whole generation across the nation caught on to what the New York underground was doing. if you are going to bite! (copy)... bite from the pioneers in these first recorded documents! its considered a compliment! cuz all modern kings (top graffiti artist) has done so. or expand from it atleast.
Graffiti Code: a set of rules accepted by graffiti writers.
Graffiti Crew: an organized group of graffiti artist who are united under the same name that represents the crew.
Graffiti Jackets: from Europe to the USA. the art of graffiti on jackets been around since the 70's. denim jackets are favored to do them on. similar to Battle Jackets or Battle vests of the Hard Rock, Metal or Punk scene.
Graffiti On Girls: doing graffiti on nude female bodies became a trend in 2013 and it started by the website Shriiimp.com
Graffiti Photo Bombing: in graffiti it refers to a piece. When someone tags their name in or around somebody elses piece in hopes of a photo opportunity. a quick way to get featured in a graffiti magazine or just be seen in circles in photo trades.
Graffiti Purist: one who believes graffiti isn't HipHop but can't prove it.
Graffiti Suffix: Goto suffixes popular amongst graffiti artist since the beginning of time.
a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative.
-One: comes from aeronautical craft names that signifies the first, second or third etc...
-Ster: adding this means to participates in something.
-Ism: adding this means a political ideology or an artistic movement.
a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative.
-One: comes from aeronautical craft names that signifies the first, second or third etc...
-Ster: adding this means to participates in something.
-Ism: adding this means a political ideology or an artistic movement.
Grease Marker, China Marker: they are those hard crayon like pencils that you unravel the paper with a string to make the wax lead come out. they are waterproof and can mark on hard, glossy non-porous surfaces like glass.
Guerilla Advertisement: companies hiring graffiti artist to illegally graffiti there logos or products on the streets.
Gun Adapter: a handle with a trigger that you can attach to a spraycan to hold like a gun.
Halo: design symbol to let people know someone has passed away or you are a good person.
Hand-Skills: refers specifically to a marker. The ability to control a marker effectively in order to accomplish an aesthetically pleasing tag.
(See "Can Control" for similar)
(See "Can Control" for similar)
Handstyle, Handjob, Hands: it's your personal tagging style.
Hang-Over: when you hang yourself over the edge of a rooftop or bridge to do graffiti. usually strapped with a rope around your waste and other end tied securly to something or another person. or sometimes a "rope ladder" is used instead. (See. "Lean-Over" for similar.)
Heat Run: to suss out an area in the daytime for navigation and security before bombing at night time.
Heater: contemporary word for burner. a masterpiece or the artist best work.
(see Burner for similar)
(see Burner for similar)
Heart Loop: a extension bar that’s in a shape of a heart. Attached to a letter on one end and loops around on itself in a shape of a heart. A piecing design mostly done by Old Schoolers.
Heaven, Heaven Spot: doing graffiti on freeway overpass signs.
Heavy Hitter: a graffiti artist with fame.
Hell Hole: an unopperational dried up reservoir. a good spot to do graffiti cuz you have to climb in and there’s no public access and you are surrounded by walls.
High Pressure Cans: pressure output is very high. spits out paint in high volumes. good for covering up an area quick. or mostly used for tagging very big.
Hit, Hitting: Original term for a Graffiti Signature or "Tag". late 60's to mid 70's.
(see Tag for similar.)
(see Tag for similar.)
Hitters: (1) a perfect spot to do graffiti. usually a blank square or rectangular format. (2) a tagger.
Homemade Caps: Perfume caps fitted with a cut out stem. they are super fatcaps to caps that sprays huge circles with nothing in the middle.
Homemade Ink, Ink Recipe: your concoction of fluids or the secret fruit juice you found that you believe will cause a strong permanent stain. from break fluid to carbon paper in alcohol. anything goes cuz it your recipe.
Homemade Marker: A marker built with everyday items around your house.
(see "word of mouth" section for example)
(see "word of mouth" section for example)
Hopper: a type of railroad freight car used to transport loose bulk commodities such as coal, ore, grain, and track ballast.
Hook Ups: a design effect. for design purpose only. a connecting bar that extends out and reconnects over a gap usually.
Hot 110: an informant, an undercover officer or detective, a person who pretends to do graffiti but is out to catch them.
Hot Spot, Bait: (1) a wall or an area that has high activity for graffiti vandalism. (2) A wall or area being monitored by cops.
Hybrid: is used to describe a half "piece" and half "extinguisher" letter artwork combination.
Icons or Icon throw ups: type of throw up. simple drawing of a subject thats a representation of your name. usually the graffiti artist doesn't leave a tag behind when being done. a well known artist to have use this is "twistone" who uses a throw up of a "screw". it began in the early to mid 90's but it is not clear who is the first one to do it because when twist was getting up there were other artist doing it too in san francisco.
Icy Grape: highly prized collectors item. an out of production color from Krylon.
Insides: to do graffiti on the insides of something like a train or bus. crew that is known to have mastered this is "CIA - Crazy Inside Artist."
Installation Street Art: Three-Dimensional objects set in an urban environment.
Internet Writer: a graffiti artist who got his fame from only posting his graffiti online.
Invent: "to steal" graffiti supplies. slang from the early 70's.
Invisible Spray: as of 2013 there is spray-on made to block the surface so when it rains where ever it is sprayed on it doesn't get wet. a brand called "NeverWet" by Rust-oleum does this. you can use it for stencils or just basic tagging. it goes on invisble but when it rains it becomes visible and makes an image.
Iron Horse: NY Subway Cars.
Jifoam Oven Cleaner: where jifoam fat caps were originally found.
Juice: comes from the saying “Creative Juice.” when a person just has the "it' factor in graffiti art. he's known to have juice.
Jungle Green: most wanted discontinued Krylon color.
Keyline, Force Field: its when you put an outline around your entire piece.
Kicker, Text: words or a message put in or around a graffiti artwork or placed on a wall by itself.
King: The best graffiti artist.
(see Queen for similar)
(see Queen for similar)
Krylon: one of the most popular and earliest aerosal spray paint can. Krylon out of production paint cans are highly sought after and collectible.
L: elevated trains.
Landmark: when a graffiti withstands the test of time it becomes a landmark.
L.A.S.E.R. Tag, Digital Graffiti: it is computerized graffiti that is projected on to the side of a building on a large scale using super powerful laser beams and pointers. Pioneered by Graffiti Research Lab since 2006
Lay-Up: place where the transit park their subway cars when not in use. place where people paint their graffiti artworks.
Lean-Over, Lean-Down: when you lean over a rooftop to do a tag or reach down with a pole and do a roller piece. (See. "Hang-Over" for similar.)
L.E.D. Throwies: small LED lights taped to a watch battery with a magnet placed on high metal objects spelling out your name or alias or some word. it'll light up in the dark.
Legal-Walls, Permission Walls, Safe-Walls: walls painted with "PERMISSION" of the owner. a known famous place made for graffiti is the 5-pointz in New York. (See. "Free-Walls" for similar.)
Legal Writer: graffiti Artist who only does legal paintings. often looked down upon amongst the graffiti community.
Letter Distortion: when a letter does not look like it should suppose to or it looks like another letter.
Lilac Alley:
Lock On: street art Installation. sculpture in public space. Chain or bike locked to a light post or some kind of pole or bolted down public chair.
Love Team: (1.) when a boyfriend and girlfriend gets up together its known as a love team. (2.) a girlfriend that paint the fill-ins.
Low Pressure Cans: pressure output is very low and great for thin lines and doing detail work.
Lurker Tag, Phantom Tag: tagging with an acrylic tube. leave a thick line. when dried up so when buffed over it stands out and still seen as a bump underneath.
Main Hustle: making money off of graffiti full time.
(see Side Hustle for similar)
(see Side Hustle for similar)
Married Couple: (1) (American Term:) articulate subway cars and busses. has two halves and is built together by design and is permanently attached. (2) (European Term:) doing one graffiti piece across one half of a subway car continuing it into half of the next subway car like a diptych painting.
Male Adapter: adapter you can put on a male can so you can use a male cap.
Male Can: spraycan with a built in stem. only can be used with a female caps.
Male Cap: spray nozzzle with a stem. only can be used on female cans.
Marker Adapter: a gadget that can be placed on to a marker to make it do things it couldn't do before.
Metal Eaters: Ferric Chloride put into a marker. a type of acid tag. when applied to metal surface it'll rust the surface in seconds or if ceramic it'll discolor the ceramic surface. (Warning: you should now the cautions on using acid solutions before using it)
Metal Tip: in markers its the nib with a metal ball in the tip. it rolls around applying ink when rolled on to a surface. it is specially made for dirty and rough surfaces and used for thick solutions.
Metlac Bridge: bridge located in Mexico where people have wall walk it and did graffiti in the middle part of the bridge a mile high up.
Misspelled Diss: started in the early 90's in the Hiphop community. a way to enhance or disrespect what the writer is talking about by misspelling the name or subject on purpose.
Moniker, Freight Moniker, Hobo Tags, Boxcar Art: a Name and a Illistration drawings with Grease Markers. mostly done on freights, usually they write where are they from or at, and a date when it was drawn, sometimes a short phrase will accompany the moniker. These are usually done by Railroad workers, Train Hoppers and Railroad Enthusiasts. In modern times Graffiti artist are know to replicate these with respect to their methods.
Mob: Getting up as much as possible and done in groups.
Mop: shoepolish bottle applicator filled with ink.
Moss Graffiti, Eco-Graffiti, Green Graffiti: around 2009 Moss Graffiti became a trend. you take moss off the wall and stick it in a blender to make a slurry with Buttermilk, Water and Sugar. and apply the moss solution onto the wall with a paintbrush and bucket. the process takes time as for the moss to grow. if done properly the moss will grow where ever you have painted it on. it can be painted on anything but porous surface preferred like concrete.
Motion Tagging or Motioning: doing graffiti on the outside of a moving train.
Mug Character: the most copied graffiti character which branched off into different versions. unless they are the original they are called mug characters. it originated from B-Boy/Graffiti Artist Doze Green in the early 80's. the original character is named Mugsy.
(see Bodē Character for similar)
(see Bodē Character for similar)
Mute Color: Unbright color version of bright colors. Example: Yellow would be Mustard.
Nation of Graffiti Artists (NOGA): Started in 1974 and tried to promote graffiti artists and decriminalize graffiti. Set up workshops to help graffiti artists.
Needle Cap: shoots a splattering thin line.
New School: graffiti in modern times
New Wave Style, Futuristic: a distinctive style created by TWS crew of San Francisco in the 80's.
New York Style, Classic: good example of who used this a lot would be TMF crew in SF.
Nib: its the permanent or removable part of a tip of an applicator that marks the surface with ink or some liquid solution.
Night Writer: extends the functionality of LED throwies. its a LED holder on the end of a pole. so you can place it high up on things without messing up.
Nozzle: generic universal name for a spray tip.
O.G.: means "original gangster" but in modern times it is used to refer to anybody or anything from the old school era or just to mean something authentic. like a graffiti artist whos been in the Graffiti game a long time.
Old School: graffiti that gained 10 years and on.
On A Mission: to go out to do graffiti or go out to go racking.
One Letter Throw Up: one letter so stylized it is known by that graffiti artist without spelling out the rest of his name.
One-Liner, Liner, One-Flow, Flow Tags,
One-Stroke, Non-Stop, Bus Flow:
its a tagging style when the line don't break. this style originated in San Francisco in the early 90's which then spread to Europe. (See "Piece by Piece" Documentary) (See. "Flowies" for similar.)
One-Stroke, Non-Stop, Bus Flow:
its a tagging style when the line don't break. this style originated in San Francisco in the early 90's which then spread to Europe. (See "Piece by Piece" Documentary) (See. "Flowies" for similar.)
One-Time: A cop. comes from looking only "one time" so not to raise suspicion. originated in LA in the early 90's.
(See similar: PoPo, 5-O)
(See similar: PoPo, 5-O)
Outline, Final Outline: to define a form of a letter by outlining it. usually the end process of an artwork of a letter.
Overkill: (1) unnecessary graffiti. (2) or the idea is not to attract special attention by doing something stupid in private places (like graffiti profanity or excessive graffiti) so the whole area won't get cleaned and last a little bit longer. (3) when a spraycan shoots out extra streaming spray lines.
Paste-Ups, Fly-Paste: pasting flyer ads on the wall thats printed with a graffiti artist work. the artist has to apply wheatpaste on the area and put up the flyer over it using a paste brush. then, apply more wheat paste over the flyer to work out the bubbles.
Panel: (1) the flat area between the two doors and below the windows on a subway train.
(2) a perfect spot to do graffiti on any object. a perfect square or rectangle. usually blank.
(2) a perfect spot to do graffiti on any object. a perfect square or rectangle. usually blank.
Parody Art: Original Characters created by Graffiti Artist that parodies popular culture images. good example would be Kaws.
Phantom Cap: Coined in the early 90's when the Softcaps were invented and started to be found in the wild. at the time the word Softcaps did not exist. but Phantom Cap been dropped out of use in modern times and its just called Softcaps. they were found on many cans at the time. so far the most ive gotten is that it came from Krylon's "Workable Fixatif." or any cans Testors model spraypaint and another is from Household Glass Cleaner and Tent Waterproof Spray from Target.
Phun Phactory: original name for 5 pointz in New York. a place for legal graffiti.
Pichacao: a distinctive graffiti style that originates from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Piece: in Fine Arts it means “an artwork” but in Graffiti (1) it means an "artwork of letters" which is far from a tag. it is not short for "Masterpiece" this became a popular belief in the graffiti kingdom because it was taught in some old graffiti documentary in the early 80’s. "Masterpiece" means the persons greatest piece of work. "Piece" and "Masterpiece" is to be differentiated cuz not every "Piece" is a "Masterpiece." (2) it refers to a type of artwork in graffiti that uses elaborate letterings, painstakingly details and illustrations. takes hours to create or even days. see picture for example.
Piecer: a type of graffiti artist who only specializes in piecing. likes to work in details and takes hours to finish their work. hardly goes bombing. lacks the skill of doing throw-ups and bombs.
Pits: the exposed cellar or basement from a demolished building that’s below ground level where you are able to climb down into it. A good place to do graffiti cuz its viewable from above.
Plastic Eaters/Paint Eaters: (Paint Stripper, Aircraft Paint Remover) Dual Purpose..exist in both gel and aerosol. eats paint and plastic. works in seconds depending on the brand. aerosol is more dangerous getting some on your hand is already painful. type of acid tag or acid marker that melts plastic surfaces or plastic windows.
Pleb: derogatory term for an ordinary Graffiti Writer. Not great, Not bad just "regular."
PoPo: Originated in California Bay Area in the mid 80's for cops on bicycles that patrol beaches. they would often ride around in group of twos and often wear a vest that read "PO" in block letter across their chest for "Police Officer." when standing next to each other it would read "PoPo." (see similar: One Time, 5-O)
Post Graffiti: it's when graffiti had migrated from the streets into the galleries. depending on who you ask some people have their own opinion when it has legitimately happened.
Pressure Washing or Power Washing: Pressurized Hot Water that sprayed to remove graffiti off any surface by melting it.
Production: a large scaled wall or a subway car with a collaborations of writers over a themed background.
Psycho City: a free place to do graffiti without being stopped by the cops located in San Francisco. Free walls don't need permission.
Pull-In Pull-Out: US Term for a 15 minute temporary parked subway car. suitable for quick bombing.
(See Back-Jump for similar)
(See Back-Jump for similar)
Punition: a tag tagged repeatedly in mass amounts.
Public Style: readable letters where there are alotta people. straight letters done where there is heavy traffic of pedestrians.
Queen: female equivalent of a King. a female that is the best at graffiti.
Rack: to gather graffiti supplies by shoplifting.
Rakugaki: Japanese Graffiti.
Reverse Graffti, Clean Graffiti: Power washing an stencil with an Ad onto a grimy surface, cleaning it to leave a mark.
Ridgy, Ridge: Unsuitable for graffiti but still sprayed on. Subway car with courrugated, stainless-steel sides.
(See Flat for Opposite)
(See Flat for Opposite)
Roll Call, Lineup: List of names of members in a graffiti crew or graffiti writers who participated in a production.
Roll-Down, Iron Curtain: metal gates that the store owners pull down over there stores at closing time. which are stored up above rolled up. a perfect spot to do graffiti after closing time.
Roll-Over: a letter that repeats itself.
Roll-Ups, Rollies: graffiti done with paint rollers. usually done with tags or blockbusters.
Rounded Chip: sliced up bar that is rounded at the end.
(see chip for similar)
(see chip for similar)
Runner: explains a spot on a wall that that never gets cleaned or a train that goes into service without getting pulled out for cleaning.
Running, Ran, Run-Time: explain the length of time a graffiti has been up.
Rusto: short for Rust-Oleum a 2nd old popular spray paint brand that was an alternate to Krylon in the old school days.
Scrap Can: left over cans that are partially empty.
Scrap Fill: a patch work of different color fill-ins. created by left over cans.
Scrap Piece: a throw away piece. usually a piece made with less effort. a piece made with left over cans after doing a major piece. fill-ins are usually a hodge podge of colors.
Scratchitti: eastcoast term. to do graffiti by scratching your name on windows of subway cars. scratching in a back and forth motion. (See. "Scribe" for similar.) (See. "Scriber" for related.)
Scribe: westcoast term. to do graffiti by engraving your name into any glass-like surface. (See. "Scratchitti" for similar.)
Scriber: is a pen-like tool with a sharp tip thats used to scratch into glass. now a days a scriber refers to any object that's used to scratch into glass. (Ex. Lava Rock, Dremel Bit, Key...Etc.) (See. "Scratchitti" for related.)
Scrub, Scrub Fill: type of fill-in. obvious zig-zag lines. non-solid fills. usually done in one try.
Semi-Wildstyle: slightly readable letters. you can barely make out the letters.
Shape Shift: to modify some ones graffiti into your own work.
Sharp Letters, Metal Letters: letters with alotta points and hard turned edges. Heavy Metal music is known to use these in there album art cover and has influenced a lot of graffiti artist.
Shell, Hollow: outline of a letter only. no fill-ins. the 1st stage process in piecing or a Throw-Up. see "Toss-Up for similiar."
Shine, Bling: graphic effect put on a piece to make it look like its shining.
Shorty: a young person you boss around. usually someone learning the ropes of graffiti from someone who is more experienced.
Side Bust: When a person does their graffiti next to another graffiti artist who is established or graffiti is just really good. giving them quick fame.
Side Hustle: making money off of graffiti as in a temporary or secondary job.
(See Main Hustle for similar)
(See Main Hustle for similar)
Side Name: when a graffiti artist has another graffiti name.
Side To Side, Back To Back, Stamp, Families: graffiti done repeatedly in the same manner consecutively one after another in a row.
Sign Artist: professional sign artist turned graffiti artist. you can tell by their super clean style even the wack shit is slick as fuck.
Silver Terrace:
Skinny Cap: aerosol cap nozzle that sprays thin.
Slap, Slap Ups: word originated in the skateboard culture and has been borrowed in graffiti. Twist from San Francisco is credited for popularizing graffiti on stickers in the early 90's. but if you asked him, he gives credit to Cost & Revs from New York. Graffiti on stickers was already around since Taki 183 in the early 80's but it didn't go mainstream until Twist hit the scene. (See "Sticky Side" for related.)
Sleep, Sleeping: (1) to miss out (2) an Inactive Graffiti Artist.
Slice & Shift: Coined by Crayone to talk about a technique in piecing he was doing. which was cutting parts of letters and moving them out of place.
Soft Caps: type of cap good for shading and blending.
SOHO Down & Under: Original name for the "Scrapyard" in the 90's a Graffiti based art store in New York.
Space, Spot: an area to do graffiti.
Spanish Montana, MTN: started in 1994. its the original aerosal paint company that specializes in producing products specifically for graffiti artist needs. in the graffiti community they're considered created by writers for writers.
(See German Montana for related)
(See German Montana for related)
Specialty Store: stores that supplies and specializes in the art of Graffiti.
Spell-Outs: Abbreviation of your crew or name spelled out.
Spit, Spitters: to go over other graffiti.
Splasher: anti-graffiti vigilantes who work in groups or independently. they are called spashers because of their known technique of vandalizing graffiti artworks with cups or bucket of paint and by throwing it at graffiti artworks that are legal or illegal.
Spot Jocker: A Graffiti Artist that is territorial.
Spray Can Adaptors: a gadget that you attach to the spray nozzle to make the spray can do things it wouldn't normally do.
(see for example: Wing Adaptors, Male To Male Adaptors.)
(see for example: Wing Adaptors, Male To Male Adaptors.)
Sprayer, Garden Sprayer: they're handpump. there's a hand held, gallon can and backpack. there is a backpack that comes with a motor but its to noisy to go stealth. can adjust the spray width from skinny to super wide sprays. just mix equal amounts of paint to water ratio. if it comes out transparent just add more paint to make it opaque.
Spucki: german term for a graffiti sticker that you have to lick to stick.
Stack: a placement on a wall. graffiti letters placed on top of another from above.
Stainer, Ghost Tag: when a graffiti survives the buff and is faintly seen it is called a stainer because it is still good and viewable and usually left alone.
Standard Cap: (1) the cap that came with the can. (can be a special designer cap.) (2) a cap that sprays medium width.
Stay Up And Don't Sleep: a parting expression. "farewell my friend and keep on doing graffiti."
Stealth Ink: created in 2010 its ink that is invisible. used with a marker. when applied it stays invisible for 15 minutes then will show up dark brown.
Steel: Any type of Train. Freights, Lite-rail, Subways etc...
Stencil Graffiti: started in Europe and adopted here in the US in the mid 90's. the art of cutting an image out of cardboard and spraying it on the wall. 1 to 5 or more cardboards can be used on one image to create layers of different colors or effects.
Stencil Cap Adaptor: a shield that sits around the cans ring where the tip is located. it has a hole in it to create the smallest spray possible. drawback is that it wastes paint by blocking and letting only a small part of it go thru. the paint builds up in the ring and needs constant removal.
Stomper: Australian term for a blockbuster.
Street Art, Underground Art: Unsanctioned artworks done illegally in the streets.
Street Number: old school way to differentiate themselves among others and to let everyone know where they're from. the number is always written at the end of a name or alias. for example Flint 707.
(see crime number for similar)
(see crime number for similar)
Sticky Side: graffiti on the adhesive side of a sticker which are placed backwards on a window. a technique developed so the sticker will not get weathered and not exposed to the outside elements. (See "Slaps" for related.)
Stock-Tip: generic tips that came with the spraycan. not to be underestimated cuz early graffiti writers used these to create famous masterpiece we see today.
Straight Letters: Graffiti that uses basic structure of a letter. The most basic style of piecing. (See "Wild Style" for opposite.)
Street Trophy: Signs and Objects from the street kept as momentos.
Strike, Strike Up: Term used by Street Gangs to refer to tagging.
Superkool 223: a graffiti pioneer on the subway. one of the first taggers from the Bronx to first to thicken out his tags to stand out in doing so created the first Piece in the early 70's.
Supermarket Inks: old schoolers used to steal these ink bottles from grocery stores (behind the counter) that they used for the pricing gun cuz they believe they were hard to clean off.
The System: (1) in Graffiti it is short for the Subway System. (2) the legal system.
Tag, Tagging: a graffiti artist signature.
Tag-Bangers: supposedly tagging and gangbanging mixed together. hyped up by the media in the 90's and centered around Los Angeles. people were showing off the graffiti culture and street gang culture at the same time and the news reporter tried to report this as something new and controversial. though, there are some graffiti artist who do carry guns for protection but there is no "tag-banging" way of life. gang culture and graffiti cultture are two seperate things.
(See Wall Bangin' for similar)
(See Wall Bangin' for similar)
Tall Cans: high pressure long cans that holds 600ml of paint or more.
Tank Car: Liquid Container Freight Carriers.
Third-Rail: a live rail that supplies electricity to the sub way cars. usually has a cover above it and to one side of it to prevent anybody from touching it. but it is still exposed and can kill you.
Throw-up or Throwy: super quick letters, done in your initials, uses two colors, one layer fill-in and an outline.
(See Icon, One Letter Throw Up, Toss Up... for similar.)
(See Icon, One Letter Throw Up, Toss Up... for similar.)
The Thunderdome: abandoned factory building where you can do graffiti inside.
Tile Gap Tagging: making lines with a marker in between the crack of the tiles to spell out your name by squares. when buffed only the line in the crack will still be visible cuz it's hard to clean. unless the janitor has no life and does a real good job.
Tiling, Tiler: Art of gluing tiles to the wall. Notable Tiler is Space Invader.
Top To Bottom, T2B: a piece that reaches top of the subway car to the bottom.
Top To Bottom End To End, T2BE2E: a piece that reaches top of the subway car to the bottom and from left end to the right end.
(see Whole Car for similar)
(see Whole Car for similar)
Toss-Up: Specifically a Throw-Up outline with no fill-ins.
(see "Hollow and Shell for similiar.")
(see "Hollow and Shell for similiar.")
Toy: (1) a negative connotation for inexperienced and incompetent writer and/or can be your attitude towards something like not respecting rules of graffiti etc.. (2) a really small fluid marker.
Tribute Piece: doing somebodys elses tag name in your graffiti style in tribute to them.
(See Dedication Piece for similar.)
(See Dedication Piece for similar.)
Trackside, Linepiece: Graffiti done along the walls or sound barriers on the side of the tracks so passengers on trains can see them.
Ultra Flat: type of spraypaint. favorite amongst writers cuz of its flat quality. very pleasing to the eyes and gives your tag style.
United Graffiti Artists (UGA): Group started in 1972 to help writers with creativity and make graffiti legal and profitable.
Up, Ups: (1) a graffiti artist who is active (2) Prolific Graffiti Artist.
Vamp, Vic: to rob another graffiti artist of their supplies.
Vandal Squad: City Transit Police Department that keeps records of graffit artist.
Virgin Spot: a popular wall that is always spoken about but never had graffiti on them. and the first to apply graffiti on them is known to have bust its cherry. =D and they get all the credit.
Vulgar Graffiti, Obscene Graffiti: vagina graffiti, ass graffiti, boobs graffiti and penis graffiti. the original juvenile graffiti that dates back to ancient rome. you arn't a true vandal if you haven't done this once in your lifetime.
Wack: Not good graffiti.
Wall Bangin': another term for gang graffiti.
(See Tag-Bangers and Gang Graffiti for similar.)
(See Tag-Bangers and Gang Graffiti for similar.)
Wall Of Fame: Wall that shows off famous Graffiti Writers Local and from around the World.
Wall Walk: walking along a high wall with a ledge to do graffiti on it.
Well Car, Stack Car, Wagon Car: type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers (Shipping Containers) used in intermodal freight transport.
Whistle Blower: A Yard Conductor. the person who inspects the freights before contacting the Train Engineer to let him know it's ok to take off.
The White Elephant: Trains that never had graffiti on them.
(See Virgin Spot for similar.)
(See Virgin Spot for similar.)
White-Washing: a huge paint over of graffiti in an area or block. usually painted in white. a heavy graffitied area being cleaned up in a massive effort. usually done sloppy with windows, benches, poles, utility boxes, telephone booths, the ground and even trees painted white.
White Out Pen, Correction Pen: whiteout pens are a favorite for use with graffiti cuz its hard to clean and and when cleaned it leaves a ghost tag. some places it is a felony to write on the wall or the bathrooms with this.
Whole Car: a production on one subway car. a subway car that's been painted completely. can be a crew or an individual.
Whole Train: the ultimate get up. one side of the entire length of the train in a full illegal production. usually done by a crew.
Wickeds, Wickets: Tall elongated graffiti style that originated in Philadelphia in the 70's.
Wild Style: coined by "Tracy 168" in 1975, it is orginally the name of his crew. but when they began writing the name next to their pieces, people thought they were explaining the style they were using. which were letters that "interlocked" it was a personal style they developed. but the pieces were readable. this is the orginal term. but through the years and by the graffiti masses the term evolved to "Unreadable Letters". (See "Straight Letters" for Opposite.)
Windows Down: a piece done below window level of a subway car.
Wing Adaptor: at the moment they are only available on male adaptors. they are like handles you can attach to the spray tips so it can make it easy to spray the can. or spray without a tip spraying straight from the can.
Woodblock Graffiti: started 1995 in New York. Plywood with graffiti artwork attached to a street sign post with bolts bent back so no one can't remove them.
Writer: this is what you call a graffiti artist.
Yard, Gallery: an out of the way area where there are graffiti artworks.
Yarn Bombing, Wool Bombing, Yarn Storming, Guerrilla Knitting, Graffiti Knitting, Urban Knitting: type of street art that uses yarn. started in the 90's in Houston Texas. Bill Davenport get early credit for it but modern day yarn bombing goes to Magda Sayeg. its to wrap public objects such as statues, bike racks, lamp posts, parking meters, etc. with knitted yarn.