The World of Street Art: Discovering Urban Creativity
In this post I want to give you a glimpse into the world of urban street art. I'll share some stories about the artists and the context where their pieces were made. But I also want to share some key lessons I've learned over the years.
Most people think of graffiti as the most extreme form of street art. In fact, there are so many forms of urban creativity out there that people often forget about them. Let me show you a few examples.
My first big city experience was Amsterdam. I spent most of my days walking the streets of the city center, looking for interesting things to paint. Every day, new street artists popped up on different corners, so I saw a wide variety of street art. Many pieces were really impressive. A few weeks ago, I was talking to an artist from there. He told me about a group of graffiti writers who started in the city. They had a weekly meeting place, and a bunch of them would paint their pieces on the walls in the middle of the night. That’s how some of those amazing pieces of street art became visible to the general public.
Another example is my hometown, the French city of Nantes. In the 1980s, this city had a rich culture of urban creativity. They used stencils to decorate buildings all over the city. As a result, they got the nickname "Paris on the Seine". I grew up in this city and visited some of these stenciled spots regularly. When I was a kid, this city had more than 700 stenciled spots. This number has decreased drastically since then. But the pieces that remain are still great.
These are just a few examples of street art, and there are even more. You can learn more about the history of street art by visiting sites such as the StreetArtBlog and Street Art Museum.
In this post, I want to share some lessons I learned along the way while discovering urban creativity. I hope you find them useful.
LESSON 1: Choose your medium carefully
When starting out in your street art career, it is tempting to use any and all tools available to you. This might lead you to use spray cans in every corner of your city. But if you want to get paid for your art, you should focus your efforts on a specific type of medium.
Your first instinct may be to try out multiple different materials, but remember, you have to start somewhere. If you don't know how to create a proper stencil, then just stick to spray paint. There are many great stencils available online, and you can practice using them without risking anything.
Once you have mastered stencil creation, you can experiment with more sophisticated methods such as using stencils made from wood, paper, vinyl, aluminum, or any other material. And when you really feel ready, you can try creating more complex stencils in 3D and even holograms.