• 80 ideas

Graffiti Drawing Ideas for Paper

Three words, styles or add-ons to practise in a sketchbook, with the letter style named and the extra that finishes it.

Graffiti Drawing Ideas for Paper

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  1. Sheet of six label stickers for your own folderSix label-sized boxes, a different tag or throw-up in each. Add-on: a border and a tiny character.
  2. FLOW in letters that lean and connectSemi-wildstyle: the foot of each letter slides under the next. Add-on: one long arrow off the final W.
  3. LOVE with a heart for the OBubble letters. Add-on: the heart gets its own highlight and a single drip falling from its point.

Next step Keep going with your name: name art ideasPut the wall in a street: perspective exercises

All 80 ideas

Words to letter 18

  • A friend's name as a birthday piece Bubble letters with a candle for any letter I. Add-on: a cloud behind, scattered with confetti dots and stars.
  • BOOM bursting out of a jagged star Block letters that grow toward the middle of the word. Add-on: a comic burst behind and cracks through the fill.
  • DREAM fading from pink to blue Soft rounded letters. Add-on: a colour fade across the fill, blended where the two markers overlap.
  • FIRE with flames for a fill Block letters. Add-on: flame shapes licking up inside the fill, yellow at the base through to red at the top.
  • FLOW in letters that lean and connect Semi-wildstyle: the foot of each letter slides under the next. Add-on: one long arrow off the final W.
  • FRESH in plain straight letters Straight letters: blocky, easy to read, two colours. Add-on: a hard black drop shadow on one side only.
  • GLOW in outline letters on black paper Hollow letters: outline only, no fill. Add-on: a soft glow of chalk or pastel smudged round the word.
  • KING or QUEEN with a crown on the first letter Straight letters with 3-D sides. Add-on: a three-point crown tipped over one corner, with a highlight per point.
  • LOVE with a heart for the O Bubble letters. Add-on: the heart gets its own highlight and a single drip falling from its point.
  • One word repeated until it fills the page Tag style in rows, like lines written at school. Add-on: switch the colour of one word in every row.
  • PEACE as a blockbuster across two pages Blockbuster: big, simple, legible letters filling the spread edge to edge. Add-on: a two-colour split fill.
  • RISE with each letter a step higher Straight letters with 3-D sides, each one raised like a stair. Add-on: a single arrow pointing up off the E.
  • WILD in beginner wildstyle Wildstyle basics: stretch the bars, overlap the letters, add two arrows. Keep every letter's skeleton readable.
  • YO in two very fat letters Bubble letters as round as you can make them. Add-on: a thick outer outline round the whole word.
  • Your first name as a bubble throw-up Bubble letters, one outline colour and one fill. Add-on: a drop shadow down and to the right of every letter.
  • Your initials as a two-letter throw-up Bubble letters that overlap like two balloons. Add-on: one window-shaped highlight on each letter.
  • Your nickname as a one-liner tag Tag style, written in one constant motion without lifting the pen. Add-on: an underline that ends in an arrow.
  • ZAP with a lightning bolt for the Z Sharp straight letters. Add-on: the Z becomes a bolt and thin spark lines shoot off the outer corners.

Letter styles 18

  • Anti-style letters, wobbly on purpose Anti style flouts the usual rules: uneven bars, childlike shapes. Add-on: a scribbled fill that leaves gaps.
  • Block word with 3-D sides dropped down-left Straight letters. Add-on: parallel 3-D sides, all at 45 degrees, shaded darker than the letter faces.
  • Blockbuster letters filling a ruled rectangle Blockbuster: simple, legible, as tall as the frame allows. Add-on: a level split fill, silver over black.
  • Letter S in wildstyle with three arrows Wildstyle: stretch both ends into bars, fold one back through the letter. Add-on: an arrowhead on each end.
  • Letters cut into jagged shards Straight letters sliced into angular chips. Add-on: thin crack lines, with two chips floating off the word.
  • Letters leaning forward at speed Straight letters sheared about 20 degrees. Add-on: speed lines trailing off the back edge of each letter.
  • Letters with a kick: one leg stretched long Semi-wildstyle: extend the leg of an R, K or A into a long bar. Add-on: a chunky arrowhead on the end.
  • Lower-case word, fat and friendly Bubble style in lower case; the dots on i and j become stars. Add-on: a shine on every dot.
  • One word as a tag, a throw-up and a piece Tag in one colour; throw-up with outline and fill; piece with 3-D, arrows and colour changes. Same page.
  • Overlapped throw-up with tucked-in letters Bubble throw-up: each letter tucks behind the one before. Add-on: a single outer outline round the lot.
  • Round letters squashed flat like pancakes Bubble style stretched wide and low, overlapping like a stack. Add-on: a drip off each lower edge.
  • Three-letter word with interlocking bars Wildstyle basics: a leg of each letter passes behind its neighbour. Add-on: small gaps where the bars cross.
  • Whole alphabet in bubble letters Bubble style: draw the stick letter, inflate it, shrink the holes to slits. Add-on: a window highlight top left.
  • Whole alphabet in straight block letters Straight letters: every bar the same width, every corner square. Add-on: a drop shadow in one direction.
  • Word riding a curved baseline Bubble or straight letters, big in the middle and small at the ends. Add-on: a wave underline beneath.
  • Your initial drawn five ways on one page Tag, bubble, straight, 3-D and wildstyle versions side by side. Add-on: circle the one you would keep.
  • Your name as a hollow Hollow: an outline-only throw-up with no fill. Add-on: a thin shadow line down one side and nothing else.
  • Your tag practised twenty times down a column Tag style, one colour. Add-on: try a star, an arrow or an underline flourish on the last five.

Add-ons and effects 18

  • Arrow sheet: twelve arrowheads, no two alike For wildstyle. Add-on: arrows that bend, split in two or wrap round a bar. Keep the heads chunky.
  • Bars growing off the first and last letter Semi-wildstyle. Add-on: a bar off the first letter swings under the word and ends in an arrow.
  • Bricks showing through worn letters Blockbuster letters. Add-on fill: a brick pattern in the lower half, as if the paint had worn away.
  • Bubbles rising through a fill Bubble letters. Add-on fill: circles of mixed sizes in a lighter tint, each with its own tiny highlight.
  • Cracks and chips in a stone-letter fill Block letters. Add-on: Y-shaped cracks running in from the edges and two chips knocked off the corners.
  • Crowns with three, four and five points Sits on the first letter of a straight-letter word. Add-on: jewels, a tilt and a highlight on each point.
  • Drop shadow against 3-D sides on the same word Straight letters, drawn twice. Add-on: a detached shadow on one, joined 3-D sides on the other. Compare.
  • Eight fill patterns in eight boxes For any letter style. Add-on fills: fade, bubbles, stripes, checks, flames, stars, cracks and camouflage.
  • Four kinds of highlight on one bubble letter Bubble style. Add-on: window shine, dot and dash, edge line, star sparkle. Keep the light top left in all four.
  • Glow line round neon letters on black paper Hollow letters in a bright gel pen. Add-on: a softer, wider line of the same colour smudged outside.
  • Inline stripe inside every bar Straight letters. Add-on: a thin line of a lighter colour running inside each stroke, broken at the corners.
  • Paint splat behind a short word Any short word in bubble style. Add-on: a splat with finger-like rays, small satellites and two long drips.
  • Quote marks and an underline round a tag Tag style. Add-on: quotation marks either side, an underline, and a small star where the line ends.
  • Row of drips in five different lengths Practise under a plain block bar. Drips: parallel sides and a round bead at the end, no two the same length.
  • Sign-off beside a piece: small tag, year, star Tag style, one colour, tucked bottom right the way a painter signs. Add-on: a star or an arrow underline.
  • Stars and shine lines round a single letter One bubble letter. Add-on: three four-point stars, one small and two large, inside a ring of short shine lines.
  • Thick outer outline in a second colour Any throw-up. Add-on: a fat second outline round the whole word, leaving a thin gap of bare paper between.
  • Three-marker fade across a whole word Block letters. Add-on: yellow through orange to red, overlapping each pair of markers while the ink is wet.

Characters 14

  • Alien peeking over the top of a word Pairs with a throw-up: fingers and eyes over the top edge. Add-on: antennae that end in stars.
  • Boombox with a face and speakers for cheeks Pairs with block letters. Add-on: music notes and motion lines pumping out of both speakers.
  • Cat in a hoodie hugging a sketchbook Pairs with a throw-up. Add-on: the black book's cover carries a tiny tag of its own.
  • Cloud character puffing out the backdrop Pairs with any piece. Add-on: its breath becomes the cloud behind the letters.
  • Dog in shades leaning on the last letter Pairs with straight letters, because the lean needs a solid upright. Add-on: star glints on both lenses.
  • Fox in headphones nodding to a beat Pairs with letters on a curved baseline. Add-on: notes, and a zigzag sound wave as the underline.
  • Marker pen character giving a wink Pairs with a tag. Add-on: a squiggle trailing from its tip that turns into the tag's underline.
  • Paint roller character on a long pole Pairs with blockbuster letters, which are often rolled. Add-on: a wet stripe of colour trailing behind it.
  • Pigeon in a cap and a chunky chain Pairs with straight letters; perch it on the tallest one. Add-on: a small crown floating above, tilted.
  • Robot built from the same bars as the letters Pairs with 3-D block letters: same square bars, same shading. Add-on: bolts drawn as round highlights.
  • Single brick with a grumpy face Pairs with a blockbuster. Add-on: cracks across the forehead and one chipped corner.
  • Spray can character with arms, legs and trainers Pairs with bubble letters. Add-on: a speech bubble holding your tag, and one drip off the nozzle.
  • Traffic cone character with a drip hairdo Pairs with sharp, jagged letters. Add-on: paint running down over its stripes.
  • Your initial turned into a monster A bubble letter is the body and its holes become eyes. Add-on: teeth along one edge, drips as slobber.

Walls and backgrounds 12

  • Brick wall drawn in running bond Behind any piece. Offset each row half a brick and skip the bricks under the letters. Add-on: a few cracks.
  • Bubbles and stars scattered behind a word Behind a throw-up. Crowd them near the letters and thin them outward. Add-on: two stars overlapping the outline.
  • City skyline silhouette at dusk Behind block letters. Flat black rooftops, water tanks and aerials on a two-colour sky. Add-on: lit windows.
  • Cloud backdrop in one flat colour Behind bubble letters. Overlapping half circles hugging the word. Add-on: a darker line under the cloud.
  • Concrete wall with stains, a pipe and a drain Behind a tag. Streaks run down from every fixing and a downpipe frames one side. Add-on: a peeling poster.
  • Flattened cardboard box lettered edge to edge Treat the card as a wall: blockbuster letters in paint pens. Add-on: masking-tape lines for a crisp split fill.
  • Nameplate for your own bedroom door Your name on a strip of card. Bubble letters, cloud, outer outline and highlights: the full stack.
  • Roller shutter ruled in level slats Behind a blockbuster. Rule slats 5 mm apart and break the letter edges slightly at each one. Add-on: a padlock.
  • Scale sketch for a wall you have permission to paint Rule the wall at 1 cm to 50 cm, then place the piece, a character and a cloud. Add-on: a colour key.
  • Sheet of six label stickers for your own folder Six label-sized boxes, a different tag or throw-up in each. Add-on: a border and a tiny character.
  • Sketchbook spread planned as one composition A black book page: the piece in the middle, tags in the corners, arrows linking them. Add-on: a drip border.
  • Sunburst rays fanning out behind a word Behind straight letters. Alternate two colours in wedges from a point behind the middle letter.

How it works

Everything here is for paper, or for a wall only where you have permission. These 80 graffiti drawing ideas are sketchbook exercises: words to letter, letter styles, add-ons, characters and backgrounds. Every hint names the letter style and the add-on, such as bubble letters with a drop shadow. Easy marks 41 starters.

Read the full guide

Tag, throw-up, piece: three weights of one word

A tag is a stylised signature, normally in one colour. A throw-up adds a one-colour outline and one layer of fill, usually in bubble shapes. A piece, short for masterpiece, brings 3-D sides, arrows and several colours. One word as a tag, a throw-up and a piece puts all three on a page. Writers plan in a sketchbook called a black book, which is where these graffiti art ideas belong.

Letter styles, from readable to wild

Straight letters are blocky and easy to read, typically in two colours; a blockbuster is the same idea at full height. Wildstyle interlocks the letters until they are hard to read, so the 18 style exercises build up to it: a kicked leg, a tucked overlap, then Letter S in wildstyle with three arrows. Add one extra at a time: drips, arrows, highlights. Two add-ons carry meaning. A crown claims king status, and a halo over a name remembers a writer who has died, so keep it off your own tag.

  • Pencil the skeleton of each letter first. If the stick version cannot be read, no style will rescue it.
  • Pick one light direction, top left, and keep it for every highlight, shadow and 3-D side.
  • Ink the outline last, over the fill, with your thickest marker. It tidies every wobbly edge.

Questions and answers

Where do I start with easy graffiti art ideas?

Choose Easy for 41. Your initials as a two-letter throw-up is two overlapping balloons with a highlight on each. Row of drips in five different lengths is a quick warm-up. Leave wildstyle until your straight and bubble letters come out even.

Are these spray paint art ideas or marker ideas?

They are written for pencil, markers and paint pens on paper or card. The lettering carries over to a spray can, but only on your own board or canvas, or on a wall whose owner has given permission. Scale sketch for a wall you have permission to paint covers the planning.

What word should I letter if I have no tag?

Start with your first name or initials, then try a short word from Words to letter: FRESH, ZAP, FLOW, GLOW. Three to five letters is ideal, because each stays big enough to style. Choose letters you enjoy drawing, since you will repeat the word dozens of times.

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