Rocking out for our friend Jason aka DG…
Category: Rest In Peace
ROCKING FOR NACEO IN JERSEY CITY
Doing my part to keep Nace’s memory alive. This roof is just a stones throw away from the old Jersey City Hall Of Fame, a place Nace and I spent many hours spraying.
Nace was the first writer I met that took a professional approach to painting illegal graffiti. His friendship had a lasting influence on my life. Rest In Peace
Photo: Joe Russo
NEKST FOREVER
In 2012 the Graffiti world lost a great. NEKST will be missed forever for his bold and unrelenting style. His name will always be synonymous with what a true graffiti writer is. A group of friends gathered in Detroit to reproduce NEKST’S John Hancock on the front of the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art.
Produced by the Seventh Letter
Directed by Bankshot
Shot by Lyndon French
Music by Clams Casino and Tame Impala
Special Thanks
All of the Artsists
The Seventh Letter
MOCAD
DONT
Olivia and Jordan
NEKST – REST IN PEACE
It’s a real shame to see friends continuing to pass away so early. Nekst was a straight up dude with a savage attitude when it came to painting and life in general. He will be missed by many. Rest in peace…
NACEO RIP
THAT NOISE (SEXY NOISE)
NACEO RIP
Dondi White Tribute In Seattle
It’s been long over due but in the past few months I have been in the right head space to take on a tribute piece for Dondi White. To those who know, Dondi has been a major influence on many style writers from the past and present. It has taken me some time and effort to sufficiently understand the formulas of “classic” style and to feel confident enough to properly pay respect to such an iconic individual. My goal was not to imitate Dondi’s style on the wall, but to build upon it with what I have learned in my 20 years of painting graffiti.
The opportunity to paint a Dondi tribute came about in Seattle on a wall with Hews, Sneke & Myth. Before i arrived I looked up and printed some Dondi pieces at a motel in Oregon. I started off trying to understand the flow and composition of his pieces with a couple of informal sketches. I felt that the first attempts seemed forced or not as good as the original. Once I felt that I memorized enough of the formula I stopped looking and did it in my own way.
My first awkward studies of “D”
Abandoning the references I continued looking for the right flow. I based the lower two D’s in the first page below on the spine of a ROLL piece. Being that the first letter is so significant and influential to the mood and tempo of the whole piece, I found it difficult to decide on which form of “D” I wanted to start off with. So in these sketches you can see that I was trying to use them all by doing double or triple optioned D’s all within a single letter.
a “D” that might work better as an “A”?
The “D” I ended up using…
More sketching followed. I experimented with his name in throw ups and attempted variations of his handstyle.
Dropping the first outline at the wall in the evening. The first “D” and “O” were from sketches. Everything else was worked out directly on the wall…
I also began to think about which of his characters I wanted to have around the piece. At first I thought of painting the stretched hand from the Children Of The Grave Part 2 wholecar but was not satisfied with the way it looked on paper. I ended up referencing the young boy character from Children Of The Grave Part 3, the Bode lizard from the 2Many window down, and a warped version of Dondi’s silhouette characters in the stance of one of Martha Cooper’s photos of the artist.
I wasn’t sure which characters to paint so i asked this eccentric cart pusher by the name of GOBEUS which I should do. After a 10 minute ramble about the earth, stars, and the “spin the bottle club” he told me to paint them all. So I did…
GOBEUS kicking it…
6am in Seattle…
Overall I am very proud of the finished product. There are some parts of the piece I wish I would of improved on. The light orange I used turned out to not be more on the muddy side and does not pop out enough against the textured brick. Although I spent so much time doing sketches for the first “D”, it is my least favorite letter in the mix. I do feel that The piece has a good structure and balance of intricate connections from letter to letter.
These days with the internet being the way that new writers learn about graffiti or use it as a source for inspiration, I feel it is important to expose the newer generations to writers like Dondi. I find it strange when I meet young fans who are obsessed with modern graffiti but never heard of Subway Art or of many of the writers from that era. They could tell you everything there is to know about Saber but when it comes to classic work from 30 years ago, they know absolutely nothing.
For more on Dondi check out: dondiwhitefoundation.org
Or pick up a copy of: Dondi White Style Master General
Dondi R.I.P
RAMMELLZEE – MATHEMATICIAN – DEFENDER
Rammellzee was on some serious next shit. Rest in peace to the phonics magician-
Public service announcement…
The man behind the mask…
Stylewars DVD extras interview…
FREE STYLE…
WILD STYLE…
Bates‘ tribute to Rammellzee-
Pose’s tribute to Rammellzee-
I look forward to painting a tribute of my own. Right spot, right time, right frame of mind!
For more on Rammellzee check out gothicfuturism.com
For Joey Semz
The other day I decided to paint a piece for Semz. It’s quite a reminiscing feeling when painting a piece for a friend who has passed away. While painting, I end up thinking of odd experiences or trips taken with the person. I think a lot about the past and how I ended up where I’m at today. It’s a real sad feeling knowing that the past is done and cannot be returned to. When i go back east it doesn’t feel like home anymore. What i knew has since been knocked down, regulated, or swallowed up.
As Joe became less interested in graffiti, he worked more on his music. The energy and honesty in his music clearly comes across in an inspiring way…
Rest In Peace
IZ The WIZ Tribute In LA
I decided to rock a long overdue Iz The Wiz piece out in Hollywood. I did not really know IZ personally but he influenced me in forming my style. Looking at the finished piece I feel that I should have done a style closer to what IZ was known for. Instead I did a mash of different style elements from Subway Art taken from memory.
Lizzy
Risky By Revok
Hopefully I can do a series of tribute pieces this year for legends from the New York subway era.
DARE Tribute Production In San Diego!
Dare Tribute By Mad C
Done in an old abandoned church… RIP!
DARE TWS – Rest In Peace (1968 – 2010)
Rest in Peace to a true style master!
Sigi von Koeding also known as Dare passed away on March 6, 2010
For more on Dare visit his website: Dare.ch
Rest in Peace Dare † 06.03.2010 from I Love Graffiti on Vimeo.
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