The Graffiti Project – Witney Youth Centre
On Saturday 11th July 2009, Witney Youth Centre enrolled the services of graffiti artist, ‘Axe’ who shared his knowledge and skills with young people in a one-day workshop designed to produce a piece of artwork for the youth centre.
(Click on the pictures for larger versions)
Axe began by talking to us about his own interest in street art and how he learnt his craft. He is particularly passionate about hip-hop culture and explained the origins of hip-hop and how street art and graffiti is only one aspect of hip hop as a visual expression of rap music.
He started the workshop by getting the group to design their own ‘tag’ or signature which looks much easier than it is and took most of the group over 2 hours to perfect.
Once this had been achieved, he talked with the group about ideas they had for the art work. Eventually, the group agreed on using the postcode of the youth centre which is OX28.
We wanted the piece to be mobile so hardboard has been whitewashed and fixed onto a wooden frame. Axe began by drawing an outline of the basic shape and then showed the group how to fill in with colour. He demonstrated techniques ranging from how to hold the aerosol can to how to highlight certain areas and to produce outlines.
Everyone involved took turns at filling in, highlighting or doing outlines and all said it was much more difficult that they realized.
It took all day to produce the end result but the group, although tired, really enjoyed the day and the finished piece was well worth the effort.
