I had wanted to have a go at graffiti for years so when I received a voucher for an hour’s graffiti lessons with a top London based artist, I donned my hoody, legged it down to Waterloo station and entered another world.
My tutor for the day was Andy Seize who runs graffiti lessons in a place known locally as ‘The Tunnel’. Having entered the tunnel from the behind the taxi rank, I descended the stair case slowly into an array of colour. This was urban London at it’s finest. The dimly lit tunnel gave way to a disused exit ramp and here were 10 budding art pupils ready to learn.
We all clubbed together and were given two letters each to spell out the word ‘REVOLUTIONIZING’. After a brief introduction to colours, nozzles and a few techniques, we were set free on the wall.
Andy would pitch in and give some valuable one-on-one tuition where necessary but most of the time he let us to our own devices. I think the main point here that in graffiti and/or street art, there are no rules. There are no boundaries.
When Andy did show us his secrets, he made it look so easy.
The great thing about this form of art is that if you go wrong, and you inevitably will, you can erase your faults with new outlines, gradients and fills.
I’d highly recommend taking a few lessons from Andy. It will really set you off on the right foot and I can’t wait to get back down to ‘The Tunnel’ with some paints, some stencils and some music on to chill out and do some art. After all, it’s a legal graffiti spot.
