My student’s always love the Graffiti Name Art Lesson. Maybe it’s the chance to express their interests, maybe it’s because they love learning about different lettering styles. Either way, here’s how I teach it and why I think it’s a student favorite.
Graffiti Name Art Lesson = Personality
Letβs face it, almost any lesson that is about the student is a winner! In this lesson I require my students to create their name, nickname, last name, etc. using a graffiti-style lettering, and add some components to make it about themselves.
I encourage my students to incorporate their favorite colors, sports, foods, activities and interests within the name. They can also include bits and pieces behind the name or attach it to the name in some way.
They Love Lettering
Lettering is an important art skill set for all artists. I think it is important to teach students basic lettering techniques, such as bubble letters, block letters and 3D letters with shadows. I created a lettering video tutorial to show my students lettering basics and also have my students complete a βLetteringβ worksheet to practice lettering prior to beginning this lesson. Here is the link to the worksheet if you are interested. My students always enjoy learning about lettering styles and I think that’s because they use the lettering skills they learn in other activities outside of art class.
Learning Graffiti Style
As a class, we look at examples of graffiti and identify common characteristics of graffiti. Key characteristics include: overlapping letters, highlights, drop shadows, variety in line weight, arrows, broken segments and paint drips.
I encourage students to incorporate these characteristics into their autobiographical graffiti name. I recently discovered a Graffiti generator created by Graffiti Empire. My students with devices used this as a resource to help them with consistency in lettering. I think the freedom in lettering choice, etc. allows the students to take ownership in their artwork and become more invested in the lesson.
Banksy
Another hook that gets my students excited about this lesson is learning about graffiti artist Banksy. His hidden identity, sneaky behavior and his commentary on social and political issues all resonate with students. I usually spend some time showing my students his stencil graffiti and we have class and small group critiques of his work.
Lastly, I show my students the short video clip of Banksy’s βThe Girl With the Red Balloonβ getting shredded at auction. This blows their minds and creates more interesting discussion about art and the value of art. The kids love it!
Displaying the Graffiti Name Art
I am a firm believer in displaying artwork to create pride and investment in future art lessons.
In the past I have taken a small box or rectangular sponge and used it to stamp white bulletin paper to look like a brick wall. Once the paper is dry, I staple the finished graffiti names on the ‘brick wall’. I have also had my students mount their name to a piece of red card stock with a brick wall copied onto it. We used stacks of cardboard glued together to raise the name from the card stock and give it a relief sculpture appearance.Β
My YouTube tutorial for this lesson is below. I hope this lesson becomes a βstudent favoriteβ for your students too!
Click here if you are interested in purchasing the complete Graffiti Name Art Lesson Plan.
Taking it to the Next Dimension
My older students were begging for more graffiti lessons, so I created a 2 Point Perspective Graffiti Wall lesson. The students learn how to draw their names in graffiti style, and learn how to create a 3D βstreetβ to leave their tag. This is another student favorite and a perfect way to incorporate 2 point perspective drawing skills into your curriculum. My YouTube tutorial for this is below.
Click here for more information about the 2-Point Perspective Graffiti Wall lesson.
A New Take
This year I took a different approach to this lesson and assigned each student a staff member’s name for a Teacher Appreciated Week surprise. The students created their name in graffiti style, while making it reflect their teacherβs interests and personality. To gain more intel on the teachers, I asked the staff to complete a βFavorite Thingsβ survey prior to beginning the lesson. The students wrote a thoughtful note of the back of the sign and surprised the teacher with a one of a kind work of art!
Thanks for reading – Trista
If you liked this Graffiti Name Art Lesson post, please subscribe by clicking here.
Check out my Student Favorites Page for more posts like this.