Many of you have asked questions about being a street artist, so I wanted to give some pointers for getting started and next time, we’ll discuss more detail of starting the actual art process.
1. Which city do you want to work in? It will be important to understand the local response to street art. Some cities are very welcome to rogue street art as long as it’s not gang-related. Those are great cities to get started in – they are often cities in economic decline with abandoned walls and buildings. These tend to be fun cities to work in because of limited police presence and lots of fellow artists around. You’ll also want to figure out any understood but not documented laws/rules for creating art in these cities. Are some walls reserved for a certain artist/group of artists? Is there an artist collective already established – if so you’ll want to meet with them early to avoid awkward territorial situations.
2. Assess safety when deciding where you’re going to make art. Is it an abandoned building? Do you have a safe way to reach the wall on which you want to paint? My ex boyfriend went tagging once in an abandoned building in Dayton, Ohio and fell – he has limited mobility for the rest of his life due to an extreme spinal cord injury from the fall. Don’t let this be you.
3. What kind of art do you want to create? Are you into tagging? Are you into murals? Are you into commercial pieces? Do you prefer paste-ups? Portraits? Stencils? Light art? Etc.