I always cringe a bit when people say like "I've been doing this for 6 months and I'm not improving, what gives?"

It'd be like picking up an instrument and teaching yourself off youtube for the same amount of time, then wondering why you're not getting accepted into a world class orchestra.
Graff/letters isn't something you just "get" or learn within a year or two. It's a lifelong challenge to keep improving your skills. But that's OK because for creative pursuits, you shouldnt do it because you want to be cool or more popular or whatever, you do it because you want to and you enjoy it.

You know you're getting better when you start to notice exactly what you're doing wrong.

My cousin got me into graffiti and breakdancing when I was a kid. My names Isaac and he always used to call me izer. I’ve stuck with it ever since. I’ve been writing izer for 16 years now.

I've been doing graff for almost 8 years now, and ONLY now am I getting invited to meetings, to paint, to hang out. All the respectable writers praise my tag throw and piece, so I can know for sure I'm no longer a toy.
But damn, there's still a loooot to learn

Been making my own typefaces and fonts, since I was in grade school. I’m in my 50s now, and the way I write is still changing and evolving.

i never knew how deep the ethics of graffiti was. I just started tagging and im awful but I have a great time doing it. After this video i have a new found respect for it.

I was an artist in high school. I started doing black books, hats, backpacks.. because it was fun. I got into a "tagging crew" but didn't do any of the work for it. It was just fun to draw on the slap on stickers and give them to the rest of them. Fast forward 17 years, and I'm meeting husbands of wives I've known (since back then) that knew about me 😂 I was the only girl tagger from HIGH SCHOOL. Crazy where art is recognized years later 😊

btw., if you want to level up in let's say 30 minutes try this:
take you writing hand, do a quick sketch, take the pen from the writing hand, pass it to your non-writing hand, do a sketch (take your time), pass the pen to strong hand, make a sketch - and feel the level uppness while foaming from your mouth of amazsement

I always love the question of "When am I not a toy or noob any more?" I always say "That's the wrong question. The right one is when can you finish a work and be happy with it? If you step back and get that feeling of 'Oh this it dope.' What does it matter if you've been doing it for 10months or 10years?" I personally think it's better to try and keep that attitude you had when you were new. That way you don't get stuck into one style. You can always have "your style", but it's super fun seeing something on a train or back alley, and going "That looks cool AF. Gonna go home and come up with something in that style for my next piece."

About 4-5 months ago, I did my first piece since the 90's, I'm 44, it was kind of wack, I only had 2 rusty, half empty cans, (B&W), that I found while doing a waste removal job, it was 4am, I was shitting my pants, under a train bridge and it's the best thing on the wall 😁😁

I DID scribble "Toy", over somebody else's piece, and immediately felt like a dickhead, I didn't take ANYTHING into consideration, not age, how long they'd been painting, and the fact that they may not have had an experienced writer in their corner, I'd forgotten how toy I was in the early 90's (silver letters, luminous orange outline 😳😳), encouragement can make a Toy great, insults can make a possible great quit....I prefer the encouragement!!!!

I started tagging the moment after watching Wild Style in 6th grade.  After I met my first fellow tagger/writer in my high school art class. I tagged whenever I could.  Fast forward to my first year of college, I was getting comfortable enough to do throwies day or night. I just started doing pieces seven years ago.
I am 40 and a professional artist with an obsession for lettering and anything that is art. I love five letter names, because anyone can do four letter names. Being from a mountain town I was never taught the ins and outs of the culture, I went by what I saw and heard in Wild Style after I bought it.  The biggest influences are the writers I have met and now call friends.  This is a fun and trying scene. Stay fresh and watch your six.

I just went outside to do my first tag/throwup. Never touched a can, never sprayed on the walls. Except for doing lots of sketches and hella much YT vids… the feeling of creating something on the wall was so addictive and pleasant! Loving the adrenaline rush. Finally I managed to touch a spray can.. i will practice and practice until the spray flow is under control. And understand the technics 💪💪

I’ve been writing for a year and a half and got my name  passed down from my dad one of the biggest honors I’ve received from someone who’s been writing for longer than I’ve been alive

I've been practicing tags and throwups for 4 years now, I have so much shit to still figure out. I've barely even touched upon straightleters and I'm terrible at them, not even gonna comment on pieces xD

I chose TIKC as it was bestowed upon me by another writer honestly at just the right time. It's fitting as well as I have Tourettes syndrome which I hadn't fully accepted and tried to hide. Which also highlighted why illegal graffiti wasn't right for me. I initially started trying to piece from the get go. Which was insane! As It was trying to run before I could even sit up as my basic print font handwriting was chicken scratch or looked as if a spider had jumped in a pot of ink and ran across the page somehow forming something that resembled letters. I used to put it down to dyslexia which was just an excuse. I've spent the last month or so learning how to control lines and practicing basic print font. If I was to show you a comparison it would be night and day yet its still sloppy and inconsistent and that's okay Improvement takes time and dedication. I've always said make mistakes and learn from them and that's what I did. Recently purchased your beginner bundle. To get a better grasp of the graffiti specific fundamentals.  Progress takes time  and patience thats just the way it is. Thanks man!

Don't let inability or difficulty stop you from doing the things you want to do as that time you spend putting it off is going to pass regardless so if it's something you want to do and you know your doing it for the right reasons just do it "Time spent wishing is time spent wasted"
TIKC

"You have to learn the rules before you can break them."
Jon Grim

I had a very difficult time trying to choose a name when I first started graffiti.  Even though simple, "TINY26" has a lot of meaning to me. My biggest motivations in life are my wife and my son.  My wife is pretty small at 5'4 and 100 pounds (hence the tiny) and my son was born on the 26th day of the month (hence the 26). My biggest piece of advice for picking a name isn't to try and find the coolest one you can, it's looking at the things that inspire you so as you're creating your sketch/piece or whatever it may be, you have that inspiration in your mind the entire time

Been writing since 12-13 I’m 28 now. Started with SOX, was told by older writers that 3 letter names are reserved for crews, 4 or more for your name. Changed to DONER1/ENOD1
Was on a quest for a character after I got comfortable with my straight letters and throw ups. That quest took a lot longer then I thought it would. Anyways there’s my testimony

I have been sketching and painting pieces for more than 2 years now and just like a month ago i realized that any of my work isnt fundementally correct. I just thought it was correct and looked good because my toy friend said so. No i only do straight letters and im progressing much faster now. Im just tryna say that start doing graff correctly because only then you will become better

One thing I’ve noticed is that you can have the most basic letter structure what matters is the execution. And color selection which comes with years and experience

I write Lamar as a memorial name