12ozProphet

While out in Cali I visited my man Sung from CLAE and he blessed the kid with a couple pair’a these rude boy roach killers…

I’ve been wearing the grey suede joints to death…so comfortable.

Then my mang Westo blessed me with the exclusive exclusive…

The back…

…the front.

http://www.vprecords.com

But the greatest blessing was getting back to Bklyn to meet my new nephew Desmond…
Dezzy Dez
Can’t wait til all my Nephews are big enough to take fishing…

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms and like other cephalopods are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms. Most octopuses have no internal or external skeleton, allowing them to squeeze through tight places. Octopuses are highly intelligent, probably the most intelligent of all invertebrates.
The octopus inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. For defense against predators, they hide, flee quickly, expel ink, or use color-changing camouflage. An octopus trails its eight arms behind it as it swims. All octopuses are venomous, but only the small blue-ringed octopuses are deadly to humans. In the larger sense, there are around 300 recognized octopus species, which is over one-third of the total number of known cephalopod species.

EAZ One has produced what I consider a significant modern Style Writing (graffiti) reference that lifts the veil from the once sacred art of Style Writing and spray painting. His 2 volume DVD collection The Future of Graffiti - Wild Style Lettering and Painting Techniques showcases his unique talents not just as a graffiti muralist but as an accomplished 3D animator and producer, this hybrid talent shows how far artists of this genre have evolved. In the sci fi introduction to the DVD I got the sense that he means what he titles the future of Graffiti in which the future knows no boundaries but will still be looking back to its glorious past and traditions in order to move forward.

He lays out some good foundations about harnessing the essentials of lettering styles by breaking down forms and functions of connections as well as how it relates to typography, this was something I especially liked in the animation how he translated a type face to the the wild style letter he drafted. This is helpful in understanding the decoding of names as well as constructing them. I would have liked a more in-depth connection to typography and terminology as this is also a very relative association to todays art schooled writers. For a veteran like myself who still practices the art of Style Writing I found his approach easy and well balanced, his explanation of his particular style methods and his openness to interpretation made his work available to me to build on, this is a key thing since writers tend to act like they have the holy grail of style writing under lock and key. Knowing that we build upon our history and that no one is totally original as he points out makes these lessons invaluable if his intent is understood. His emphasis on reworking letters from many angles and reinterpreting letters from each other is also a little underestimated technique which I find even I dont utilize as I should.

For a novice this is a high recommendation, its a good overview and reference to build upon whether you like EAZ’s lettering style or not, this is about critical foundation lessons that we all have developed in our style over the many years of writing history. As a seasoned writer I appreciate his effort to educate and share the art form in this format which is for our time. I myself was educated on trains and blackbooks and had a small photo file to learn from as well as the apprenticeships with style masters like Kel First, Dondi, Duro, and others, this DVD set would constitute an apprenticeship reference that a young artist can return to over and over again.

His painting techniques are well documented as are his productions and collaborations with top writers like Ces and Serve, there is no disputing this mans talent and desire to keep the art moving forward and he wants us all along for the ride. I dont paint or care for it as much as Style Writing but after viewing this DVD I gained a bit of confidence to try something different. Anyone who picks up the lessons should not expect to be at his level- that said it should provide you with the necessary background of the do’s and dont’s.

Considering how I came into this art form in the mid 70s and to where we are now I am rather impressed at the dedication of EAZ in putting out this profession quality production that is a focused effort to understand style writing the most valued and innovative aspect of the genre.

Each One Teach One

Go cop it.

L.A. Drive-by shots:
Fiesta Mexicana

they own the night

best signage
Reggae TAZ

2PAIRS…
“Yo Dash, that’s my Semi-Ironical, Post-Retro, Iconaclastic-Mannerism Style.”

Cheryl “Pepsii” Riley

These silver pieces were painted on a fall night in 1999 during an all city highway and track side blast off. Painted in all Rusto colors…Silver, Black, Harbor and Sail Blue. Visible from the Henry Hudson Parkway which runs parallel to this wall. The pieces although painted on a previously virgin wall…lasted only about 1 week.

“Strike A Pose”
Some guy named Lasse is posing infront of some well-known names..go figure!

I touched down at Long Beach Airport which is like flying BIWI into the Caribbean somewhere, they just wheel a little metal staircase up to the plane and you walk out on the tarmac. The weather, on the other hand, was very uncaribbean.

Tony, Toni, Tone said “It Never Rains in Southern California” but I swear ‘fore God I will smack the shit outta them three dudes. It was cold, overcast, and wet for the majority of our stay.

I make it to the hotel and hook up with my crew, DOC, SYE, and AEVON TC-5. Everyone is grumbling about the rain and wondering if we are going to get to paint at all. We head down to Fairfax in Little Jerusalem to meet my man WESTO,

...as soon as we pull up I see my boy ELI from ZOO YORK.

We park “The Cadillac of Mini-Vans” in the back alley and WESTO gives us the official parking permit.

Who’dat? Oh Schnap! It’s my brother LUZE FC… aint seen you in a MINUTE, duke!

Next day, Downtown LA… go peep the Gallery


Looking good, looking good…

Needs a lil’ sumpin’...





Man One (far right) made it all happen. A real good dude.

The next night was the opening, despite torrential downpours, we had a good turnout.

We were supposed to do all kinds of live painting and such, but the weather put a damper on all that.
Oh well… LUZE still knows what time it is.

My man SKET even showed up… all the way from Haterville.

A good time was had by all and we even sold a couple pieces.
The Official T-Shirt by DOC

Rain, Rain, and more rain. We spend all our time in the hotel room or eating Chicken and Waffles, growing more anxious by the hour.
Finally the weather breaks and we get to work. My man TEAL FC hooked up a wall in East LA…

I always wanted to rock these Felix the Cat characters…

Dude in the middle is triple Oh Gee LA writer CRE8. LUZE FC and REK2 on the flanks.

Honestly, I wasn’t crazy about the finished product, but I had fun and shook off the rust of a long winter…

Here’s my best LA “Vato Syco Loco” stance…

My dudes all took an early flight home, but I was on the red-eye so I went and threw up a quicky before I had to leave…

Spilled out a little paint for the homies who wasn’t thurrr…

Then I’m off to the LB for my flight home. LA proved too much for the man… sure found out the hard way that dreams don’t always come true… unh ah. Jet Blue to the Air train to the A train to the C train to the Shuttle to the Q to Church.

Home again…

Home again,Jiggity Jig.

Big thank yous to Man One, WESTO, TEAL, REK, LUZE, Shirt King PHADE, Sung from Clae, and Montana 94. Glad to be back amongst the living.

Me and Zephyr in San Francisco guessing around 96 or 97 with my homie and fellow tattooist Bless awr next to us on the left simple qiuckie for my Bay area peoples….MED

Freestyle Friday. 

Paying respect to SOFINE and 2NICE on this one, two Queens writers that influenced me when I was coming up.