Easy Graffiti! Brick Wall and Name Design

No major art concepts or groundbreaking skill acquisition here, just 100% buy-in with my new students!

I always like to start the new trimester, (100-ish new students for a 12 week art session,) with a name project and graffiti is always a huge hit. I’ve done the popsicle stick fence version many times, but wanted something quicker to get my new students psyched for art! For this easy lesson, I allowed the kids to use an online graffiti generator to design their names. I generally NEVER allow kids to trace from something that’s not their own handiwork, but for this lesson, I made that exception: we traced right from the screen of the chromebook using tracing paper, then used lightboxes to position their name and retrace it on a piece of watercolor paper.

I did require the students to free-hand draw at least two “bonus features”— extra small doodles to personalize their piece based on their hobbies and interests.

For color, we used the simple technique of “in-lining” our letters with water-based Crayola markers, then used water and a small brush to activate the marker line into watercolor paint. The very small details and bonus features could be colored normally with the students’ choice of markers or color pencils. Last but not least, a small flourish of silver or gold metallic pen was an option on each student’s letters.

Next, we used these see-through graphing rulers to draw a brick wall behind the name and bonus feature illustrations. (See the Instruction packet link below to find a video tutorial on how to do this precisely!) I then demonstrated various ways to “distress” the bricks with colored pencil, marker and Sharpie. Each student chose their own personal technique to give their brick wall a grittier, back-alley feel.

This lesson went pretty quick and EVERY student was engaged, because after all, what’s more personal and special than your own name? ––and being able to customize and choose the lettering style from the online site took away the frustration and tedious time it would have taken to master a personal graffiti style. A win all around!

Here are some references if you want to try this with your own kids:

Instruction Packet (Google Slides) with my steps, examples, and Video tutorials!

Examples of Graffiti “Shine” Effects for students who want to add metallic highlights.

Link to the Online Graffiti Generator we used.