Glossary

A B C D E F G H I K L M O P R S T U Y W

A

angels

Graffiti artists, who got fame and already passed away

all city

A label you can gain by becoming a famous writer in your
entire city. “That guy went all-city!“.

autorack

Goods train with surfaces easy to spray on

ABSTRACT STYLE

A style of painting where it’s not about painting letters, but
rather showcasing your technical and color skills.

ANTI-STYLE

Also know as ugly style, or ignorant style. A style of painting where you deliberately paint toy-ish making it “ugly”
to look at.

B

BACKJUMP

A quickly executed graffiti piece. Often made on a briefly
parked train.

BACK TO BACK

Graffiti that covers the entirety of the wall or train from
end to end.

BEEF

Conflict between writers. “Yea, they have a beef going on”.

BLACK BOOK

A sketchbook for your sketches and pieces. Also known as
a “piece book”.

BLOCKBUSTERS

Easily readable throw up letters

BOMBING

When you hit an area hard with graffiti.
“We bombed that neighbourhood”.

BITE

To steal another writer’s work, name, color schemes or style

BUBBLE STYLE

A graffiti style using rounded letters where it looks as if the
letters have been blown up as balloons.

BURNER

A really good graffiti piece. “Yea, it’s a real burner!”.

BUFFING

Removing graffiti from a surface with a pressure washer e.g

busted

Getting arrested by the police for doing illegal Graffiti.

C

CAN

Spray paint can/ aerosol can

CALLIGRAFFITI

Graffiti that draws inspiration from calligraphy

CAP

Nozzle/tip part of an aerosol spray can ‒ where the paint
comes out.

CAPPING

Destroying other writers work by painting lines on it. “The
pieces got capped this weekend”.

CARTOON/CHARACTER

A figure or famous cartoon painted next to your piece.

CLEAN LINES

Smooth lines without edges, dust or drips.

CREW

A group of graffiti writers working under the same
crewname.

CROSS

“To cross” means to paint over an existing not appreciated graffiti with a quick throw-up, tag or just lines.

CUT

Redefine lines by using the background color to make them look more straight.

D

DEF

Something really good.

DRIPS

Paint flowing from your lines as you paint. Can be intentional or unintentional.

drip marker (mop)

A graffiti marker with round nib, which is used for tagging

DUBS

Graffiti done in silver/chrome (silver style) –  originally from London/UK

DUSTY LINES

Unclean lines that comes from spraying too far away from
the wall.

E

end-to-end

Train carriages with graffiti covering the whole length. If the graffiti pieces also cover top-to-bottom, it is called a wholecar.

F

FADING

A color blending technique.

fat cap

Fat caps are caps constructed to fill big areas or draw thick lines.

FILL-IN

The color combination inside the letters

FREESTYLE

Freestyle writing is painting a piece without having a sketch
prepared from home.

G

GHOST

A graffiti piece that has been buffed but is still a bit visible
on the wall.

GOING OVER

Painting over another writers graffiti piece.

GETTING UP

Painting.

graffiti markers

There are different kind of graffiti markers: e.g.: drip markers – markers for tagging; markers for drawing handstyles: like Grog, Stylefile or Toki markers; alcohol based pens to draw graffiti sketches

H

HALL OF FAME

A location with many walls that graffiti writers visit to paint
pieces, throw ups and tags.

HANDSTYLE

Your font when writing your tag.

HEAVEN SPOT

A place that is difficult or dangerous to paint thus also difficult to buff. Gains respect from other writers if you paint
these spots.

highlight

Reflection of light as an element of style usually sprayed as a star

hollows

A throw-up without a fill in; just the outline is sprayed

I

Insides

Tags/throw-ups inside of a train

K

keyline

The outline around a whole graffiti piece

KIng

Kings are respected, well skilled writer. This status can be achieved by getting props from another king. Crowns used in tags can be used to show this status, but also can be just a stylistic element.

L

Landmark

A tag which is nor removed for more than 5 years.

line piece

A graffiti piece sprayed next to rail tracks. Often done on noise barriers.

M

MARRIED COUPLE

Two fully painted train cars that are located side by side.

MOP

A homemade marker. Usually made from an old deodorant
and felt.

Mural

Large graffiti piece created in a complex manner. Often in wildstyle or 3D style with characters, and/or detailed background.

O

one-liner

A throw-up or tag done in one line without interrupting the movement of drawing this line.

OLD SCHOOL

A term that refers to the 70’s and 80’s where the hip hop
culture began.

ONE

A graffiti writers tag

P

PIECE

A graffiti writers tag made with complex letters including a
lot of details. Comes from the word masterpiece

panel

A small graffiti on a train car usually done under the windows and somewhere between the doors. “Flying panels” are a sub-category and are sprayed above the windows.

paste-up

A stencil graffiti (or drawing) on paper attached to a wall with wallpaper paste

R

RACK

To steal graffiti supplies.

ROLLER GRAFFITI

Graffiti pieces that are painted on large surfaces using rollers and bucket paint.

ROOFTOP

A piece painted from the top of a roof, onto the mural of a
rood, onto the face of a neighboring building.

Run

How much time a graffiti piece survises on a surface. “That
piece ran for only two months”.

S

SEMI WILDSTYLE

A less complex style of wildstyle

SOAKER TAGS

Tags made with ink filled fire extinguishers. Often made on
huge scale with lots of drips.

STREET ART

Art made on the street often with stencils and containing a
message towards the society.

silver style

Like the name already implies: graffiti letters only painted in silver. Shadows and outlines are usually painted in black. The silver color makes it possible to paint on structured surfaces.

station

Tags and throw-ups inside or next to a train station.

straight letter

Simple style letters using only two colors.

T

TAG

The signature of a writer – a line graffiti in one color with calligraphic and/or styled letters.

THROW UP

A graffiti writer’s tag made with easy readable letters, often
bubble letters or blockbuster letters.

TOY

An inexperienced writer with poor or bad style. Come from the saying “trouble on your system”.

top-to-bottom

A pieces cover the entire height of a train carriage.

U

URBAN ART

Refers to all visual art forms in urban space ‒ both streeet art and graffiti.

Y

YARD

Where the trains are parked at night.

THROW UP

A graffiti writer’s tag made with easy readable letters, often
bubble letters or blockbuster letters.

TOY

An inexperienced writer with poor or bad style. Come from the saying “trouble on your system”.

W

WHOLECAR

A fully painted train cart

WILDSTYLE

Complex graffiti letters that are difficult, close to impossible to read.

WHOLETRAIN

All train cars fully painted from first to last car in the train composition.

WRITER

A person who paints graffiti. “Does he write? Yes, he is a writer”

WINDOW DOWN

A train car painted with graffiti from the windows and down.