The third aspect of D.O.T.S.: STYLE Style is hardest thing to write about because it's all opinion if this style is dope or that style is wak. So to write about style I will break it up into control, what I like and what I hate and this idea of originality. In piecing there are basically four styles: straight letters, semi-wild, wild, and abstract. With all styles the first thing I look at is the whole outline of the whole piece, then the letters and to see if the piece is tight. Showing control of the can is straight lines with not too much over spray. If the piece is tight in my opinion, I know the artist is happy about the final result. I know the artist wants the piece to look like what it does and no big mistake has taken place. I may not like the style the writer has written but I can appreciate the control the artist has. The control of the artist shows the activity of the artist. You know the old saying practice makes perfect. I feel activity is the most important part of graffiti. What I like and hate in style. I love straight single letters that are easy to read. The way I judge someone's style is outline of the letter and show no concern to the fill at first. If the outline of each letter shows control and the form of the letters is treated in the same stylistic script, when all is done it makes the piece work for me. When I look back at the fill, too much color is a no-no because it makes the piece tacky as fuck. This also goes for arrows and other flare offs, too much of that shit makes a piece wak as fuck. I love looking at the negative space of a piece and I can tweak out on those weird little shapes between letters for hours. When looking at wild style, the concern changes a bit to how well the letters are camouflaged. I like it when the letters still have some space of their own where the letters don't totally overlap each other for it not to read as just mukky de mukk. I enjoy looking at how the letters or lines interlocks and flow through the piece. I still watch out for too many arrows and other flare offs, but in wild style you can get away with more of that shit. In wild style the concern is again on the whole form of the piece, not in the single letter, and the form of the piece should be done in the same style. I have seen pieces where one or two letters just don't fit with the rest. The artist needs to show concern for this and not change style in the middle of the piece. The placement of the piece can influence what it will look like; if you don't have enough room to fit the piece in, it can make the piece wak (unbelievable places like heavens and other fame spots may influence the style of the piece). The graffiti artist must keep this in mind when they are bombing; what are the limitations of the space, time (unneeded risk), and can control. All these limitations will influence the style. Are you doing quick bombs for fame or are you doing a complicated bomb for style, that takes time? You can judge other artists on these concerns too in a lawn where an artist as hit up a wild style piece and next to it is a throw up. Ask yourself, why the fuk did that kid throw up where he could have done a piece and left the throw up for the street where our time is very limited compared to the a lawn. It seems a very toyish act to me. You can judge the activity of an artist from the placement of the piece; if it is in a fame spot or a spot like a heaven where you stand in disbelief that a person could get up there to rock or had time to rock. I may not like the piece but I'm always impressed by the balls or clit that the artist has in bombing those spots. Here are some of my guidelines in lawns versus the streets: in lawns do a piece in a more involved style to push your own control level up. Leave the throw ups, asshalf pieces and bombs for the streets and roof tops. When you come to the lawn, prepared to burn and rock fukn dope style not some bullshit (a lawn should be used as a sketch book). On the street the concern is more about the time it would take and asking yourself if it's worth the risk. None of us are original. The first person who drew on a wall was original. The person who created an alphabet was original, but we are just reinventing the Roman alphabet (reinventing the alphabet is not original). Even if our style is the dopest around it can be compared to a wak style simply because it is written in English and the Roman alphabet. To me an original piece means that it hasn't been seen before with no influence or reference point at all. I'm not suggesting we should go out and forge someone's style. I'm always asking myself, "When does influence become biting?" To all the artists saying that they are original, guess what our not and let's say you are, original does that mean your style is dope, no doesn't. It probably be considered wak as fuk because humans need a reference point to be understood. Because there would be no reference for us, we wouldn't understand it and we would probably say "What the fuk is that shit." I wish people who are saying they are original would replace that fukn word with unique. I can see uniqueness in styles like TWIST, DREAM and PHRESH but being original no. With more and more time passing by, I'm becoming more concerned with what ideas that a piece is expressing to me. Ego is great but it's time for graffiti to grow up a bit. We as artists need to realize that we are not the only people looking at our art. I'm interested in the idea of freedom, the freedom that I feel when I'm out there risking it (the freedom of bombing) and how I can express that freedom; what it means to me, what it means to others and how we can get it. Right now I'm not concerned if my shit looks pretty or not. I'm concerned in content. I'm concerned in promoting graffiti as the most important art form of our time and to give something back to it. Yes, God is a Spray can and we as Graffiti Artist are Disciples of the Spray can. We as D.O.T.S. have recognized that we have been reborn in the Holy Mist of the Spray can. The spray can is the tool of the last revolution. The streets are the battlefields and the churches. Writers, we must unite, get organized, rise up and fight to beat down the wicked and get what we need FREEDOM. go