Evlworld Blog

Graffiti has been a part of my life for over 30 years, 3 decades of painting, walls, trains, clothing, for a while it seemed that I would paint anything that would stand still long enough. I remember back when I was starting, or should I say, when I was still a beginner, a nice way of saying I stunk. I was determined though and I practiced, a lot. Gone were the comic book drawings I loved to do and I became consumed with graffiti, I identified with this new art and was drawing pieces daily, at least 1 and sometimes up to 3 pieces a day.

One thing that allowed the fire to stay so strong was that there were so many amazing pieces on the subway and in my hood that continually inspired me and my style. Influences that were a constant challenge for me to get better and thankfully, I did. Now I am very lucky to know that I am one of those guys that inspire others, it’s a really cool feeling as an artist to know and hear that your work is admired and is inspiring to other artist, its flattering and humbling too! Continue Reading…

Mercadito Chicago (108 W Kinzie st, Chicago) that opened in September 2009, was an incredible and fun project. It was the first chance working with this new team of owners and design team (http://seeddesignstudio.com) and the final product is now a thriving and successful Chicago Eatery, hosting 500 guests a night and voted best restaurant for business 2010. The only thing that can make that experience better is doing it all again, better, bigger!

Mercadito Miami (3252 NE 1st Ave, Miami) Like Mercadito, Chicago but as I hoped, bigger, better! 8 large scale murals in 8 very different styles all done by yours truly. Inspired by established art from Rosenquist to Warhol, pop art to cubism all with my distinct graffiti twist. The owners and designers, happy with the finished Mercadito Chicago loosen the reigns allowing me to be more artistic and daring while still implementing texture, color and multi themes in the works. I was able to be dramatic and humorous, use different techniques and challenge myself which is my favorite thing as an artist to do. Some of the pieces were a struggle, some just flowed right out of my brush. I can always create pretty paintings but a challenge in a commissioned piece (or several) is rare. I gladly accepted that challenge and now Mercadito Miami is born! Continue Reading…

Graffiti, to some people is an art made of spray paints done in the wee hours of the evening on the urban walls. Other artists however, defy the stereotype by creating graffiti openly on the streets and sidewalks using paints and other materials.

One of the best graffiti arts on the street you’ll see, are of course, made out of chalks. In 20 years of being Muralist in Graffiti Arts industry, I have never seen anyone create outstanding works of art done in the street,  bringing not only entertainment and awe to their spectators but some also broke world records.

Edgar Müller’s studio is the street. He paints over large areas of urban public life and gives them a new appearance, thereby challenging the perceptions of passers-by. The observer becomes a part of the new scenery offered. While going about their daily life, people change the painting’s statement just by passing through the scene.

Ice Age. In Dun Laoghaire the “Festival of World Culture” took place from 21. to 24. of August 2008.

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Here’s a little quickie for a slow sunny Monday morning. This particular outline came very early in my career, before the bubble gum pieces. Even before my style began developing itself. You can see that as i was combining every and any element i can get my hands on, straight and geometrics with curvy and swoopy arrows and stems, you can definitely say I wasn’t afraid to throw down the kitchen sink. That lack of fear of trying anything is an important, maybe the most, element to where my style is today. If there is any lesson I can share with anyone it’s be fearless, try anything and after much practice your own style will begin to set you apart from your peers. This outline isn’t great by any standards but at the time for me was very experimental and I have always been experimental. Pushing the envelope of style is the core of graffiti, if you’re not pushing yours just another of many faces in the crowd.

I remember a period at Art and Design when food related names were the craze and i was not going to let any craze that involved piecing new names pass me by. I went through several, some silly (Nosh comes to mind) and some I liked the letters (there really wasn’t any reason behind Ale) but my favorite for sure was Bubble Gum. I had such fun with these letters. You couldn’t go wrong with this combination of letters. Longer names are usually problematic for graffiti artists, they add complexity and take more time but sometimes the complexity is the challenge.
Bubble Gum, 3 “Bs” and an “L” and “E” The style options were endless. The “U” was always a letter that can morph into any style I am using so all together it was almost perfect, I never pieced any of these outlines but i had a great time drawing them.
So here they are starting with the simplest (above). I used a red Pilot Pen to outline and a black Pilot (razor points) for the shadow cutting around the red. Since the black would completely go over the red i had to cut around to get the feeling that the red was opaque, which it wasn’t. A few black chip off the shadow to the right to give the piece some weight and I know there technically should be a source for the shadow to drop from, but graffiti should rarely be technical, unless you are German, Those cats are way too technical for me!
I don’t have a title for this one, I remember wanting to piece something colorful and fun. I think the 2 arrows, one up, one down bring this piece at least one step away from a simple outline. The mini Bubble piece running down the “U” adds some complexity and style too and adds some coolness (as far as colors) into the predominantly warm colors. The hot pink 3D has shading coming from the rear and cross intersecting that are random swirly black stripes. Thick to thin as they move towards the rear. Finishing the piece is an abstract jagged pink thick and thin set of lines in the fill.
Now we get to the more complex outlines, Green Bubble. The marker of choice for blackbook piecing was almost always an alcohol based transparent ink marker, there are thousands on the market now but back then there were maybe only 1000 and when new colors were released and I got my hands on some it was like every day was Saturday! The pastel shades allowed me to use other colors aside from black to outline(and i had a huge set of water based colorful Marvy pens waiting to play!). The alcohol markers blended easily and had a confident calmness about them. Subtle styles. The Marvy pens, being water based would not pick up nor bleed into the alcohol markers, that’s why I never outlined and filled in with the same based makers, you would get a blurry mess.
The Bubble outline here I would call a semi wild style mostly because I could always get wilder which doesn’t usually mean better. I love the hook ups here especially at the 2 Bs and L part. Me E floated too far from the piece so I had to add some chips on it’s top left to compensate the empty space it left, I would correct that mistake if I ever pieced or painted this. Again the lack of tags suggests my moving away from tagging and into the piecing realm. The overall of the piece is stiff and angular with few curves, that was completely intentional. Aside from the space behind the E i really love this piece.