Illegal Graffiti
While residents sleep at 3:00 a.m. in the San Gabriel Valley, SKEAM, who’s in his mid- 20s, spray paints onto a 14 to 48-foot Ninja Turtle billboard in the San Gabriel Valley. Psssst Pssssst is the illegal sound Skeam makes as he spray paints mind-boggling wild style strokes using his favorite colors, fresh paint army green, and golden yellow.
By adding his own style, he embraces the art, not covers it. SKEAM finishes right before birds chirp and dig for worms in the damaged brown front lawn to feed their young. Coming down the ladder, Skeam’s red nikes are splattered with white, yellow and green paint. He rewards himself and has breakfast, thankful for an unforgettable successful night.
SKEAM is his tag-name and is unable to use his real name due to chances of arrest. Much well-known graffiti artists are risking their lives just to hit up that wall, train or billboard.
“I enjoy the rush, the thrill, I enjoy the movement while I’m painting, and it feels like I’m breakdancing,” said SKEAM.
However, it is a felony that cost the city thousands of dollars. Locals from the city of Brea in Orange County don’t see it as much compared to Los Angeles or even at all. How would someone react if they saw graffiti in their hometown?
Ronald Olsen a 67-year old community event planner for the city of Brea, California hates the idea of seeing graffiti.
“Yes! Once it starts then it will start taking over the whole neighborhood. It’s beautiful here, why bring the value of the community down, said Olsen, If it’s art then they should paint in their own property. It is dirty, messy and I don’t like it.”
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, has initiated this year with the anti-graffiti movement, tries to have city crews to remove graffiti before people have a chance to complain about it.
“We are planning to fund graffiti teams that would spread anti-graffiti education and remove graffiti as fast as possible,” said Santana, “We spend more than 8 million in graffiti removal each year. By doing this we are spreading awareness of the consequences that taxpayers have to pay to remove graffiti. It symbolizes crime and its only increasing year after year.”
However what is the difference between street art and graffiti? Street art is all over Los Angeles, with permission from the city. You don’t have to do any illegal activity to start creating street art. If it wasn’t for illegal graffiti, street art would’t exist.
With many illegal graffiti artist around the world. One should actually know the background and history.
According to SKEAM, street art is not graffiti, but more art unless you are doing graffiti letters. People’s history on graffiti is not very strong. It is more social media type satisfaction. But knowing the background and history, how they started and the steps of putting their graffiti name first are the principles of getting accepted and recognized in the graffiti game. Such as, did they start drawing from a book, take art classes, painting in tunnels and from yards did they start improving and from their did they start doing productions? Social Media and Instagram can portray something unrealistic. People are hiding behind the net. But for those that did have the history of graffiti and are doing productions, it is now respected.
“Before I was against getting paid jobs for my skills,” said Skeam, “I can see now that yes I do want to get sponsored and paid, who doesn’t? I came to the conclusion that people and myself have family, kids and a life to look after.”
As for now Skeam continues to do his illegal graffiti as well as paid productions.
As SKEAM gets ready to paint at night, he admits that he loves the danger, but admits he gets scared as well.
“Yes, I get scared all the time, I am not going to lie. It’s a scary job when you think about it so many things can happen,” said SKEAM. Even on billboards trains anywhere you are at. People can run up on you, a lot of people don’t like graffiti writers. When you do trains, you can get hit by a train. When you do billboards you can fall by taking the wrong step, especially moving left to right you get really dizzy. There is a lot to consider. But I guess you just have to not pay attention to those things and just focus on what you are doing.”
Being involved with crews such as BWS “Born with Style” and ICR “I’m Crowned”, his brother is what inspired him.
“He was a tagger back in the day,” said SKEAM. “Once I moved to Los Angeles from the city of Brawley I started going to church and there was a guy that used to do graffiti and I would watch him draw people at church. My brother pushed me into it, but once I met that guy from church, that’s when it all started.”
Graffiti artist such as SABER, REVOK and the MSK crew was also an inspiration to him, because of their super technical style.
“It is above wild style and difficult to read,” said Skeam.
By doing it for many years he let the spraycan do its thing and developed his own style.
“I feel like my style is more freestyle. I let my hand and my mind just work itself; I don’t really try to control it too much. I don’t try to be too perfect. I just let it flow, that’s why I feel like I’m dancing sometimes I just go with it.”
One of his biggest jobs he has done recently was the Star Wars double billboard overlooking Hollywood by the 101 freeway.
“When I saw it, it was dramatic, obviously because it had two billboards and it had the saber sticking out. I have never seen that before. For being a double billboard I knew I had to do it because it was a hot spot.”
Besides billboards and center dividers, trains give him the relaxation he needs to paint more freely.
“Hitting the metal at night and knowing it is going to be there forever is a good feeling. Painting trains is a different kind of workout. You have different kinds of grooves on the trains and I use a ladder because I like to go big. They are also so high and off the ground, you have to put that extra work in”
With a huge following in Los Angeles, SKEAM recently went to New York and made a huge impact in one of the billboards. People had recognized his work in New Jersey and Chicago. He plans to paint in Miami, Paris and Amsterdam as well.
In New York, POOK from RIP, “Respect Is Power” crew said, “His stuff is something I’ve always feared, respected and loved all at the same time.”
However, nothing is ever picture perfect and many illegal artists like SKEAM have a lot of obstacles trying to paint.
“One night I didn’t finish what I started. It was two billboards I tried to hit. The first one I tried to hit was on Hollywood Blvd. I took my canvases to trace over the billboard. Once I started tracing over the billboard a couple gangsters caught me up there and told me to leave and get out of their neighborhood. As SKEAM and his camerawoman climbed down and left, they went to another billboard around 4 a.m. Once they got up to the billboard a lady came out of her house and called the cops on them and had to leave as fast as they could.
It doesn’t sound too dramatic, but it was an exhausting and frustrating night trying to get at least one billboard that night.
With all the hardships and sacrifices graffiti artist have to go through, graffiti is not for everyone, but it looks like anybody can do it.
“With simple throw ups and messy styles. A lot of these young guys don’t put in that extra work and extra mile,” said SKEAM. Especially when it comes to social media.
“Social media is good for people to have access to see pieces from all around the world. Instead of driving everywhere and catching everyone’s spot. But social media has destroyed graffiti as well. People do pieces on yards and easy spots, taking their time and claiming it’s a hot spot. When in reality it is all fake and misinformed to the public.”
According to Skeam, people may also not acknowledge the effort they put in to create their masterpiece.
“Bottom line I don’t care what they think, said SKEAM, “I do it for myself, I do it for the thrill. I like for everyone to see it, but it’s not just for them. Basically, I am just trying to make my name and be remembered. I want to have my names in the books, so when I die my name is still rocking, kind of like the Gladiators and soldiers that want to be remembered, just like that.
According to SKEAM, people may also not acknowledge the effort they put in to create their masterpiece.
“SAUTE and SLOT are also respected in his eyes by putting in a lot of work. The same goes for GROM for his amazing reputation in the train scene. Also, SKOFE has been killing it, BWS team and much more, said SKEAM.”
One of the advices that he gives is work on your style, try to do the most, stretch your arms out don’t bring them in, go big or go home.
Punishment will not take away a graffiti artist urge from a Spraycan. Graffiti can’t be all good and all bad. It is a thrill and exciting illegal activity. It is not going away, besides the punishments and obstacles the city faces to remove it, graffiti is here to stay.
