Summer of 2012 had Mike G in NYC for the Klughaus /King Brown show. Mike Giant and I sat down and got personal with his style history. Thanks as always to Mike, the gentle giant, always willing to share.
I got emotional watching this. To see Mike Giant reference teen angel magazine and credit the cholo style as a major influence to his art makes me proud. Califasx3
his name is hick...ers!!!! lmao. teen angel wasn't meant for anyone not living that lifestyle. I'm not talking about the art style within, but the publication itself. they were messages hidden within that only those in that world were supposed to know. that's why giant wasn't quickly entrusted with that info.
Great video. I'm a little younger than Mike & also grew up in the Burque. It's a beautiful but extremely rough city, especially if you were white! Where I lived, I was the minority... During the 80's & until I moved away in early 90's, I remember seeing tons of Cholo writing, placas, roll-calls, it was everywhere & always fascinated me, even as a kid! Cholo writing has such a rich history & has far older roots than traditional graffiti (which started in Philly). Most people don't realize how old it actually is... It's older than spray paint!!! I think it's pretty dope the way many older writers adopted it & some made/make some really nice hybrid scripts. It's definitely quite popular in the West & South West. I love those fonts & typography in general. I grabbed that book "Flip The Script" the day it dropped (AND I SUGGEST YOU DO TOO)!!! It features so many great hand-styles & alphabets from influential, legendary writers. I do think it's sad that besides Philly, most cities have not retained their regional hand-styles. Back in the day, Graffiti was handed down from older writers to younger ones. Not just the letters, but everything about the life & culture, how to appropriate caps from non-spray paint, like "Jifoam" oven cleaner, to use as fat caps & "Testors" for thin-caps, etc.. This was long before you could just order any number of specialized caps online. As much as I do love having the internet, it's been a double-edged sword for graffiti. It's watered down regional styles, it's given un unrealistic views of who's actually producing the most work in the streets, etc. However, it's also brought so many writers together who would otherwise have no communication. It's exposed people to styles they may have never seen unless they visited other cities. Obviously, there are many more pros & cons, but I really got off-topic... **The ramblings of an old man... The point I'm trying to get across: LEARN YOUR HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seamo One - Seamonster - I’m from the 505 myself & we got a good graff scene and great writers down here, I mean it’s not as hype as bigger cities and is cleaned or buffed quickly but there’s some dope graff in NM
Everyone derived their style from something. One of the most unique writers that I ever saw pop up in my city and anywhere was Feeceez. That dude didn’t take those flourishes and all that stuff from anyone I ever saw he created that style himself and it’s fire. tags that look like they’re blasting off into space and shit no one in fl could compete with those hands.
I passed thru Palm Springs a few years back , looked over at the trains and saw a bad ass " Giant " throwup. his throwups are legendary. all style ! nobody can hate on Mike Giant ! he has been out there over 2 decades or more in the yards , getting up !
He's totally right about kids learning handstyles and lettering off the net. Where I'm from there was only 2 other writers in my town before I started and I've basically just tried to morph letters into something new from what I've seen online. I've never had a mentor or even a crew, I like being a lone wolf. Much less stress. Now a days there's probably 15 writers now who are up all of the time, it's taken about 10 years but things are growing and it's nice to see kids progress. Much love to
Whatup, one of your stickers was in a belgian paper this week. It was a picture of David Bowie i think and next to him was a pole with a sticker saying: "Handselecta Flip The Script"
Lookit the jealous Losers griping about a culture they know little or nothing about; I doubt you even write... Apart from a few elementary raps on Fb or IG
Your dumb as hell ,you white people call everything is non whites URBAN ,it's Chicano arte ,from the streets to the prison ,this guy fake giant is out here stealing culture making money of it ,fuck him
Kinda sucks to see someone make $ off a style many people have actually died for. But its good to see our culture get positive recognition and he atleast knows the styles origin
Good luck finding one. Now a days it seems ones so quick to judge because someone got a style online or something when in reality most just have to way to be taught
man dude fuk yeah I've always loved it I love seeing it very where I go you know...I'm just getting into it personally and this shit is bad ass fuking inspiring.go hard dude.
sorry mate, been living under a rock the last few weeks due to work and very tired due to it, thats why i might actually not see the obvious right now, but what book is this?
"Its crazy that it took a couple of dudes from New Jersey to make a song about graffiti that was started in the Bronx". -KRS-One on Artifacts-Wrong Side of the Tracks
This is a cool video in a sense that Giant quite clearly lays out how to be a dope artist and writer. Don't bite entire whole styles you see on the internet and basically develop your own hand styles and pieces to stray away from the norm. Otherwise, as he clearly explains it's like everyone new to graffiti all walking around with fire extinguishers putting out all the developed styles. Originality is not dead.. It just takes slightly more effort to develop than just hopping on bombing science or art crimes and stealing other dudes entire style. That's weak... Zepher told you all about this shit a long long time ago.
Giant is dope af and I've got a lot of respect for dude, but I wouldn't say handstyles are really his strength. He's got a couple cool styles but I wouldn't say that's his strong suit. His b/w illustrations are top notch.
That's rite homie!! I heard 'LINK' passed away a few years ago. That fool used get up all over town. Another one I see in almost every bathroom in Burque is 'IRISH'
I only understand, parts of Costa California style; from practicing, Gothic-fonts + script-calligraphy. If you're stuck on something, Try practicing the classics. Whenever you're ready, try something new. It's a bit like gardening, but you're slowly growing something else. P.S. of course, there's plenty of other calligraphy, in other languages.
