Throw ups, or throwies, are a form of graffiti that fall between tags and pieces in complexity. The name comes from the way they are designed to be "thrown" onto a surface as quickly as possible. They are almost always done with aerosol paint.
Form
Throw ups are typically the writer's moniker in large "bubble-letters", with or without a fill. Throw ups without fills are called hollows. Throw ups are sometimes done using only the first two or three letters of the moniker in a throw up to quicken the process, especially if the writer uses a longer name. Throw ups are done with fast, pre-planned body movements to enhance speed. This speed means that writers can produce large amounts of throw ups in a short time, especially when compared with pieces.
Defining characteristics of skilled throw up include letter height consistency, letter shape conformity along the top and the bottom, minimal negative space, and clean lines. The line between pieces and throw ups is sometimes blurred, but throw ups tend to be faster to paint, have fewer colours, and prioritise speed over style.
History
Throw ups originated in the New York City Subway in the 1970s and started as larger versions of tags before evolving into their own style. Compared to tags and pieces, throw ups have not changed as much since their origins.
References
- sometimes written hyphenated (throw-ups) or without the space (throwups)
- Snyder, Gregory J. (2011-04-15). Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4046-0.
- Graf, Ann M. (2018). "Facets of Graffiti Art and Street Art Documentation Online: A Domain and Content Analysis". University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Digital Commons. S2CID 149842845.
- Parks, Michelle (2009). Writing on the walls: Graffiti and civic identity (Thesis thesis). University of Ottawa (Canada). doi:10.20381/ruor-19161. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- ^ Whitehead, Jessie (2004-11-01). "Graffiti: The Use of the Familiar1". Art Education. 57 (6): 25–32. doi:10.1080/00043125.2004.11653573. ISSN 0004-3125. S2CID 189475620.
- Castleman, Craig (1984-04-26). Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York. MIT Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-262-53051-4.
- Lasley, James R. (1995-04-01). "New writing on the wall: Exploring the middle-class graffiti writing subculture". Deviant Behavior. 16 (2): 151–167. doi:10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994. ISSN 0163-9625. Archived from the original on 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
- ^ Almqvist, Björn; orkel Sjöstrand; Lindblad, Tobias Barenthin (2014-04-04). Graffiti Cookbook: The Complete Do-It-Yourself-guide to Graffiti. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-91-85639-71-7.
- Team, The Drivin' & Vibin' (2022-08-21). "Who is Cope2?". Outside Folk Gallery. Archived from the original on 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- Grim, Jon. "Replace your graffiti throwie with this!". The Artist Block. Archived from the original on 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ Navitas, Prananda. "21st Century Graffiti. How authorities should deal with it in city centers". In Bergmann, Alexander (ed.). In book: Music-City. Sports-City. Leisure City. A reader. Publisher: Bauhaus University Weimar. pp. (pp.90-97).
- Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2016-03-02). Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-64586-3.
- Ferrell, Jeff (1998-12-01). "Freight train graffiti: Subculture, crime, dislocation". Justice Quarterly. 15 (4): 587–608. doi:10.1080/07418829800093911. ISSN 0741-8825.
- Dovey, Kim; Wollan, Simon; Woodcock, Ian (2012-02-02). "Placing Graffiti: Creating and Contesting Character in Inner-city Melbourne". Journal of Urban Design. 17 (1): 21–41. doi:10.1080/13574809.2011.646248. hdl:11343/230654. ISSN 1357-4809. S2CID 110689365.
- Snyder, Gregory J. (2011-04-15). Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground. NYU Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8147-4046-0.
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