Urban Art Route

Train painted while it is running on its route, but stopped (at a train station, for example).

The basis of a wall of fame; when only the backdrop is painted. 

Copy or direct influence of the style of another writer.

More elaborate throw-up, sometime three-dimensional. Uses big letters, made with more colours and contour.

Common word in the graffiti community to describe the cleaning of graffiti (on trains or walls).

Round-lettering style, simpler and primary, but, to this date, very present in bombs. 

Cap applied to spray cans. There are several types of caps, varying according to pressure and producing a thinner or thicker line (ex: Skinny, Fat, NY Fat Cap, etc.).

Figures’ crew. Characters, portraits, people.

A piece produced by one or more writers, where one is the supervisor. Quite elaborate, with several colours and aesthetical and artistic concerns.

A group of writers. The names are generally long, abbreviated with acronyms. The members of a crew may act alone, but they must sign with the crew’s name.

Painting on top of another writer’s work.

Transition from one colour to another without a direct cut. A scale of different shades of the same colour, for example.

Carriage or train painted from one end to another, without reaching the top part.

Filling (simple or elaborate) the inside of graffiti letters.

The absence of rules. A graffiti done spontaneously and freely as the name suggests.

Etymologically the word graffiti comes from the Greek “graphein”, which means “writing, expressing through written characters” and, previously, “drawing, representing through drawn lines”.

This word evolved until our days as follows: graphein (scrawling, writing, drawing) — graffiare (scribbling) — graffio (a scribble or scrawl) — graffito and its plural, graffiti (scribbles).

Graffiti, as urban art, was born in the 1960s and 70s, in New York, along with hip-hop culture.

And from there it spread throughout the outskirts of major cities, until it reached its current status, as acknowledged form of urban art in much of the world.

General contour, or outline.

Graffiti or bomb without any fill-in and which is generally illegal.

The first generation of writers. The kings are admired by all the writers in their crew or other crews, because of their long experience, but also for the mastery of the different graffiti techniques.

Refers to artists performing for over 20 years.

It is the contour of the letters, the outlining of a piece. It is not used in all styles. In 3D or more organic pieces, it is not used.

A piece (short for masterpiece), unlike Tags and Throw-ups, aims to be aesthetically appealing. The writer aims at displaying his/her technical and artistic skills.

These pieces may be done on murals, walls, façades or other surfaces, like trains, and, usually, they convey a message beyond the writer’s name, being frequently comprised of a drawing with characters and a background.

The illegal side of graffiti, which entails breaking the law to do a piece. The objective is to flee without getting caught.

The techniques mastered by a writer.

Painting technique using spray on cardboard mould or X-ray sheet.

It is not graffiti, but it is part of the urban art scene. Art done on paper and glued with white glue. Is generally, placed on traffic signs, trash bins and others.

The name by which the writer is known in the graffiti community and the most basic and common form of urban graffiti.

Usually, the Tag is the signature (typography) drawn in order to be quickly executed.

Tags serve the writers’ main need to disseminate their name in a quick and widespread manner. It can be done with spray paint or markers.

One of the most recent forms of tagging are Stickers, which can be done or printed before being applied, so execution is quicker and cleaner.

A large-sized ‘fatter’ Tag, generally, only with one colour or just an outline. The Throw-up is considered a Tag affirmation.

Graffiti on train and subway carriages.

Beginners, writers just starting out and without graffiti experience.

Beginner’s style.

Graffiti artist or graffitist.

A legally painted mural or wall, with a long sequence of elaborate graffiti, sometimes done by several artists.

Graffiti style born in New York in the 1970s, highly complex junction of shapes and with a very distinctive use of arrow forms. For those unfamiliar with graffiti styles it is often highly indecipherable and, sometimes, even for those familiar with it.

Graffiti painted on roofs, billboards or other elevated surfaces. Style associated to risk and difficult access, but one of the most respected styles among writers.

Place where the graffiti is made.

Carriage or carriages painted from top to bottom, without reaching the horizontal ends.

Fully painted train carriage or carriages, from one end to another and from top to bottom.

Uses three-dimensional letters, with shades and visual effects.

Diogo Machado, or Add Fuel (Lisbon, 1980), is graduated in Graphic Design from IADE (Faculty of Design, Technology and Communication of the European University). Since 2007 he has been focusing exclusively on his artistic work. Exploring a wide array of manual and digital techniques of drawing, painting, ceramics and printing, his art expresses a sophisticated dialogue between the old and the new, between heritage and modernity. Besides the countless public art interventions created in several countries, he has also showcased his work in solo and collective exhibitions in renowned galleries and museums.

Pedro Campiche, or Akacorleone (Lisbon, 1985), is a visual artist of Portuguese and Swiss descent, who started pursuing his art in Lisbon’s underworld. A compulsive artist obsessed with everything graphic and visual from a very young age, he studied arts and completed a degree in Design and Visual Communication in 2007. After working as a graphic designer for some years, he decided to become a freelance illustrator. Today, he is known for his masterful use of colours, typography, characters and refined shapes, which he combines to obtain appealing compositions, imbued with originality and generalised humour.

Artur Bordalo, or Bordallo II (Lisbon, 1987), found in his grandfather the reference to become a visual artist. His grandfather, Real Bordalo, who was born in 1925 and died in June of this year, painted dozens of oil paintings and watercolours of Lisbon’s urban landscapes. The grandson chose the name Bordalo II as a tribute to the family roots of visual arts. A painter, sculptor, graffitist and welder, he transforms trash into art, spreading installations of large animals across cities’ walls.

Born in Lisbon, in 1974, he dived into the world of graffiti in 1998. In his work, he combines elements from the world of comics and animation with elements from Japanese culture and others more connected to street art code. In 2005, he founded, with artist Ram, the ARM Collective. He stands out with his construction of characters and atmospheres, giving them lines and shapes that make them unique.

Portuguese visual artists and illustrator, Kruella d'Enfer (1988) has been showcasing her work in solo and collective exhibitions since 2010. Comfortable painting both large-scale murals and intimate work on paper and canvas, her use of contrasting colours and geometric shapes brings ancestral legends and myths to life, composing universally appealing fantastical stories.

Mário Belém is 42 years old, was born in Lisbon and lives in Carcavelos. He has a degree in Graphic Design from Ar.Co., he worked as a graphic designer but he became renowned as a commercial illustrator. In 2015, he abandoned his commercial career to devote himself entirely to personal projects.

Sérgio 'Odeith' was born in 1976, in Damaia. In the mid-1980s, he used, for the first time, a paint can. In the mid-1990s, he had his first contact with graffiti. Having no degree or training, he is a self-taught artist. After several years painting murals under "Eith", in 2003, he created the "Odeith” signature. In 2005, he started his path to international recognition, as a result of his innovative pieces using the anamorphosis technique.

Authentic compositions of huge bugs or objects, painted in abandoned spaces, went viral and stood out for their realism and technique.

Miguel Caeiro, or Ram (Sintra, 1976), has been active since he started his clandestine interventions on the streets in 1997. A precursor of experimental graffiti and urban art, he has trod a singular path in the construction of an original language in the world of new urban aesthetics. His colourful energetic and dynamically shaped explosions come close to contemporary action painting imbued with psychedelic visionary perspective, in a line of intense vitality that expresses the construction of ethereal realities.

Ivo Santos, or Smile (Lisbon, 1985), was interested in drawing from a very young age. But it was through two cousins that that interest became a passion. In the 1990s, he found his love of Hip-Hop culture, embracing graffiti as the path to follow. His art is identifiable essentially due to his photo-realistic paintings. He is currently the chairman of ACUParte, a cultural association aimed at promoting and boosting Urban Culture across the country, through experimentation, innovation and development in visual, performing and sound arts.

Tamara Alves (Portimão, 1983) is a Portuguese artist working out of Lisbon. Inspired by urban life, she uses versatile mediums – from painting to illustration, from tattoos to street art. Her work represents the erotic vision of a contemporary body with the effects of its own limits expanded. Instead of rational thought, there is raw passion, a body without organs, an animal undergoing transformation, experienced sensations.

Alexandre Farto, or Vhils (Lisbon, 1987), is a Portuguese artist known for the faces he ‘sculpts’ on walls. He completed his studies in 2008 at the University of the Arts, in London. He started painting in 1998, when he was only 11 years old. He painted walls and trains in the south bank of the Tagus river. His innovative low-relief sculpting technique has been praised as one of the most compelling approaches of urban art in the last decade.