From Spray Can to Light: Comparing Beatles Inspired Graffiti

RE:  Blog Entry #4 - Spray Can to Light:  Graffiti Revisited

Here are two Beatles inspired graffiti that were made using different two completely different media - both of which I really admire.

Here is a graffiti'd mural of the Beatles.  Here is the origi-
nal website that featured this photograph - unfortunately,
the artist is not mentioned here.

This first piece is the boys of the Beatles' faces on a brick wall.  Clearly street graffiti, I think the artist of this mural used the elements of space, size, tone, contrast, and emphasis effectively.  I think this mural shows that the element of space is used very well because the artist was able to use up the entire wall and showcase every member while doing so.  Size works very well in this mural too because each member's head, from the nose up, was blown up to roughly the same size to effectively fill up the entire wall.  The size of each member's head also relates to how contrast is used in this mural.  The use of juxtaposition is cleverly used here because the wall isn't really big enough for a typical mural, but the heads' enormous size makes it looks like the wall is bigger than it really is while also drawing attention to how small it is.  Contrast continues to be used in the colour choices of the mural as well.  The use of a monochromatic colour scheme brings out the mural's contrast to the rest of the neighbourhood because the buildings, homes, and even the walls around it are all red/brown.  All this contrast also ties in with how emphasis is used very well in this graffiti, because the mural emphasizes itself from its surroundings.

This is the light graffiti recreation of the Beatles' famous
walk across Abbey Road.  Here is the original web-
site that features this photograph - unfortunately, this
website does not mention the artist either.

Another Beatles inspired graffiti I found was done by light.  In this graffiti, the artist chose to recreate the Beatles' famous walk across Abbey Road.  Just like the artist who created the previous graffiti, the artist for this one was able to use size effectively.  Unlike the previous graffiti though, this one also includes elements of line and shape, and unity.  The element of size was effectively used in this graffiti because the size of each member's "light version" of themselves is roughly the same size of the actual member, which I found quite impressive.  Another element found in this graffiti is the use of line and shape.  Technically speaking, only lines were used to create this graffiti, but these lines were able to create shapes which helps the viewer identify what this graffiti was supposed to recreate.  Lastly, unity is used well in this graffiti because the use of simple lines of light and the subject these lines were supposed to create really pulls the entire graffiti together and helps recreate the famous image more accurately, if not perfectly.

All in all, I really admire both pieces and love how they were both inspired by one of my favourite bands, the Beatles!