Pedigree Stencil: Fill & Download for Free

Fifteen years. It was 15 years after I did my first stick of time, before I got my first tat. I started doing time when I was 16. More than a few of the guys I knew got tats during the first few years, some of them, more than a few, and most of the work was badly executed.Fast forward to when I was 31. A Brother I knew since we were both pups, who’d learned his craft at the expense of men more foolish than I, offered to tat me at no cost, for a solid I’d done for him.After much research, securing my own ink supply, fresh needle, barrel and guide, i told him what I wanted (having earned the right to wear it) he drew it up, stencilled it on me, and tatted me up.To this day, and after 16 more pieces, I don’t regret any one of them. Each tells part of a story, which if read correctly, will testify to my pedigree. My work was done by men I respected, most of whom are now dead. They are living pieces of art, a tribute to their skills, and testimony of my journey. I am, to this day, continuing to evolve, and so, my journey continues on a long and winding path.

Jacinto from Oakland gave you a good answer on how to become a graffiti artist but I would like to give you something else to consider. Someone had asked me who were the famous graffiti artists on Quora. Here is my answer:Personally, I loathe graffiti art.People who graffiti are screaming for attention at best and practice a form of bullying at worst.It is not the act of an artist but of a coward. Artists embrace beauty, graffiti is a psychic form of violence that accosts everyone who has to look at it.To graffiti shows a complete disregard for other peoples property, but more than that, other people’s sacred space. It is a form of visual terrorism.Defacing someone’s home that is their safe place from the world is a form of bullying.Defacing a place of worship allows anyone with a racist agenda free rein.Graffiti encourages “tagging” and gang terrorism.The materials used in graffiti damage the air and are toxic to people, animals & the environment.If you study psychology you learn that people who do not honor boundaries almost always have been the victims of incest or sexual abuse as children. Graffiti artists reveal much more about themselves than they probably realize.I’ve been an artist for 33 years and traveled to 44 countries. Not once have I seen a piece of graffiti that made a place better, more beautiful.Graffiti is the language of the socially impotent in a war zone. It is the anonymous voice of the disenfranchised, not an art form to become famous. In the art world of the last two decades “spectacle” has been the M.O. to drive audiences to a gallery or museum location. Name recognition through controversy is is cheap PR.In the 1960’s Cy Twombly (a contemporary of Rauschenberg) scribbled on white canvas’s with crayon and careless marks and critics and curators had to sell what to most viewers was complete nonsense.This happens all of the time in the art world and is now subject of an ongoing FBI investigation. A gallery arranges a museum show with offer of a kickback of sales when the artists name has the museum attached to it after the show, giving pedigree if you will to a mutt. A gallery owner will hire a critic to review it or create a false controversy over the subject matter.The more press a museum or artist gets the higher the name recognition and the bigger the price tag. Where most people will think, “This is junk, the emperor has no clothes” they are often made to think they just do not understand. Please consider these things when looking at anything you are told is hip or in style.Yes, we all know the name Banksy or Kaws (Brian Donnelly). Ask yourself if you think political stenciling holds up next to even a drawing? Would the limited edition toys and clothing made by Brian Donnelly have succeeded without creating graffiti that looked like toys and appealed to children?

Personally, I do consider it vandalism.This is my answer when someone else asked me if there were any “famous graffiti artists. It’s why I feel the way I do about graffiti.People who graffiti are screaming for attention at best and practice a form of bullying at worst.It is not the act of an artist but of a coward. Artists embrace beauty, graffiti is a psychic form of violence that accosts everyone who has to look at it.To graffiti shows a complete disregard for other peoples property, but more than that, other people’s sacred space. It is a form of visual terrorism.Defacing someone’s home that is their safe place from the world is a form of bullying.Defacing a place of worship allows anyone with a racist agenda free rein.Graffiti encourages “tagging” and gang terrorism.The materials used in graffiti damage the air and are toxic to people, animals & the environment.If you study psychology you learn that people who do not honor boundaries almost always have been the victims of incest or sexual abuse as children. Graffiti artists reveal much more about themselves than they probably realize.I’ve been an artist for 33 years and traveled to 44 countries. Not once have I seen a piece of graffiti that made a place better, more beautiful.Graffiti is the language of the socially impotent in a war zone. It is the anonymous voice of the disenfranchised, not an art form to become famous. In the art world of the last two decades “spectacle” has been the M.O. to drive audiences to a gallery or museum location. Name recognition through controversy is is cheap PR.In the 1960’s Cy Twombly (a contemporary of Rauschenberg) scribbled on white canvas’s with crayon and careless marks and critics and curators had to sell what to most viewers was complete nonsense.This happens all of the time in the art world and is now subject of an ongoing FBI investigation. A gallery arranges a museum show with offer of a kickback of sales when the artists name has the museum attached to it after the show, giving pedigree if you will to a mutt. A gallery owner will hire a critic to review it or create a false controversy over the subject matter.The more press a museum or artist gets the higher the name recognition and the bigger the price tag. Where most people will think, “This is junk, the emperor has no clothes” they are often made to think they just do not understand. Please consider these things when looking at anything you are told is hip or in style.Yes, we all know the name Banksy or Kaws (Brian Donnelly). Ask yourself if you think political stenciling holds up next to even a drawing? Would the limited edition toys and clothing made by Brian Donnelly have succeeded without creating graffiti that looked like toys and appealed to children?