BlogWritings, musings and generally lighthearted banter

This was a really fun wall mural to paint. We were asked for a ‘Finding Nemo’ bedroom painting for a young fellow named Jack. Jack’s mum contacted us looking for a graffiti artist to transform the blank walls in her son’s bedroom. We love painting iconic characters, especially ones that are as expressive as the characters from Nemo! Here is what Jack’s mum had to say about the work; “I just wanted to say a huge thanks to Dave who painted the graffiti wall mural in Jack’s room. He did an amazing job and we’re over the moon with it. Lot’s of his friends have come over and are planning to get their rooms spraypainted! We’ve shared photos of the mural on Facebook and received loads of great comments. Thanks again for a quick and professional job, can’t recommend you guys enough!”

It’s testimonials such as this that keep us doing what we do! Our expert wall mural artists can paint any image in graffiti so why not get in contact and let us transform your spaces into something more exciting.

Molly’s mum really wanted to give her a huge surprise by getting our professional artists in to paint her bedroom wall. We spoke to her about what she wanted and made a few suggestions with colour and effects which were greatly received. It took our artists only three hours to complete and Molly was over the moon!

We used multi coloured paint within the lettering, to really make it pop. The 3D lettering looked as though it was smashing through the wall revealing a dark starry sky behind.

Every kid likes something personalised and what’s cooler than your very own bedroom wall! Our artists can work to any brief, from a name to a whole scene, we’ve done the lot. And what’s more, when you don’t want it there anymore it only takes a lick of emulsion to cover it. Perfect. And with Christmas approaching, what better gift than something they can treasure every day.

Heather, aged ten, loves all things gothic. She’s obsessed with American gothic film director Tim
Burton’s creations such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline and Corpse Bride to name a
few. Her very lovely parents surprised her with an all gothic feature wall in her bedroom, courtesy of
the Graffiti Zone team, as a treat after her good grades.

You may be thinking that a gothic wall is a bit morbid or creepy in a little girl’s room, but think again!
In fact, there are many fun and creative ways to decorate a gothic style room that your kids will adore.

Playing with light and dark effects we used feminine dark violets and midnight blues to create a gothic
scene at dusk and as the other bedroom walls remained white it didn’t close the room in.

We got all the gothic conventions in there, such as the haunted house, the bright moon, graveyard,
bats and spindly trees casting unnerving shadows. The warm yellow glow from the windows of the
haunted house broke up the colour scheme and the varying heights of the hills gave depth to the
piece.

It took us just under eight hours to complete and as spray paint dries so quickly it was ready in time
for when Heather got back from school. Heather’s parents told her to go up to her room as there
was a surprise waiting for he

Are your kids creative with a love of graffiti art? Why not channel some of that enthusiasm with our 5 week graffiti shortcourse, bought to you by Graffiti Life!

Following its previous success, the world’s unprecedented Graffiti Shortcourse is back by popular demand! Held every Tuesday evening 7-9 in an East London location, (venue TBC) , and tutored by some of Europe’s most accomplished graffiti artists, they’re in the best hands to develop and nurture their skills, whether they’re picking up a spray can for the first time, or developing existing ability.

Our artists have extensive experience working with kids of all ages and know how to engage with them, guide, teach and generally get the best out of them.

The workshops will span five weeks from the 4th of September to the 2nd of October. Our aim is to give them a good understanding of the five main disciplines of street art, so we have devised a structure whereby each session will be tutored by one of our artists most capable with that area. With each offering their own method, style and tips, the lessons will be fully engaging and stimulating. From lettering through to realism, they’ll be guided through the fascinating world of graffiti step by step, so they’ll leave after the five weeks, in possession of a firm skill set and a real sense of achievement.

As we build their confidence and they’ve created their own style, they’ll paint their own canvas to take home and adorn their bedroom wall with, along with a signed copy of one of our artist’s books on street art and a pamphlet detailing everything they’ve learnt. Everything’s included in the price so all they need to bring is themselves and a big appetite for street art.

For more information on the Graffiti Short Course or to reserve a space please email courses@graffitilife.co.uk. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Kid’s rooms sure have changed! Forget wallpaper that takes hours of precision lining to apply and even longer to take off, many parents are now opting for wall murals. They’re usually painted within a day and last forever, but if needs be, can be painted over with a lick of emulsion. Feature walls give a truly personal touch and kids like nothing better than having a space that feels like their own, you never know, it might even encourage them to keep it clean, although we can’t promise anything!

Fourteen year old Sam asked his parents for a wall mural for his birthday. He wanted an action shot of his favourite comic book hero and everyone’s favourite spider, Spiderman! After having a chat with Sam to ascertain exactly what he envisaged, we got to work on a 3m x 3m picture of Spiderman bursting through the wall in his classic pose; arm extended palm side up ready to sling a web. With clever 3D technique and a piercing blue sky behind him, it looks quite literally like he’s just shot through the wall. With great skill in shading and detail, the spider’s compound eyes of many lenses give the hardened glare of a vigilante. His costume of stark red and blue was painted with exactness, complete with the silver threading and high shine, disguising the mysterious Peter Parker underneath.

It’s every little boys dream to wake up feeling like a super hero and it seems even adults get caught in his web. Our piece captured the heart of Sam’s Dad too and we’re looking forward to painting a bespoke piece for their games room soon! Smiles all round!

We found ourselves bringing a bit of street culture to the affluent borough of Chelsea at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. The kids at co-ed Knightsbridge School scooped up the Silver Gilt award for their garden, visited by her majesty the Queen I hasten to add, in the new section titled ‘RHS Environment’. They represented just what urban greening is all about and we were honoured to be helping out.

The flower show attracts people in their thousands from all around the world flocking to see the newest creations in horticulture. Visitors could be forgiven for thinking they had taken a wrong turn as the Knightsbridge school’s garden certainly stood out amongst the more traditional methods of cultivation. Their efforts were met with warm applause and a true appreciation of the garden’s philosophy and even the Queen stopped by to take a good look and accept a posy of flowers from two of the school children.

Using recycled materials the school came up with ingenious ideas. They planted flowers, vegetables and shrubs in anything from old trainers to discarded car parts and even fashioned a water feature from unused rain water piping. They wanted to create a feeling of urban space and that’s where we came in. Our graffiti artists got to work on a faux brick wall which provided the backdrop for the garden, painting it with vibrant graffiti style lettering and giving the garden a truly authentic street feel.  Cartoon wildlife characters stressed the importance of conservation in a light hearted way such as a ladybird complete with headphones and a bumble bee with the caption ‘bee the change you want to see’ written in graffiti style lettering next to it; a comical play on Ghandi’s famous quote. (Not sure about this bit)

Named ‘Planting the Idea’, the school’s space was created to inspire children and grown-ups a-like living in inner-city areas to pull their sleeves up and get gardening no matter how small your garden may be. The kids were taught about the importance of attracting wildlife when designing the garden and how selective plants can counteract the effects of pollution.

It was a great project to be involved in and all the guys at Graffiti Life were really impressed with the end result. Well done Knightsbridge School!

We were really excited when we were asked to paint a Where the Wild Things Are themed mural in twelve year old Josh’s bedroom in Surrey. Maurice Sendak’s story of young Max escaping to an imaginary land has captured the hearts of generations and, (like the big kid’s we are), it was great to relive the story once again!

To make the mural seem like an extension of Josh’s room, we chose the scene where Max is pacing his bedroom getting angrier and angrier and the wild forest grows up around him. We painted trees sprouting from the ground with a thick canopy of leaves shrouding the ceiling and a window opening out into the encompassing starry night complete with a bright, full moon casting mysterious shadows into Max/Josh’s room. The different layers of the scene created depth and our use of angles created a 3D effect – you really felt like you could reach up and close the window!

It was great fun to paint and we were really pleased with the final results. But don’t just take our word for it; Josh Edwards aged 8 commented, “Wooooooooooooooow, I love it!!”

We were in and out in just six hours and Josh was able to sleep in his room that night… or at least pretend to go to sleep while he waited for the monsters to start swinging from the trees… Let the wild rumpus begin!!.”

We’ve done a couple of ‘Cars’ themed wall murals now, and they always look amazing. The faces of these characters are so expressive and really fun to paint. Here is another smasher that we painted in Essex featuring Lightening and Mater. This mural took around 5 hours to complete, luckily we had 7 year old Jack to help us along with the painting and speed things along a bit

Here is what happy customer Sandra had to say about the wall mural we painted in her son’s bedroom.
”I would just like to say a very big thank you to the graffiti artists at Graffiti Zone who made this wall mural happen, James’ bedroom looks amazing! The artist was very polite and professional and the kids loved getting involved with the creative process and helping out. We will be recommending your company to our friends and will be in touch once we have decided the details for the mural on our bedroom wall!”

Another satisfied client! If you have some interesting ideas for your walls get in touch with our friendly team of expert wall muralists. We have a nationwide team of amazing artists who can totally transform your walls into bright works of art, working from ANY image!

With the anticipation of the Olympic Games building, we here at Graffiti Zone wanted to get involved in the action. We teamed up with the Harlesden Primary School to paint some Olympic themed wall murals as part of the school’s rejuvenation project.

The Children of Harlesden demonstrated their awesome artistic talents, designing their own stencils and painting an array of different Olympic and sporting designs. With guidance from our team the children transformed their dull, brick laden walls into a colourful and vibrant tribute to the Olympic Games.

In spirit of the games, this project was a great demonstration of graffiti arts ability to bring children and friends together. Working as a team the children produced an original and unique display of graffiti art which will leave a lasting legacy for many years to come.

We had a great time working with the children of Harlesden and seeing the children’s excited reaction to their completed pieces will be a forever proud memory of ours at Graffiti Zone.

We recently had the privilege of holding a graffiti workshop for residents of the Mary Hare School in Newbury. Mary Hare is a school which houses profoundly and severely deaf children and young people..

Staff at the school are always looking for different ways to entertain the kids at weekends, and allow them to try their hand at new and exciting activities in their spare time.
We were approached by activities coordinator, Kirilynn Gardner, who had read about our services and wondered if it might be a suitable activity for some of her teenaged residents.

It’s lovely when staff at projects like this one are open-minded and eager to try new ways of engaging young people. But we especially love it when people not only want to try a graffiti workshop, but also want to create their very own permanent wall mural. Which is exactly what Mary Hare School did…

In this case, Mary Hare School chose a stencil workshop, and our artists helped them develop their design ideas, cut their own stencils, and paint their own space.

It’s hard to believe that our graffiti artists can take people who have never picked up a spray can before, and in a matter of hours, turn a complete beginner into a Banksy! But I’m sure you’ll agree that the work done by pupils at Mary Hare School looks worthy of praise indeed.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with the guys there, and great that they’ve got something to remember the day by that they can keep and be immensely proud of. Hats off to them, they should be proud.

And hats off to open minded schools, youth workers and activities coordinators across the land, who, like the Mary Hare School, are willing to give a graffiti mural workshop a go. Though letting one of our graffiti artists and some kids loose on your walls may seem a bit daunting, no-one has ever regretted it! Quite the opposite in fact…

“I would just like to thank you for a fantastic workshop… It looks fantastic, the young people were amazed at what they could do”

- Kirilynn Gardner, Mary Hare School