Over the years I’ve been introduced to and have met up with several bay area graffiti writers. When given then chance I always try to get a canvas. I’ve never really documented my collection anywhere before until now. Below are all my canvases, with a blurb about how I got it. I tried to post them in the order I got them, but it’s hard to remember. It’s close.

My very first piece of graffiti I purchased was this Girafa:

At the time I was a huge Girafa fan from riding the train to school and work, but I also hadn’t started hitting spots and urban-exing yet. I downloaded the entire contents of “Girafa Hunters” on to my computer, wondering where all these spots were. Then I found something troubling… an image saying Girafa had been arrested. My heart sank, and I felt like it was the end of an era. If Girafa is done.. that means no new giraffes will ever be painted again. The ones that remain will fade, be painted over, or buffed. While researching this, I found his website – longneck4life.com which only had a single hidden link to a contact form. I filled out the form, asking for a piece. To my shock, Girafa replied the next day! Interestingly we had a misscommunication – I asked for a 4×8 piece of plywood. I was expecting him to spray-paint it like he would in the streets. He thought I meant a 4×8 INCH piece of plywood. But in the end, that was much better. The detail on this peice is amazing. When he dropped it off in my house, he was wearing a Giraffe mask. He kept in character the whole time. Pretty amazing.

A year or two later I started exploring, and through the grape-vine we heard that Musk was selling pieces. My friend and I swooped on the deal and I got this:

It’s pretty huge – and does appear to be spray-painted directly on top of a Picasso! I love it! I also loved getting a musk, because Girafa and Musk often painted together at spots.

Maska is one of my favorite graffiti artists. This style is always fresh and his choice of colors are spot on. A pretty creative guy. He posts on Instagram saying the he was selling custom canvases. I asked for “Something you’d do in the streets,” because I like it when the canvas style is street style. Not something special for the canvas. He gave me this:

I love it. But at the time, I didn’t realize that he also did a similar piece in the streets. When I found this on Google images I was delighted:

But that’s not all – Maska really hooked me up. I also got these two cabinet doors:

Girafa annouced a limited run of prints on his website, so I got one. I like that it’s large, it pairs well with the musk.

My buddy put me in touch with Payntr and we met up. Super chill guy, we talked for a couple hours in the parking lot. It was a buy-one-get-one kinda deal so he hooked me up with a sweet canvas and a mini canvas as well.

The Charles Family crew is one of the best to come out of California. Each member has a very distinct and unique style that is amazing to see painted full scale in the streets. Uter had posted some paintings for sale online before, but they were never like his street style. I waited and eventually a friend was able to hook me up with this epic piece. It has the classic Uter street style, and it’s painted on a metal street sign.

So sick:

My buddy bought a canvas from Blue22 and forward me to him. I eventually rode BART out and picked up this Blue22 Burner:

When another Charles member, DVOTE posted this for sale on Instagram, I didn’t hesitate. I jumped on it quick, and I’m glad I did. This is a street-style DVOTE piece painted on a plank of wood. Fun fact: The package it came in had a return address to “Charles D. Votington.” Nice.

Around this time I had started 3d printing some of my favorite graffiti characters. I printed a model of Oracle – who is a legendary character from the bay area. It caught his attention and he asked me to print the dog version of his character. I made one in zbrush and printed a few for him – in exchange for a Canvas. I’m very glad to get such a dope Oracle:

Again, after 3d printing his Character, I got in touch with Pig Pen. Asked for a Canvas with his character and Mago’s character as well – they often paint together. I love the gradient sunset in the background and the cute, vector-like cartoon style.

Sort reached out to me on my website, and I asked to get a canvas. I’m glad I did – he had the idea to write gmiller.net in addition to his own letters. I love it! Seeing gmiller.net as a piece looks dope. And… I will keep exploring!

I’m not really familiar with Maer’s work, but when I got the chance to pick up a canvas I did so on a whim:

I will update this post as the collection grows!

November 27, 2015 at 10:19 pm | Urban Ex Articles