Graffiti alphabet A–Z

Q: What are the main graffiti letter styles?

The common ones are tags (a quick signature), throw-ups (fast bubble letters in one or two colors), bubble letters, straight letters and blockbusters (big, square and readable), 3D letters and wildstyle (interlocking letters with arrows that are hard to read).

This is the full alphabet of graffiti letters, A to Z, in twelve styles. Pick a letter to see it in every style with tips for drawing it, or open a style below to see all 26 letters side by side. Everything here is free to use for personal projects.

Bubble graffiti letters, A to Z

The same alphabet in every style

Open a style to see all 26 letters.

Cursive alphabet — joined-up cursive bubble letters, round and glossy

Throw-up alphabet — fast two-color throwie: chrome fill, heavy black outline

Tag alphabet — a quick one-color signature, the way writers sign walls

Handstyle alphabet — marker handstyle with a thin outline and a few drips

Blockbuster alphabet — big square block letters with a deep side extrude

3D alphabet — tall letters pushed back in deep 3d

Drip alphabet — brush letters dripping wet paint

Wild alphabet — bouncing, overlapping letters with a rough street edge

Old English alphabet — gothic blackletter in the chicano lettering tradition

Stencil alphabet — cut-out stencil letters with bridges, ready to spray

Neon alphabet — glowing neon-tube letters that light up a dark wall

How a graffiti alphabet works

A graffiti alphabet is not a font. It is a set of rules a writer follows so that every letter looks like it belongs to the same family: the same stroke width, the same lean, the same way of ending a stroke and the same kind of 3D. Once the rules are set, any word can be built from them.

Most writers keep these things consistent across the whole alphabet:

Weight. Every letter uses the same thickness of stroke.
Angle. The letters lean the same way, even if each one bounces a little up or down.
Endings. Strokes finish the same way, whether that is a round end, a square cut or an arrow.
Light. Highlights sit on the same side of every letter, and the 3D block goes on the opposite side.

If you are new to it, start with bubble letters. Their round shapes forgive mistakes, and they teach the outline-and-fill method that every other style builds on. Then try the step-by-step drawing guide.

How do you draw graffiti letters from A to Z?

Draw the whole alphabet in one style before you mix styles. Sketch each letter as a thin skeleton, give it the same stroke weight and lean as the others, then outline, fill and add 3D in the same direction every time. Working through A to Z in one sitting shows you which letters break your rules.

Draw a guide. Rule two lines in pencil for the top and bottom of the letters, and a slanted line if you want them to lean.
Write skeletons. Draw A to Z as plain single-line capitals. This is where you fix proportions: the bowls of B, P and R, the width of M and W.
Add weight. Draw a fat outline around each skeleton, the same distance out on every letter.
Clean and ink. Erase the skeletons and go over the outline with a marker. Keep the line confident; small wobbles disappear once the fill goes in.
Fill, 3D, highlights. Fill every letter with the same colors, push the 3D block out on the same side, and put highlights on the side facing the light.
Repeat and compare. Draw the alphabet again a week later and put the two pages side by side. The letters that changed most are the ones still settling.

A blackbook (sketchbook) is the usual place for these alphabet drills. Graph paper helps keep heights even while you learn. Each letter page covers the uppercase and lowercase forms, where arrows fit, and tips for drawing that letter in each style.

Learn the graffiti alphabet in letter families

Letters that share a shape share the same problems, so it is faster to practice them in groups than in alphabetical order. Fix the shape once and the whole family improves.

Straight letters: E, F, H, I, L, T. The easiest to start with. Make them less stiff by bending the bars or cutting the ends at an angle.
Round letters: C, G, O, Q, S. Keep the curves full and even. A C that closes up too far turns into an O.
Bowl letters: B, D, P, R. The size of the bowl decides the letter: make the top bowl of B smaller than the bottom one so it does not read as an 8.
Diagonal letters: A, K, M, N, V, W, X, Y, Z. The hardest group, because thick diagonals crowd the inner spaces. Open those gaps up and thin the strokes where they meet.
Hook letters: J, U. A single curve at the bottom. Give it room so the letter does not collapse into a straight bar.

Which graffiti alphabet style should you learn first?

Learn bubble letters first, then throw-ups, block letters, 3D and finally wildstyle. Each step adds one new skill to the last: round shapes, speed, straight edges, depth, and then connections and arrows. Skipping ahead usually means relearning the basics later.

Each step has its own guide: bubble letters, throw-up letters, 3D graffiti letters and wildstyle. For lettering outside the spray-can tradition, Old English letters follow their own rules, and graffiti numbers complete the set for dates, ages and crew names. The graffiti styles page compares them all.

Printable graffiti alphabet

Need the alphabet on paper? Download the printable graffiti alphabet PDF (26 A4 pages, one bubble-style letter per page), or browse the graffiti coloring pages. The letters print as black outlines, so you can trace them for practice or color them in.

Turn the alphabet into your name

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Questions people ask

What are the main graffiti letter styles?

The common ones are tags (a quick signature), throw-ups (fast bubble letters in one or two colors), bubble letters, straight letters and blockbusters (big, square and readable), 3D letters and wildstyle (interlocking letters with arrows that are hard to read).

Which graffiti letters are hardest to draw?

Usually the diagonal letters: M, W, K and X. Thick strokes meeting at angles leave very little space inside the letter, so they turn into dark blobs. G and S are tricky in a different way, because their curves are easy to get backward or lopsided. Practice them in pencil until the inner spaces stay open.

Should graffiti letters be uppercase or lowercase?

Most graffiti is built on capital letters, because they have even heights and solid shapes that take outlines and 3D well. Writers still borrow lowercase forms when they look better, such as a lowercase a, e or r in the middle of a word. Mixing the two is normal as long as every letter shares the same weight and lean.

Can I download the whole graffiti alphabet at once?

Yes. The free printable PDF has all 26 letters as bubble-letter outlines, and each letter page has images in every style. For the full A to Z in one style as image files, the generator has a batch ZIP download, which is part of Pro (launching soon).

Is there a graffiti font I can type with?

There are graffiti-style fonts, but real graffiti letters change shape depending on their neighbors. The generator uses open-licensed fonts and adds outlines, 3D, highlights and drips, so you get a piece rather than plain text.