What is wildstyle graffiti?
Wildstyle is a graffiti lettering style where the letters are broken, stretched and interlocked, then decorated with arrows, extensions and connecting shapes. The word is still there underneath, but it reads as one tangled shape first. It is widely seen as the hardest graffiti style, and the one writers use to show off letter skill.
Every wildstyle piece is built on a normal skeleton. If you can draw clean block letters, you already have the base; wildstyle is what you add on top.
How do you draw wildstyle graffiti letters step by step?
Start with straight block letters, then break them, stretch the stroke ends into extensions, turn some extensions into arrows, and connect the letters so they lock together. Add one element at a time and check that the word still holds together after each step.
- Start with simple straight letters. Wildstyle grows out of clean block letters, not bubble letters. Draw them in pencil with a little space between each one.
- Break the letters. Split a stroke in two, shift one half, or cut a corner off.
- Add extensions. Stretch the ends of strokes past where the letter would normally stop.
- Add arrows. Turn some of those extensions into arrows pointing along the word.
- Connect. Let parts of one letter run into the next so the word reads as one shape.
- Clean up and outline. Decide which shape sits in front where two overlap, erase the hidden lines, then outline in one confident pass. Add 3D last, if at all.
The building blocks
Every wildstyle piece mixes the same few parts. Learn them one at a time.
- Arrow
- The signature of wildstyle. Arrows add direction and movement.
- Extension
- A stroke stretched past the edge of its letter, often ending in a point or an arrow.
- Connection
- A shape that links two letters, so they lock together.
- Break
- A cut through a stroke that makes the letter look split or shifted.
- Overlap
- One letter, or one part of a letter, passing in front of another. It is what gives wildstyle its layered look.
- Curl and spike
- Small hooks, swirls and points added to stroke ends and corners. Use a few; too many turn into noise.
Definitions for these and other terms are in the graffiti glossary.
Semi-wildstyle: the step in between
Semi-wildstyle keeps the letters readable while adding a few arrows, extensions and overlaps. It is the best place for beginners to start, because you can see whether each addition helps. Take a short word you already draw well, add one arrow per letter, then one connection between two letters. When that feels natural, start breaking strokes.
How do you practice wildstyle on paper?
Practice wildstyle in a sketchbook or blackbook with a light pencil, and expect to redraw each sketch several times. Wildstyle is planned, not freehanded: writers often sketch the same word over many pages before it is ready.
- Use a short word. Three or four letters is plenty. Long names get lost in the shapes.
- Trace and rebuild. Put tracing paper over a sketch and redraw only the parts that work. Each layer gets cleaner.
- Keep the skeleton visible at first. Draw it in a light color so you can always check the word is still there.
- Fill a page with arrows. Straight, curved, split and stacked. A good arrow is half the battle.
- Color in black and white first. If the shapes work without color, they will work with it.
Which letters are easiest in wildstyle?
Letters with straight strokes and free ends, like E, K, R and A, are the easiest to start with, because every end can take an extension or arrow. Round letters such as C, O and S need a different approach: the arrow grows out of the curve. See tips per letter on the K, R, E and C pages.
Using the wildstyle generator
The Wild style in the generator bounces and overlaps your letters with a rough street edge. It gives you a wildstyle-inspired base, not finished wildstyle: arrows, breaks and connections still come from you. A simple way to use it is to generate your name, download the PNG, print it, and draw arrows and extensions on top with tracing paper. The coloring pages work the same way for single letters.
Where the name comes from
Wildstyle developed among New York writers in the 1970s. The name is linked to Wild Style, a crew founded by the writer Tracy 168, and the 1983 film Wild Style helped carry the term around the world. Read how it fits with the other graffiti styles, or start simpler with bubble letters.