Year 6 - Art and design
Sketching street art and designing graffiti letters
Street Art: digital and new media
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Pupils will study street art in contemporary culture. They will consider graffiti in the context of lettering artforms and graphic design. They will learn how to draw graffiti letters and street art graphics before designing their own street art composition for a community space artwork.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to design and sketch your own graffiti-style letters, using shape, colour, and shadow to create bold, expressive lettering.
Key Notes
- Graffiti letters use exaggerated shapes and styles to express identity and creativity.
- Structure and sketching help develop balanced, bold graffiti lettering.
- Colour, shadows, shapes and outlines enhance impact and make designs more dynamic.
Vocabulary To Learn
- graffiti: writing or images that have been sprayed, stencilled, painted, scratched or drawn on a public space
- typography: the art and technique of arranging letters and text to make written language visually appealing
- letter style: the overall appearance of a letter such as block, bubble, or wildstyle
- tag: a stylised signature or nickname used by graffiti artists to mark their work
- outline: the bold line that surrounds graffiti letters, making them stand out
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Graffiti letters are always supposed to be messy or hard to read.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Graffiti letters use exaggerated shapes and styles to express identity and creativity. Structure and sketching help develop balanced, bold graffiti lettering.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'graffiti'
writing or images that have been sprayed, stencilled, painted, scratched or drawn on a public space.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Graffiti letters are always supposed to be messy or hard to read. Correction: While some graffiti can be abstract or complex, many styles focus on legibility and clarity, especially in tags and block letters. Graffiti artists often balance style with readability, making their work both creative and accessible.
More Lessons In This Unit
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