Graffiti School: A Student Guide by Chris Ganter

Step by step this good sized guide takes you through how to create street art.

The book begins with a history of graffiti from ancient Rome to the Hip Hop movement of the 70s to the present day with an extensive piece on legality.  A second chapter covers terminology (tags, throwups, silverpieces, wildstyle) before moving on to designing your own graffiti.

The book is well structured, taking the user from simple to complex, from how to create linear tags right through to a full scale burner.  There are plenty of exercises at each stage to help any one understanding the different styles within graffiti and to develop their own.

Guidance is given on the use of tools with an extensive section on the safe use of spray cans and how to control them to create various effects, there are pages of design samples and idea for backgrounds and fill-ins.

At the end is a manual for teachers giving guidance and lesson plans

All in all a very impressive book both for use by any one on their own wanting to learn about graffti and how to create it, and for teachers and students.

Happy Graffiti: Street Art with Heart by Jenny Foulds

A wonderful little book for anyone who enjoys street art or gentle anarchy.  Happy Graffiti is pictures of graffiti from around the world that reclaim unwanted spaces with pictures and phrases that make you smile and are a sweet world away from the corporate machinations of advertising that use mawkish sentiment to manipulate in the name of profit.  These are anonymous reminders to smile, be kind to each other, to love life in the greyest places, and this book is a celebration of the joy of life colouring outside the lines.