Have you ever passed by graffiti writing on a wall and wondered what it said? I certainly have. I spend hours trying to decode it for Street Art SF so when I recently discovered that 1:AM Gallery teaches a class on how to decode graffiti, I signed up for it.
The class was conducted inside 1:AM gallery on Howard and 6th Street in SoMa. There were about a dozen enthusiastic participants of all ages from around the San Francisco Bay Area and the United States. We were greeted by Maya, the class and workshop coordinator and Nate 1 who conducted the class.
I was delighted to meet Nate 1 and eager to learn his perspective. I have seen some of his old pieces on the street and was therefore aware that he has been involved in graffiti in the San Francisco Bay Area since its inception here.
The class was divided into several segments. The first period was devoted to a slide presentation where Nate 1 gave us a brief history on where graffiti began, who was involved and how it spread from the East Coast and gained general acceptance across the United States and world. As we concluded the history and began to focus on writing, Nate 1 emphasized that the people who write on the walls do writing and not graffiti. They consider themselves to be writers and spend a lot of time developing and practicing their style and technique.
Nate 1 explained how writing is done, how to read it and the different tools that are used to create it. We stepped outside the gallery to study several very different styles of writing on various near by walls. While I began to see some of the letters emerge, I still struggled in seeing them. I noticed there were others in the class who had some prior experience with writing and were quicker studies. Some of the writing is so complex that even writers can be initially stumped by each others writing.
We then returned to the gallery where there were color markers and paper for us to take a hand at actually writing a word on paper with some more demonstration and pointers from Nate 1. Now if I thought reading was difficult, you can’t image how it is to write. The table was pretty quiet as everyone focused on creating the letters and giving them continuity and style.
The bar continued to be raised as we trooped outside once again to boards that 1:AM had leaned against their building for us to spray the word that we had just worked on. Spraying requires yet other skills and a steady hand that yields different effects depending upon the nozzle,how close you are to the wall, and the speed and motion at which it is applied.
I had a blast at this class. I certainly walked away with greater appreciation for the writing on the wall. Now as I walk down alleys, I see the words emerge. That gives me great pleasure.
About 1:AM SF
1AM is one of the premier street art galleries and purveyors of fine paint located at 6th and Howard in San Francisco, CA. You can easily tell when they have a new exhibit because the walls change on the outside of their building. They offer a variety of classes including stenciling, the art of graffiti, toy modification and team building workshops. If you want to learn about graffiti history in San Francisco ask for Nate. He’s part of it. 1:AM SF Class Schedule.
Catherine Cason is a contributor to Street Art SF. She regularly captures pieces in unexpected places in Pacific Heights, Russsian Hill, Nob Hill and the Marina areas of San Francisco. Catherine is a fashion merchandiser at Sephora. Hint: if you want to be up on the latest trends in nail polish follow her instagram. She has a personal style blog about all things she finds fabulous in life called 
JR, a semi-anonymous French street artist, uses his camera to show the world its true face, by pasting photos of the human face across massive canvases.