Prelude

SHESH, ALOHA, HEY, YO, HI, ZUP AND TIA FOR DROPPING IN PPL! Da home crew iz takin’ a wholly (holy?) diffo ‘proach to dis month’s dope OG piece. Like it or not, iz gonna be a bitchin’ wild ride and somethin’ purdy diffo from all prev CRAVE Guitars’ blogs. Brace yo’selves dudes ‘n’ dudettes; hang in there for sometin’ a bit rad an’ frawesome, broskis. Yo MC is off to grab I some high‑octane caffeine and I’s gonna hand over to my am bro’s in peepdom to tek yaz somewhere far out thar fo a fresh apocryphal, audacious, arty adventure y dos. So… chill the frack out, kick yo’selves back, get blazed, slam on a late 20^th Century sick soundtrack of yo life an’ revel in a chaotic carnival of cool caligraffiti fun ‘n’ frolics. Coolio. I PRMS, it’s not a CWOT. Iz gonna B majorly ill ‘n’ TTLLY INSN fo sure. Just don’ take it 2 SRSLY. BTW, en passant, AI B toy ‘n’ whack; 2 fake 4 words. Time to beat, bomb ‘n’ burn; headin’ out streetwise homies. Stay tight stylee writers. L8rs sk8rs – roll smooth ‘n’ shred. Ciao 4 now a‑dubs. NJY, RSPCT & TTYL, TC (The CRAVEman).

“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It’s people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages” – Banksy (1973‑)

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This Month at CRAVE Guitars…

Back to English! In an attempt to mix things up a bit and take another, albeit different, far‑fetched flight of fancy. I was thinking that the CRAVE Guitars logo has been around for a long time now (over 10 years!), recently updated with the addition of the American flag (nothing to do with the semiquincentennial btw). The design of the formal logo is one thing, however, the ‘big idea’ behind CRAVE Guitars brand image is not confined to a single signature symbol, it can appear in many, many ways as part of a much broader approach to interfacing with the big bad biosphere out there.

Back in my article, ‘April 2024 – Artificial Intelligence takes on Vintage Guitars: Part II’, I asked AI to design a logo for CRAVE Vintage Guitars. The results were, to my eye, appalling and totally unusable but it was an interesting approach to test the emerging publically‑available technology. I keep an eye on AI and its development with interest. It’s still not past the toddler stage of equivalent growth yet.

“Should graffiti be judged on the same level as modern art? Of course not: It’s way more important than that” – Banksy (1973‑)

So, I thought, how would AI deal with interpreting and emulating popular street art culture? Not in the sense of the CRAVE logo but AI’s interpretation of CRAVE Guitars’ image from a street art perspective. This month’s outing is part narrative and part heavy on pictorial representations. The original intention was to give y’all a mid‑year summer holiday break from factual information‑heavy articles. I may have failed. However, I think this diatribe makes for an appealing prose and visual diversion but then again, I am biased. One good thing about this month’s missive is that no prior knowledge or expertise is required to get something from it.

AI has been used extensively for most of the numerous images in this article. In many instances, the images were so‑so at best and many had to be ‘enhanced’ by CRAVE Guitars using graphics software (Paint.net, as mentioned previously) in order for them to be even remotely passable. NB. AI cannot spell for toffee! It doesn’t even know what toffee tastes like. No AI was used for researching or writing the chronicle, as usual. This month’s quotes of wisdom are all about graffiti and street art.

Herein lies a veritable feast of AI imagery for the visually‑oriented readers out there, for one month only. Not a lot for list‑o‑philes this month. Your time will come again (very shortly!).

“Writing graffiti is about the most honest way you can be an artist. It takes no money to do it, you don’t need an education to understand it, and there’s no admission fee” – Banksy (1973‑)

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The Rationale for the Article

In a momentary flight of fantastical make‑believe, my mediocre mind meandered and I wondered what might happen if the following fantastic five criteria were met. What if CRAVE Guitars:

1. Had any artistic skill whatsoever
2. Became world famous
3. Was somehow considered by all generations to be cool
4. Was worthy of being elevated to popular cult status, and
5. Became the subject of popular street art

Yeah, OK, so I know it’s a long stretch and realistically it ain’t gonna happen but one can dream. So… I decided that I would write an article about graffiti/street art in its various forms and illustrate it with AI images based on the CRAVE Guitars brand. I had to use AI because I have little in the way of practical artistic skills and nothing in the way of acquired anti‑social audacity to create authentic street graffiti. Yup. I’m copping out. So sue me. Graffiti? I cannot do it but I can appreciate it.

On this occasion, I am not using this article as a critique of AI, although it could so easily have turned out that way. Rather I am utilizing AI to create some images to represent something that I could not possibly produce in other way. It is for entertainment and fun only. Please do not take it too seriously (other than, perhaps, the researched ‘Origins and Spread of Graffiti’ below). I have chosen some fun locations onto which The CRAVEman graffiti artist has left his ‘mark’. Whether you think he’s any good at graffiti art doesn’t really matter either. I’m not trying to be culturally accurate and AI has no clue as to what ‘culture’ or ‘accuracy’ are anyway.

Apologies to authentic practitioners of graffiti and street art – I mean no disrespect. Up front; the examples in this article are FAKE images and are not intended to pass as genuine in any way. I’m sure many real graffiti artists will be apoplectic over such artifice. My point is not to present authentic graffiti, it is to present CRAVE Guitars in a different and hopefully entertaining way. I have tried very hard not to use ‘lazy’ AI (lazy eye, geddit?). It is safe to say, I went overboard with this one. Note: The lettering ‘CVG’ in a number of the graffiti images is just the acronym for ‘CRAVE Vintage Guitars’. It works OK as a graffiti ‘tag’.

Right… Before getting to the real pictorial meat of the article, it is worth a short exploration of what graffiti is all about.

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing” – Banksy (1973‑)

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The Origins, History and Spread of Graffiti

To start with, the simple contemporary definition of graffiti can be summed up as, ‘drawing or writing applied to a wall or other surface, usually without the owner’s permission and where it is in plain public view’.

Graffiti, as a means of visual communication, has been around in one form or another since the emergence of humanity. That is a long, long time, folks. Ancient civilisations have long used basic materials, tools and skills to create lasting images that can still be seen today, even if tangible evidence of their culture has long since disappeared. Examples of ancient graffiti include:

• Pictographs – Designs painted onto rock surfaces using natural pigments. Early pictographs can be seen at the Maltravieso cave in Spain, dated to at least 64,000 years old
• Petroglyphs – Designs formed on stone surfaces by chipping, carving, or scraping. Early petroglyphs can be seen at Murujuga in Western Australia, dated up to 50,000 years old
• Geoglyphs – Gigantic designs formed on the Earth’s surface using stones, gravel or earth. Early geoglyphs can be seen at Nazca, Ica, Pisco, Chincha, Palpa and Acarí valleys in southern Peru (a.k.a. the Nazca Lines) dated up to 2,500 years old

Tattoos – People throughout history (well, at least for the last 5,000+ years) have applied graffiti art not only to solid surfaces but also to human skin, known commonly as a tattoo or, colloquially, ‘ink’. The earliest evidence of tattoos can be found on a mummified man called Ötzi (‘The Iceman’, who lived c.3350‑3105BCE), discovered high in the Italian‑Austrian Ötzal Alps in 1991. Ancient Egyptian female mummies from around the same era also display tattoos. Tattoos are, a practice that continues today and will undoubtedly endure well into mankind’s future. Fundamentally, a tattoo is a form of body modification made by applying inks or dyes into the underlying dermis layer of the skin to create an indelible design. I’m not going to expand further on the world of tattoos here.

In comparison, the oldest written graffiti from Greece dates to a mere c.2,500 years old. The etymology of the word ‘graffiti’ goes back to ancient Greece with ‘graphein’, meaning ‘to write’. Over time ‘graffiato’, meaning ‘scratched’, was adopted by the Italians. The modern use of the word ‘graffiti’ first appeared in 1851, used by archaeologist Francesco Maria Avellino to describe inscriptions and murals found in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy, having been preserved by the eruption of the volcano, Vesuvius in 79CE. The image below (real, not AI) is from Pompeii.

Since the mid‑19^th Century, the word graffiti has been used increasingly to describe the use of graphics displayed in public places, becoming a general catch‑all word in modern vernacular. Graffiti can be used as both plural and singular, although graffito can also be used in the singular.

“A wall is a very big weapon. It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with” – Banksy (1973‑)

Murals have been a part of architecture for centuries particularly in the Byzantine (330‑1453), Renaissance (1300‑1527) and Baroque (1600‑1750) periods in Europe. Not all graffiti was decorative. It was not uncommon in medieval times for religious or fortified buildings to have convicts’ names scratched into walls. Napoleonic prisoners of war (c.1803‑1815), in particular, left indelible marks on buildings and prison walls across Europe. More recently, it was also common to find communication symbols applied to American rail cars by both train workers and hobos since the late 19^th Century. Another form of relatively recent graffiti art was the creation of murals as urban public art and has its community roots dating back to the American Great Depression (1929‑1939).

“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish… but that’s only if it’s done properly” – Banksy (1973‑)

Contemporary graffiti, as we recognise it now, really came into its own from the early 1960s and into the 1970s particularly in the larger urban expanses of east and west coast American cities. In the 1960s a new form of illegal graffiti known as ‘tagging’ appeared using cans of indelible spray paint for speed of ‘writing’. Tags use repeated symbols as a public statement of the writer’s presence and identity, as well as to mark a crew’s or a gang’s territory in urban neighbourhoods. The process of competitive tagging is a writer’s pursuit of recognition and quest for reputation known as ‘getting up’. The antisocial behaviour of defacing of public and private property rapidly became a blight on many urban communities.

The cultural impact and spread of graffiti as a means of expression went hand in hand with the increasing popularity of urban rap/hip hop music, MC‑ing, breakbeats and breakdancing (b‑boys), the rise of skateboard parks, and basketball courts, especially in the United States. The boroughs of New York City, especially (but not only) The Bronx, fashioned the zeitgeist for a lot of diverse and interdependent urban underground scenes, particularly for disenfranchised youths in deprived areas. For many law abiding residents, graffiti became a scourge of local communities and a gauge of insidious levels of gangland activity, violent crime and random vandalism.

In the late 20^th Century, extensive graffiti on buildings, subway cars, buses, bridges, underpasses and billboards in New York City came to define the city’s landscape aesthetic. Bombing the Big Apple became de rigueur. The image below (real, not AI) was taken in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York City.

In the 21^st Century, graffiti has spread to all parts of the globe with many discrete sub‑styles becoming characteristic of where they came from. Much to the chagrin of many graffiti artists, their works have become regarded as an everyday part of modern life, mainstream and acceptable as a recognised public art form. Some individuals’ art pieces began appearing in galleries and museums. Gentrification of neighbourhoods has gradually made graffiti street art more acceptable to some communities. To many serious graffiti artists, rules – either written or unwritten – are still there to be broken. Such is the way of the adaptive subcultures. Graffiti has also increasingly become a suburban and rural artefact and not solely associated with inner city landscapes.

“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place” – Banksy (1973‑)

Creative graffiti art has, in more recent times, been elevated in status, become celebrated as art, and graffiti artists have become famous for their innovative creations. Such promotional activity has led to the exploitation and commercialisation of graffiti compositions. Public opinion about graffiti and street art varies considerably. Many see it as a criminal act, defacing communities while others see it as an essential reflection of individual expression and neighbourhood identity. Either way, graffiti tends to elicit an intense and divisive emotional reaction which is, perhaps, what was intended in the first place.

One of the world’s most infamous and notorious but popular street artists is the anonymous British graffiti artist popularly known as Banksy, known for his culturally conscious, politically satirical and anti‑war stencil art since c.1990. Banksy has also been known to venture into other art forms such as sculpture, as exhibited in his home city of Bristol, England. Examples of Banksy’s street art appear in galleries and museums and his designs have been widely published in coffee table book format (ironically). New Banksy street art is usually a newsworthy event and has become so valuable that, sadly, when a genuine street art piece appears, criminals go to great lengths to steal the graffiti for illegal personal gain, denying the public opportunity to appreciate his art in situ as the artist intended. Banksy also has a lot of interesting social insight, as can be picked up from his quotes throughout this article.

In March 2026, according to a Reuters news agency investigation, Banksy’s identity has finally been revealed to be Bristolian resident Robert Gunningham, born in 1973, who later changed his name to David Jones around 2008. Banksy, through his legal representative, has rejected the revelation and asserted that his anonymity prevents privacy violations and protects his freedom of expression when raising sensitive and potentially inflammatory political, religious or social injustice issues through his artworks. All I would say is don’t believe everything you read… including here.

Music videos making use of graffiti and given rotation on MTV in the 1990s were transmitted directly into people’s living room televisions. Large multinational corporations such as IBM and Sony jumped on the bandwagon and used advertising campaigns based on graffiti styles in the 2000s. Something that didn’t go down well with authentic graffiti artists, despite showcasing what they did in a popular format. For many graffiti writers, vanity does not play a part in graffiti culture; it is the piece, not the artist that matters. To others, it is an opportunity for aspiring celebrity while, for others, daring notoriety.

Some peculiar forms of graffiti have also risen in popularity in the 21^st Century, such as ‘yarn bombing’, which first appeared in 2005. Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art using colourful displays of knitted or crocheted wool, particularly to decorate local street furniture.

As a result, there has been significant debate as to whether such work is innovative art or abhorrent and deliberate vandalism. Some cities introduced mural programs, sometimes called ‘free walls’ to provide opportunities for young adults to express their street art creativity legally and safely. There are a number of famous legitimate spaces dedicated to graffiti walls in NYC aimed at curbing illegal graffiti and providing an outlet for youth creativity. Such sites include Houston Bowery Art Wall, First Street Green Art Park, Underhill Walls and Nelson Avenue Graffiti Art Wall.

I have had a passing interest in street art for many years, including locations such as London, Brighton and Bristol in the UK. The following impressive graffiti mural images were taken by the author in Bristol in 2024 (real, not AI).

Much local government and private funding has been used over decades to prevent or clean up unsightly graffiti on public property, with varying degrees of success. In Britain, The UK Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 are key pieces of legislation that address graffiti and vandalism. Legally, the definition of Graffiti in the UK is the, ‘act of writing, drawing, or marking on property without the owner’s consent with the intent to damage or deface it. This includes both public and private property’. Graffiti vandalism is deemed to be criminal damage and includes anything from simple tags to decorative murals.

However, UK laws place the responsibility for prevention or removal of graffiti on property owners affected by unsightly graffiti. Graffiti is, to some extent, arguably not illegal in the UK. However, it is an offense to write or paint graffiti on public property without permission if it is deemed to be ‘offensive, menacing, abusive or insulting’ and/or obstructs the rights of any other person or business. I don’t know about you but, to me, there are some very grey areas open to interpretation there!

“SAMO^© as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics, and bogus philosophy” – Jean-Michel Basquiat & Al Diaz

Graffiti has, over the years, morphed from its rebellious, destructive counterculture roots and has partially entered into the artistic mainstream, becoming a global phenomenon in the process. An exhibition held at the Brooklyn Museum in NYC in 2006 displayed the city’s graffiti as a legitimate art form. Authentic graffiti artists frequently reject such popularisation, democratisation and commercialisation of their work.

Underground graffiti artists continue to buck the trend of acceptance, popularity of, and profiteering from, graffiti and describe it as selling out their roots. They see their work as anti‑establishment and a grounded protest against transformation of urban neighbourhoods and public spaces. Such dissenters still prefer to regard graffiti as a belligerent, thrill‑seeking activity aimed at the undermining of mainstream societal norms and cultural values.

Gosh! That is more than enough perfectly pedantic preamble for now. Time to move on and to look at the various ‘genres’ of graffiti, as of 2026.

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” – Banksy (1973‑)

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Basic Types of Graffiti

Graffiti in the 21^st Century has come of age and artistic differences have led to attempts to categorise of a number of distinctive styles, thereby providing an element of structure to an art form that has largely rejected any form of mainstream organisation or classification. As the spread and evolution of graffiti has become increasingly diverse, many of the styles have diverged, fused, mutated and overlapped over time. Below is a rundown on twenty of the most common graffiti styles, each with a basic AI image (AI is not really very good at interpreting graffiti street art style – blame the technology please, not the author) giving a pictorial introduction of the style, including:

 

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In addition to the hardcore American and British graffiti archetypes, there are many national and regional styles worldwide that build on the styles above and make them unique to their geographical location. The many variations are not covered here; for anyone wanting further information, there are plenty of online resources on the Hinterwebby thingummy.

Many graffiti artists have become well known (at least in pseudonyms) outside graffiti artist circles, including (in alphabetic, rather than style order): Al Diaz, Banksy, Bates, Ben Frost, Blade, Blek le Rat, Bones, C215, CBS Crew, CES, Chaka, Charlie, Comet, Cornbread, Daim, David Choe, Daze, Dondi Duro, Eddie Colla, Edgar Mueller, Eggs, Eine, Espo, Faile, Faith47, Fume, Futura 2000, Gane, Ghost, Grave, Hex, Hert, Horfe, Iz the Wiz, JA, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Katsu, Kerse, Ket, Kurt Wenner, Lady Pink, Lost Hills, Mear One, Mode 2, MTA Crew, Nekst, Nick Walker, OG Abel, Oiler, Pyramid Oracle, Phase 2, Retna, Revok, Rime, Saber, Samo, Scaf, Serch, Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant), Sight, Slick, Smear, Space, Swoon, Taps & Moses, Tempt One, Tracey 168, Triston Eaton, Twist, Vhils, White, and Zorro.

Pinpointing quite where the boundary between authentic illegal graffiti vandalism ends and commissioned legal street art begins is a tricky one when investigated in the complicated subjective modern-day paradigm. Imagine a continuum with crude tags at one end and accomplished 3D and mural art done with consent at the other end. The aforementioned boundary will be a fluid point swishing around somewhere in between, determined as much by the consumer as by the artist. Graffiti is a subject for open‑ended debate that is unlikely to reach a mutually agreed, let alone unanimous, resolution. Discuss…

“Graffiti has been used to start revolutions, stop wars and generally is the voice of people who aren’t listened to” – Banksy (1973‑)

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Films and Documentaries about Graffiti

There have been quite a few feature films about graffiti artists and graffiti culture including, ‘Wild Style’ (1982), ‘Style Wars’ (1983), ‘Beat Street’ (1984), ‘Kings & Toys’ (1997), ‘Bomb the System’ (2002), ‘Quality of Life’ (2004), ‘The Graffiti Artist’ (2004), ‘Against the Wall’ (2004), ‘Rash’ (2005) and ‘Piece by Piece’ (2005). The film, ‘Wild Style’ is probably the most well‑known of the pack.

In addition, there have been several documentary films about graffiti including, ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ (2010), ‘Stations of the Elevated’ (1981), ‘Downtown 81’ (2000), ‘Jisoe’ (2004), ‘Infamy’ (2005), ‘Wholetrain’ (2006), ‘Bomb It’ (2007), ‘Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe’ (2008), ‘Graffiti Wars’ (2011), ‘Graffiti Fine Art’ (2011), ‘Banksy Does New York’ (2014) and ‘Saving Banksy’ (2017).

There are plenty of other films based within inner city environs shaped by graffiti, hip‑hop and street dance culture all going hand‑in‑hand, including, ‘The Warriors’ (1979), ‘Subway’ (1985), ‘Colors’ (1988), ‘Kids’ (1995) and ‘Dark Days’ (2001). Needless to say that this shortlist is only the tip of the illustrated iceberg.

The lines between a feature film, a docu‑film and a documentary are blurred when exploring an underground subculture like that of graffiti writers and artists. These films bring the static imagery into sharp relief and the attitudes underlying the motivations of those who risk their freedom making a point. The films showcase the art, hip‑hop music, DJs, urban dance with the focus as much on the people as on their creations.

“Your mind is working at its best when you’re being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity” – Banksy (1973‑)

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Music about Graffiti

Unsurprisingly, given that music closely reflects social culture over time, graffiti and music were integral to the lives of ‘boys in the ‘hood’. Graffiti writing seemingly became inseparable from rap/hip‑hop for a while, despite evolving discreetly, converging and diverging over time. Graffiti‑laden neighbourhoods became sources of inspiration for music artists wanting to be associated with ‘the streets’ rather than the recording studios for whom they made money. The two mediums, while contemporaneous were not mutually exclusive. Other music genres were also used to reference graffiti culture, including punk rock, electronica, indie rock and pop. Some examples testifying to the enduring nature of graffiti include (in date order):

• Black Flag – Spray Paint the Walls (1981)
• Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five – Beat Street (1984)
• Lordz of Brooklyn – Tales from the Rails (1992)
• Souls of Mischief – 93 ‘Til Infinity (1993)
• Loop Troop – Spray Can Stories (1996)
• Task Force – New Mic Order (1999)
• Tommy Tee – Aerosoul (2003)
• Mayhem Lauren – Got the Fever (2010)
• ALL(H)OURS – Graffiti (2025)
• Joywave – Graffiti Planet (2025)

I refuse to include Ed Sheeran’s ‘Overpass Graffiti’ (2021) in the list! Such a creative travesty indicates the desperation of the uncool mainstream to appear cool by associating with (if not appropriating) street culture. Sheesh!

“I am humbled by the destructive and creative nature in us all. This is what keeps me painting” – Faith47 (1979‑)

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CRAVE Guitars’ Graffiti Gallery

Finally… Got there. The focus of this article is basically, what would happen if a reasonably adept but not necessarily great street graffiti artist was to be let loose to apply graffiti interpretations of CRAVE Guitars, CRAVE Vintage Guitars or just CVG wherever he/she wanted in whatever style he/she wanted to use at the time? This isn’t illegal because it is 100% make believe, so no real harm done, other than perhaps to one’s visual cortex (NB. the region of the human brain located in the occipital lobe responsible for processing visual information from the eyes via the optic nerves).

What follows is a small selection of 50‑odd examples of CRAVE Vintage guitars in various graffiti styles, produced by AI. I had to produce several hundreds of images in order to showcase these few which I think were the most ‘acceptable’ of the bunch. As a bit of a challenge, see if you can match the graffiti style in the images with the descriptions above. I’m not going to spoon feed you on this one – make up your own minds. Like the genuine work of graffiti artists, CRAVE Guitars intends the subject matter to evoke some form of reaction – good or bad. No iconoclasm here. No famous monuments were harmed in the making of this article.

Just an easy one to start with. I took the CRAVE Guitars logo used all over the web site and social media and asked AI to recreate it graffiti‑style. These are what it came up with…

“Graffiti is beautiful; like a brick in the face of a cop” – attributed to Hunter S. Thompson (1937‑2005)

An interesting start. OK then. I’m going to disappear for a while and make myself scarce. I’ll leave you to peruse some of the locations in which CRAVE Guitars graffiti may be found. The 54 images are ordered alphabetically by whereabouts. I hope you enjoy the spectacle and I’ll see you later on…

Earlier in the article, I also referred to geoglyphs, tattoos and ‘yarn bombing’ as an adjunct to, rather than core element of, graffiti, so here are a three CRAVE Guitars examples just to illustrate what I mean.

Finally, what might a totally fictional retail outlet for CRAVE Guitars might look like if the toned‑down signage was entrusted to a graffiti artist. I think I’d probably stick to the existing CRAVE logo thanks.

WOW! CRAVE Guitars sure gets out and about doesn’t it? A global phenomenon? Now wouldn’t that be nice. Good to know that fans, followers and acolytes are spreading the word and advertising the brand on my behalf. The examples are certainly not traditional forms of brand marketing but, heh, why not? All that promotional exposure and zero damage or harm done to anything or anyone in the slightest. The results may not be authentic but some of the images are, I reckon, quite fun. They may not necessarily be realistic but they are aesthetically intriguing nevertheless.

“I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life” – Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960‑1988)

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Final Thoughts on ‘CRAVE Guitars AI Graffiti Style Gallery’

This month, I’ve largely let the images do the talking for a change, so I don’t have an awful lot to add. What I will say is that it took me a considerable amount of time and effort to get this far. Sometimes fun, sometimes laborious, sometimes satisfying and sometimes frustrating. Worth all the effort? On reflection, I think it hangs together reasonably well. No vintage guitars in sight this time, though; apologies for that.

I must re‑stress that I am not an artist and there is no way that I could have produced this month’s images from scratch using my extremely limited graphics skills. My role was in using my imagination to contrive the prompts used to generate the AI images in the first place. That role then extended to manually ‘improving’ what AI produced initially. Without AI, there wouldn’t be this article. Whether genuine street artists see any merit in the output, I probably doubt. I am, though, indebted to them for providing me with sufficient inspiration to give it a go and to put it out there in the public domain under my own brand. A bit of courteous and responsible ownership there.

While I am stressing points, I want to reiterate that this month’s article was intended purely as a bit of amusement. No educational content is presumed. I am not so conceited as to describe it as ‘cool’; that is for others to judge. At times, I had quite a lot of fun doing it. However, correcting AI’s basic mistakes was at times very exasperating. Furthermore, the outputs are entirely digital and virtual; I didn’t damage or deface anyone’s property in doing so and no-one has to deal with the consequences of my actions. I do not condone vandalism but I do understand and respect the social and cultural roots behind the practice and protest of street art. By its nature, graffiti is anti‑institution and the cultural critiques conveyed by this distinct form of expression are very real and shouldn’t be dismissed, simply because it was produced in an underground (i.e. not mainstream), anti‑social, amateur way.

“I don’t know if street art ever really works indoors. If you domesticate an animal, it goes from being wild and free to sterile, fat and sleepy. So maybe the art should stay outside” – Banksy (1973‑)

Perhaps most importantly, what do you think? Whether you like it or not, whether it is something to be appreciated, abhorred or abolished, whether it is worthy art or criminal vandalism, is subjective and will vary from person to person. One thing is assured, graffiti in its many diverse forms ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon. Public spaces will continue to reflect the community in all its forms, good and bad. Graffiti will continue to be used as a form of human communication as it has done for millennia already. Whether based in grass roots urban isolation, deprivation and social rejection or pompous art gallery‑worthy exploitation of a subversive movement that was intended to challenge where it ended up is for further deliberation. Discuss…

I pondered the thought about ‘what is the dealio with graffiti?’ I quickly came to the conclusion that, for me at least, graffiti shouldn’t mean anything, it doesn’t need to justify its place, it doesn’t need to seek external validation. It just… is.

A quick thank you to the providers of two stock images and two fonts that were used to support this article. Everything else is my own work.

In terms of AI capability, the technology has moved on considerably since I covered the topic in depth from March to May 2024. No real surprise there. Some of the imagery, to me, is actually quite stimulating within the context of the subject matter (in which I am no expert, remember). AI still has a long way to go and the artificial ‘artistry’ on show here, I believe, demonstrates the point admirably. The simple fact that many of the images had to be finessed by my own real hand (taking a lot longer than the original digital image took to create) emphasises the remark that AI is very much still a work‑in‑progress process as of July 2026.

Just a final thought on AI… I neither embrace nor fear AI. I use it as pragmatically as a creative tool – a means to an end, not an end in itself. I don’t believe that AI will be as good or as bad as many people predict. Like all emerging technologies, one cannot fight against it and hope to achieve much traction. Think about the pronounced evils of industrialisation, the motor car, television, rock & roll music, the Internet, etc. Never mind the Luddites (NB. Named after Ned Ludd who destroyed machinery in 1779 and became an eponym for organised protests against automated factory machines from 1811 to 1816) facing off against the unstoppable progress of the industrial revolution. Like previous paradigm changes in human evolution, it will reach an equilibrium that we may not be comfortable with but will learn to adopt one way or another in the medium‑long‑term. Get used to it folks, AI is here to stay. Don’t get left behind. Let’s just hope that Skynet doesn’t get a look in though.

“Public space is supposed to be for the public, not just for commercial messages” – Shepard Fairey (1970‑)

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The CRAVEman at Work and Play

Before we go any further, I find it unbelievable that it was only July last year (2025) that The CRAVEman was introduced to the world. Since that auspicious inauguration, he has kinda become a regular visitor to CRAVE Guitars’ articles. Apologies to anyone who may not appreciate his particular presence over the last 12 months.

I guess that it was inevitable that el jefe, The CRAVEman would want to inveigle himself into some graffiti action. So, here is the Stone Age Rock God, ‘TC’ for short, providing us all with a bit of his very own prehistoric cave wall art presented in his very own distinctive graffiti style.

Back to the modern day and The CRAVEman has been immortalised as the subject of his own ‘piece’ of mural street art. Here he is, painted spectacularly on a modern end‑of‑terrace house wall. How cool is that?

Finally, having established that The CRAVEman has been casually commemorated throughout human history, here he is depicted as a contemporary cartoon character in street graffiti art style. Warning! Having now introduced you to ‘Cartoon CRAVEman’, you may just see more of him in the future (or should that be the past?). Maybe.

“I wanted to be a star, not a gallery mascot” – Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960‑1988)

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CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’

Well, we are talking graffiti, so this month’s selection was relatively easy to come up with. You might think that it should be a slice of classic east coast rap/hip‑hop but that could be construed as a bit too narrow. So I’ve gone with a slice of classic hard rock it is. The album cover is an ideal counterpoint to the CRAVE Guitars’ graffiti banner on a NYC brownstone tenement building above. This month’s accolade therefore goes to…

Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975): Physical Graffiti was Led Zeppelin’s 6^th studio album, released in 1975 on Swan Song Records and distributed by Atlantic Records. The double album comprised 15 tracks covering 84 minutes. The original vinyl release featured an innovative die‑cut‑out sleeve, designed by Peter Corriston, based on actual tenement block buildings at 96 & 98 St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan’s East Village, NYC (NB. A cool place to visit if you can, as I have). The album’s release was supported by a sell‑out series of five concerts held at London, England’s Earl’s Court venue. The song material is diverse and multi‑genre, demonstrating the band’s pinnacle of musical creativity. Classic tracks such as, ‘Houses of the Holy’, ‘Trampled Under Foot’ and the colossal, ‘Kashmir’ made certain the album was a critical and commercial success. The band had evolved considerably over previous albums, nominally called, ‘Led Zeppelin I‑IV’ (1969‑1971 and ‘Houses of the Holy’ (1973).

As a teenager, ‘Physical Graffiti’ was the first Led Zeppelin album I bought. Sadly, I no longer have the vinyl double LP with its iconic cut‑out sleeve artwork. I was, though, lucky enough to get tickets and attend one of the Earl’s Court shows in May 1975, which remains a highlight in my gigging experience, even today. The concert series was filmed and is available as, ‘Led Zeppelin – Live At Earl’s Court 1975’. Good old days indeed.

Yeah, I could have gone for the soundtrack to the great coming‑of‑age film, ‘American Graffiti’ (1973). Great music for a compilation by various artists, called, ‘41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti’. The film’s title is, however, a bit of a misnomer (NB. It was originally called, ‘Another Quiet Night in Modesto’). The eventual title is apparently a metaphor for ‘scratching the surface’ of the characters’ attempts to express their individualism, experiences and emotions before parting ways forever. Whatever dude, I’m sticking with Led Zeppelin on this occasion.

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

“Street art’s biggest crime is that it’s more interesting than the advertising it replaces” – Shepard Fairey (1970‑)

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Tailpiece

Well, that’s it for another month. I hope you enjoyed something just a bit different from the normal output from CRAVE Guitars. You never know, you might have learned something along the way. I did. I try to keep things fresh and I think this month’s missive fits that particular bill quite well.

‘Nuff said. Whatever you think about the practice of graffiti and street art, I hope you appreciated viewing this article as much as I did in creating it.

FWIW, DFTBA ‘n’ DLTBGYD amigos y amigas! KWIM? FNLLY, No dissin’ yo MC ‘n’ PLS RSPCT OPP! Hang loose ‘n’ shaka, baby. Lateskies. I’m ghost.

“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint” – Banksy (1973‑)

Truth, peace, love, and guitar music be with you always. The CRAVEman (TC), signing off for now. Until next time…

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “You must make peace with yourself before you can make lasting and genuine peace with others”

© 2026 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.