Brooklyn Graffiti Workshop: Paint Your Own Piece in Bushwick

Looking at graffiti is one thing. Holding the can is another. In this one-hour workshop a working New York graffiti artist shows you how aerosol art is actually made, and then hands the paint over so you can make a piece of your own. The session runs in the Graff Tours studio at 282 Meserole Street in Bushwick, the Brooklyn neighborhood where warehouse walls have become some of the most painted surfaces in the city. The artist starts with the basics of can control and the vocabulary of the craft. A fill-in is the quick, solid-colored lettering you see on shutters and trains; a masterpiece, or just a piece, is the full, layered work with outlines, color fades and highlights that can take a writer hours. You learn where the techniques sit between those two, and try them yourself. No experience is needed. The workshop is set up for all ages and all levels of talent, so it works for a family with kids, a group of friends or someone traveling alone who wants to do something with their hands for an hour instead of looking at another gallery wall. Children need to come with an adult. You leave with the work you made, and with a better sense of why graffiti is still so often misunderstood. The artists who teach here come out of the culture, and it shows in how they talk about lettering, style and the history of the walls outside. It pairs well with a Bushwick street art walk, since the studio is surrounded by exactly the kind of work you have just been practicing. Practical details: the workshop lasts 60 minutes and is taught in English. Taxes and fees are included in the price; gratuities are not. Up to 15 people can be booked on one order, and mobile or paper tickets are both fine. Public transport stops nearby.