I’ve been collecting Street Art for quite a few years now, so I was excited to finally explore some of what London has to offer. Graffiti writers and street artists come from around the world to leave their mark on the streets of Shoreditch, a trendy neighborhood in London’s East End.
Redemption Wings Old Street
The walls of this always up and coming, but (thankfully) not fully gentrified neighborhood are a veritable who’s who of the street art world including Banksy, Dface, Eine, Shepard Fairey, Shok-1 and so many more.
This Banksy piece on the wall at Cargo has been covered with protective plastic.
A guided walking tour was a great way to see and learn about the street art scene in Shoreditch, and it was an absolute highlight of our London trip. Our guide, Karim of Street Art Tours London, is also an artist and has been painting on and off the street for the past 16 years.
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One of Karim’s aka Freedom Kult’s pieces.
Wherever possible I’ve shared the artist and location of the piece, but as the Street Art scene is always evolving there are no guarantees that these pieces will still be available from one day to the next. However, their replacements are almost sure to be something equally special!
Shoreditch High Street
Like the street art covering it’s walls the neighborhood of Shoreditch is also in a state of evolution. There are mixed emotions about the state of change and you’ll see that a lot of the art represents this.
Shoreditch Street Art Walking Tour Highlights:
X-Ray Hand with Soda Can
Artist: Shok-1
Location: Whitby Road
Shok-1 Whitby
Various Stik Pieces
Artist: Stik
Locations: Great Eastern & Rivington Streets
Merry Christmas Mural
Artist: Graffiti Life
Location: Wheler Street
Graffiti Life Christmas Mural
Graffiti Writing
Artist: Ghost Writers Crew
Location: Shoreditch High Street
Ghost Writers Crew
The Angel of Sclater Street
Artist: Jonesy
Location: Sclater Street
Angel of Sclater Street Jonesy
Giant Cat
Artist: Himbad
Location: Sclater Street
Himbad Sclater Street
Graphic Letter Signs
Artist: Ben Eine
Location: Rivington & Luke Streets & Club Row
My Masters Voice
Artist: Banksy
Location: Cargo Bar on Rivington Street
Banksy Cargo Bar on Rivington Street
Hooded Boy
Artist: Jimmy C
Location: Whitby Street
Jimmy C Whitby Street
Woman’s Face
Artist: Cenz
Location: Great Eastern Street
Cenz Great Eastern Street
Multiple Pieces
Artist: Otto Schade
Location: Rivington & Shoreditch High Streets
Cheetah
Artist: Dal East
Location: Dereham Place
DAL East Dereham Place
Woman
Artist: Benjamin Murphy
Location: Amnesty International New Inn Yard Street
These unique installations are made of electrical tape on glass.
It Takes The Sedition of…
Artist: Shepard Fairey
Location: Bateman’s Row
Balloon Clowns
Artist: Fanakapan
Location: Hoxton Square
Fanakapan Hoxton Square
Heffalump!
Artist: Unknown
Location: Sclater Street
Winnie the Pooh & Friends
Motorcycle Mural
Artist: Ryan Roadkill
Location: Sclater Street
Ryan Roadkill Sclater Street
Although not a piece of street art I thought it worth noting that the Rebel Alliance Motorcycle shop located on Sclater Street is owned by Dface.
Dface owns this little motorcycle shop on Sclater Street.
MasterClass
I really enjoy collecting street art, but it was only a matter of time before I gave in to the urge to create my own masterpiece. Having done a bit of painting at home in LA, we were pretty exited about repeating this experience in London.
Practicing our technique.
Street Art Tours London offers what they call a MasterClass, so after the walking portion of our tour was over we set off for a local art studio in nearby Hackney where after a brief lesson on technique we set about making our own masterpiece. We’re pretty pleased with the way our piece came out, and you can bet that we’ll be doing more of this in the near future!
Here are the steps we took when creating our “street” art mural:
Find A Blank Wall
Start with a blank space.
Draw your Construction Lines
Lay down your construction lines.
Fill In The Design
Fill in your design.
Add Background Elements
Add the background elements
Outline Your Design
Outline your design.
Add The Small Details
Add detail elements
Add The Halo
Give your outline a halo.
Sign and Date Your Piece
Sign and date your piece.
Tips & Advice:
Our London Masterpiece is complete!
- Our tour and Masterclass were through Street Art Tours London
- You’ll want to pay in advance or bring cash on the day of. Email for Masterclass rates.
- Wear your “paint” clothes.
- All the supplies and painting location were provided and organized by our guide.
- Due to studio rental fees the Masterclass was on the expensive side, but we had a wonderful time and I highly recommend this.
- Spray painting is incredibly difficult, so don’t expect perfection on the first try. Street art requires practice practice practice.
- Our guide helped us a lot! A lot!
- We ran out of certain paint colors midway, but I think we made it work!
- After class was over the boys and I went back to Shoreditch to explore the streets at a more leisurely pace, and discovered a ton more art!
- We discovered so many amazing pieces of art I couldn’t fit them all into this one post…. stay tuned for more Street Art from Shoreditch and our finds on Brick Lane!
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ushasita
Thanks for sharing this post. Beautiful photos with the location and artist details. I would certainly like to do this at some point.
#citytrippin
Hilary
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
California Globetrotter
The one thing that bothers me about street art is it’s never permanent and when I find something I want to see, I’m afraid by the time I get to it, it won’t be there anymore! Wish Regensburg had street art though! Convince some artists to come here! 🙂 #CityTripping
Hilary
ha ha! I know what you mean! Sometimes the pieces are gone within a day or so, other times they last years… you never know what you might see. Sort of like traveling exhibitions. The artists will come if they have a space to paint… invite some! Xx
Sol Solntze
I enjoy a bit of street art (well, who doesn’t) but I REALLY want to have a go at the masterclass. What an excellent idea! Love your design too!
Hilary
Thanks! It was super fun’n
Hilary
Fun!!
Sol Solntze
Extra ns because extra fan even!
Connie (@connieconsumes)
I absolutely adore London’s street art too and often spent random afternoons just walking around East London trying to spot new ones! I love how you did a masterclass too, the finished piece looks incredible! #farawayfiles
Hilary
Thank you! We had a lot of fun painting! We found so much great art in such a short time I just love that area!
Baby Loves Travel
The masterclass sounds like a fab idea, I imagine it is really difficult though! #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Spray painting is really difficult, but practice makes
Perfect and of course we had help! It was a lot of fun!
Esther
I absolutely loved the Shoreditch street art scene and that masterclass looks like loads of fun!!
Hilary
It was such a fun day painting and exploring!
Ladies What Travel (@LadiesWTravel)
Such a wide range of styles here! As I live near Bristol I’ve become quite a fan of Banksy – still love looking for his work when I’m in the city… #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Finding the art is sort of like a treasure hunt isn’t it?! We saw a few Banksy pieces, but none that weren’t protected. I’d like to find one of those one day, but it’s tough!
katy@untoldmorsels
I’m so glad that tour exceeded your expectations. Karim showed us through Shoreditch too and the pieces we saw were so different. Your piece looks incredible – what an experience! Need to know what your street name/tag is going to be now so I can keep my eye out for your work!
Hilary
Ha ha! I’m working on the street name will let you know when I decide. In the meantime thank you for the tip on the tour which was a great day out!
Allison
You always find the best street art. That is so cool that the tour teaches you how to do it, too. #FarawayFiles
Hilary
We hit the street art jackpot this time! Now we just need to practice what we learned!
Amanda Afield
what a cool experience! I love seeing street art when I happen upon it, but I’ve never taken a dedicated class or tour. That will have to go on the to-do list next time we’re in London. #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Now that street art is becoming so popular tours are available in just about every city! London is a great place to see some amazing artists!
Clare Thomson
I think it’s so wonderful that you got to create your own masterpiece and I love your step-by-step guide to doing it yourself. What do you reckon the good people of our village would think if I did the same here?!! I particularly love the graphic letter signs. #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Ha ha! I’m a big fan of public art, but I think your village is perfect as is. We had such a good time… looking forward to hearing what Edward thinks when he finally gets around to exploring some street art! 😉 the Letter signs are so fun aren’t they?!
Lyn
I have a passion for streetart and have Shoreditch at the top of my list when I get to UK. Unfortunately I am not the artistic type so wouldn’t pay for the masterclass, but love to do the walking tour.
Hilary
The walking tours are definitely worthwhile and you can absolutely do them without the painting… tho you never know you might superseded yourself at what you can do!
oregongirlaroundtheworld
I am dying to do a street art session with my daughter! Looks like an impressive and eclectic group of artists to emulate in your master class! Thank you for the artists names – actually knew a few already and followed the rest! Great post Hilary! #FarawayFiles
Hilary
So glad you found some new artists to follow! The amount of art in London was staggering! I haven’t even written about our funds on Brick Lane yet… The class was a ton of fun! We’ve been practicing at home on a large piece of wood, but we’re definitely itching to get back out there!
insiderfamilies
What an amazing collection of street art, and fun way to experience it! #FarawayFiles
Hilary
We had the best time!!
beatravelling
A lot of cool stuff! How did you spot the angel on top of that sign. Had a hard time seeing it 🙂 #farawayfiles
Hilary
Our guide pointed it out, but after that my little son found fun little statues everywhere! Like a treasure hunt!
beatravelling
Fun for the kids 🙂
katherinefenech2017
I love that you worded this as “collecting” street art. It kind of really is a collection that you get to scroll through later and enjoy. I don’t think I got to Shoreditch much when I lived in London (the perils of living South of the Thames) but I did get to Brick Lane a couple of times. #FarawayFiles
Hilary
I do consider it a collection since I have SO many photos! Ha ha! We also visited Brick Lane and really enjoyed it as well.
fifi + hop
LOVE your final piece!! The boys must have had so much fun. What a great idea. I’m definitely taking inspiration from this post..we really haven’t explored too much of NYC’s street art scene. The tour sounds like it was totally worth it. What a great way to spend the day! #farawayfiles
Hilary
We had an amazing time! NYC is the number one city in the world for street art! I’ll be excited to hear about it if you go!
Hilary
Thank you! The boys had such a good time! I wish I could explore the NY scene with you!
Sally
That’s so cool! I’m just starting to know the names of street artists so will start to follow some of these as well. Thanks for insiders knowledge :). #farawayfiles
Hilary
I’m glad to help! There are so many good ones out there!
Bryna | Dotted Line Travels
I’d love to go on a street art tour, especially one that would let me try out my hand in street art!! Also, I love X-Ray Hand with Soda Can piece – amazing! Looks like it could have been an x-ray! I anyone can free-hand that just blows my mind!
Hilary
I know! Shok-1 is an amazing artist! Hard to believe it’s spray paint but it is!!
Shelley @Travel-Stained
Ok, so that Masterclass looks like the best possible activity to do with your kids. You boys must’ve been in absolute heaven. I know my little one would’ve been all over it herself! #farawayfiles
Hilary
The boys Did love it and so did I! I think sometimes they get bored just looking so we did a bit of doing!
Ruth
Wow, being able to paint is such a cool experience. I do not have a lot of artistic abilities but would like to give it a try. As you know, I like street art a lot. I hope to visit this area on May (when I plan to visit London). You took such appropriate boots tot he city! #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Ha! You notice my boots! Fun huh?! You’ll LOVE brick lane and shoreditch if you live street art! Even if you don’t have time for a tour… the art is everywhere!
Kathleen (Kat) (@katpegimana)
That is super cool! You got to leave your street art mural in London! 🙂 I love street art because the murals are absolutely incredible, the artists are really talented. I love the pics of the X-Ray and Cheetah murals – brilliant! #FarawayFiles
Caity Pfohl | The Pamplemousse Papers
I’ve never heard of a street art masterclass but that is SO cool! I always love exploring street art in new places. I would love to see the graphic letter signs especially. 🙂 What a great post!
Trish @ Mum's Gone To
Wow – there’s a staggering amount of street art in Shoreditch! I love the X-ray hand and the tiny angel on the street sign but I’m blown away by your own creation – very impressive.
#FarawayFiles
sharon
That is quite a large collection of street art in one section of London! I missed Shoreditch on my trips there, and this is inspiring me to go back and include Shoreditch for a good dose of art!
Hilary
Yes it’s a great neighborhood not just for art, but food and shops as well!
vdaltonbanks
I love the street art around East London! I did a tour a few years ago even though its my local neighbourhood as I wanted to learn more about the artists. It was so fun! Now when I wonder around I’m always on the lookout for new pieces! It’s constantly changing and evolving, I love it! #farawayfiles
Hilary
We did a similar thing here in LA where we live and it was great! I’m starting to know a number of artists on sight now!
Jacki L
Wow, what a collection of street art. I have to say I’m very impressed by your addition, looks awesome! #farawayfiles
Hilary
Thank you! We had a ton of fun!!
Elizabeth (Wander Mum)
Getting to create your own street art is so awesome! I had no idea you could do that!! I should do one of these tours. I often wander the streets of London without paying a lot of attention to the street art. There’s some great pieces in Shoreditch. Really like the Hooded Boy image. Thanks for linking #citytripping
Hilary
It was so awesome! Turns out a number of cities have places where you can leave your mark! Probably a way to try and combat illegal tagging…
pigeonpairandme
I always think these kids of tours are most interesting when people in the know run them. Sounds as though you had just that here! We’re so lucky here in London, to have all this incredible art. #FarawayFiles
Hilary
Yes you are! I have enough photos for three blog posts! Ha ha!
Catherine’s Cultural Wednesdays
I have been on a Shoreditch tour but not made my own artwork and now I want to. Hmmm maybe the Easter Holidays …..
Jennifer Howze
I’m a huge street art fan (I’ve written about our NY street art tour on my blog) but I had no idea you could take a masterclass. Must sign up for this! #citytripping
Hilary
Ooh! New York street art is next on my list! I’ll head over and read your post!
Four Acorns / Quatre graines de chêne
This is FABULOUS!!! I remember when Banksy first appeared on the scene many moons ago, when I lived in London, and I’ve always been a huge fan of his humorous style, but I had no idea there were so many impressive artists working on the streets of London. Massively impressed by your London mural too! I love all your photos.
#FarawayFiles
Hilary
Thank you so much! There are so many amazing artists and new ones popping up everyday! I love going on art hunts at home and in new cities!