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.
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.
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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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!
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
Various Stik Pieces
Artist: Stik
Locations: Great Eastern & Rivington Streets
Merry Christmas Mural
Artist: Graffiti Life
Location: Wheler Street
Graffiti Writing
Artist: Ghost Writers Crew
Location: Shoreditch High Street
The Angel of Sclater Street
Artist: Jonesy
Location: Sclater Street
Giant Cat
Artist: Himbad
Location: 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
Hooded Boy
Artist: Jimmy C
Location: Whitby Street
Woman’s Face
Artist: Cenz
Location: Great Eastern Street
Multiple Pieces
Artist: Otto Schade
Location: Rivington & Shoreditch High Streets
Cheetah
Artist: Dal East
Location: 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
Heffalump!
Artist: Unknown
Location: Sclater Street
Motorcycle Mural
Artist: Ryan Roadkill
Location: 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.
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.
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
Draw your Construction Lines
Fill In The Design
Add Background Elements
Outline Your Design
Add The Small Details
Add The Halo
Sign and Date Your Piece
Tips & Advice:
- 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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