Royal Dog: my tag name is Royal Dog, it has many meanings and is backed up with quite a personal history, it first came up when I was around 17 and my friends use to call me "Dog" based on my social behaviour. I use to be a trouble maker and mess around, get drunk and have a crazy youth life like all you fine specimens out there! ;)The nickname "dog" stuck around for a while and it slowly was embedded into me. However I didn't want my tag to be just "dog" as it can easily have other meanings to it. Actually what I choose for the name was "Loyal dog", since I'm a Christian. but it sounds a bit funny, and "Royal Dog" officially become my tag name. You can feel HIPHOP with it. (R and L are just same in Korean alphabet anyway.)  

 

GS:  How and why did you get into street art (graffiti)?

 

Royal Dog: First of all, I've admired hiphop since I was a child. I realized I wanted to give graffiti art a go. It all began in April of 2006 when I was studying fine art at an Art High school in South Korea. It was like a revelation of God. I knew the majority of the people in art, including art students, all had an interest in graffiti art, and I had gained the courage to give it a shot, then made it. I felt the adrenalin once I was a part of hip hop, and ecstatic when I heard all the positive feedback making me want to get deeper into graffiti art. 

 

 

GS How would you describe your style?

 

Royal Dog: I started off my style with Old skool style fonts and Characters, but these days I¡¯m focusing on Realistics. At first I didn't know I was capable of doing realistic styles, but because the majority of people seemed to like realistic graffiti art, they were also able to offer me helpful criticism. This made me want to focus more on realistic graffit art. 

 

GS:  Where did you begin making art in the streets and how old were you?

 

Royal Dog: It was when I was 17 in my hometown in South Korea, and I discovered a big underground tunnel near my school. I started like how every other graffiti writer did, start tagging on walls and gaining as much experience and claiming my territory, but for me I did it in the tunnels. However, when I was 19 I moved to Seoul, and started officially tagging the streets with stencil graffiti as if I had become the next Banksy. I remember the days illegally tagging the street walls with my stencils that were used to leave my various messages. 

 

GS What crew(s) are you in?

 

Royal Dog: I am currently with HISPOP, which is a korean hip hop crew located in Thailand. This crew includes all the 4 elements of hip hop B-BoyMCDJWRITER. The next opening of this crew which is the third event will be held this coming May which is a b-boy battle competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

 

GS:  How did you develop such good technical painting and drawing skills? 

 

Royal Dog: I not the type to really try hard in my drawing and painting, and I don't ever remember a time trying my best when I've been drawing before. But I know for a fact that I do love the act of drawing more than anyone, and because I draw with a passion, my work pays out for that. My work is just like a girlfriend you really love-when you wake from your sleep you miss drawing, and when you see drawings and paints, it makes you happy. Drawing and painting is what makes me feel the happiest, and if someone was to ask me "what do you have to do to draw and paint so well", I always tell them to draw what they enjoy drawing, and to draw what they love to draw, a lot.

 

GS:  what the most difficult thing in graffiti do you think?

 

Royal Dog: I don't think that graffiti in itself is difficult. Yeah, if you think about it, it is actually hard, but what I mean is that unlike other genres of art, with graffiti just because you're not happy with your work, you can't just screw up the sheet and chuck it away. Behind you there are people watching, next to you there are your crew members painting together. and after I walk away from the wall, my work still stays there. If it's a drawing that someone has asked me to for them, it feels even stronger. 

Until my drawing starts looking like it's supposed to, I¡¯m always worrying that I might fail, but because of that fear, in the end it feels like ecstasy.

 

GS:  What are some of the writers who have inspired you?

 

Royal Dog: Alex from the The Mac crew, Maclaim, and El mac. They are the best realistic writers, I guess there's nothing more to say than that. Coincidently they all have "mac" in their names. These guys were just so fascinating when I was first starting off with old skool, and I really wanted to be like the writers in JNJ Crew, South Korea's top crew. These guys were into old skool fonts and characters. I still respect these guys, and nowadays I'm fascinated by Revok's work. 

 

GS:  How do you pick your locations?

 

Royal Dog: Good, large walls or walls that you can see from far away, and where lots of people walk by. I think a wall where many people are able to see the messages through my drawings, and are able to form their own opinions is a great location. Unlike the graffiti that used to make people feel uneasy, or the graffiti people do to claim their territory, I'm more into graffiti that people like to see and go "wow", and I want lots of people to see and enjoy it too.

 

GS:  What tools do you use?  Only spray paint?

 

Royal Dog: I had majored in Art in high school and Uni, and I don't just draw on walls, but I draw in other genres too. I like drawing in pencil and markers, as well as water colour too. I'm also working on digital art as well. 

I get asked that a lot-whether I only use spray paint for graffiti. I think that's because a lot of skill is required to spray paint, and that's the reason I tell them that it is too, that it is difficult. When I'm using markers or brushes, I'm able to do more delicate and easier work, but when I'm doing graffiti I tend stick to the spray paints.

 

GS:  Do you pre plan your murals, or make it up as you go along?

Royal Dog: I prepare really well before I paint. If I'm not happy with my work, then I don't want it seen by other people. When I'm drawing a photographic image, I have a picture prepared to look at.

 

GS Would you like to share some tips and tricks?

 

Royal Dog: When I'm drawing something photographic, there are times that I need to draw fine lines, for example the eyelids. If say the finest nozzle is 5mm, then I would colour the surrounding leaving just 1mm, and drawing a fine line over that. If it's not just one fine line that I need, then it gets a little more difficult. I calculate all the lines that I need in order just like a "box-push" game, and in the end even in the space between the finest lines, I'll be able to write even the letters of alphabet. 

 

GS:  Any unforgettable story that you would like to share with us 

 

Royal Dog: It would be when I was in middle school, with my friend who I started graffiti with. He is my best mate till this day, and we lived together briefly before I put my art degree on hold and went for military service. There was a river about 2 hours walk away from home, and whenever I felt stuffy, I would take a walk to the river. One day after work, with that friend we walked all the way to river with pockets full of peanuts for snack on the way. To get there, our plan was to get through to the city where through the tunnel. This tunnel was the most notorious graffiti spot, all that time, as if we were drunk, we were singing and laughing out loud all the way. From our pockets we ate the peanuts, and also pulled out our markers and tagged the walls. Then we got to the wall of the police station. And, I don't know with what confidence, but I told my friend to keep watch while I tagged the police station wall, and in turn I watched while he tagged. Then suddenly, the police car rocked up with some drunk kids they caught fighting in the back. I froze on the spot, but my friend didn't even know the police arrived so he kept on tagging. The police officer got out and said "Dude, dude! What are you guys Come on, come inside". Luckily because we were young students and didn't have any previous offences, they let us go in the morning as long as we promised that we would paint the wall back the next day. As the sun was coming up, my friend and I happily walked out and headed for the river again. 

 

GS Have you collaborated with any artists recently Who and what work has come out of it

 

Royal Dog: Unfortunately, other than the friends that I had collaborated with during the last 5 years, I hadn't worked with other writers. I think that might have been because I have a lot of greed and passion in my work, so naturally I had worked within my known network of writers. But I'm currently planning a live collaboration with my friend, a Korean tattoo artist here in Perth, His many tattoos include the Korean culture such as dragons and tigers, so together we will be working on something that fully has the Korean culture in it. 

 

GS:  Any message to other artists

 

Royal Dog: I want to keep in touch with many writers of various genres from all over the world, and share mine and their art with each other. I've been planning for a while to make a graffiti writers clan made with Christians, regardless of what nationality or where you're from. I don't mind whether you are currently affiliated in a graffiti crew at the moment, but if there's anyone out there with the same thoughts as mine, contact me. You can also contact me through my facebook page 

httpswww.facebook.comgraffitiroyaldog

I paint for God. God bless you all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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