The Art of Streaking

'Streaks' or 'monikers' is a unique form of graffiti as the only people that really see them are graffiti writers and railroaders.  This form of graffiti started as early as the 30's and was used by railroaders and hobos.  They were mainly messages with solid paint sticks in North America.  As the graffiti artists gravitated towards the freight trains in the late 80's and early 90's, they slowly adopted this art form.  You can now you find streaks being done with the paint sticks or paint markers.

This form of graffiti really doesn't get the respect that it deserves.  They are small and easy to get dozens up quickly however it is an artform and dates way before graffiti ever hit a subway car in New York City.  Steaks are unique and mainly feature some kind of a design and at times are dated or have a location where they're from.  Railroaders continue this tradition as well, but not as much as they used to.

Streaks get covered all the time by graffiti writers painting, bombing and tagging freight trains.  I dont know any that could about a streak on a car.  We're not trying to debate the importance or hierarchy of graffiti on trains.  We just feel that streaks deserve more recognition and we try to flick and post as much as we can.  Some are very elaborate like the piece below and are less likely to get covered but it all depends on the writer.

Among the full color pieces, tags and freight stenciling it's easy to understand how streaks can get lost and not much attention.  Many streaks fade but their outlines remain like a ghost.  The streaks preserve the color of the car as the rest of it fade away by the elements and sunlight.




Here are a few more streaks,