10 Artists Who Use Drips Well

We often forget to examine the formal techniques of the artists we love, quickly grouping them by genres and discarding the nuances. Dripping is an art form not limited to street art or graffiti that takes a lot of precision and planning to do well. We've decided to highlight 10 Artists Who Use Drips Well for the purposes of glorifying the work they do and drawing attention to this overlooked style. You'll be surprised at how far these various artists have taken it.

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Paul Richard’s drip paintings are surprising on the street where you’re not expecting to see them, particularly since they are on sidewalks rather than walls, and they’re amazing in the gallery when you realize how quickly and confidently they have to be made. There’s not room for error.

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Photos courtesy of Paul Richard

The Jellyfish does a very simple intervention, but it’s almost impossible not to love it. I’ve seen people who could care less about art jump up and down at the site of these, and I’ve seen street art fanatics go hunting for them, but all The Jellyfish does is spray a line of paint on a wall and let the paint drip. It may be simple, but it’s powerful too.

Photos by Lois Stavsky and RJ Rushmore

Katrin Fridriks’ sculptures may not look like they utilize drips, and may be this is a bit of a stretch, but the paint sealed inside the sculptures is wet and moves around slowly over time, so it’s sort of a slow drip.

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Photos courtesy of Katrin Fridriks

Anyone can make a drippy tag, but Darkclouds’ drips serve a purpose. They aren’t just there as decoration; they’re raindrops, so the drips are actually essential to his logo.

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Photos by Darkclouds, Lois Stavsky, Tara Murray, and urban_data

With the USA’s history of fighting wars over oil, the black paint dripping and being flung off an American flag in Evan Roth’s Propulsion Painting: USA tugs at the heartstrings.

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The portion of Niels “Shoe” Meulman’s calligraffiti that includes drips is worth highlighting because most people might assume that calligraphy should never have drips, but he brings graffiti’s drips into the tradition of calligraphy and makes it look completely natural.

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Photos courtesy of Niels “Shoe” Meulman

Zheng Guogu’s wax sculptures look like giant oddly-melted candles, and what’s more mesmerizing than a dripping candle?

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Photos by Jim Linwood and Julian Stallabrass

Zevs’ addition of drips to corporate logos, when used outdoors, was a simple yet effective way of drawing a line between corporate logos and graffiti, thinking about the logo as a tag. Zevs’ trademark style has been ripped off by countless brands for jewelry and clothing, but it’s really on the street where the style makes the most sense and works the best.

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Photos by Lord Jim

Néle Azevedo’s drips aren’t done with ink. The sculptures in his “Minimum Monument” series are made of ice, and with every drip and every drop of water from his disappearing sculptures we are reminded of the world’s many anonymous heroes who do not get their likenesses carved into massive stone monuments.

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Photos by Néle Azevedo

Craig “KR” Costello was not the first graffiti writer to use drips in his work, but he turned drips from a stylistic afterthought into an artform.

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Photos by KR and Brandon Shigeta