Tim Conlon is a graffiti artist living and working in Washington. He grew up just south of D.C., and lived in Baltimore and Los Angeles before returning to the District 10 years ago. By day Conlon, 33, is a tech manager for an interactive marketing agency in Bethesda and still does some flash animation and design work from time to time.

What are some of the ideas and themes that you engage with in your work?

The themes in the graffiti I like to do usually revolve around pop-culture icons and sometimes current events. It’s definitely a page taken from the early subway writers in New York who would include characters or themes that drew everyday commuters into noticing their pieces on transit. I think it’s a brilliant technique that baits people who might overlook the graffiti piece by giving them pause, since the characters or theme is easy to recognize and they end up trying to decipher the piece.

I have an “O” in the middle of my name so it’s perfect to swap out that letter from time to time with a character. I’ll try and do something that amuses me or something I know will make my friends or the public laugh.

I’m also a color junkie, so sometimes I will throw a bunch of different colors in my bag without even checking to see what they are. I then try to paint something that works visually from a bunch of those random colors. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I find it fun to see what I can come up with. Either way I think it irritates some of my writing partners, especially when it works.