Having the title of "artist" doesn't have anything to do with your skill level. If someone practices an art, even if they're bad at it, they are called an artist. Just saying the word "artist" does not imply proficiency. Calling yourself a writer would mean you only paint letters and graffs are more than that. I can see where the idea could have come from. Someone thinks, "Letters are just symbols and pictures are just symbols [A=C:B=C::A=B] means Letters are Pictures, so I'm a writer because I paint symbols." But as you can see the flaw in that is because writing is a specific form of drawing.
All that solved, we're left with the fact that it's acceptable, possibly even an Element itself, for words to be used incorrectly/differently/creatively as a staple of the culture. I can accept that graffs want to call themselves writers, or that break-boys don't like the word dance anymore, but I'm still going to call you an artist if you're trying your best.
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