hb sketchbook

scenes from the bowl at the van doren invitational skateboard event

let's all remember to draw more when possible

industry/friend/child session

that bowl was a fun shape to draw

there was a guy with a top hat skating for a while

they brought out the chairs and umbrellas for the v.i.p. lurkers

maybe this one is for cardiel, who i did not get to meet

this was supposed to be omar hassan doing a really long 5-O to fakie

announcers just saying whatever 

i really did see hosoi watching the surf contest but i didn't want to bug him.

so much instagram going down

coffee break

so the first morning, myself, rich, zio and mike show up to the bowl bright and early, coffee in hand. what do we see? russ hanging with his buddy neil blender. russ is giving neil a can of spraypaint and free reign to walk around the bowl and do whatever. neil was a nice guy and treated those of us who were geeking out a little bit with humility and respect. if you don't understand why this is a unique and incredible life moment for me, see the bottom of this post.

i was not going to spook this dude or feel like more of an idiot, so i lurked on the deck and snuck this shot. but then i took some more shots of the drawings before i got started on my section.
i'm sure it must be difficult to reconcile your personal identity with an idea of you that people have all over the world. my idea of neil blender is probably very different than whatever the real personal neil blender is. but the image in my mind, or my interpretation of the life and art of this guy that was put forth in photographs, artwork and videos was one of freedom, creativity, humor and mystery with a weird, beautiful meaningfulness and depth to it. as in some serious zen ridiculousness. this guy meant a whole lot to me growing up and that spirit remains. that's why i am still so psyched when i see anything new by him and why i have a photo of him doing a frontside grind in my office. 

 it's the little things that are the good stuff, in all cases, every time. circle-r sign and the extended checkerboard because that's "what lance would do."

 deathbox and arrow-shadow

 all my buds who are into baseball will love this one

abstractions and a dude

 neil threw down a a nickel and sprayed around it a couple times on the flat bottom. awesome.

 mike watt? why don't you just kiss me on the lips. and the dude riding the red bull. he hit almost every logo in that place. 

long arm of the law. not shown: where he wrote "smoke weed" in russ' painting which bummed the cops out and caused a whole big thing. also a snail shell and "deb + john".

and this is why it was such a big deal:

best contest run ever?

i'm sure these dudes had no idea how important this video part would become to kids and adults the world over. or maybe they did? this is the template. also part of the reason i painted a giant egg in this bowl next to one of neil's drawings.

post script: 

you know after a while i went over grabbed that black nickel because that's how i roll.

vans bowl recap part one

so last weekend i went to huntington beach, california and helped paint the bowl for the van doren invitational skateboarding event along with russ pope, rich jacobs, mike giant, and zio ziegler. here are some photos from  my trip, part one. lots of stuff here, too. and here.

traveling is amazing and weird. when i was in indiana it was dark and had all my stuff ready to go and the cat was being unnaturally nice to me.

and the next thing you see is this. airplanes are time and space travel.

 and so i get into HB and i'm walking around trying to get my bearings and what do i see? i see ed and deanna templeton. ed was a big inspiration to me as a kid. i was really into his one-foot ollies, nose bonks, and his graphics. i had his "check out" from transworld stuck to my wall for many years. i went up and said hihowareyouyouwereabiginspirationtome and felt like a dork but it was better than not. twenty minutes later they showed up to the bowl and i took this photo. i am happy to say they were both super nice and deanna told me i should wear sunblock.

but anyway to back up slightly i made my way over to the bowl and i see omar hassan shredding around. that was nice to see. you have to understand that growing up in the midwest i didn't see many of the skateboarders from the magazines and videos so over the next few days i was keeping a mental checklist of people was seeing in real life for the first time. i would be lying if i said i wasn't tripping out a little bit.

now to the arting, i guess. i really had no plan as to what  i was going to do. the week leading up to my trip was hectic and i hadn't really had time to sit down and think about things. my friend chris gave me some cool german sketchbooks that i took with me. i sat on the plane and drew for a few hours, trying to fill up the book. something appeared that i thought would work and that i was excited about. i could add to it and adapt it. it was very important to me that not only i make something that looked right but that i was really feeling it. i wanted to feel the magic and that usually happens with the fresh stuff. and this was fresh and i was feeling it so i just went with it. above is the sketchbook and the blank bowl surface.

i went and got some chalk and sort of pencilled (chalked) it in so that i didn't just get going and blow it. 

 look at all this paint. 

 the next day i got going painting in some color shapes. and eating breakfast in the bowl, which was nice. think of all the places you can eat breakfast in the world. the flat bottom of an interpretation of the marseille bowl in huntington beach california is a pretty good one for the list.

this is a disguised version of my cat. i could see him being pissed if i didn't include him in this project. so here it is. now get off my back, julius. 

 blue and white and red shapes

and then greens. i like the way it looks like this. i think i need to learn how to do less and let things be. let the colors do the talking. but there was a big part of me that was screaming from the depths "black black black black" so i had to do it. maybe next time or whenever i stop being a wuss. 

and then by the end of the day i got here. i brought a bunch of brushes with me but i only ended up using one for everything. i am a sucker for the black for sure.

i came back the next morning and thought that i should expand and add some more. what else could that possible mean other than a giant fried egg? nothing.

 i also added another person peeper on the other end and it all ended up looking like this.

 and this

and this

much more to come including: neil blender sighting, lurking on hosoi, semi-nude teenagers being bummers, the amazing humans i worked with, friendship, and a danzig pencil.

now you can watch these dudes rip all over the stuff we painted:

i'm alright

i am liking my things primitive and ecstatic these days. let's do it.

evidence of past life

 some light erotica for a thursday morning

 further proof that things were once cooler

 african herbsman: artist rendering

i am so unprepared, i can feel it

this yes

as written previously, i am included in a group show in new york city, new york at the joshua liner gallery. the show is called 'folklore" and was curated by evan hecox, an artist i admire a lot. i made two large-ish (36x36) drawing/paintings for the show that are extensions of two other drawings that i did earlier for the needles and pens anniversary show. is this too much information? it all means something. it is process, reality, ideas, evidence. here are pictures of the things i made.

 i want to do 20 of these drawings and have a whole art show called RAINBOWS. it would feel so nice. and the gallery would let me paint a big mural on a wall that would stay there forever and i would take my grandchild there and say "yes, grandchild, this was when i was heavy into rainbows."

 detail shot. it would be nice to see these in real life. i'm sure we as a people have the technology but sadly i do not.

 this is the second drawing. i call it "nude beach #2" and that's what it is. this one has big displays and tiny words and details. i have been enjoying taking a longer time to do things lately. again, i'd love to do 20 of these and the gallery floor would be filled with sand. every half hour a tasteful nude person would roam around and then vanish. somebody would play piano and sing.

a close-up detail

 and another one

 and another one. if you go to the gallery in chelsea, this one is not in the main exhibition space, but it's there, you might just have to ask to see it, and please do. i really can't say thanks enough to the fine folks who came to this art show and talked with me. did you know that we connect with each other through the making of things? did you know this shit works? it does. and when you tell people that it works, the person that made that thing is humbled and happy and for a few minutes feels the purpose and worth of the thing. that person was/is me and that is what  i felt. it is important to talk to people and remind them of the important things. we are all important so let's try to ignore the lame parts for as long as is good for us. peace.

jane pad

i went to new york and all i got was this  lousy note pad which  was actually nice to walk around with and sit and just look at things and draw upon. it's amazing how little i do this in my every day life and how calm and peaceful it makes me feel. sometimes i am an idiot and i don't take care of myself. let this be a lesson to you (self). also, new york: take a break. just chill out for 5 seconds. sheesh.