Diego Najera Nollie Drawing

hi

A lot of things I draw for other people, but there's also some photos I see that I just need to draw for myself.  When Sole Technology VP and old skate friend Don Brown posted this pic on Facebook two or three weeks ago, I knew I just had to draw it.  The photos that work best with my style are ones with good action and lots of shadows.  This original photo had both.  The skater is Diego Najera, who I know nothing about, and the trick is either a straight nollie or nollie kickflip, I'm not sure.  I added the e'S logos just to see how they would look, since that's his shoe sponsor, and since I've been hooked up with several free pairs of Etnies ( e'S shoes sister company) BITD.  Why did I put six logos in?  I think I had a flashback to the Vision Street Wear days where we were told to put logos EVERYWHERE.  In any case, this is my favorite drawing of the past few months, I'm really stoked on how it came out.  Sharpies on paper, 18" X 24", #shadowsandsharpies .

Kickflip

I met Athene years ago in the Huntington Beach BMX scene, when her son was still a toddler.  Now he's a teenager who can land kickflips.  Thanks Athene for supporting my effort to turn my scribbling into a legit little business.  Hope he's stoked on this pic.  Sharpies on paper, 12" X 18."

Rodney Mullen Ollie Melancholy

If you've ridden a skateboard in the last 30 years, you've heard of Rodney Mullen.  In the late 70's he began as a dorky freestyle skater from Florida.  Along the way, he invented the flat ground ollie, the ollie kickflip, the double kickflip, the 360 flip, and a slew of other tricks that the entire skateboarding realm is now based on.  He was the freestyle skating world champion for nine or ten years in a row.  Then freestyle began to fade, and with much coaxing, Rodney took his board to the street, and completely redefined the young genre of street skating in the early 90's.  Now in his 40's, Rodney Mullen is not only still progressing as a skateboarder, but he's also featured in several TED Talks, speaking about the culture of skateboarding and the nature of creativity itself.  He's a really, REALLY smart guy. 

I was lucky enough to get to know Rodney in 1986, and have been a fan every since.  This trick, the ollie melancholy, is basically Rodney trying to do the highest, most tweaked ollie possible.  The original photo I drew this from is a classic in skateboarding.  This drawing is up on my wall.  Sharpies on paper, 12" X 18".

Skateboarder Smith Grind Drawing

I've spent much of my life in the BMX and skateboard world, so when I started drawing in this new style, I went looking for good bike and skate pics to draw.  The Smith Grind is a classic skateboard vert move, and just looks really stylish.  I think this was the first skateboard pic I drew in this style.  Not perfect by any means, and I definitely shouldn't have colored his arms all black.  But I like the basic idea, and may do another one like this sometime.