Pictures of People I Don't Know

Todd

I WON THE PISSING CONTEST

Drawing I made a while ago. As relevant to surfing, I guess, as any other activity that a bunch of guys are involved in.

P.S. I've never run into the pissing contest mentality with girls. At least not in surfing.

Dear Diary...

This is the first entry in my sketchbook/journal from El Salvador. I was scribbling down notes for a forthcoming Wend Magazine piece. Stay tuned.

SWIFT MOVEMENT...

...of a different kind. Mural for Swift Collective completed yesterday based on the amazing Vaux Swifts of Chapman Elementarty School here in Portland, Oregon.

My iPhone didn't do the greatest job picking up these little guys as they swooped into the chimney, but I liked the way Horse Feathers' music sounded with it. You can see a better video of the phenomenon here.

Gringo Mask, El Salvador 2009

A drawing I did in Las Flores between sessions. Stranger in a strange and wonderful land.

Borrowed from Steve McQueen

Woman: Je T'aime, Wave: Mois Non Plus

Size: 11" X 15"
Medium: Crayons, Water, Graphite, No. 2 Pencil
Price: $300 or trade for 6' Bonzer Egg

Translation of "Je T'aime, Mois Non Plus"
I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love you
Nor do I
Oh my love
Like the wave, irresolute
I go, I go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come, Inside you my love
And then I hold on...

I love you, I love you, Oh Yes I love you
Nor do I
You are the wave, And I the naked island
You go, you go and you come, inside me me love
you go and you come inside me my love
and then we are one...

I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love you
Nor do I
Oh my love
Like the wave, irresolute
I go, i go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come, Inside you my love
And then I hold on...

I love, I love you my love, Inside me my love
I love you my love, Deep inside me my love
And then we are one...

I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love
Nor do I
Oh my love
Physical love is a dead end
I go, I go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come
And I hold on...

No. Now ... Come.
— Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin, 1968

My framed drawing on paper, along with the others pictured below (except for the Nat Russsel, which is now mine) are available for purchase at the Vancouver, BC stop of the Dear & Yonder movie tour August 6. If you're interested, talk to Andrea at the show, or contact me directly on this blog. A percentage of the profits go to financing the movie.

Dear & Yonder Movie, Music, Art and Tacos

Tonight! I'm really stoked to have my artwork included in a couple stops on the Dear & Yonder surf movie tour. Mine's the one on the left side of the flyer above (Nat Russell is on the right). The show takes place at Holocene, where good people will be chowing street tacos, checking out a great surf film, drinking cold beverages, and listening to the sweet sounds of Tara Jane O'neil. Rumor has it that Kassia Meador will be here to give away some stuff. Thanks to Alberto and Jeremy for making it happen and asking me to be involved.

The Details:

Tuesday August 4th

Holocene

1001 SE Morrison St.

Portland, OR 97214

Doors at 7pm

$10.00

21+

And another great poster by Alberto Cuadros...

And the official flyer (where my name is parked in the tube):

Sketchy

This one's called Pulse. I'm not sure if it's really done yet.

High School Surf Art

I've been hanging out in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon for the past week, celebrating the 4th and chilling with my family. It's been a great time. Tonight I uncovered some artwork from my freshman year in high school. As you can probably tell by who my heroes were — and the color of their wetsuits — this stuff's about 20 years old. Most everything I created that year were detailed reproductions of what I saw in surf mags. I studied each magazine meticulously and dreamed of the day when I could surf more often. I guess I haven't changed all that much.

MATTSON FAMILY ART BENEFIT FRIDAY

A few months ago I posted about this art show coming up to help the Mattson family with some heavy-duty medical bills. Well, the big night's finally here. I didn't really know who was going to be involved when Jair Bortoleto asked me to hook up with Jamie "Pinapple Luv" Watson to donate something, but because my family's been through similar circumstances, I really wanted to help out. Now I look at the list below and am totally blown away by all the cool people that gave a piece of their artwork to the cause.

Featured Artists:
Alberto Cuadros, Andrew Paynter, Andy Davis, Candace Anderson, Chivo, Ciro Bicudo, David Hanson, Droog79, Dustin Ortiz, Ed Fladung, Frank Cubillos, Heather Brown, Jair Bortoleto, Jamie Watson, Jay Watson, Jenny McGee Dougherty, Jessica Nichols, John Zane Zappas, Joseph Conway, Julie Goldstein, Justin Furniss, Kassia Meador, Katrine Hildebrandt, Kieron ‘Seamouse’ Lewis, Kim Nguyen, Kyle Lightner, Lindsay Preston, Liz Cockrum, Luke Taaffe, Maggie Marsek, Meegan Feori, Michael Singman-Aste, Peter Jackson Hussey, Peter McBride, Renata Morrone, Rick Albano, Ryan Tatar, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Scott Massey, Scott Szegeski, Ted ‘Clayfin’ Gallup, Theo Hetherington, Thomas Campbell, Tiffany Campbell, Todd Stewart, Troy Dockins, Ty Williams and Yusuke Hanai.

Mattson Family Art Benefit

Friday, June 26 - one night only!

Surfindian
4658 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, California
858.412.5334

Music by the Mattson 2

 with special guest Ray Barbee!

Silent Auction 7pm - 9pm

Art to be "in hand" to winning bidder by 9:30pm


100% of the proceeds will go to the Mattson family.

$5 suggested donation at the door





Surfindian is a constantly evolving art project and retail store focused on the art of surfing. Surfindian features surf-themed art, apparel, film, books, and jewelry, as well as fine hand-shaped surfboards, fins and other surfing accessories. Surfindian is located at 4658 Mission Boulevard, in the heart of Pacific Beach, California. The store phone number is 858.412.5334. For directions and other information, please visit www.surfindian.com, and follow the link to the blog.

Wanna see what I donated (and some more of my scribbles)?

R.A.D!

Caveman Club

A few years ago, we had this idea to try and make a surfboard without using any traditional tools, materials, plans, or help from Swaylock's. We were going to make a movie of the whole process and then actually try to surf the boards. I thought it would be a pretty funny idea — just really trying to imagine what would make a surfboard work, rather than copying the exact dimensions of something we found online. I called it "Caveman Club" and did some drawings of what the logo/movie title might look like. The idea never got off the ground.

Then, a few months ago, I found out I finally made it on Daily Donkey. I was stoked that despite the passing of years, the apeman in me was still alive and well.

The Red Rider

I can dream.

SECRET STUDIO

It's hidden in my basement. A few new projects have inspired me to spend some time down here again. I've been working on a computer so long I almost forgot how good it feels to make a mistake and not be able to delete it.

Went Surfin'

Finally went surfing again yesterday after a couple weeks in drydock. Thankfully, the conditions were cooperative. It was offshore and overhead on the sets with pretty long lulls, but if you were patient, the cold wait paid off. I parked myself on a left (of course) and got a couple that walled up and gave me some really memorable rides. I had enough time to draw out the bottom turn longer on each wave, dragging my hand along the surface, then coming off the top where the lip was feathering and cut back to the bottom, closer and closer to the foamball. Repeat. Repeat.

It was a blast.

The water was colder than I've felt it in a while and the wind was icy. But as I metioned before, this has been the best winter for surf I've ever experienced.

*The "sign" above is a sketch for something I'm working on for the Mattson Family benefit show. See the link in the previous sentence for details. If you're an artist, I encourage you to donate some work to the show. My freelancing wife and I have dealt with incredible medical bills as a result of cancer treatment and I cannot imagine how hard it must be to have two people battling the disease and the costs of care at the same time. C'mon Obama, let's fix the health care system in this country so self-employed people unfortunate enough to get sick aren't faced with the double-whammy of financial destitution as the result of their bad luck.

Santos SurfArt II

Top: The Surf Museum in Santos, Brazil. Bottom: My watercolors, alongside such great company as Joe Curren (left), Sandow Birk (top center), and Guilherme Tonelli (right).


I'm so honored to have participated in the Santos SurfArt show in Brazil this year. The photos on the website, curated by Jair Bortoleto, do a great job showing how awesome the event must've been, and also twist the dagger a little because I couldn't make it down there on a technicality (no visa).

But who knows? Maybe the show will happen again next year and I'll plan for it a little better -- or maybe it will travel to other exotic surf locations (Ed?)... What a great opportunity.

Thanks, Jair!

Piece It Together

Some waves are so intense that afterward, as hard as you try, you can't remember the details of the ride. I caught one on Saturday that was literally the biggest I've ever ridden. I remember sitting way outside everybody else with OS and seeing a freakish swell growing out of the horizon line like a big blue carpet rolling backwards toward me, gaining size with every yard it advanced. We both looked at each other as it reared up in front of us and he said, "If you go for this one, it'll be the biggest wave of your life," to which I yelled, "I'm going!" turned, and paddled with all I had. As I popped, I saw the nose of my board hovering over thin air, a good 12 feet above the trough, then I dropped and locked in. And that's where my amnesia starts.

Luckily Hendo, a new surf chum from NZ, was sitting far enough inside to witness most of the wave, until he had to try and duck it. Rather than trying to put into words another wave-of-my-life moment, I asked him via email to describe what he saw:

"I've surfed with Chum a couple of times before, and on this day we were treated to some really amazing waves in a great setting. One wave of Chum’s waves really stands out and will be ingrained in my memory banks for a while. Chum and another buddy had paddled out in search of a couple of sets that had been breaking further over towards the rocks… It looked like they were going to be out of luck until a big rogue set reared its head on the horizon. Chum picked out a big one and went for it… Watching from the inside I was hooting and hollering as he paddled in, honestly I thought he might eat it as the waves were throwing pretty quick, but he rose to his feet perfectly and flew down the line riding nice and high in the pocket. The wave definitely was a beauty and one of the best I’ve seen ridden in Oregon, don’t quote me on size, but double overhead for a man of Chum's stature wouldn’t be far off."

I tried to draw a few pictures of what I can remember: the huge shoulder, the foamball threatening to engulf me, the tip of my 6'7, and Hendo scratching for the outside, pausing long enough to hoot me in. Thanks for the memories, Hendo.

And to the guys who filled our shoes with sand on the beach: Thanks for only using sand.

FETCH FRIENDS

Bon Voyage

I sent these watercolors/drawings to Brazil for the Santos Surf Art show last week and they just arrived. Now my wife's telling me that she wants to send me down there for my birthday... How do you say "stoked" in Portuguese?

SURF MOVIES AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND

LIFESWELLS
A Surf Movie Night

Featuring:
Falzon's 1972 surf-hippie/cockfight masterpiece "Morning of the Earth"

Jeremias & Baffa's 2007 epigrammatic epic "One California Day"

And other gems, guaranteed!
(Surfy DJs Too!)

Thursday October, 16th
8-Close
Valentines
232 SW Ankeny St. 503 248 1600
Stumptown, USA

I met this guy at a restaurant who surfs and he bought me a drink when he found out I'm the salty dog behind this blog. A few weeks later he told me he's hosting this killer surf movie night Thursday that should be a stoke booster/slump buster on a rainy night. I made him the art above using an old sketch I did from pausing "Morning of the Earth" on my old TV and drawing the quintessential crouchy singlefin bottom turn with a #2 pencil. I was glad I could find a use for it.

Pass it on!