Saturday, May 9, 2009

I've been passionate about skateboarding since the age of 15. I spent a good part of my youth doing nothing BUT skateboarding. Of course, like a lot of other kids, I wanted to become a sponsored skater. I wasn't too bad at it but I certainly didn't have the chops to go pro. Here's a vid!

So as the years went by I started to take my art more seriously and skateboarding fell down my list of priorities a bit. I've NEVER stopped skating but I just don't have the time for it I once did. In effort to come up with some sculptures that I did outside of McFarlane, I decided to sculpt a few skaters. The first one I tackled was my all time favorite Jamie Thomas. I sent photos of it to Jamie's company as the sculpture progressed. He was impressed enough with it that he asked if I would let him have it. He took it down to Texas with him and had it auctioned off at the Johnny Romano skate jam. Jamie actually won the bidding on the sculpt and he now owns it! The sculpture was also shown in the January '09 issue of Transworld skate magazine. This was an awesome experience for me! It was the first sculpture that I completed ENTIRELY on my own. I did the rough sculpt, the detailing, the paint, the decals and the fabricating on the base and the skateboard.





The second skateboarder I sculpted was Steve Caballero. He actually commissioned me to sculpt him after seeing the sculpture of Jamie Thomas. I couldn't believe it! Steve's a legend! I was so happy with the result when I finished it. Once again, this sculpt was done completely by me. This thing was a lot of fun to paint! Steve loved the final product and sent me a bunch of super rare skate swag. It was an experience I will never forget.



1 comment:

Memory Shooter said...

I love the skate video! Of course I would. And the Astro even made a cameo appearance! I had no idea you had so much video of you skating.
Stellar job on the skater scupts! That must have been such an awesome opportunity for you!
Bravo!