"Skateaway"

8x10" oil on canvas panel

After this was painted I noticed that the skater's legs and their shadow sort of look like the wings of a bird in flight. 

I've been reading a lot of art blogs lately. One of my favorites is The Art Room posted by Taryn Day. This month's theme is "artists who blog" and yesterday my work was featured. You can check it out here. Thanks Taryn!

"Pipeline"

12x12" oil on masonite

"Grind"

12x12" oil on masonite

"Pool Skater"

12x12" oil on masonite

"Fly Like a Hawk"

12x12" oil on masonite

"Wheel Out"

12x12" oil on masonite

This is small study for a much larger painting (36x36"). This was done from a photograph which was obviously shot with some sort of fisheye lens. I like how the lens distorts and exaggerates the sense of space in the picture plane. For example look at the size of the wheel compared to the head of the skater.  It's not quite 3-D, but it does create the illusion that the board is about to burst out of the picture.

"Pool Rider" - SOLD

6x6" oil on Gessobord

My brother and I found an old skateboard in my cousin's basement and took it to a nearby hill. It was a skinny old board with metal wheels. It was a rough ride but we were hooked. We begged my dad to buy us one on the way home that night and were shocked when he exited the Jersey Turnpike in search of a Toys R Us.

It was 1976 and skateboarding was just starting to catch on. We bought every issue of Skateboarder Magazine and soon learned the names of all the best riders. It seemed like all the action was on the West Coast. California was experiencing a drought and some daring skaters began skating in empty swimming pools. We were blown away by the photographs and desperately wanted to move to Orange County. I've lived in California for over thirty years now and I've yet to make it to the OC!

I recently came across some vintage images online and I just had to paint one.