1. Know(the)ledge

Have at least decent knowledge of skate graphics. With two volumes of Sean Cliver’s (amazing) Disposable books, there’s really no excuse not to. Who wants to be the asshole that pitches a screaming hand graphic to Santa Cruz? Not me.

Also you are going to need to know who to pitch your wares to, right? Every company is different. Who is the Art Director? Is there an Art Director? Sometimes the Team Manager steers the graphic ship, sometimes it’s the owner. Find out these things. It’s way easier in the social media days we live in now than it was in 2003. Sometimes the generic email address will get you a response but most times not… Make Google your new best friend, LinkedIn can be very handy also. Not that you needed an excuse, but you should also read as much skateboard media as possible! I have subscriptions to the 3 major mags and peruse Chromeball, Jenkem, and the Slap Boards often. The more you know, the more you grow, as they say.

2. Be Good(ish)

You have to actually be good/decent/passable at art. Not that I’m all that, but prior to making my first skateboard, I had worked professionally in my small town for a decade, and made a little bit of noise with my Gangsta Rap Coloring Book. Any foothold is important, and in my case, having something already to my credit really helped my chances of getting a shot at skateboard work.

3. Professional

Even if you draw everything by hand, you should have some working knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator. You should also be able to handle questions for the project, like if there’s a Kill Fee (when a company will pay for your time even if a project isn’t produced.) I got paid several Kill Fees from Element before something I did for them was actually produced!

You also need to know how to work within a budget, submit an invoice and meet deadlines. This should all be covered before you start drawing. Know what you are getting yourself into to avoid surprises. In some cases the process of getting paid and the paperwork has taken more time than the actual artwork itself.

After getting the okay for a project, I go through several approval processes: after 1st sketch, after inking and again after coloring. It can cost time waiting to hear back from your contact but it will save a headache when you are asked to completely redo something. In my opinion, once a project is approved, the company is on the hook to pay for it but they don’t always see it that way. You may even end up spending hours on a board that they decided not to make at the last minute. Know these things and you will be better off because it varies from company to company.

these board ideas were all rejected

4. Thick Skin

You may not hear back. Shit, you probably won’t hear back, but you have thick skin, right? You might hear your style doesn’t match well, and it may not. Don’t pitch a Creature type graphic to a company with a whole different vibe. As a freelance artist, I love to work in as many styles as possible, which expands the scope of work quite a bit. I talked to the great John Lucero recently, and he said, “well, you can draw anything, right?” which was about as high of a compliment as I could ask for.

You may be told your not good enough, and maybe you aren’t! You don’t have to start out swinging for the fences though! Start by hitting up smaller companies, or local shops, or really anyone who can help you get your work in front of people. I also try to do as much apparel, print, or extra work as possible. It’s all a means to an end. Flow to Am to Pro if you wanna get all skateboardy with terminology.

5. Promotion and Goals

It’s a social media age, and there’s a lot of eyes staring downward at little tiny screens. Promote your work in any way you can. Instagram is the perfect medium for this, as well as Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Livejournal/Myspace. I’ve built countless contacts through these avenues and got quite a bit of work that way.

I try to have goals, and when you actually achieve one it’s pretty rewarding. Start small: I wanna draw a skateboard. Then what? I wanna do a series. Then what? My current goal is draw a board for every SOTY. This won’t be easy, but if you are reading this, Chris Senn! Holler at me!

6. Persistence vs. Annoyance

Build relationships, keep in touch, but not so much that it becomes overbearing. No one wants to hear from you all the time, but the occasional update, or check in can really help you out. There’s a lot of really great people in the industry, and it’s a really interesting business. In my case, I was already friendly with Todd Bratrud, who along with being one of the best skate artists ever was at the time art directing Consolidated Skateboards and had a very strong and admired graphic foundation built. He was nice enough after being asked enough times that he gave me the green light to draw up an idea which was then O.K.’ed and went into production. I got two boards for my service but don’t think I didn’t choke back tears when I opened that package. Thanks again, TB.

Learn as much about that side of things as possible and keep on it. I sent Ed Templeton emails for at least five years before I got a shot at doing a board for him, and now I’ve done over ten and worked in collaboration with him. It’s overwhelming and rewarding. Plus he rules, but you knew that.

more rejected artwork

7. Bummerz

I was overly excited to do a series of boards for Jaws only to have it cancelled halfway through, due to Birdhouse going in a different graphic direction. I took it way harder than I should have and most likely closed the door on working with them ever again. This kinda stuff is going to happen so don’t take it too personally. Learn from your mistakes, by acknowledging your own fuck ups you are more likely to grow and not repeat them.

In the past I’ve had art altered and changed without my O.K., but that’s gonna happen too. This goes back to having thick skin. Not every project is going to be a home run, switch darkslide, or whatever sports metaphor you want to apply.

It’s also possible to have your graphic ideas stolen as well. It sucks, but it happens. I covered this in my rejected skate graphics article for Jenkem, but there’s not much you can do about it other than hold your cards very close to your chest. Most people will respect you, but some won’t, as is the way of the world. There’s also the money, or lack of it. Most people don’t pay well. Don’t expect to make a mint, and if you have read this far you would most likely draw boards for free. The occasional free one is ok, but how much product do you really need in trade?

8. Have Fun

Skateboard art is one of the coolest mediums there is for an artist. It’s constantly self-referential, plays with pop culture and goes places a lot of other art avenues do not, so have fun with it. You’re not digging ditches. Enjoy it!

Words: AJ Morano
Graphic Designs & Artwork: AJ Morano
AJ’s work includes boards for Chocolate, Baker, Toy Machine, Birdhouse, Creature, World Industries, Skate Mental, LE, Foundation…etc. For more visit: www.ayejay.com or Instagram @ayejaydotcom

Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

photo: tyler bush

Who is Richie Jackson? An eccentric skateboard wiz? A psychedelic urban scientist? Or just a giant attention whore “trolling” the skate community? These are the questions that I, and I’m sure many skateboarders have thought about in the recent months, as Richie has been popping up with appearances on Free Lunch, The Weekend Buzz and his new show on Network A. Richie’s self-awareness, seemingly deep pool of knowledge and hyper-articulation make him one of the most exciting skateboarders right now. Always ready to conjure up some great entertainment, I gave him a ring to talk about stuff like hallucinogens, unique pubic hair designs and the secret to happiness.

Do you think psychedelics have the possibility to enhance one’s skateboarding?
I think it absolutely could. Take Tom Penny as an example. The period when he was most in control and connected to his own ability was supposedly fueled by magic mushrooms.

Is that even true?
Oh fuck yeah, you know those clips where he’s skating that 10 stair rail in that hallway? The one he switch flips over? He was on shrooms as legend has it – I hope it’s true. Penny has got that savant thing going on. I could totally see him regressing into a corner of his own mind where all that shit was possible and everything else just falling apart outside of that. That kind of makes sense to me.

How many drugs do you actually take?
Here’s the thing, people are going to decide what my drug consumption is. I am gonna have absolutely no say in it. The reality is not going to correlate to what anybody is thinking. We were trying to play that up in the show, like, “oh yeah so many drugs!” I won’t say how much that correlates to the truth or not but fuck it, everyone will make up their own mind.

What do you think about weed starting to become more widely legalized?
The weed legalization is fantastic. I don’t even smoke weed, which is an extremely disappointing thing to anyone that’s like, “hey man come over and we’ll smoke a spliff and we’ll fucking blaze it brother!!!” I do always appreciate the offer. It’s fucking fantastic that it’s being decriminalized.

You must get that daily…
Yeah, I mean I did that to myself. Weed just straight up doesn’t agree with my neurological composition. It did at a point, it was fantastic growing up. I almost feel like it’s age appropriate, there’s an age when it’s the best thing you could be doing.

Is your audiobased system of thinking up new tricks real or total bullshit?
That is a real thing. You only think of so many new tricks because the visual cues can distract you from coming up with anything new. Because you know what a kickflip looks like, you know what a treflip looks like. So if you switch off the visuals on a skate video and only listen to the audio – It’s like how some people say radio is better than television because you have to use your imagination. It’s exactly the same thing. You are forced to use your imagination because you are not seeing the trick, you’re only hearing it.

Have you ever been asleep and dreamed that you can do a trick you’re unable to do in reality, then upon waking find that it’s now possible?
Yeah that’s a real thing. That happens. I think it’s probably cues, subconscious cues in your brain. Like have you noticed that you get better at a trick when you don’t do it?

Right, it’s like your brain catching up to it?
Yeah and that could take months. You could have the weakest back smith, it could be total garbage, and if you leave it alone for like 4 months, you’ll suddenly come back to it and be like, oh wow this is much easier and I can actually do this now. It’s like the learning goes on even when you’re not learning. It’s very strange.

What do you wear to bed? Boxers? Tighty whities?
Fuck no, I sleep naked.

What about if you stay at a friend’s house?
I’ll pretend that I’m going to sleep in my boxers and take them off and just sleep naked anyway.

The old bait and switch.
Exactly.

How often do you shower?
Every day. This ties back in with what I was saying earlier about imagination. The internet obviously provides no olfactory stimulation whatsoever, so you are forced to invent your own. Occasionally people I have never encountered will make comments about the way I smell, and this is something I do take issue with because my god do I make an effort to smell nice! I have all kinds of vanilla colognes and do everything I can to make my scent a pleasant one. Such a shame that it’s all for nought because so many dudes with long hair stink like patchouli oil and shit, so I end up guilty by association.

Like your beard, do you have an eccentric or unusual style for your pubic hair?
Yes. Because I believe myself to be the current earthly incarnation of the archangel, I shave my pubic hair into a pentagram. This ensures, in accordance with lucifer’s plan, that my seed shall give rise to satan’s army, unleashing hell itself onto the surface of planet earth.

Do you ever worry about the internet leaking a picture of you before you started dressing all crazy?
I actually posted up one of those on my Instagram on a Throwback Thursday. I mean c’mon.. are we really gonna pretend we all dress the way we dress in our mid 20s our entire lives? It’s simply not factual. I think I captioned the photo, “emulating Rock & Roll’s biggest retard Sid Vicious at age 16.” Before that I just dressed like Josh Kalis. There was a jump from Kalis swishy pants to Sid Vicious leather jacket which is pretty hilarious.

richie’s former incarnation / photo: instagram @thefeatch

What do you think about some people comparing your rants to Mr. Jereme Rogers?
Oh, that’s one of the highest honors. J Casanova, what a phenomenon!

Good stuff!
This is the one thing people don’t know about Jereme, because there’s such an abundance of clowning and hatred going on. The thing is, that dude earned his stripes in the industry, and despite what he’s doing now, the respect he earned has some permanence in the eyes of other pros. When I saw him at Colin Mckay’s house mingling with other pros, there’s an eye to eye respect thing that I’m not sure people are aware of. I think people would be surprised how much respect he actually gets.

Funny you are such good friends with Sierra Fellers, he seems like the most vanilla dude out there.
We’re more similar than you think. First of all he’s a drinker, we were at The Berrics one time and he just pulled out this gigantic bottle of whiskey. We’re always getting wasted together, which is why the Weekend Buzz was appropriate. He’s my favorite guy to get really drunk with and argue about religion, he enjoys it as much as I do. We always keep it to where we’re still friends, but we get into it. He will tell me about Christ and I will tell him about how Christ is a fantasy, and we’ll do that for a couple of hours and it’s always really fun.

So are you anti-religion?
Well here’s the deal man. I never even cared one way or the other.. but the reason I do care now, the reason I do have any passionate atheist outlook is that there was a period there, whether it be through psychedelics or searching or whatever it was where I became almost quasi-religious. Almost! I thought about these ideas seriously for the first time and almost began to think… but then you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into and your critical faculties kick back in and you’re like, what the fuck? And so only because I almost goaded myself into becoming semi-religious do I now feel passionately the opposite. What more beautiful delusion is there that you are unconditionally loved by a gigantic cosmic grandfather, and are also immortal? I mean this is the most outrageous and convenient of all fantasies.

You seem pretty knowledgeable about lots of different topics: biology, religion, philosophy, evolution..etc. Do you actively read or study these topics? Did you ever go to college or attend any institution post-highschool?
I have a huge interest in all those topics but never was interested in school. I do remember one moment in biology class where I properly grasped natural selection for the first time and felt that transcendent understanding that comes with science. Aside from that, I always found school pretty miserable. Some SLAP goers described me as a pseudo-intellectual and I guess that’s exactly what I am. I read about what interests me and have always had a strong inherent fascination with the universe and our place within it. I’d be all about making a genuine scholarly contribution to the world, but the part of my psyche that got me into skateboarding in the first place still persists.. I went to Mosman High School in Sydney, and skateboarding was actively discouraged every single day. Looking back I can see that this is probably what drew me so much closer to it.

I never got fulfillment out of a fucking report card… a piece of paper saying you did what was expected of you… What the fuck kind of reward is that? I found fulfillment doing the one thing school told me I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

If you were offered a lucrative contract with an energy drink company would you take it?
Yes.

What’s the secret to happiness?
Taking that energy drink contract and getting lots of money.

Words: Ian Michna
Original Illustration: Lauren Kolesinskas
Photography: Tyler Bush (@tybush on Instagram)
For more of Tyler’s work check out his Tumblr
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

Whether it was a shoebox or an old cigar case, everyone had a “sticker box” when I grew up skating. At 13 I remember being so obsessed that we would go to the skate shop just to steal them. It sounds silly now, stealing handfuls of $0.75 – $2.00 stickers, but this was our post skate sesh ritual. My buddy would distract the clerk and I’d reach over the front desk and grab as many stickers as I could from underneath the glass case. I think years later they started installing cameras because of theft but at that point I was 15 or 16 and moved on from stealing stickers to stealing condoms and weird stuff from sex shops.

How many stickers do you actually have?
I’m guessing maybe around 2500. They are organized by company in photo albums and I have a shoe box for larger ones.

Have you ever pleasured yourself to the smell of a fresh vinyl sticker?
No, I sniff new shoes that’s about it.. [laughs] Have you?

What is it about stickers you like so much then?
Well for one it’s a cheaper alternative to collecting decks and I guess it’s the artistic side of skating. I used to draw skate graphics (like I’m sure everyone did) when I was real young so I have an appreciation for the artwork and process involved. Some of the actual stickers are different than the board they represent too, so it’s cool to see how the artist came up with an alternative take on the actual deck’s artwork.

Are there any brands you never collected / avoided cause you thought their artwork sucked?
Yes. I was not really stoked on the direction World Industries took with the Devilman and Flameboy stuff. I find that today Element is kinda bland as is a lot of the new Plan B graphics but the boards are sick to ride though! Just too many sporty jersey style graphics, give the youth something to think about at least!

Do you think kids these days are missing out on skateboard graphics?
Yes, I think that the idea of skate art doesn’t get promoted like it did back then. I think now maybe a lot of companies may see it as saving money for royalties. I can’t speak for others but themes based around one logo idea is boring to me, some companies are relying heavily on that approach. It has become a jock sport now rather than a creative activity, so the idea of skating being an art form is kinda obsolete amongst the new gen. I think Anti Hero and Krooked are keeping as far from jock as possible at least!

What are your most valuable stickers and how did you get them? How much do you think they are worth?
I’m not really sure what my most valuable ones are, as prices on eBay can change very quickly and I have seen stickers sell for nearly $100 bucks also sell for $10. It’s all up to how badly you want the sticker. For the most part they are all somewhat rare especially stuff from the 80s and 90s and there’s a bit of 70s stuff floating round as well. You can find some stickers consistently on eBay from the golden eras but as far as the scarce stuff you have to be diligent or have had it from back then. It doesn’t hurt to make good contacts with people in the industry either.

Was there ever a “golden age” of skate stickers?
The 80′s and early 90′s had some of the most memorable artwork on skateboards ever! All those Jim Phillips, VCJ and Marc McKee pieces mean as much to me now as when I was growing up. I think making provocative graphics now is much harder as people are too sensitive and look to be politically correct. The great graphics from yesteryear will probably never happen again. Obviously not all graphics are going to be of the Rocco era calibre and there are some companies that are releasing good graphics these days. The Kayo brands, Baker/Deathwish stuff and the Girl & Chocolate one-offs are all pretty sick.

Words: James Lee
All images and stickers courtesy of: Joe Harbour aka Skateboardstickernerd101
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

An Ali Boulala edit has been sitting on the back burner for sometime now. It wasn’t until my dear friend Keenan approached me with a song titled “Prince Hal’s Dirge,” by Loudon Wainwright 111 which inspired me right away. Keenan felt the lyrics pertained to Ali’s life and we both liked how dramatic it was. I knew I could express Ali’s career through the song and explore who he is in an honest way. Nobody is like Ali. He’s a true individual, whose skating belongs to another period or perhaps another planet. Maybe one day Ali will return to skating and become king. Until then, this is for Ali, my fellow skateboarders and Keenan, an equally unique individual.

Words: Joey Sinko
Video edit: Joey Sinko
Want more? Check out his Ed Templeton video edit too.
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

1. The Shirtless Headphones Guy aka The Goon

- Must blast shitty music on headphones at all times.
- Must skate totally oblivious to you or anything else going on around him.
- Skullcandy or Dre Beats only.
- Optional T-shirt takeoff and crappy uncoordinated style.

2. The Benchwarmer

-”Skates” (rides around the park one time and then sits down to smoke cigarettes / txt people on his phone.)
-Must sit on bench or ledges and block you over and over again.
-Will spit on the ground and write dumb shit like “RYAN IZ FAGOT” on obstacles with black sharpie.
-Has nothing better to do.

3. The Sketchball

-Smoking weed or cigarettes highly recommended.
-Must not skateboard.
-Must sit around everyone else’s stuff and look sketchy / make skaters paranoid.
-May steal your iPod/Phone/Wallet and run as fast as he can.
-Will be caught and beat up by Koston.

4. The Ramp Tramp

-Ages 13 – 17.
-Comes in all shapes and sizes: Pre-teen, Goth, Emo, or just pure White Trash.
-Will flirt with everyone at the skatepark but not actually do anything.
-Thinks “other girls suck”.
-Attention whore.

5. The Group of Kids That ONLY Play S.K.A.T.E.

-Ages 13 – 18.
-Will play SKATE at bottom of the miniramp, bowl, or next to an obstacle you want to skate.
-Must never actually skate the rest of the park.
-Get picked up by parents.

6. The Kids Who Slide Down The Ramps aka The Chucky Cheezes

-Ages 3 – 6.
-Must use entire skatepark like giant playground.
-Real playground must be very close.
-Must make you never want to have kids.

7. The Pre-Teen Scooter Kid aka The Twerp

-Ages 6 – 12.
-Must get in your way 99% of the time.
-Must only try quadruple tailwhips.
-Must wear helmet too big for head.
-Must look like an asshole.

Words: James Lee
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

From that inaugural moment when you stepped on those seven plies and landed your first personal NBD, you’ve thought it: How can I use this thing to become rich and famous? Today with so many companies digging their heels into skateboarding and with the economy on the brink of being back to just beneath less than ok, your chance to shine has never been more within reach. Here are four easy steps to make sure your sponsor-me video stands out from the gobs of Youtube links team managers receive every single day.

1. Include Tons of Skatepark Footage

Nowadays, companies aren’t just looking for someone who can put out a banger video part in their emailer every month, they’re also in the market for someone who can score massive points in contests. The training ground, and often the playing field for contests is some variation of a skatepark. So along with the footage of you “murking handrails” in the streets, go ahead and send along 15 minutes of you at the skatepark. Include some single clips of your most difficult maneuvers, but also splice together some runs that are a little more basic. This will show your consistency and how well you can link together 1.5 minute runs and 7+ point Street League tricks.

2. Do Not Wear or Ride Product of the Company You Want to Ride For

If a company sees you for 3 minutes, busting your ass representing them as if you already ride for them, they are going to be absolutely terrified of losing a loyal customer. They aren’t going to want to give you something for free if you’re already paying for it. It’s the old, “why buy the cow when the sex is free idiom.” If companies see you ripping and already using their product, they’ve already won. The solution, of course, is to not ride any of their stuff and almost seem indifferent or ambivalent to them. Treat them like the hot girl you want to have sex with. Give them attention, but don’t buy them dinner until you’re getting something out of the deal for yourself.

3. Do NOT Seem Overeager

In the event that you do get a response from a team manager, you don’t want to come off overzealous or like an impassioned kook. Avoid this by taking advice from many classic male archetypes of popular american sitcoms and adhere to some sort of variation of the 7 day rule where you don’t return a phone call or email for at least a week, maybe even two. This will make the team manager think, “This kid is so busy killing it on the streets or thinking up our next hit T-shirt tagline that he doesn’t even have time to call me back to get a box!” Or, better yet, he might think that you’re in such high demand from other potential suitors that you’re just being smart and weighing your options. That will make the moment when you finally do reach out and call or email him back all the more rewarding.

4. Include a Post-Video Interview

Skateboarding is increasingly headed towards a more professional mindset. Watch any interview and note the diplomatic nature to which even the youngest amateur now adheres. They’re overtly polite, well-spoken, and the interviews almost seem rehearsed. You need to showcase that you not only rip at skating, but you can mouthbang the post and pre-game show with your dynamite on-camera persona. Give the team manager a taste of what kind of charisma you’re capable of by ending your sponsor-me tape with you interviewing yourself. Tell the camera a little bit about who you are, why you want to ride for the company, deeply personal facts about yourself, and definitely explain in painstaking detail how you started riding a skateboard and fell in love with it. That is always interesting.

Words: Christian Senrud
Illustration: Michael Giurato
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

A few months ago, Kingpin posted an article by Arthur about how the skate video is being changed by the huge amount of footage being posted online everyday. This is a discussion that shows up in the skate world rather frequently, popping up in interviews and the occasional magazine. Most of those discussions hold kernels of what Arthur’s post fleshes out more fully: the Internet is killing skate videos, not only as a medium, but as an artform.

They argue the proliferation of online videos has lead to an overkill of information. We have been exposed to so much footage that skaters have developed a voracious, yet ungrateful, appetite for clips and parts. And this appetite is hurting skating as a whole.

But can we really make this statement with a lot of confidence?

Skate videos have not been as isolated or solitary as people seem to remember. At least not for the past ten years or so. Sure, big videos may have come along with some gaps in between them, but there were always other videos to fill them in. When I started skating, it seemed like my friends and I were always coming across a video we hadn’t seen before. This was the era of monthly 411VMs and quarterly On Videos.

Think about the parts and skaters that you love. Why do you like them so much? One reason may be the fact that you were forced to watch that VHS or DVD until you got your next video. But I’m sure a much more important reason is that the skating spoke to you in some way. That’s why you returned to those parts regardless of what new video you bought and why you still think about them to this day.

Online parts can provide that same feeling. I’ve watched dylan. and Austyn Gillette’s Thrasher part just as many times as I watched Daewon in Skate More or PJ Ladd in PJ Ladd’s Wonderful Horrible Life. That’s because all of those parts are awesome and reflect aspects of skating that I like and want to support – That’s why all of us watch parts repeatedly. In fact, that’s why we watch individual tricks and other minor details (like how curbs affect rollaways or how Gino pushes). If a part or a trick speaks to you, it will do so regardless of the medium you receive it in. Those moments will stand out amongst the sea of other videos that you can barely remember. They will play over and over in your head and you’ll find yourself reaching for the remote or moving your cursor to start the section over again and again.

If we are indeed becoming desensitized, I think it’s to repetitive skating. The Internet is a prime example of what happens when people become wrapped up in trends and emulate one another a little too closely. You get a laundry list of people on HellaClips that you can’t tell apart from one another, that blend into each other until you’re in an uncaring daze. I don’t care about the thousandth kid that yo flips at snails pace in his pre-fab skatepark. But I do care about the people who use the Internet to do something different and make me want to skate, like the Map Masquerade Tour. Those are videos that could not have been shared as effectively before. The Internet does not make us desensitized to worthwhile skating, it just exposes us to more skating that is potentially worthwhile.

The ease of access provided by the Internet allows for numerous understandings and perceptions of skating to be shared within our subculture. It allows individual skaters to share what exactly skateboarding means to them and what is important about it. It stops things from becoming stale and forces skateboarding to progress. An online buzz will arise whenever someone or something relatively unknown and unexpected pops up that accurately or imaginatively portrays an aspect of skating that we always knew was there, but don’t get to see enough. This notoriety forces bigger magazines and mainstream skateboarding sites to sit up and take notice, broadcasting this video to even more people.

Before the mass-proliferation of Internet videos, most of us would have never been exposed to the eccentric geniuses of the Golden Egg video and Fancy Lad Skateboards, among others. A few years ago, these products would be confined to the small cliques of local scenes and maybe an adventurous tourist.

While we might currently have to sit through a couple of embarrassing videos here and there, by (theoretically) giving every skater a voice, the Internet allows us to better illuminate all aspects of skating: From the jockish and “Xtreme,” to the creative and inspiring, and to the raw and just plain weird.

Another claim in Arthur’s article is that the Internet puts pressure on skate companies and individuals to release as much footage as possible, regardless of quality, to “stay relevent.” This pressure inevitably forces videographers and skaters to ignore crafting a specific feel, atmosphere, or aesthetic within videos.

While I’m sure that many pros and ams just want to produce as much footage as possible, skateboarding has always placed a high regard on aesthetics. That’s the reason brands like Hopps, Palace, Politic, Magenta and Polar have gotten so much attention, and Caste’s “Philadelphia Experiment” was so well received.

Those works are products of something bigger than a desire to reach the mass public and rack up view counts. Their creation is driven by an artistic inclination and sentiment that skateboarding as a subculture has always valued and nurtured. The process and production of these pieces are their own reward. The Internet becomes a new venue through which these inherently creative and productive individuals can share the work they have labored over and are proud of, rather than a medium that requires them to “dumb down” their output.

And frankly, there are times where an extremely defined aesthetic is unnecessary. Emerica’s Stay Gold B-Sides worked so well because it was raw footage of what the team experienced while filming the video. It showed the reality of the skating and what the riders went through in order to film their parts. Its lack of editing, music, and artsy shots perfectly complemented the skating itself and the way it was presented to skaters.

Similarly, I hope I’m not alone in this, but watching a video’s credits with pros warming-up and messing around with their friends will often produce some of my favorite footage. It humanizes these skaters who often can seem superhumanly talented and larger than life. Watching Mike Carroll skate a parking block, knowing that I can skate a parking block too (albeit when I do it, it’s nowhere near as awesome as when Carroll does) reinforces how unserious skating really is and how cool it is to be so connected with another person because of a simple toy. This footage may never have seen the light of day a decade ago.

photo: fancy lad’s video collection

I believe that the general negative response to the Internet with regards to skateboarding is an attempt to deal with the changes that it has caused in society as a whole. In skateboarding, this apprehension has been applied to online videos and montages. There’s a fear that these offerings will erode “real” (that is, physical) skateboard media and thus, skateboarding will lose a large aspect of itself, whether it be its history or simply more tangible representations of the culture.

Except DVDs died when Fully Flared came out. Then when Extremely Sorry came out. Then Stay Gold. Then Pretty Sweet. Few things have died more deaths than the DVD and with each new major release, the Internet is proving that it is a fairly incompetent murderer. Ty told us that Fully Flared and Pretty Sweet are the best selling skate videos of all time with DVDs providing an important source of those sales – hardly the sign of a dead market.

Skateboarding is experiencing a phenomenon common to a lot of subcultures. Metalheads love to collect CDs, cassettes, and vinyls of their favorite bands, just like skaters love physical copies of videos. These objects are given a special value by participants. They become something more than just a piece of plastic. Like totems and other religious paraphernalia, they take on a meaning outside of themselves.

Jake Johnson said it best: “I organize my past based on skate videos, based on the emotions I got from them, the ideas they gave me”. Hard copies of skate videos become a way for us to understand our progression through skateboarding. They become vested with more importance as skating becomes more important to how we see ourselves. Videos become physical representations of one’s identity and because skateboarding, as a subculture, intuitively understands this aspect of itself, I believe that physical skate videos will always remain too valuable to go extinct—regardless of the other changes that skating goes through.

Words: Rich Kaminski
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

If you ever wondered who drew some of the mindless illustrations in our articles, this is the guy you’re looking for. You may even know him. He’s the guy who doodles dicks in your notebook when you’re not looking. He’s the dude that makes a DERP face in every single photo he’s taken with you, ever. Whatever you do, please don’t give him any gigs. We need him here drawing away in trade for skateboards and drunken words of encouragement more than you.

What was your first drawing obsession?
I went through a serious ninja drawing phase when I was younger. I’d make all these really lame characters like Blade and Spike and Sasha and they’d have story lines and sometimes they’d also be in a metal band. I also remember having this sketchbook that said “Sketch Diary” on the front that I would draw disgustingly large breasted women in. My older brother eventually discovered it and tortured me mercilessly so I started to be more secretive about when and where I drew my tits.

Have you ever turned yourself on just by drawing?
That secret sketchbook filled with women and their big bountiful breasts that I had as a kid was a good indication of the power of drawing. Nowadays it takes more than just checking out my own drawings of disproportionate women to get me off. Usually a noose and a trustworthy friend does the trick.

What do your parents think of your drawings?
My mom is really supportive of everything I do. She shows off my drawings to everyone she can which leads to awkward responses like, “why are you showing me a drawing of a guy’s penis exploding with blood?” and “I hope your son gets drawn and quartered.” My dad doesn’t know I do art. He thinks I’m at baseball camp.

What is harder to draw, a penis or a vagina?
I can draw a penis like no one’s business. I don’t know why but since high school there’s just something about drawing dicks that comes naturally. Vaginas are tricky. I’ve never even seen one in person because I close my eyes during sex. Blue waffle [note: beware, this is def. NSFW] is really my only reliable reference.

Has your artistic ability ever come in handy in a situation or saved your life?
One time I had to draw a picture of a bus going 50 MPH or above or terrorists would kill everyone on it. No, no, wait that’s the plot for Speed. OK, I was handcuffed to a pipe in a bathroom and I had to draw a saw or shit.. wait nevermind, no, yeah, no. Art is dumb and continues not saving my life daily.

How did you come up with the nickname “Jewrato”
It’s not so much a nickname as it’s just my last name with “jew” instead of “giu” in the beginning. Although in middle school I was given the nickname Ratboy because I would stand weird. Overall Jewrato is really stupid and I need a whole new moniker. I was thinking either “cant believe it’s not better” or “bad hair life”. I dont know. Thinking about this is about as stressful as trying to come up with an AIM screen name in middle school.

What’s the best part about working at Jenkem?
All the free skateboards I get sent each month. I started giving most of them to the homeless in my neighborhood and now there’s a bunch of vagrants skating around bumping into pedestrians yelling about Vietnam and peeing everywhere. It’s a real problem.

What’s your favorite illustration you’ve done for the site?
I think my favorite piece is the one I did for 5 Embarrassing Articles Written About Skateboarding By Non-Skaters – the guy tearing his jaw off. Brutal. Felt real accomplished after that one. Like jerking off and taking a shit at the same time.

How did you get involved with Jenkem?
I used to huff a small childs worth of jenk daily in the back of China House in New Paltz, New York. After the first few hallucinations of my deceased grandmother, I’d smear my shit on their back wall, creating neo expressionist post minimalist drawing masterpieces. Ian found me half-naked spooning a family of racoons mumbling into cold sesame noodles one afternoon so he drove me to an undisclosed location and I haven’t been able to leave his basement since.

Can you ollie?
That’s pretty much all I can do on a skateboard and that usually comes with turning to everyone and asking if all the wheels got off the ground and being overly excited that I did anything at all. I’d much rather stand from afar and yell, “DOAOLLIE!”

You were holding down a day job at Toys”R”Us in Times Square for a while… any good stories?
Thinking about working there makes me nauseous. I demonstrated toys all day and I’d do shit like bounce a ball at oblivious tourists and their shitty kids as they walked in. Highlights included hanging out with the big black security guard that got mistaken for Shaq daily who called me Young Jesus. Also, giving daps to the crazy dude that dressed up as the Statue of Liberty everyday and that one time I took this 18 year old coworker on a date to IHOP. Hoo boy.

Did you ever meet any MILFS working there?
Yeah, dude, all the time. You help a hot mom out and you’re pretty much guaranteed a quick handy under the ferris wheel.

Have you ever pooped your pants?
Not yet, but there’s still plenty of time in my life to do so if I want. I’m thinking I might try it out at a rave or dance party. Let one go while dancing and shake it out of the bottom of my pants leg. Maybe go to a public pool and shoot a real nice solid guy out mid frontflip off the diving board. I’ll tell ya what, the future’s lookin’ bright as hell, man.

Words: James Lee
Illustrations: Michael Giurato
For more Jewrato artwork check out his Tumblr
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

With an emphasis on style and purity over super technical tricks or bangers, OPEN skateboards promo video isn’t like any skate clip I’ve ever seen. Directed by Colin Read of Mandible Claw fame, the video is shot entirely from the perspective of looking through the lens of a VX1000 camera- time code and battery meter included. Not only is this entertaining on a theoretical level, but the footage itself is warm and fuzzy, bringing out certain colors and a rush of memories to anyone that has ever used an analog camera. To get the inside scoop, I hit up Colin to discuss where the promo idea came from, how he got involved with OPEN and his obsession with the Japanese.

What was the technical process of making the video?
I filmed into the viewfinder of a VX1000 camera, with a HD camera.
It started by filming the viewfinder with an iPhone, as a way to “capture” the footage at the spot for people to watch. This way everyone could see the clip at once, instead of sweaty faces in the camera or rewinding multiple times to show people and fucking up your heads. My friend Bill Pierce showed me the trick. The first person to do this, the originator, is my friend Evan Walsh, another NYC filmer.

Ever since Bill showed it to me I wanted to make a video out of it. The timecode, the visible pixels in the screen, it captured the feeling of filming with an analog camera, which is nearing its extinction.

What is Open skateboards?
OPEN is a skateboard company based in New York City and Japan. Two guys run it: Trevor in New York and Ian in Tokyo. The idea is pretty much “open,” not tying itself too closely to any one image or idea, leaving itself open to change and evolution. I’m friends with the whole team, and a few of them are having parts in my full-length video that’s coming out soon.

What’s with your obsession with the Japanese?
I’m not obsessed! I am really into their style of skating and thought process behind it though. For one, the scene is done right – it’s small, local companies built around their region. People support their local brands. I think that in America, big brands are kind of due to die off. Go weird, go local, go homie brand.

And the way they skate. They just do what comes to them. Nobody gives a shit about hammertime tricks. Skate the spot, find what’s unique about it and exploit it.

Don’t you think that if the art direction for OPEN is indeed.. open, doesn’t that make it harder to “brand” or give an identity?
Haha, that is a really good point. But I think there’s a guiding hand behind it that’ll show through. I actually think it’s kind of cool that the owners don’t want to nail it down in any one territory. It’s more fun that way. You see a lot of companies that make the same board over and over, the same video over and over. This way it’ll stay fresh, fun to work with.

You said, “in America big brands are kind of due to die off.” Why do you think that is?
It’s just hard to relate to them. A supergroup of skaters…they’re put together like a boy band. Billy’s on the team because he can actually sing, Timmy’s on because of his charm with the ladies…Joey’s on because he can skate huge rails. You know what I mean? For the most part, these people don’t skate together.

Small brands, with people who skate together, who represent an area or joined mindset. That’s how it should be. I hope we’re at a turning point. Skating has grown so much, it’s where it was in the 80s, before the big mass extinction. You know what Jason Jessee said. I want it to die.

What Japanese vids would you recommend to people?
Takahiro Morita is king. Shinpei Ueno, Shingo Ogura, all the TBPR filming is done amazing. I can’t wait to see the new Strush video. I loved the Color Communications video.

With HD being the standard these days, do you think you will be making the switch soon?
Personally, I’m not “against” the switch to HD. But nothing else has come along yet that I like as much as the VX1000. My main problem with filming skateboarding in HD is the aspect ratio. In the 16:9 format, when you film fisheye, there’s way too much dead space on either side of the skater. Lines look slower, tricks are more predictable–you can see the spot for a long time before the skater gets to it, it’s less surprising. I guess it’s more realistic, maybe, but it’s not as exciting. You can’t get enough distortion in the lenses, you can’t get as close to the action. We’re actually experimenting with some camera/lens setups that people haven’t done before. Trying to overcome these problems. But in the meantime, I just bought another VX last week. I have no plans to switch anytime soon.

Words: Ian Michna
Rant, comment or bitch on our Facebook
Let us spam you on Twitter

East Timor is a small island nation located amidst the vast archipelago of Indonesia in Southeast Asia. After decades of brutal Indonesian occupation, guerrilla warfare, repression and civil unrest, East Timor is currently experiencing its first period of relative calm in many years. Skateboarding is still a very new activity in East Timor and the local population is always very intrigued by the presence of skaters.

Unlike Southeast Asia’s humid tropical climate, the weather in Timor is more like the heat of an Australian summer at its peak: dry, dusty and scorching. For the other half of the year it rains. In the three months I was in Dili, it was only possible to skate in the early mornings or in the evenings. Although the Timorese don’t seem to sweat, I was always drenched and exhausted within half an hour.

The majority of East Timor’s skateboarding occurs at Ba Futuru’s small concrete skatepark. When I arrived it had seen better days. The surface was extraordinarily rough and many of the ramps had large cracks at the bottom of the transitions. Although this didn’t deter the locals, I knew that if left for much longer, the skatepark would eventually become unusable. I worked with Ba Futuru and was able to organize the skatepark to be resurfaced, altering some old ramps and building new ledges.

Street skating is still a relatively new concept there. Although new infrastructures are being built, most roads are potholed and footpaths are rare. Anytime I skated the streets, an audience quickly gathered. Often kids were so excited they couldn’t contain themselves. Presumably having never seen a skateboard before, they would try and jump onto the skateboard while I was riding past them.

During the day, kids at Ba Futuru would hound me with continuous calls of, “Mr Skateboard, Mr Skateboard!” At five o’clock they would be waiting to mob me. Every time I was surrounded by screaming kids eager to get a roll in. Once skating, the kids calmed down and although there were constant yelps of, “troka, troka, troka (change/swap)” they were very well behaved. They regularly worked together to learn new tricks and stopped to help their fallen comrades.

With 48% of the population under the age of 17, East Timor has a very young community. As most youths have limited access to education or employment, skateboarding acts as a great way for them to take part in an activity that is challenging yet promotes creativity. One that promotes constructive engagement with other kids rather than furthering the social divides caused by gang related violence.

The biggest risk the Timorese skateboarding scene faces is the unavailability of product. Although Ba Futuru has several setups, skateboards and shoes are precious. The closest skateshops are in Darwin and Bali and the postal service in East Timor is notoriously unreliable. The few privately owned skateboards are skated til the boards are haggard and the bearings shot. Similarly, those who have skate shoes patch and resole them, aware that losing or breaking either item may mean an untimely end to their skating career. While the odds are stacked against Timorese skateboarders, their dedication and ingenuity is likely to triumph.

Words: Owen Morton
Photography & Video footage: Owen Morton
Check out Owen’s website & photography
Find out more about Ba Futuru, Timor-Leste’s national child protection and peace building organization.
More articles on our Facebook
Follow us on Twitter