"Tribute" To An Art Super Hero - Chris Dyer! The 1st Skateboard I Painted 🎨
Before I started painting myself, I was an art collector first. I got into collecting the art of Chris Dyer (Find him on Instagram @Chris_Dyer ) in 2005. I fell in love with his bright colorful pieces, often painted on broken or cracked skateboards, and the conscious and spiritual vibes and themes his art was representing. Over the next years I ended up buying 9 of his original paintings, and because of that, I got to know Chris, and witness his career grow exponentially over time.
When I started to paint myself in 2011, I was super inspired by having seen how Chris turned his art into a full time career. I knew he worked super hard and put his heart and soul into everything he did. When I found out he was going to host a skateboard painting workshop at Alex Grey's CoSM I was super stoked to be part of it, so I signed up! I had never painted a skateboard before, so I knew it would be fun.
At the workshop, Chris started by giving a slideshow about the evolution of skateboard graphics, starting from simple designs like a black cross with the words "Dog Town" also arranged as a cross, up to super funky and fluorescent designs from the 80's and early 90's, to modern skateboard graphics and artists - including Chris himself.
When it came time to paint our own boards, I started with the black cross (to show Chris I was paying attention! lol). I built up an pattern around it, and then noticed it looked a lot like a graffiti style fish! Chris does what he calls "Fishbomb" murals in his graffiti style all over the world, and Chris is a Pisces, so as it developed more I decided to give it to Chris as a gift and a token of my appreciation for all he does to bring colorful happiness into the world. I named it "Tribute" because it was a tribute to the history of skateboard graphics and to Chris himself.
During the workshop, Chris made a few jokes about how we should use#chrisdyerisgod if we posted pics on Instagram, so I used that in the middle sort of in the style of "Dog Town" lol Now it hangs in his office in Montreal, and I was stoked to get this pic last time I visited with him.
He's giving another CoSM skateboard workshop soon! If you'd like to attend check out all the details at https://www.cosm.org/events/positive-creations-workshop-chris-dyer/
Thanks for checking out my blog, have an awesome day! -Adam
Visit my webstore @ www.NexusVisions.com/art