It’s difficult to believe it has taken us two years to feature the work of Californian-born artist Ben Brough. Because if any artist legitimises the notion of the artistry around board-riding, it is Ben. Sure, Ben is an artist – but he’s many more things besides: surfer, designer, father, husband, conversationalist, skateboarder, art scholar and sheer creative force of nature.

This is something his friend Craig Barker picked up on recently. “Ben would be making artwork of all kinds even if he wasn’t participating in the ‘art world’ just because he HAS to … and that’s important”. This idea of a creative life being as important and fulfilling as the work itself is a theme Ben comes back to often during an hour long conversation that ranges around the world and covers everything from the story-telling lineage of Mexican mural art to the lonely, solitary stoke of catching a wave.

“I like the process and the discipline of it”, he says. “It’s like if I don’t surf. If I don’t create, I feel a little off. There are no labels. I’m just trying to do everything and just be into everything”.

What’s a typical day for you? How does it go?
A typical day? I got two girls, one’s 8 and one’s 4, so my wife and I get the kids ready for school, and if it’s good sneak down and get a surf in before work. Then I head down to the office – I work for O’Neill as their art director. I’ve been there for two years. So I go there and do the daily duties, the ins and outs of work. Then I come home, make some dinner for the kids, hang out, maybe have a couple of beers and then go into the studio and work until late and night. Usually it’s a combination of that, to try and balance all those things – family life, work full time, and keep the studio time. And surfing. Between all that it takes up a solid chunk of the day.

New Beach

It sounds like you need to be pretty organised and dedicated to make time for your work then.
My wife helps out a lot. She understands I’m an artist and I have shows and projects. She’s active too and creative. Together we’re just trying to balance all that shit. I mean, of course I’d like to do it all day. I was for a while, and it’s hard – I was trying to buy a house, and then this job opportunity at O’Neill came up. So at night is really the only time I get to concentrate on my art. You know, I’m at work all day at the computer, and that’s the opposite of what I do in the studio, which I think is a good thing. I have to do catalogues, colour corrections, that type go thing, so I like the fact I can come home, play some music and throw some paint around. And I like it late at night. It’s quiet, and I have a garage so I can hang. That’s usually the routine. If I have a show, I wake up early on the weekends and work throughout the day. If it’s really crunching out, I’ll get up early and make time for that. I just pick and choose.

You’ve always worked commercially with brands such as O’Neill. How does that work with your art? Does it complement it?
For the longest time, I was always trying to keep my fine art and graphic design separate. I was afraid of being watered down. But now as I get older, I’ve realised it doesn’t matter. I mean, I’ve been doing graphic design for companies for 12 years now, and its all part of the same story. It all influences the other and gives you something else. Like, my art is really loose and flat. There’s not much 3D involved, but when I’m designing I enjoy the total opposite. I like the cleanness. Maybe it’s because I’m a Gemini, ha ha. So at work I enjoy creating ad campaigns, laying out catalogues, lookbooks, trying to keep the vibe and direction giving in the same direction. It’s a tighter as a brief, but it’s still an outlet. I love getting photos, going on shoots and then manipulating it back on the computer. It’s all creativity, it doesn’t matter if they’re separate.

Surf Sacrifice

Is it difficult, to balance those things? Sometimes it must be tempting to just sit down, watch TV and have a beer. How do you keep motivated and focussed?
Yeah sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes my brain is just mush, so I’ll drink a few beers, sit on the couch and reset my brain. But I try to stay as focussed as possible. Even when I’ve finished a shot, I like to be in there working. But sometimes it just isn’t possible. Sometimes you have to draw the arrow back, absorb, get some downtime, get ready.

I’d like to say ‘Yeah, it’s none stop. I’m obsessed!’ But it’s not like that. Sometimes I need a break. I mean, I’m constantly thinking about it, but it’s hard to maintain that frame of mind the whole time. So to try and keep that frame of mind is the goal, so that I do step in, everything starts to flow. Because I don’t work in series or blocks: I come in and start banging stuff out. Mostly it’s just working the whole time until something sticks. It’s like skating or surfing – I get the same enjoyment from those things. And you don’t do those constantly. Sometimes you’re hurt, sometimes you’ll need to sit back on it. Sometimes it clicks and it’s all you want to do. Then you want to keep in that, because it’s firing. It’s like a big circus. When you’re in it, the stars are aligned. When you create, when you get a wave – they’re all the same for me.

Chug Slide

The older I get, the more I think that creativity is basically a habit. But do you feel guilty if you’re not working? When you’re on that downtime? You sound like you have a good handle on it, but recognising and enjoying that necessary downtime is really difficult I think.
Yeah, I definitely feel guilty. And I’m trying more and more to see creativity as a habit. I always get interested in other artists with kids. I mean, I feel guilty when I’m not with my kids. How do you balance it all?

What came first? Surfing or art?
I surfed from a young age, I grew up in surfing family. I was born in California, with it’s rich surf history, then we moved to Hawaii. And I’ve just always been in the water or on the beach. My Dad was great and was always making sure I was in the water. At the same time, when I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be an artist from around the 4th grade. My grandfather was an artist in the Navy. He used to draw people for 10 cents a portrait. So that was around me, and I held onto that.

Soon after I got the opportunity to travel as a sponsored surfer, which was amazing as I got to see the world. But I was always much more interested in heading to the museums, and checking out the local culture, than just necessarily going surfing. Having that opportunity to travel and experience so much fired my imagination and gave me so much to draw from as an artist.

Was the surfing itself an influence at all?
It’s funny, because it’s only recently that I really started being into surf imagery. Before, I wanted to keep it separate. Above all, I always wanted to be true and be myself. That applies for any influences though. I didn’t want to fake it. I mean, I’m not a graffiti artist. I didn’t grow up in an urban environment. But the more I worked, and the less time I had to surf, then the more I was drawn to surf stuff. Because the truth is I’ve always been connected to surfing. And it went from there, and eventually the theme comes out. Like in the last show I did, it’s definitely prominent. I still wouldn’t say I’m a surf artist. For me, it’s about keeping to themes I know about and that I can speak truthfully about.

Bean and Cheese Salvation

That links nicely to your latest project, Children of the Wave, which seems to link many key strands of surf culture with other influences like comic strips. Was that intentional?
Well the basis of that was this comic strip I made up about a gang of desert kids called the Cactus Club. They’re a motley crew. They they live in the desert, camp out, cause havoc. But they know when the waves are good, so then they surf while it’s good, then they head back to the desert to shoot guns. They’re basically pirates that live in the desert, causing havoc.

Heckle

I read a lot that Wilbur Kookmeyer was a big influence. Is that true in this case?
Yeah. I mean, I grew up with surf magazines from the 60s and 70s. My Dad was there and hanging out, and he has all those old magazines: Wilbur Kookmeyer, Rick Griffin. All those fun old strips. That’s the type of surf art I like, rather than like a perfect painting of a wave or whatever. It’s a little more raw and related to the fun of surfing. So yeah, it was a homage, to have fun and keep that vision alive. I wanted to do something similar in a different age, to keep that spirit alive in the modern era, and come up with something raw, fun and truthful. Surfing to me isn’t just a perfect wave or a sunset. Sometimes your board breaks. Or it’s the burrito you eat when you get out of the water, which never tasted better. To me that shit is surfing.

Magical

When I look at your work it seems to me that freedom is a key theme, almost like you’re trying to recapture the innocence that marks out your early days as a kid, when your life revolves around riding waves or skating the local spot. When you grow up, you lose that. Is that what the Cactus Club was all about?
Yeah. Subliminally it’s about that, trying to recapture that freedom you had as a kid. Like you say, now I have this routine, whereas when you were a kid it was simple. I think subconsciously I’m always longing for that freedom again.

What about Lonely Slider, the other project of yours? What is that all about?
It’s a new project I’m working on. There’s nothing deep behind it. I just wanted to have an umbrella to put my art underneath. It is turning into a brand now actually, and there’s the possibility of releasing merch under the name – prints, hats, t-shirts and whatnot. I know it sounds a bit emo, like ‘I have no friends, boo hoo’. Which is funny, because I think friends are everything. But Lonely Slider is the act of riding a wave or getting waves.

Feasts of Burden

What ambitions do you have for your work at this stage?
I love preparing for gallery shows. Any artist would like to be doing it full time. I’d like to be on that level but….I’m only 35. So in the art world I’m young. I mean, I hang out with a lot of other artists in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and they’re still going at it. And I want that, I want to live to a ripe old age and be like them, drinking wine and create. The goal is to keep doing it non stop, to keep working. To keep at it. The thing is, I’ve always done it and I always will, regardless of whether I get good shows or now. I just want to keep doing it and see where it goes. I like the process and the discipline of it. Like I said earlier, it’s the same feeling I get if I don’t surf. If I don’t create, I feel a little off and I wonder what’s wrong with it. It’s a feeling that you just have to try and do it again. It keeps your brain working properly. I turn into much mentally and physically if I don’t.

But yeah, I’d love to get my work around in the ‘real’ art world. I’d like to get to a point where my art is recognisable. I want to be collected. Which artist doesn’t? You know, I look at other artists – they work in one medium, or are know for one thing, and for the longest time I wanted to do that. I struggled with that for a long time. Now, I’m like fuck that. There are no labels, and I like to explore all these different avenues: comics, abstracts, design, paintings, collage. I’m just trying to do everything and just be into everything.

Paradise Skull

How about specifics? What pieces are you working on?
I’m working on this skull and crossbones series right now. It’s interesting, because it’s not a new subject. It’s everywhere. But in looking at it, you realise how many layers such a well known symbol has. I love the shape of it. It reminds me of danger. It can be political. It breaks down any racial issues. It’s universal. It could be a cliche, but I’m trying to see something different in there.

Are you inspired by other artists directly?
That’s such a broad question – there are so many artists that I look at and am blown away. And for me it’s almost like a day to day, week to week thing. I love looking at art and sometime it fucks me up. I don’t want to subliminally influenced, but at the same time I like looking, getting inspired. It’s kinda like a catch 22 – if I’m looking at art, then I’m getting pissed off that I’m not doing as much.
It’s a black hole question. I could be here all day, ha ha. David Lloyd, who lives up in LA, is somebody I look up to. He works non stop. David Shrigley. I love him. I love Rick Griffin’s stuff. Then I’m influenced by eras and styles. I love Egyptian art and caveman art. It’s flat and one dimensional, but it still has a dialogue, tells a story and deals with pretty deep questions. I love Old Masters. Mexican mural painters.

Still Life With Chaos Out West

It sounds like for you the act of doing it, being inspired by others, and living a lifestyle that’s as creative as possible is almost as important as ‘the work’ itself.
I’m not trying to make my life sound like this crazy artist lifestyle. But like I said earlier, it’s about being truthful to yourself. I didn’t grow up in New York or Berlin. I didn’t cut my ear off, fuck hookers or drink absinthe. When I was a kid, I was really into that image of the romantic artist. I thought that’s what an artist did – sit in a garret all day and try and ‘create’. I enjoyed it at the time, but the older I got the more I realised that wasn’t really what it was about.

It was the same when I surfed all the time. I used to get so caught up in criticising the industry, complaining that it’s lame, and wanting to break out and away from it. But as I got older, I came to my senses. I realised this is the world I came from. I surf, I skate. I’m influenced by skateboard graphics. I’m a product of that lifestyle. Regardless of labels or whatever, it doesn’t fucking matter. That’s how kids are right now, they’re into everything – photography, art, skating, whatever. So I’m embracing it. If anything, too much. It’s almost overload sometimes. Sometimes I think I need to reel it back and focus on one thing, ha ha.

Phil’s been working with us here since last year, and produced the brilliant Practise Makes Perfect series for #LookingSidewaysLondon (above), as well as this thank you sketch (below) which is in the running to become the first LS x artist collaborative t-shirt. Watch this space for that … and for an exclusive video interview with Phil in which he talks about his work and influences.

So after months of planning and plotting, the doors of #LookingSidewaysLondon are now open. We’re here all weekend showing work by Ben Allen, Will Barras, Pete Fowler, French, Michael C Hsiung, Tim Karpinski, Phil Morgan, Schoph and Owen Tozer.

We were lucky enough to have some of the artists in town for the show, including Pete Fowler, seen here signing his exclusive Lost in Space prints for us, Phil Morgan, Schoph, Will Barras and Owen Tozer.

Pete Fowler, Christian Stevenson and Schoph

Over and Above, Some View and Crab Island, set of three woodcut prints by Owen Tozer exclusive for Looking Sideways London

Thanks to Ruth, Bindi and Ed at Church of London for all the help setting the show up, all the artists for taking part and supporting the Looking Sideways project, and to everybody who came down to support the show.

Will’s work has been in the spotlight since the 1999 publication of Scrawl, the book that according to the Stolen Space gallery “documented a new movement in street art, graphics and illustration”. Since then, his career has diversified to the point that he is now equally in demand as an acclaimed artist, illustrator and animation director. He also takes on commercial work for a huge range of clients, and has recent shows in New York, Budapest, LA, Philadelphia and Warsaw to his name.

He’s a busy man, and we’re stoked to be working with him at Looking Sideways. We caught up with Will to find out more about his background, how the whole Scrawl thing came about, and how his work has been developing.

What were your early art influences? How did you get into painting and graff?

When I left college in Bristol I got a job at a call centre with Mr Jago. We sat there and doodled for about a year. I took these drawings and started looking for illustration work. One of my best friends Steff Plaetz was living there too and he was painting canvases straight out of college.
I had been doing flyers. There was a clothes shop in Bristol called Alterior run by a graffiti artist called Dicy and Dave Smeaton. All the artist took turns to show canvases in the window. This was my first attempt at showing canvases. I also went and painted outside occasionally. But I knew it was more fun to be doing that than sitting in front of my computer so I pursued it, and it led to a lot of live painting shows and travelling over the years.

Tell us a little about Bristol and the Scrawl Collective thing. This is where most people – myself included – first became aware of your work I guess…

It was a good time to be in Bristol. Maybe its always a good time there. There were alot of artists coming up and moving there. It was where Banksy started, and I guess this had a hand in making people pay attention to Bristol.
One day Ric Blackshaw came and visited us. He had been living in Manchester making house music when a mate asked him if he would be interested in putting a book together about a new wave of graffitti, comic and music related art and illustration. He was making his way around the country joining the dots (this was pre internet) and it went from there. I dont think he expected the book to be such a success but it was, and from there the Collective was born. A number of us started to get work and travel through various jobs that came from the book. I went to Japan about five times and made four animated commercials for VW. Good times….

Can you describe your work / style? I realise this is a bit of a nightmare question for most artists.

Well I try to evolve what I’m doing, but I guess the main thing is that its narrative driven and figurative with a fluidity and movement to it.

Great Party Yeah

What’s your favourite medium to work in? Has this changed over the years?

I like to use acrylic and spraypaint together. I like the way they react against each other. I use a lot of water. I’m starting to use oil paint a bit more too.

You’ve work in many fields – street pieces, murals, gallery pieces, mainstream commissions. Any favourites?

I mostly work indoors, so in my studio, or at home, or at the animation studio I work at sometimes called Th1ng. I paint outside occasionally and i really enjoy that when I do. I should motivate myself to do that more. I like to work in different places. If I’m in one place for a long time i get distracted.

Has skate or boardsport culture affected or influenced you?

I’ve always taken notice of snowboard and skateboard graphics, I was really inspired by that period of time when Dave Kinsey put his art on the Burton boards, which I think was in the mid 90s. There were some cool boards around. I was riding my BMX in Bristol a lot around this time as well. I also designed a skateboard for 50/50 in Bristol about 10 years back and I was so happy to do that. Thats the best thing I ever did really. It was a big ambition to get some art on a skate or snowboard. I think I took a lot of inspiration from watching skate, BMX and snowboard videos, trying to capture this movement.
All of these things from the artists to the riders, filmakers and the music on the videos. All of these people are influencing each other.

Are you into any other artistic fields?

Animation. Its always commercial work, but i really enjoy this now.

What are you working on at the moment? Any exciting projects, collaborations or commissions?

There are a few things going on. Some group shows, a show in Cologne at the end of the year and hopefully one in Zurich next year.

What artists or designers inspire you?

There are too many. I love Syd Mead’s work, and Moebius, but I look at lots and lots of different things. I drink it in and piss it out….

Times Square

Do you own or collect work by any artists?

Ive got a lot of small things I’ve collected and swapped with people over the years. My favourites are a drawing from Blami, a painting by Jeremy Fish, a drawing from Albert Reyes and a metal canvas by Word to Mother, which I swapped with some pasta art I made which he really liked….

Pan Am, Will’s new piece exlusively available as an original and print through Looking Sideways

It’s a double celebration here at Looking Sideways HQ this week, as we throw open the doors of our virtual shop for the first time. Head on over to http://shop.wearelookingsideways.com/ and you’ll be able to buy unique original work and prints from our featured LS artists for the first time. Pretty good eh?

It marks the first stage of the launch of the brand spanking new Looking Sideways website, which we’re hoping to fire off into the online stratosphere in the next few weeks. The site will feature a lovely, slick new look, and the usual in-depth profiles of LS artists and their work, bespoke LS content, and details of forthcoming LS events.

For now, you’ll have to content yourself with heading over to the new shop and browsing the original works, high quality screen prints and very limited edition archival art prints we’re producing in unique collaborations with our artists – like Pan Am, the amazing piece by Will Barras above.

Click here to see this and more….

Here at Looking Sideways we’re lucky to work with some amazing artists. And as well as inspiring us with their work, they also inspire with their own recommendations as well: like when LS artist Phil Morgan introduced us to the sublime, surreal imaginative netherworld of Californian artist and illustrator Michael C. Hsiung. Phil and Michael go way back, so we asked Phil for a few words on his friend and collaborator. Here’s what he had to say…..

Michael C Hsiung is an illustrator based in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. I first came across his work back in 2007 through his range of graphics for the skate company Enjoi Skateboards. He is a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons, wizardry, bearded sea creatures and narwhals. As well as skateboarding and bearded beer drinking dudes, all of these influences come across in his imaginative black and white ink drawings. I’m such a fan of his style that I even had one of his illustrations turned into a tattoo.
He’s had his work displayed all over the world, most recently with a solo show at THIS Gallery in LA. I’m really happy to be showing my work at Looking Sideways London next to such a rad artist.

Hsiung at work

Tell me about yourself. Where you’re from, how you got into art?

I was born in China Town in downtown LA. My Dad was from mainland China, my mum was from Taiwan. They came over in 74, and I grew up in San Fernando Valley, so am fully Californian.

My sister is a painter, but I moved away from that when I was a kid, probably because of her to be honest. I went to college and studied English lit, lived in San Jose, worked, skated. Then when I was in my late 20s, I moved back to LA where my sister, family and friends lived. I quite my job, moved back and started drawing again. Just doing weird shit, showing them to my sister and friends. At the same time, a good friend of mine Mike Stilkee was also working as an artist, and he was just starting to take off. He started taking me to shows – mentored me in a way. He was someone I grew up with skating from when I was about 15 or so. So when I met back up with him in a bar, we started hanging out again with a bunch of other old skate crew friends. And it grew from there.

Samurai Warrior of the Bird Klan, available in the Looking Sideways shop

So would you say skating influenced your art in any way? If so, how?

It had a total influence. Those were all things that I grew up with in California. Toy Machine and Ed Templeton, seeing people doing graphics, then setting up companies and doing it for themselves. So when I started doing my own art it just seemed natural. Like, ‘Of yeah, I can make my own art, so I’ll screenprint it’. You know, I didn’t even think about it. At the time it just seemed natural, but when I reflect on it now it’s definitely because of all that stuff. Because I would never have been exposed to it if I hadn’t seen everybody else doing it. The people I grew up skating with were always doing their own stuff – creating art, building a ramp, making patches and zines. So yeah, it’s a huge influence which you almost take for granted.

Some of Michael’s work for Enjoi Skateboards

Most artists we speak to say the same thing, that it’s the overall creative atmosphere of the skate scene that encourages creativity and a DIY attitude. You’ve also done some work for skateboard companies as well right? Tell me how that came about?

Yes, that was one of my biggest breaks. I was working at a museum as an Assistant Grant Writer and working on my art in my spare time. Enjoi asked me to design a set of board, and it was a huge opportunity for me. It also led to me doing more boards here and there, as well as wheels and other bits since.

Just Friends For Amigos Skateboards

You also did some boards for a friends company recently?

Yeah. They’re called Amigos Skateboards from Seattle. They’re a really awesome company which one of my old skate buddies Bryan and a bunch of friends in Seattle pulled together. So when they asked me to do a graphic, of course I was down to support the cause!

I always think if you grow up skating, there will be a couple of things you always dream of doing: building a ramp, starting a band or doing your own board graphic. Doing one for a friend’s company is another, one of those goals you can tick off right?

Yeah, it’s great. It’s funny, every time I do a skateboard graphic it’s like it’s almost more meaningful than a solo show (laughs). Talking of skateboard stuff, I also recently did some different but skateboard-related stuff which I can just about speak about now. It was for the Tampa Pro, some art for the ramps at the comp, which was really cool. I don’t really do a lot of big commercial stuff, and at first I was almost reluctant. But you know a bunch of really cool artists have done it in the past, like Travis Millard and Todd Bratrud. I worked on it here and they’ll be putting it on the ramps. It’s a great concept so I’m excited to see how it looks.

Hippie Johnny The Elf, available in the Looking Sideways shop

I guess it’s an interesting one, the relationship between an artist and the commercial work. It’s essential if you want to work as a full time artist, but might often feel like a compromise artistically. Must be nice to get a commercial commission that’s linked to skateboarding though?

Yes, that’s definitely something that’s exciting. And hopefully it lives on the photographs and video of the comp and skatepark, which is always a really fun thing and gets you more exposure. Plus, the tie-in with the contest, with it being the 20th anniversary of the Tampa Pro, made it really cool.

Magic Mike, The Elf with the Unicorn Hat, available in the Looking Sideways shop

Can you tell me a bit about how how you work? Method, mediums etc?

I guess I’d describe it as illustration, narrative style, black and white, mostly ink or pen & ink. It’s character based, and it’s sort of humorous. Comic-ish. But not really. I never really know how to describe it!

How about themes? I have ‘hair’ written in my notes here – you seem to draw a lot of hirsute characters: beards, animals and birds, which I think really show the detail and technique of your style really well. Tell me about that and other themes in your work?

Ha. I have a lot of friends with facial hair and beards, it’s a common thing to see, so maybe that just seeped into my work. Also, it’s a fun thing for me to pattern. It’s almost soothing. I can draw a greater picture or character, then work on these great details, adding arm hair, back hair, beards, feathers, fur. It’s a fun thing for me to draw and it works well with the content. Also I’m kind of obsessed with Vikings and medieval history, so I often end up drawing things like that.

Dr Quinn Medicine Elf, available in the Looking Sideways shop

I was going to mention that. It seems like the almost magical, hybrid human-animal characters you often draw seem to have an Norse or European mythic background, rather than, say, an influence from your American-Asian background? Is that fair to say?

Yeah. I think that’s definitely true. I’m a true Chinese – American hybrid, and that influence comes from when I was reading a lot of literature and studying it in college. Renaissance literature, Medieval history. You know, I played Dungeons & Dragons. I was really into Greek mythology. Maybe that’s because of the school systems out here, as that’s a lot of what you learn and study. So I’ve always really been into that.
My favourite period of literature is medieval literature. Knights, chivalry and all that. So when I started drawing, all those elements started to seep out. Like, I’d start researching unicorns and all these weird types of mythical creatures, where and when they came from or appeared in history, and that had an influence.
There’s this one artist I really like called Olaus Magnus. He was an old Swedish or Norwegian mapmaker guy, and came up with all those old creature drawings you see in maps. Now the copyright is used up, you see it everywhere. They come from his drawings, which are some of the best stuff. I love his style, and a lot of his titles, when they translate into English, is often what I like to allude to in my titles. Like, I always pick up these long, elaborate titles which is kind of a play on his stuff. Or old books like Tom Jones or Don Quixote, which have really long chapter titles.I think that must be something that comes from being an English nerd. I still like to work it into my artwork!

So literature is a big influence. How about other arts? Music for example? Do you listen to music when you work?

I do. I go back and forth. I have periods where I listen to a lot of music, a lot of classic rock stuff. I like a lot of sort of heavy stuff, drone-y stuff, but then sometimes I’ll draw in complete silence. Or sometimes I listen to the radio. But I think music is definitely a big factor, depending on what I’m drawing. You know, energy wise it’ll change what I’m drawing into something different. More aggressive or more battle scenes, ha ha.

Diving For Treasure

Have you ever done any artwork for bands?

Yeah, you know it’s LA. There are tons of band. I’ve done some record covers for Henry Clay People, a 7”, 12” and album cover. Sometimes I’ll just do random T-shirts for bands too. But I always think the music I’m into, like the really heavy stuff, they wouldn’t probably hire me to illustrate their covers you know. Hahaha!

So what type of stuff are you working on at the moment? Any projects that you’d like to tell us about?

Yeah, so as well as the Tampa Pro thing for Gatorade, I’m going to be in this other show coming up called Out of Towners in San Jose, at the Seeing Things gallery. It’s photographer Jai Tanju’s gallery and it’s with Jason Adams and a couple of other guys which is cool. So I’ll be travelling up there for that. I’m also releasing a print with Poster Child Prints here in LA soon, which I’m excited about. They do really high quality prints and have a crazy roster of artists. They’ve just started a local artist series and have picked me up on that which will be rad, as the drawing they’ve chose is one of eight dudes on a skateboard that I made. That’s coming out at the end of March.

Cool, look forward to seeing that and we’ll give it a shout out. Finally, to finish up, are there any other things, projects or artists you’re into at the moment that you’d like to tell us about, so our readers can check them out too?

In terms of artists, it’s great through the internet. I get to meet a lot of artists from all over the world, who like to blog and write me, which is rad. Sometimes I think maybe because my art is really accessible to them but people seem to like to write to me which is great. So I met this one artist from Perth, Australia called Sean Morris and his stuff is really, really cool.
And then Luke Pelletier, this kid who’s like 19 and had come out here and set up these really big shows. I didn’t even know he was that age when I met him and took him to a pub and slowly realised he wasn’t even old enough to be in there. And he’s this prolific kid who makes prints, zines, really solid stuff and has a crazy amount of energy. He’s definitely worth checking out.

Meanwhile, those in California can check out more of Schoph’s paintings at the Rhythm Livin show 725 Baker Street, Costa Mesa, also starting on the 25th April.

Look out for an in-depth interview with Michael coming soon on the Looking Sideways site, and if you’re in London Friday 26th to Sunday 28th April be sure com come and check out the #LookingSidewaysLondon exhibition at 71a Gallery 71A Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4QS where you can also see and buy new work by Mike alongside Ben Allen, Will Barras, Pete Fowler, French,  Tim Karpinski, Phil Morgan, Schoph, Corey Smith & Owen Tozer.

In the meantime, or if you can’t make the show, check out the new Looking Sideways Shop where where you will be able to buy original works and exclusive, limited edition signed prints by Michael and our other featured artists.

above: Michael C. Hsiung’s exclusive print for #LookingSidewaysLondon ‘Dr. Quinn meets the Samurai Warrior’ which will be on show and available to buy alongside original works.

For our Looking Sideways London show, we’ve gathered together ten of our favourite artists and collaborators: Ben Allen, Will Barras, Pete Fowler, French, Michael C. Hsiung, Tim Karpinski, Phil Morgan, Schoph, Corey Smith and Owen Tozer.

Above: Details of works from the pen of the mighty Michael C. Hsiung all the way from the USA for Looking Sideways London

“I wasn’t gonna show in the UK for a couple of years”, says Schoph, who’s been working with us since the start. “But the opportunity to exhibit at a show where all the artists still shred, surf or skate makes sense. The line up is brilliant as well, with such a diverse range of styles. They’re all great artists with their individual deal going off. Standard”.

Above: Detail of ‘Elder’ by Schoph – exclusive new work for the Looking Sideways London show, which will also be available as a limited edition of 20 signed Schoph X LS archival quality art prints.

Head to the show and you’ll also be able to buy original works, high quality screen prints and very limited edition archival art prints of the unique pieces the ten artists are creating for the show.

The London show will also mark the launch of the new Looking Sideways website, where you’ll be to buy unique original work and prints from featured LS artists. We’ve spent six months working on the site with our friends at Buffalo down here in Brighton, and we’re stoked at how it’s looking.

Above: Detail of new work by Tim Karpinski for Looking Sideways London exhibition

The site will feature in-depth profiles of LS artists and their work, bespoke LS content, and details of forthcoming LS events. We’re looking to launch at the end of April, so keep ‘em peeled for our launch date and for more information about the show.

Above: new piece by Ben Allen for Looking Sideways London exhibition – one of three pieces Ben will be displaying, one of which will be available as a limited edition of 20 exclusive LS X Ben Allen signed prints.

Above: ‘Lost In Space’ detail – exclusive new work by Pete Fowler for Looking Sideways London – also available as a limited edition of 20 signed & numbered archival art prints

]]> http://wearelookingsideways.com/events/new-looking-sideways-website-and-london-show-announced/feed/ 0 http://wearelookingsideways.com/things-we-like/endeavor-snowboards-x-ransom-holding-co/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=endeavor-snowboards-x-ransom-holding-co http://wearelookingsideways.com/things-we-like/endeavor-snowboards-x-ransom-holding-co/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:39:11 +0000 john dragon http://wearelookingsideways.com/?p=3696 Our friends at Endeavor Snowboard Design, with whom we recently collaborated to make the super limited series of LS X Vans X Endeavor snowboards based on the crowd sourced artwork created at our Wangl Tangl exhibition last year, have recently been working with Ransom Holding Co. in a collaborative project to produce an original snowboard design that pays homage to the brands’ Canadian heritage.

Endeavor Snowboards x Ransom Holding Co. Collaborative Lab Project from Endeavor Snowboard Design on Vimeo.

The short film above candidly documents the entire process from design to production through to snowboarding on the custom snowboards.

The outcome was a board that was hand constructed of cutting edge engineering, materials and contemporary design that features a totem image from Ransom Holding Co. winter 2013 campaign photographed by Sneeze Magazine’s Nic Fensom, a nod to the Canadian origin of both brands.

The design, engineering and construction, featuring exclusive pre-tensioned fiberglass, was done within Endeavor Snowboards’ Archtype Lab in Vancouver, B.C.

After development of the project, a tightly knit crew from Ransom Holding and Endeavor Snowboards set out on an alpine expedition to test the snowboard during a 2 day stay in a remote cabin in Northern BC. The time within the mountains was spent discussing design, cooking, sledding into un-touched alpine zones in search of good snow.

above: Endeavor Archetype Lab detail, Vancouver, Canada – photo Scott Serfas

ABOUT ENDEAVOR SNOWBOARDS

Endeavor Snowboard Design is a Canadian snowboard company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 2002 by pro rider Max Jenke and Transworld Magazine staff photographer Scott Serfas with the mission of making the best snowboards in the world.  For the past ten years, Endeavor has been dedicated to bringing art to snowboard design, working with top artists from all over the world. Snowboarders making snowboards for snowboarders.

above: Endeavor Archetype Lab details, Vancouver, Canada – photo Scott Serfas

About Ransom Holding Co.

Since its inception in 2002, Ransom has emerged as a leading name in contemporary men’s fashion. What began as an exclusive Toronto boutique has transformed into a distinctly Canadian label, sold by some of the world’s most influential purveyors of menswear.

above: Endeavor Snowboards X Ransom Holding Co. boards tested – photo Scott Serfas

above: Endeavor Snowboards X Ransom Holding Co. boards – photo Scott Serfas