The Skateboard project

Enuff was enuff...

Over the summer, I noticed the paper graphics on the deck of my enuff skateboard wearing and tearing away as I used it and decided that it was time to create something more with the bottom of it.


So, last night, I sanded off the paper graphics, and smoothed down the back of the board before coating it first with a layer of Optima high-build white primer so that I could draw a design on the back and so that I could seal the plywood before working on it with paints that could potentially weaken the integrity of the wood.


The original graphics...

After this, I set to work using bright coloured acrylic paints. I laid down a strip of tape across two sections of the middle of the board to create a blank space where I could later write. On the nose-end of the deck, I painted using warm yellow acrylic paint, warm red, and cool red to create a faded, almost psychedelic effect on top of the primer. On the tail end, I used the same painting techniques and blending, except with a range of cool blue colours to create a dusky look that was in contrast to the sunset inspired look on the nose end. I then removed the tape and painted the spaces that I'd left black.

In process...

To complete my bespoke board, I drew a motif of a half dead girl and painted it using acrylic paints, with a yellow edger that faded into an army green colour. I then painted the lyrics 'just like Hollywood, but laced in sick', from Bring Me The Horizon's song, Pray for Plagues in a white acrylic with my thinnest paintbrush.

I left it to dry and then used Simoniz clear lacquer spray can to seal and waterproof the art to prevent it from peeling or scratching off when I use the board.

the only thing remaining is to refit the trucks, wheels and bearings and I'll have a board that no other comes close to.

The Finished project...

The Finished Product

Having spent my first few weeks at KEC learning to be both free and flamboyant with mark making and studying related artists such as Ian Liddle and Lee McKenna, I have created a final piece, which I feel truly reflects the work that I have undertaken.


Life, The Universe and Everything
Throughout the process of creating this piece of work, what I had in mind was nothing except what is usually in my head. This piece reflects the affects of both anxiety and depression on the teenage mind and the ways in which it affects us. The straight lines, which were created by masking parts of the paper before I began painting, chalking and pasteling, represent how, in a linear and scientific way, everybody's brain works and processes in the same way, conversely, the use of angry, harsh colours such as reds, show the confusion that is present within my head, whilst cold colours such as blues, greys and whites represent the self hatred and outcasted feelings which linger within a sufferer of anxiety or depression. I used unkempt black lines in different tones to show the inner hostility and friendlessness. Overall, I felt that my piece managed to capture the way that I feel when my anxiety and depression is particularly bad.

Mark making

For the first two weeks of A Level art, I've been exploring and pushing the boundaries a little bit by using mark making in somewhat unconventional ways to represent various still life objects some of which included Pinecones, beans talks and sunflowers.

These pieces were made using a variation of both wet and dry mediums and different surfaces such as cartridge paper, brown paper, emulsion, black sugar paper and collages, and the results, which at times did not directly show the object in its true form and line, were both interesting and exciting to observe.

Why Art?

I suppose the question that begs to be asked of an art student is, why art?


My answer to this isn't simple. Following the path that leads down art to me means having the power to change how people might view particular aspects of life, such as through comics, sketches, painting and mixed media pieces. I love the power that a simple pencil gives me to create my own world, and to thereby influence others to create. Art to me, gives me a key to my future in art, whether that be through tattoo artistry, furnishing designs, simple drawings, or through creating to draw attention to particular issues that today's society faces.


Art is a way of learning, which to me, isn't learning, it's an escape from all of the hardships of daily life, it provides me with a passion and with a desire to do something more with my skills than to sit on the side lines. It is a way of drawing attention to what needs to be known and it is a subtle way of doing so.


So, I suppose in answer to the question 'why art?, I will ask you another question...


Why not?