House of Vans

Introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about Skateism. My name is Tobias Coughlin-Bogue, and I’m the online editor for SKATEISM. The magazine was founded by Christos “Moch” Simos and Oisin “Osh” Tammas in Athens. It began as just a little local Athens skate blog in 2012, but when Osh signed on they started doing more English-language posts and international coverage. Moch is one of the only out skaters in Greece, and at some point he and Osh realized that the stories they were most interested in telling centered around that… as well as some other areas of skateboarding they felt had been neglected like skate charity, global scenes, and women’s skateboarding. They also realized they wanted to make a magazine, as a place for underrepresented populations in skateboarding to see themselves in a proper print publication. Two years and four issues later, that’s exactly what they’ve done and we’re very proud to present Issue #4 as the Pride issue, focusing on the experiences of LGBTQ+ skaters.

Take us through your workshop and what were you doing with attendees at the Vans US Open? Essentially we facilitated everything to make a zine except shooting photos or binding the final copies. We had prints of images on hand for people to cut and glue onto cardstock, creating what’s called a “master” page. Masters are what zinemakers make photocopies of that they then bind together into their final zine. We started the workshop by talking a little bit about what zines are and why we think they’re so cool. We covered the zinemaking process, and then dived right into it.

What about zinemaking do you think is super fun and accessible? Zinemaking was a fundamental part of the pre-internet skate culture. While it isn’t exactly a necessity anymore, when it comes to communicating our own unique visions of skateboarding it’s still super fun to do. It forces you to take all the things that catch your eye at an event like the US Open, that might be a quick Insta story or something, and put them all down on a page together in a thoughtful way. Plus we like writing about skating, and zines incorporate a lot more text than some of the forms of storytelling we do on social media these days. 

As far as being accessible, well zines were kind of the social media in skateboarding (and punk and queer scenes too) before social media existed. They were cheap to make and there was a broad network of people sharing and exchanging them around the country, all interested in the same kind of subcultural topics. If you had an idea you wanted to share, you could just paste the images and words that capture it best to some backing paper and get to photocopying. Then mail it out to a distro or drop it off at the skate shop and — boom — you’re a publisher. 

Obviously a lot more work goes into what we do with something like SKATEISM, which takes hours and hours of reporting and editing and designing to make, but I at least got into the world of skate media via zines, and I have a huge soft spot for them. For what I do, and what a lot of people getting into media these days do, learning to publish fast and loose is actually really helpful, because that’s the pace digital media operates at.

What type of materials did you have on-hand for folks to work with? We shot a few photos of the first weekend of the event on Kodak Fun Savers (a very accessible and enjoyable way to source art for your zine!), and made photocopies of the best exposures. Plus, we had copies of some pages from past issues of SKATEISM… And of course all the scissors, glue, card stock, staplers, and other stuff folks needed to put together their own master pages. We encouraged attendees to supplement the images we’ve provided with writing and drawing that documents their own experience at the event!

Are there any rules to zinemaking? Have a good time doing it and don’t be hateful. That’s about it.

Any tips you’ve learned over the years for readers who may want to try creating a zine on their own? Just start doing it. To borrow a concept from Ira Glass, you know what you like to see on the page, so keep trying until the stuff you make starts to look like that. Don’t stress out too much if it doesn’t work out at first. Technically speaking, it’s really important to think in terms of spreads (two individual pages facing each other is one spread), and understand that a magazine is essentially a bunch of sheets of paper stacked up, stapled, and folded in half. Making sure that the individual pages in the spreads line up correctly can be tricky, so it might help to take a bunch of blank sheets of paper, bind them, write page numbers on them, then remove the staples and use them as a template for what to paste on each master page as you’re working.

What other zine techniques can people incorporate besides cutting and pasting? Doing it by hand is obviously the classic method, and will get you the most zine scene cred. But I am not ashamed to admit that, after two issues of cutting and pasting my first zine, I started scanning my photos and putting it all in InDesign. There is no shame in using layout software, and it will give you a whole new appreciation for how much thought and effort goes into every single print publication you ever read. It’s not just what they’re writing and which photos they’re publishing, but where on the page that stuff is, where it is in relation to the other stuff, what color and font things are, what angles they’re tilted at, what the background is, and so on... It’s definitely a different look and feel than handmade, but now that design software is so accessible, we think it’s every bit as DIY.

What did participants create and walk away with after the workshop? Well, besides hands on experience making zine master pages, we’re going to take our favorite masters and make a limited run of a compilation zine to give out on the final weekend of the event. 

So we’d like anyone who enjoyed the workshop to come back and grab a copy of that! And failing that, just a better understand of the zinemaking, DIY ethos that skateboarding was built on. Skateboarders have always made their own spots, their own rules, and their own fun. That definitely applies to their media too.

Who are some of your favorite zine makers? In the areas we’re focused on, you can’t not mention Xem Skaters by the Swedish nonbinary skater Marie Dabbadie. They’ve been making a rad, unapologetically genderqueer zine for years, and have done loads to change the conversation around gender in skateboarding. Of course, The Skate Witches are killing it too. In terms of general zines that I like, I grew up volunteering at the Zine Archive and Publishing Project in Seattle, which had copies of really rare ‘90s skate zines like Pool Dust, so I tripped out on those a lot growing up. Not ‘cause I’ve ever actually skated a real pool, just because they had this really scrappy, no bullshit aesthetic and made skateboarding look so cool. 

Recently, I was on a team for Thrasher’s “Zine Thing” Challenge in Seattle, which gave people two weeks to shoot a zine with Fun Savers; two weeks to do writing, editing, and layout; and then gave awards in different categories. Looking through the compilation book of all the entries still blows my mind. It’s a great reminder that skateboarding is full of cool, creative people, and everyone has a wildly different experience of it. I still can’t pick a favorite, although Leo Bañuelos' ’Skaters in Drag’ article is pretty legendary.

Three words that describe what Skateism is all about? The underground and overlooked. Sorry that's four!

Who or what were you most excited to check out at the Vans US Open? Personally, I’m excited to finally skate Cherry Park (nearby). But that’s just because my joints are falling apart and I can only skate low ledges. At the Open, I was excited to see all the pros skate the course, especially the women. Women’s skateboarding has been growing at an insane pace in the last few years, and the level of talent is out of control. When I started skating, I never thought I would see little girls back-smithing huge hubbas and female pros filming back-tail-kickflip-outs for their video parts, but here we are. The rate of progression is so exciting to me, and I feel like people will definitely be throwing down for the event.

Introduce yourself. My name is Matt Wohlrab and I’m an artist living and working in southern New Jersey.

How would you describe yourself and your art?  I try to keep things simple, but I can still be a total spaz at times. My work is mainly focused on hand-colored animations of skateboarding and surfing. I paint and have other outlets but for the most part my times spents hunched over 3”x3” squares studying and meticulously coloring individual frames from old skate videos.

How did the idea of painting and re-animating photos and video clips of skateboarders and surfers come about? I know now the technical term for it is called rotoscoping, but at the time I was only messing around and happened upon it. I’m sure I’d seen it before somewhere. Everything’s been done before.

What’s the story behind the “Leon Was Here” name? How did that start and why do you think it stuck? My friends and I have a DIY spot where the local riffraff like to congregate. Nothing wrong there, but they have a penchant for shitty grafitti. One day we’re there and I keep seeing Leon Washere tagged all over. At this point I’m getting angry and start asking who this kid Leon Washere is and if anybody knew him. My friend turns to me and points out it says “Leon Was Here.” I cooled down and we had a laugh about it. This was before I made the animation stuff, so that night I went home and changed my ig handle to leon_washere as an inside joke. I mean, if I knew people where going to start addressing me as Leon, I probably wouldn’t have done it. It too late now. Actually there’s a new kid on the scene tagging Chad Was Here. Maybe I’ll change it up. 

What was the first photograph you painted and what was the first video clip you re-animated with art on it?  The first photograph I painted was of Tony Montgomery’s kickflip over a trash can at Love Park. It’s an old photo shot by Andre Tur. He’s actually from NJ, Tony is, you can find it online but its one of the best photos of a kickflip ever shot.

Clip-wise it was of that kid Ben Kadow doing a slappy or something I found on Bill Strobeck’s page. I just like the way he skated and this was before any of that FA/Supreme stuff. I think he had a part I saw in a video out of NY called MAMA’S BOYS. It was so rough I remember taking photos and cropping each frame on my phone. Like I said I didn’t know what I was doing. I finished it and was blown away, like holy shit I did this! It was really exciting so I posted in on my ig. Bill Strobeck re-posted it and that’s all she wrote. Never got to say thank you to him for that, so yeah thanks Bill.

Do you have a favorite photograph and video clip you’ve worked on? I really like the way a photo of Karl Watson at Pier 7 turned out. He’s got such a distinct style you know its him whether its a clip or a photo. My favorite clip is another favorite of mine Phil Shao, R.I.P. It’s the ollie at Santa Rosa Park. Him pushing and carving corners. It sets the actual trick up well.

Besides painting and re-animating, you also create abstract interpretations of still life paintings and animals. When did you start creating these series of works and what do you love about painting?  I always painted on the side but never felt confident enough to show any of it. I started getting back into actual works on paper and canvas because I felt the computer creeping into my work and I needed to make mistakes and live with them. For the most part, that’s what painting is to me. An opportunity to be fearless and be more intuitive.

What are your essential art tools? What art supply do you always have on you at all times? It’s a little bit of everything from paint pens, colored pencils, watercolors, oil pastels, etc. Whatever works for each piece. The decision is made on the fly usually. I like to have an array of Sharpie paint pens at all times. I know what I like for sure and can get picky. Unless I’m broke then it’s whatever I can find.

How do you stay inspired–what do you do in your off time when not creating or painting to stay inspired? I try to hang out with different types of people outside skateboarding and surfing. Gives me a better perspective on things. Obviously skating and stuff, but I’m a bit older now and can’t keep up like I did in the past. It’s still good for me to be around it nonetheless. It’s like the fountain of youth.

Tell us about your Street Market booth.   There definitely are a bunch of posters/prints of my work and some pieces exclusive to the event. I made a video of my work I’m showing each day as well. I don’t want to tell you everything or you won’t stop by. 

Do you have a favorite Vans silhouette?  Chukka Boot

What’s the best advice you’d give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps? What’s the worst bit of advice you’ve gotten? Do what you want, not what you think is going to be cool to everybody else. All that stuff changes so fast, you’ll end up chasing a trend. The worst bit of advice. Propbably something having to do with money. As soon as money gets involved in my decision making I’m screwed.

Besides art, what are some of your other hobbies?  Taking videos of my cat Mitas. I skate regularly when I’m not injured, surf if theres a wave and my friends are going out. I read, I like being outside mostly just don’t as me to go hiking. I hate hikes. I do not want to go an adventure.

Do you have some favorite artists at the moment? Francisco Mendes Moreira, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lauren Nickou

Who are you and what do you do? I’m an artist, designer, and business owner. I try to create artwork and products for the home that will inspire people and bring them joy.

How would you describe yourself and your art? I usually describe myself as a designer. I like to think of art as the way I approach all things in life and my designs as the product of that mindset. It’s all intuitive and connected.

Tell us about Upton Home and the kind of unique art items you offer folks? I started Upton as a way to make high-quality artwork more accessible for people – I believe everyone should live with beauty every day. I currently make prints on both canvas and paper, as well as metal sculptures. I’m also starting to prototype some furniture and ceramic items for the future.

Can you tell us a little about your art background? What was your first experience with art and how did you get into printmaking? I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is sitting at my kitchen table as a kid drawing an epic pirate cave full of treasure and skeletons.

I was also lucky enough to have had a screenprinting class at my high school. The first time did it, I became enamored with print making and have never looked back.

After high school I studied apparel design/manufacturing, and then was the first designer hired at a clothing company called Brixton and worked there for 10 years.

What’s your creative process like? What kind of things inspire you? When I’m creating it’s very intuitive. I’ll make dozens of loose drawings without much thought, and then come back to them later to edit and refine them.

I’m constantly inspired by the world around me. I collect ideas and photos I see in books, at museums, and on the internet. I also get inspired by cooking, architecture, music, and anything with a driving creative force behind it.

Describe the Upton booth in three words? Mexico surf shack.

Besides your booth at the Van Doren Village, you also led a linoleum bock printing workshop .  Take us through the workshop and what folks were doing? I’m super excited to be hosting a linoleum block printing workshop. People were able to come and learn how to design and carve their own linoleum blocks, and then make paper prints with them on the press.

What do you love in general about the printmaking process? I love the evolution of design that occurs during the printing process. As the design goes from the first drawing, to the printing medium, to the paper, the original image develops and take on its own character.

What do you like about the linoleum process versus other methods of printmaking? It’s fast! You can go from a concept to a finished print quickly, which gives you more freedom to experiment.

What are your essential art tools to work with when making art? There are no essentials but I’ve been liking a brush and India ink.

Do you have a favorite Vans silhouette? The Authentic and the Chukka boot.

What’s the best advice you’d give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps? Start now! There’s never going to be a perfect time to do the things you desire. I quit my steady job to start Upton when my wife was pregnant and we were building a house. And it doesn’t matter if you feel like you don’t have the resources or the time or you’re not “legit.” Find a way to do what you love now with what you have available. Then keep doing it. You might experience failures along the way, but take it as a lesson learned and keep going.

Besides art, what are some of your other hobbies? I speak 8 languages and am a double black belt in karate. Just kidding. I’m boring and like to work on art, make food and travel whenever possible.

Do you have some favorite artists at the moment? Ernst Kirchner prints and David Milne paintings.

Introduce yourself. Mitch Abshere

Take us through your workshop and what you were doing with folks who attended? We customized some fins with some stencils. 

What about the customization process did you think was super fun and accessible for folks? I like that you can do whatever you want . There is no wrong way to customize your fin.

What type of materials did you have on-hand for folks to use for the customization?  We had stencils and paint pens.

What was the inspiration behind it?  It was somehow the art side of the fins were started with Captain Fin . It started with the fin, then we spray painted and used stencils to add some color and design to them.

Three words folks will feel after visiting the Captain Fin workshop?  Just have fun!

What’s your favorite thing about summer?  My favorite thing about summer is probably Italian ices, watermelon juice, backyard bbq's, sunsets, no school, no jackets or warm clothes needed, things in general seem a little mellower somehow. 

How do you TAKE FIVE and chill out when you’re not arting? I go on walks, or to a park, or the city and go record shopping.

Do you remember the first pair of Vans you ever had? So my very first pair of Vans for me was the original low tops. In the original colorwave -blue red blue in 1978. I then had blue gold blue. I had a pair of the Stacey Peralta style 36 we called’em Peraltas in royal blue now called old school Skate Hi’s or something, but mine were low tops. And I had a pair of gold and black stripes, and then like red ones mostly after that ... or sometimes black or navy slip ons. Wore them mostly since I was 6 basically. Always liked them for skating. 

Three words to describe what folks should expect tonight? Be ready to get open

Introduce yourself?  Steiner here, I grew up in Arizona eating burritos and drinking beers. I have lived in SF, NYC and now LA.

How did you first become interested in drawing and art?  Who were some of your early artistic influences?  I was always drawing and painting from a young age, but I became more seriously interested in art at around 15. My family spent part of year living in Rome Italy, and it really blew my mind. There was graffiti everywhere and of course, a shit ton of mind blowing classical art. Growing up in Arizona, which has a beautiful natural environment and a less than inspiring bland stucco sprawl city environment, Italy was quite the experience.  Other than that, I always loved comic books and watching freight trains roll by with all the graffiti on them.

When did you finally go from drawing and muraling to it becoming your profession and what you do? When i was younger, I held down all kinds of jobs from cooking to bartending, then slowly but surely all the years spent plugging away at drawing and painting murals started becoming more serious. A friend of mine and I started doing design and screen printing company together in New York, which was so rad. We worked for all sorts of companies big and small. Now I still make art for a living, but I also have a graphic design job, sort of like Jekyll and Hyde because my design work is quite different than my murals and art.

How would you describe your artwork someone unfamiliar with it?  Wild psychedelic beasts, with friendly colorful souls. I would also say that my work is about humans impact on the environment. I like to illustrate that with mutated multiple eyed animals painted in vibrant colors. Humans are represented by demons or skulls to denote the negative impact we have, and I often use smoke clouds in my backgrounds to represent pollution. 

What is it about muraling and creating art outside in the city that you are so drawn too?  I love seeing mundane spaces brought to life in big colorful ways. I love to work on large scales. Sometimes, painting on a small canvas is just a bit boring, but if you make your canvas the side a building, then it becomes way more fun. Also there are always weird challenges with murals – like the texture of the walls or roll down gates, the architecture of the building and the interaction with the street.

When you’re working on a mural, what’s the process like?  In an ideal situation, you have plenty of time to prepare. In this case, I would take pictures, get the dimensions, then make a bunch of thumbnail sketches that fit the space. Sometimes I have a sketch or something that will already fit perfectly, but other times, depending on where or who the mural is for, you work with a theme that can help dictate the end result.

When you’re not working outside on a mural, what’s a typical day in the studio like?  Sketching as much as I can. Sometimes ideas come pouring out, and some days it’s a struggle.

What are your essential materials and tools for inside and outside the studio? Moleskin sketchbooks are my favorite–mechanical pencils, all sizes of Sharpies and Micron pens, nicotine gum.

For murals: spray paint, rollers, gloves, fat and skinny caps ect..Always need a boom box , some cold ones and more nicotine gum.

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Man that’s a tough one, I always think about how a professor of mine made us mix 300 shades of green oil paint, without using black or white, then we painted an all green still life. It was frustrating at the time, but it really makes you think about color differently, and it really made a lasting impact on me. Other than that I try as many mediums as possible. You never know what might stick.

What’s been your biggest challenge you’ve faced as an artist? And what did you do to overcome that obstacle?  The biggest challenge is the constant one of never giving up and always trying to improve upon what you are doing. 

Whose an up and coming artist you are excited about? Jason Pulgarin, Keya tama, David Leitner, Revost. All of which are a bit more than up and coming, but I like what they are doing.

What are your favorite style of VANS? Summertime has always been about the Authentic for me, but I do love old Skools and SK8-His as well. Vans Vault has been a staple of mine for years.

When you’re not making art, how do you like to chill out and unplug?  Riding bicycles has always been a hobbie of mine–from fixed gear to road bikes or big old beach cruisers. Also there is a great little par 3 golf course I love to play by my house. It’s a good place to zone out. What’s coming up for you the rest of the year?  I just want to paint as many walls as possible, hopefully a truck or two also haha. Hopefully I’ll do some more collaboration walls; I really love to do those! It’s so fun to blend styles.