ALL HANDS ON DECKS - Skate Deck Show

Bling Is Dead - High Rollin' Skate Deck Wallpaper

2009-02-03T16:55:00.003-05:00

We finished photographic all the decks in the studio (thanks to Toby Shingleton for taking the photos). I'll put together a photo book shortly. Most likely a 12x12 hardcover with each deck on a 2 page spread (about 20 inch photos!). That's the plan right now, however that could change. We'll see.

In the meantime, grab this wallpaper of what turned out to be the hardest deck to photograph. "Hey buddy, can you take a picture of this invisible thing for me!? Great, thanks."

Yeah, it went something like that. In the end though, there's nothing like a professional photographer to make it happen!

Braaaaaaaaaaaains

2009-01-29T18:42:00.003-05:00

brain cupcakes to keep the zombies at bay. for the closing party tomorrow.
the red splotches? blood puddin'. naturally.

Show Photos!

2009-01-26T14:57:00.003-05:00

We took some photos last week and posted them to webshots.com for your viewing pleasure.

Slideshow is below or check out the actual album for high res images and prices of those pieces that are still available for sale. If you're interested in purchasin any of the work from the show, please contact me via this blog or the webshots album.

ALL HANDS ON DECKS

Pac Man Series Skate Deck

2009-01-22T23:42:00.005-05:00

There's still another week to go for the show... so why stop creating for it?

I started a series of Pac Man broken decks earlier this week but couldn't find them. I was planning on doing all four characters and Pac Man. Tonight I found them so I dove in.

Originally I planned on painting them with a cartoon style face but I found myself inspired by the art of Chris Ryniak who did a superfly deck for the show. As a result I tried my hand at some blending with acrylic glaze medium and decided to do them in a little different style.

Last Minute Entry...

2009-01-19T20:15:00.002-05:00

For those that do not know, I went to the hospital a week and a half ago with viral Pneumonia, and was there a week. I am now home and slowly getting the use of my lungs back, and have been broken hearted at not being able to participate in the All Hands on Deck show at AG. It is now Monday, the show is up, and I am going every which way of stir crazy, waiting for the thumbs up from my Doc to get back to work. The Deck show looks absolutely awesome...(great work, Keith and company!!) and I just could not help but try to be a part of it. I slammed through my deck today, using acrylics and prisma color pencils, chosen mostly to avoid anything with toxic fumes and vapors. Now I submit to you all the result: TYRANNO-BOARDUS REX.
Whaddya say, Keith? Any chance I could get this puppy up this week and join the fun? I should be in on Wednesday/Thursday this week, and I am hoping there is room for one more...
James Groman

The show is live!

2009-01-19T13:12:00.006-05:00

After a long weekend of setup with the help of more then a few people we got the show up. So far it's been getting a good buzz.

Here's a shot of me in front of the in-progress centerpiece of the show I cut from old broken decks. These are the 'deck chairs' I made from broken decks. There's super comfortable, sturdy... and available for purchase. ;)

She loves her Koi fish.

2009-01-16T23:37:00.001-05:00

Here's the artwork for my wife's deck. She's pretty excited about the chance to do something after her first creative endeavor, a 12" vinyl record stencil piece I worked with her on.

We took a photo of her back and I taught her about tracing value patterns in photoshop with the pen tool. She sanded the deck and has the outline transferred to the deck. Tomorrow she'll be trying her hand at some watered down acrylics. Should come out nice.

Jeff Lenoce and Mike Frazier autographed deck

2009-01-16T09:45:00.004-05:00

Huge shout of thanks to show participant and all-around-great-guy Chris Ryniak for calling in a favor from his buddy down at Skatepark of Tampa. Chris managed to get us a shop deck autographed by pro skaters Jeff Lenoce and Mike Frazier. We'll be auctioning off the deck at the show via silent auction or raffle with all the proceeds going to local charity.

Chris and Skatepark of Tampa are made of pure awesome!

2009-01-16T07:54:00.002-05:00

Cutting it close to the deadline as always, I finished my board the other night. Looking forward to the show, the work on this blog is looks awesome!

the end of the line...

2009-01-15T20:04:00.002-05:00

i would have liked to add more detail,
but i've run out of time, painted myself into a corner,
ha!
it just needs a couple of coats of gloss medium and
then off to keith in the a.m.
i can't wait to see everyone's decks.

LA office!

2009-01-15T15:58:00.004-05:00

We have sent out our decks! LA will make the deadline!

We all had a great time creating our decks, and as you will see they are all different and amazing. I want to thank Keith for hooking this show up. I was a really nice for us out here to collaborate with all of you amazing artists back in the cold and snow ;)

different types of finishes

2009-01-14T17:53:00.003-05:00

so, i saw donna's final deck the other day. she used Plaid - Royal coat decoupage hi-gloss finish. She told us that she sprayed several coats (i don't recall how many though) but her deck looks like there is an epoxy poured or some sort of heavy glaze/varnish on it.

on the other hand, Aaron was looking for some sort of finish and decided to use Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic spray. his deck was completely matte finish first... he put 2 coats and it has a nice sheen to it.

anyway, i was trying to take a picture of them together for comparison... but it didn't come out exactly the way i thought it would.

fyi, you will be able to find the krylon spray at any craft store (pat catan's, joanne fabrics, michaels, etc.)... however, this decoupage spray is hard to find. it looks like michael's is the only place you can buy that. if you're planning to buy the spray, i'd recommend calling the store first.

just a sneeky-peek...

2009-01-13T23:13:00.005-05:00

i'm pretty sure i'm finished.. mixed media monstrosity! weeeeee

Monsters! done.

2009-01-13T17:44:00.003-05:00

Well it was interesting to say the least. After many many late nights and false starts, I finished my 3 pieces today with a final touch up of paint on the text and a couple of coats of gloss. They probably could have used another few coats but I ran out of time. I needed to get them in the mail today so as not to be paying some crazy 2 day or overnight fees to ship them. UPS ground from NY for $15 bucks not too bad... they'll be in Keith's hands at AGI on Thursday.

I enjoyed the process and learned a few things along the way. One of which is I need to be doing more 'hands on ' art as opposed to 'hand on mouse'. I think my favorite part of this was doing the splattering last night. Messy and fun. I have some extra prints and some canvas lying around so I think I will make some more pieces on this theme.

Anyway, here's what you've all been waiting for...the final picture of all 3 completed decks....

:)

Perpetual Progress

2009-01-12T09:38:00.003-05:00

This is the last shot I'll post before the show. I have some additional dark reds, blacks, blues and maybe some yellows to finish up, but I'm enjoying the steady fill-in-the-shapes painting process I have going.

More Cuts

2009-01-12T08:59:00.004-05:00

Cut the large chunk out of the side last night, and roughed in a couple more bugs. May add one or two more at the top and that should be it, then we can route in a couple of tracks.

Paint pens and sharpies

2009-01-12T08:40:00.006-05:00

The paint pens and black sharpies are working great for the line art. Hoping to have most of it done tonight. Although that's what was supposed to happen this past weekend.

Have a seat...

2009-01-11T23:15:00.012-05:00

What do you do with about 60 broken skateboard decks? Build a club house? Heat your home?

There has to be something to do with these other then toss them so I asked Jim over at Tri Star Skate to see if he could hook me up with some broken decks. He put out the call on myspace and people responded big time by bringing over 60 busted decks to the store.

So I had a few ideas on what to do with them. I did a Boba Fett deck on one since Boba is all beat up and started working on a set of Pac-Man ghosts. I ended up doing an installation piece at the show with some of them (see photo below) by cutting out the name of the show from broken decks which then turned into a bunch of orders for customs letters.

After a little thinking I decided I was going to make something people could actually use. Furniture. The idea obviously isn't new, but it's new to me. :)

I found a pair of these Steelcase chairs in the dumpster at work. Nothing wrong with them other then some stains and the fact they're way out of style.

After pulling apart the seat to see what I was working with I fished through the pile of broken decks in the back of my truck and pulled out a few I thought would work. Turns out one of the broken decks is a Plan B deck signed by pro skater Ryan Sheckler with a sharpie. Doesn't get much luckier then that!

Only about 2 hours into it total and I've made some great progress, which is good because I want to do 2 of these chairs (and maybe a small table) for the show.

The deck chairs were a hit at the show. I sold 3 of the four chairs I created. The unsold chair is now relaxing in my office waiting for a new home (or enjoying it's current one). Want it? Let me know.

Here's a couple of pics of the two of the finished chairs. I plan on building a couple more of these for an upcoming deck show I'm curating in May.

Making Progress.

2009-01-11T19:53:00.003-05:00

here's a start. gonna get in there and noodle it out, hopefully have it done by tues morning. may have to make edible zombie cupcakes too.

Sketch and stain on :)

2009-01-11T12:35:00.002-05:00

Now to put some light acrylic washes over top to bring out the values and highlights. Going back to traditional art is like trying to animate at 8 frames per second :O slow and choppy. (Control Alt Delete would be nice)

Monsters progress II

2009-01-11T11:17:00.009-05:00

Getting close to being done. Ran into a few speed bumps along the way, been working them out. Wound up priming the boards for better adhesion of paint & Glue...

Then I proceeded to trim the faces to just the areas I needed, while watching Iron Man Friday night with my daughter Celia. Glueing them was a little tricky. I felt the wheat pasting was a big sloppy mess when I tired it and I want these to to be smooth and flat. So... I was going to use a hi tack spray, but that seemed kinda messy too, so I raided Celia's art supplies to find a trusty glue stick. I had a few hiccups with not having enough on the back but I got them on and they seem pretty good now. Lots of rubbing and smoothing. But here we are...

Now for the paint. I lucked out buying some Folk Art paint and it has been great to apply for the most part. This black coat when on super smooth and with excellent coverage. I don't think I will need a second coat at all. Got a little lifting on the paper in a few spots but not bad. smoothed it back down before the paint dried.

Now I need to cut a stencil as a loose guide for the type. Trying to get that done in the next hour or so. I will put a heavy gloss coat on this to seal then probably a matte finish.

Work in progress

2009-01-10T23:27:00.002-05:00

Here's a detail of what I've been up to...I haven't painted in a really really long time so I think this is a good way to get back into it.

The 1st idea

2009-01-10T22:29:00.003-05:00

I originally started with this image and put some hours in on paining it. I didn't take a picture of it right before I sanded it all off. Lets just say the acrylic paints got thick, chaos ensued and the palm sander did what it does best.

When I'm not shoveling.......

2009-01-10T22:09:00.003-05:00

My Saturday progress between shoveling snow every 10 min. I spray painted a piece of cardboard with white and stamped the corrugation onto my flat black deck. Created a kinda cool corduroy effect. I spray painted more primer on in the shape of my character and then started painting it pink. The rest requires a few more spots needing to be painted with acrylics, then finish off all the line art with paint pens.

Another Poster

2009-01-10T21:18:00.005-05:00

This one will go up on some of the columns at work. I wanted to get everyone's name up on the poster big enough and in a way that people would stop to see if they recognize any names. I'll see if I can get these printed at work, otherwise I'll have to hit up Kinkos and burn a few on their large format laser printer. It's like 17 cents a sq foot which isn't bad. Final size will be about 17 inches x 5 feet and I'll start getting them up Tuesday.

I just finished another deck tonight called "Weapon of Masked Consumption". Didn't come out exactly like I wanted but I'm not going to obsess over it. I'm going to move onto another deck "Boom Board" and maybe do another poster this weekend. We'll see how it works out.

One for the Ladies

2009-01-10T20:25:00.004-05:00

Ladies First. These images shows some masking and lettering reveal after the tape is removed.
Board is painted white. Lettering is spraypaint. Pink to red gradient. I will add an image to the board next. Probably finish off with some sort of clear coat. Getting there! -K Carr

Bored Devil

2009-01-10T15:26:00.002-05:00

Making some progress. I hope to have it finished today! Wish me luck. - mANGORN

Dave Savage comes through with a show poster.

2009-01-10T13:57:00.008-05:00

Not only will Dave Savage have 2 decks in the show but he also hooked us up with a hot poster this weekend.

Mr Savage is a super talented fellow and currently available for freelance / full-time work, private parties, and referee at your next sorority tickle fight.

Hit him up at savagemonsters.com.

C'ing double

2009-01-10T00:55:00.004-05:00

Here's a sneak peak at board #3. First and last you'll see it until the show. Sorry for the blurry pic.

Masked with frisket film, cut each C and sprayed it flat black. This is only phase one.

Sneak Peek

2009-01-09T14:16:00.003-05:00

City of Gears:

Here's a sneak peak of a small section of my board:)

Glue ended up on more than the deck...

2009-01-09T08:40:00.003-05:00

...But my drawing is successfully affixed.

Now, for the paint!

Wheat Waste.

2009-01-09T02:18:00.005-05:00

Well, at least I tried. Off to a nice early start around midnite tonight to start glueing the prints down. Mixed my glue, drew some guides on the board.

Eh. The paper started to fall apart around the edges and was getting messy overall. The glue was also beading up, which lead me to believe the surface may not have been sanded enough too. So it was looking kinda lumpy and sloppy. Not the effect I saw for this.

After a quick im pow wow with Keith, who is always good for advice, I decided to paint as much of the black as possible and only use the cut out faces. So I cleaned off the board, luckily the glue hadn't set. The plan is to dust them with primer, glue down the faces and paint the rest by hand.

My primer was in the garage, so it was freezing cold. Brought it in the house to warm up overnight and will hit them in the am.

Bug Photoshop Mock

2009-01-09T00:05:00.002-05:00

This is a Photoshop mock that Keith made for me suggesting to possibly even cut more away on the one side and I just may do that. We will probably cut some tracks in it similar to the mock as well. I may make him do it though, not sure I have the guts to do it.

92 C's

2009-01-09T00:00:00.004-05:00

Sing it with me!!!

92 images of C's on a board... 92 images of C's. If one of those C's gets cut from the board, 91 C's left to cut on the board.

I want to wrap this one up quick. Something jumped out of the dumpster after work today that I need to make a deck with.

More Bug Progress

2009-01-08T23:46:00.005-05:00

Well here's the front section in progress. There are more too add yet besides the ones that are indicated in white. The ones on the side and bottom are done. There's probably about 10 more to go then I have to indicate shadows somehow. I also may add some more cut away tracks by the bugs and just cut a huge section away on the side. Keith had a good idea there.

Going with this one.

2009-01-08T14:06:00.006-05:00

I've gone through one idea already which was sanded off last night (way overthinking it). I'm thinking this will be the keeper. The board is sanded and primed, again. Going to use a combination of spraypaint, paint-pens, and acrylic paint.

Monsters! progress

2009-01-08T02:10:00.004-05:00

Going for the triptic! I received my boards and prints today. I also decided to go the wheatpaste route on this instead of a transfer. Lightly sanded the boards to remove the varnish, and cut out the images tonight. Once I glue down the images, I will be painting around the faces, and doing the type and splatters by hand. I will probably paint over the prints in some places as well. I want to get the black as rich as I can, and maybe highlight a few areas. Probably start the wheatpaste tomorrow night. Never did it before, should be interesting...

Darth Mauled In Progress

2009-01-07T22:02:00.005-05:00

Tonight I set my son up with some acrylics, brushes and tricks of the trade. He primed the deck with only a little help from me (like pointing the spray paint in the right direction) and then transferred the image onto the deck with some transfer paper. Once I explained what was going to be red and what was black it was paint-by-numbers time.

So... focused...

I'll likely have to help him with some of the line work but rather not. Maybe we'll mask up the black and he'll wrap it up unaided. Thad would be cool. As much as I like things a certain way, I want to give him as little assistance as possible.

Another Show Poster

2009-01-07T13:26:00.006-05:00

Another quickie. I wish I could spend more then 20 minutes on these. The fonts could use some work and overall a little more distressing to make it believable but for a quickie, not bad.

I'm not sure it's as ironic a sign as I was going for, but it'll work.

Silicone is stinky.

2009-01-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight I got a few things done.

Sanded and primed my son's Darth Mauled deck.
Pasted up a few broken deck signs.
Made a new mold for casting clear resin wheels for my 'Bling Is Dead' piece.

Here's a couple of photos of the process on the ghetto mold making.

Chris Ryniak told me I could make a 'dump mold' for my needs. I picked up some alginate for the mold and some clear casting resin only to find out that you can't use alginate as water and resin don't mix.

Finding professional grade stuff locally here in Cleveland is like finding the secret to happiness. Add to that the fact that I have a lot I want to do on a VERY limited budget and timeframe and you get all the makings of a MacGuyver episode.

RTV molding silicone is expensive so after a little interweb research I found out you can make a mold from silicone caulk. It's generally frowned upon by people who know what they're doing... but since I don't, full speed ahead to Home Depot!

To sum it up, you brush on a coat of silicone onto the part you want to mold. Let that cure. Then the wierdness begins.

Get your hands wet with dish washing liquid soapy water, squirt some silicone into a bucket of water and knead it. You're basically rinsing out some of the chemicals which I assume slow the curing process and make the silicone all sticky and gross.

The rinsed silicone comes out of the water like a thick jelly. Just mold that goop around the part (which you put down on something smooth) and build up your mold. You end up with something like this. There's a skateboard wheel in there somewhere...

Once that cures, which happens amazingly fast compared to silicone right out of the tube, You wiggle it off the plexiglass and flip it over.

Time for some trimming because I'm impatient!

At the risk of ruining the mold I decided to let it cure overnight and blog to keep my mind off the fact that I want to pull the master out, mix up some resin and start casting!

Stay tuned and get those decks done! Just make it up as you go along. It's what I do. :)

TECHNIQUE : 'wheat' pasting on your deck

2009-01-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

This one is pretty easy but I've been asked how to do it so I took some photos tonight while making some signage for the show.

The good thing about using this technique is that you can print something as a guide you've designed on the computer and then paint over it once it's dried.

Gather your materials. Basic elmers glue watered down about 50:50 or modge-podge (if you want to get fancy and spend money), a junk brush or spreader, the thing you're applying and the thing you're applying it to. It's probably a good idea to put down some paper. (Giant gumball machine in the kitchen is optional.)

The difference with Modge Podge is more then the price. You can get it in a variety of finishes. Gloss, Semi, Matte. They even have glitter, glow in the dark, etc etc etc.

First, spread some glue on the back of your artwork. You need to get the paper wet before applying or you're going to end up with a wrinkled mess when you try to apply it dry to a wet substrate.

Next, get your deck (or whatever you're using) completely wet with glue.

Lay your artwork down on the board while both surfaces are still wet. Lay it from one end to the other smoothing it out fairly well as you go. If you're looking to wrinkle it purposely, now it the time to do it. I'm going for a smooth application here.

Once you get your art where you want it, spread some glue on the top side and begin to smooth out the art from the center outwards. You can use the brush, a squeegee, your hand, whatever.

At this point, while it's all still wet, you can distress things a little by simply rubbing spots you want to distress. In this case I did double duty by rubbing the edges trimming and distressing at the same time.

...and there you have it.

I knocked out three of these in about 15 minutes including taking photos. The Emler's glue dries clear with a matte finish. I assume you can paint right over it but haven't tried it.

So what are you waiting for? Get crackin' on those decks... the clock is tickin'! :)

So what we put progress up here or something?

2009-01-06T14:54:00.001-05:00

Line art. That's all you get till....later.

Submission guidelines

2009-01-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to clarify.

All decks are due during next week. The final day to submit your finished deck for inclusion in the show is noon on FRIDAY, JANUARY 16!

We will be hanging the boards using fishing line through the top holes, tying it in the back and hanging them on a nail. If you require an alternate hanging method please submit your art ready to hang.
Please attach a piece of paper to the back of your piece with your name, title of the piece, and asking price (or NFS)
It's late to remind but I'm mentioning this again so your deck makes it into the show. No nudity, profanity, weapons or other potentially offensive subject matter. The Gallery Comittee WILL pull the piece.

You can begin to submit your decks to me as they are finished beginning today.

If you are mailing your deck, express it to:

Keith Corcoran
AG Interactive
1 American Road
Cleveland OH 44144

I'll be prepping the gallery and hanging the show on Saturday and Sunday (17th & 18th). It will be a lot of work because I'd like to transform the gallery similar to how I did for my show last year.

If you're available and willing to help, please let me know. I will be sending out specifics by the end of the week. It's our show, let's make it hot, exciting and unique!

Looking forward to seeing all the decks.

before & after...

2009-01-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

so, here i was... the deck was placed right by my guitar hero guitar and rock band. I was going to do something else with the board first, but when i looked at it, it's about the size of these toy guitars. well, i decided to trim the guitar and make a guitar out of it. (FYI, i wasn't able to post animated gif for some reason.)

obviously, I’m not done… but I decided to post some images on my progress.

More Broken Deck Signage and other updates

2009-01-06T00:09:00.001-05:00

After creating a silicone mold to cast some clear resin skateboard wheels with embedded crystals I tore apart the office chair I got from the dumpster today. I'll have to work on this one at over the weekend in the garage.

While I'm waiting for resin to cure I did another quick signage design tonight. I was going for the sticker collage look. I'll print this out tomorrow and paste it on a couple of broken decks and figure out where to put them around the building. Guerilla marketing starts on Monday.

I should have an email going out to participants tomorrow with some gallery guidelines, deadline information and other stuff.

Zombie Cupcakes

2009-01-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

did some quick sketches while waiting for a meeting to start...

will probably do collage with acrylics and maybe some patterns from magazine clippings.

Too many ideas, too little time.

2009-01-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

We'll see how ambitious I get. I might decide to make a couple of low-priced pieces for the show if I have time. Here's an idea from Kevin Carr I just mocked up supaquicklike. Would be easy to execute and likely look better then this.

Also, I found 2 rolling office chairs in the dumpster today at work. I'll pull them apart tonight and see it I can use them for some custom skate deck furniture. I'd rather not have people rolling across the floor in the gallery so I might opt to make them non-rolling. we'll see.

Just a Glimpse

2009-01-05T15:21:00.000-05:00

I may be in over my head already, but here's a detail from my layout/color study image. Who knows how detailed I'll get in the actual final piece - I get the feeling I may be starting out with too much cheerful ambition!

As a novice, I must ask: Can anyone recommend an appropriate varnish? Is there a good one to use with acrylics vs. oil? Thanks!

Banging out promo materials

2009-01-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

It seems I have more broken decks then I probably have time to use so Tom Page had an idea to use some as signage to promote the show. Done.

Going to be pasting some quickly designed posters onto broken decks and putting them around the building this week and next.

Here's the first quick design. These will all be quickies and mostly all different. The impact will lie in the novelty of the presentation.

If you want to do one, make it about 16x8.5 inches @ 150 dpi with about a 1 inch safe area on the left, top and bottom to allow for trimming when I put it on the deck. Then, send me a jpg.

Monsters!

2009-01-04T22:55:00.001-05:00

Well I finally had some time to really sit down to figure out what to do last night, thanks to constant pestering by my buddy Keith. Happy Birthday by the way...

Anyway, my inspiration was a sticker I bought at a roadside stop in Italy in 2003. Along with all racks of sugary goodies whose names I couldn't pronounce all that well, but should being Italian, was a rack of stickers. One of which was a really cool, black and white Boris Karloff as Frankenstein. I mounted the sticker at the time on a red background and put it on foamcore. It's been on my office wall ever since. I grew up as a Famous Monsters reading fanatic, though the obsession has wained over the years, I still love the classic faces and imagery of those pre-CGI monsters and ghouls.

So there it was.

With some quick google image searching, I found my source image around 12:30am and went to work, while chatting with Keith on im. Couple of hours later and here we are. Just figuring out how I am executing now, probably going to do a transfer or a large format print and glue down over a painted bg. However, I may be doing a triptic now with some broken boards. Got two other ghouls picked out. Need to work them up tonight. Nothing like biting off more than you can chew...

Calling it done

2009-01-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

It could have used another dozen layers on it, but I think it's done enough. Still need to Gloss-coat it.

Image transfer techniques

2009-01-04T10:49:00.000-05:00

There are plenty of ways to transfer an image from a laser jet or inkjet print. Laser printer transfers actually work really well on fabrics from my experience. That said, not sure how it would work on a deck but if you're stuck and willing to experiment, here you go.

http://www.ebsqart.com/artMagazine/za_513.htm

Thanks to Tommy Spero for the link.

Progress - Boba Deck

2009-01-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

Just about done with the Boba deck so I'm posting a couple of photos. Just have to finish up the chest armor and gloss the visor and it's a wrap. Then, on to the next couple of decks I want to do.

Update: He's done. Next on deck - Bling is Dead

Fun for all ages.

2009-01-03T13:57:00.000-05:00

So with all these decks floating around my son Kasey was asking me if he could do a deck for his birthday today (he's 10). Sure, why not? So he decided he wanted to do a Star Wars deck (figures) and thought Darth Maul would be cool on the beat up black deck I found him.

We looked for a photo on google and I traced it for him quick in illustrator. We'll print it out to scale and he'll cut the stencil and paint it.

He wants to call it "Darth Mauled"

It doubt this will make it into the show but hey, who knows.

almost.....

2009-01-03T09:10:00.000-05:00

Not done yet, almost...kinda.

maybe?

More Bugs...

2009-01-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

Drawing is just about done, this is just the top. Once it's all done then I'll start cutting the board up, which I'm not looking forward to. Keith have an extra board in case I mess it up? The bugs will either be black and white or brown and white, what ever looks better. More to come... Tom

Call for show poster / flier designs

2009-01-02T14:01:00.000-05:00

Now that everyone should be pretty much done with their decks (haha - imagine) I'm putting out this call for anyone interested in designing a poster / flier for the ALL HANDS ON DECKS show.

If you know me, you know I like to promote (anything worth doing is worth over-doing) so let's see if we can get a few designs for show posters.

We'll probably pick one by blog vote or something to be the main poster for the show in the gallery. The rest will be used to wallpaper the building and generate buzz.

Since one of these could be the main show poster, please refer to this disgusting hack of a sample poster for size and content requirements so it will fit in the marquee mounts in the gallery.

Poster should include at a minimum...

Name of the Show (should dominate design): All Hands On Decks
Date: January 19 - January 30
Location: AG Creative Gallery
Witty tagline or subtitle for the show
Complete list of artists (there's no turning back now *grin*): Please cut and paste latest confirmed artists list from http://allhandsondecks.blogspot.com/

Knock it out in your own unique style and keep it corporate friendly so they won't get pulled down.

Also, if you want to go all guerilla marketing and whatnot, feel free to do some smaller 'throw ups' like I did for my show.

I'll need to get these back soon as possible to start promoting for the show next week so get crackin'.

These Bugs Are Hungry!

2008-12-31T14:29:00.001-05:00

Just started doing some drawings and planning the layout, more to come soon. Tom

In Progress - Keith Corcoran

2008-12-30T20:45:00.001-05:00

Looks like I'm waiting a few more days to get my clean blank board and a potentially huge pile of blanks for the show centerpiece and a few random "side-pieces" (assuming I get to them).

The problem is that I'm impatient and my vacation days are running out. So, by some divine intervention, I found a broken deck across the street from my house with a set of wheels still attached. The board was broke in half so in order to get the obligatory Star Wars piece out of the way early I mocked up 'Boba Deck'.

I'll add the appropriate amount of weathering and distressing on the piece but the most unique part IMO will be using the axle, hangar, baseplate and bushings as his antenna. More photos as I progress (and find my camera memory card.)

Inspiration - Everyday Items

2008-12-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Going through some various deck show galleries and I came across these decks done as everyday objects. Unfortunately it was late so I didn't remember to credit the artist. Sorry about that.

Inspiration - David Hale

2008-12-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

Some nice multi-deck pieces (older work) from David Hale.

Confirmed Artists

2008-12-21T21:03:00.002-05:00

Here is a list of artists who have confirmed participation.
Stay tuned for possible additions.

Keith Allen, Matt Angorn, Paul Armstrong, Kathy Bakalarz, Aaron Brudvig, Mike Burnett, Kevin Carr, Richard S. Cihlar, Jeffrey Conrad, Keith Corcoran, Kelley Corcoran,
Shawn Craig, Eliza Devogel
Diane Dragus-Zets, Geoffrey Erdos, Kathi Fay, Erik Flesher, Mackenzie Glass, James Groman, Emily Gross,
Mark Harvey, Masa Homma, Sara Hoover, David Houry, Chris Hsu, Jeff Hulligan, Julia Kuo, Alison Kurzeja, Seth Larson, Esther Loopstra, David Mariampolski, Donna McGreal, Claire Mojher, Larry Mosca, April Nemeth, Tom Page, Kim Patrizi, Bob Peck, Chris Ryniak, Dave Savage, Anthony Scalmatto, Kelle Schwab, Dimitri Simakis, Dave Skwarczek, Randal Slaughter, Mark Spangler, Amanda Spayd, Tommy Spero : Soul NYC, Jenean Sustarsic, Carlos Villagra, Aaron Wildasin, Chuck Wimmer, Eric Wright, Derek Yoder

The story so far...

2008-12-21T14:03:00.001-05:00

So the background here is that originally I was kicking around the idea of a group skate deck show in the gallery. I spoke to a couple of people at work and on the gallery committee about what would be involved in setting up a group show. Since I've only had one show myself, I'm pretty new to the whole thing.

I guess the enthusiasm I displayed in my discussions (or miscommunication on my part) gave the impression I was ready to roll with this because about 4 days ago I received an email saying I was scheduled for a show on Jan 19th. Awesome!

Only problems... I didn't know where to get decks. I didn't know who would participate (besides myself) and I had no real plan. That said, here's a rundown of how it went.

Wed 12/17 - Got the email. Stressing begins.
Wed Night - Called, emailed, myspace messaged and ebay hunted just about every skate shop and deck manufacturer I could find online to obtain blank decks as cheap as possible without getting killed on shipping. If I couldn't get decks, it didn't matter who would participate unless I planned on making the decks myself.
Late Wed night - My new best friend Jim over at Tri Star Skateboard in Parma, OH says he could hook me up with about 40 blank decks at a good price. Nice. Half way there.
Thus 12/18 - I get to work and get right to work. I started networking. First hitting up the artists I thought would be excited about the show even given the quick turnaround and had each of them spread the word. I collected the money for the decks and that night picked up 20 blank decks from Tri Star.
Fri 12/19 - Word spreads fast. I hand out all 20 decks before 10 and by 1pm I had another 20+ decks to pick up for people wanting in on the show. At 2pm I make a quick run to the shop and pick up the last 20 budget decks he has only to find out I'm still 5 short! :(
Fri Night - After more calling, emailing and surfing I come up empty handed. The only blank decks to be had locally cost $5 more then the last ones because they're higher quality. For skating better is better but for what we're doing, not so much.

And that's pretty much where I stand today. I'm still about 5 decks short and still don't have any for myself.

Two options (plus one)

Order some blanks off ebay. With shipping I can get 20 blanks @ about $12 each but after repeated emailing I still haven't gotten any response from the seller. Not entirely confident about getting them before the end of the year but it 'could' happen.
Explain the situation to the artists who've paid but are without boards and see if they'd like to pay the extra $5 to ensure they have a deck before Christmas or take the chance on the ebay option.
Return the money the artists who've paid and close the participation window. I call this the 'plus one' option because I really don't want to do this. So it's not really an option.

And there you have it... the story so far.

ALL HANDS ON DECKS

2008-12-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

ALL HANDS ON DECKS is the first custom skate deck group gallery show being presented at the American Greetings World Headquarters Creative Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. The show will run for 2 weeks from January 19 - January 30 and is not open to the public unless accompanied by an American Greetings employee.

Participants include over 40 artists from American Greetings as well a handful of guest artists. While there is no overall subject matter theme to the show, the common thread is the use of a blank skate deck as a substrate for the artwork.

With the wide range of artistic talents on staff at American Greetings this should prove to be an interesting show. The ultimate goal was to bring the company's artistic talent together in an unconventional way while fostering a sense of comraderie among the artists.

Artwork will be displayed horizontally, vertically or 3d format provided it is safe to display and adheres to the gallery guidelines.

Pieces will be available for sale at the artists discretion with the possiblility of some pieces being available through a specially created ebay store.

The show is being curated by Keith Corcoran, Art Director with American Greetings Interactive.

More news, information and posts from the participants will be presented here as available. Follow this blog for updates.

ALL HANDS ON DECKS - Skate Deck Show

Bling Is Dead - High Rollin' Skate Deck Wallpaper

Braaaaaaaaaaaains

Show Photos!

Pac Man Series Skate Deck

Last Minute Entry...

The show is live!

She loves her Koi fish.

Jeff Lenoce and Mike Frazier autographed deck

the end of the line...

LA office!

different types of finishes

just a sneeky-peek...

Monsters! done.

More show posters!

Perpetual Progress

More Cuts

Paint pens and sharpies

Have a seat...

Making Progress.

Sketch and stain on :)

Monsters progress II

Work in progress

The 1st idea

When I'm not shoveling.......

Another Poster

One for the Ladies

Bored Devil

Dave Savage comes through with a show poster.

C'ing double

Sneak Peek

Glue ended up on more than the deck...

Wheat Waste.

Bug Photoshop Mock

92 C's

More Bug Progress

Going with this one.

Monsters! progress

Darth Mauled In Progress

Another Show Poster

Silicone is stinky.

TECHNIQUE : 'wheat' pasting on your deck

So what we put progress up here or something?

Submission guidelines

before & after...

More Broken Deck Signage and other updates

Zombie Cupcakes

Too many ideas, too little time.

Just a Glimpse

Banging out promo materials

Monsters!

Calling it done

Image transfer techniques

Progress - Boba Deck

Fun for all ages.

almost.....

More Bugs...

Call for show poster / flier designs

These Bugs Are Hungry!

In Progress - Keith Corcoran

Inspiration - Everyday Items

Inspiration - David Hale

Confirmed Artists

The story so far...

ALL HANDS ON DECKS