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I tried to reply to Empire’s thread but couldn’t post, so am responding in a new thread—re. the Witch deck (and related matters):
I agree, very nice indeed! Who did the Witch skateboard artwork? Reminds me a bit of my kid’s Never Summer snowboard graphics.
1939, the company that’s making these decks, is also selling an Earthless skateboard designed by Alan Forbes, who once again lifts massively and shamelessly from Rick Griffin’s scarabs, Egyptian iconography, winged eyeballs, and acid fever font to create the graphics for the Earthless deck (maybe it’s from a prior Earthless poster/album cover?).
I was looking at some of Griffin’s art recently and noticed that Alan Forbes actually borrowed his vampire bat winged eyeball from Griffin as well. Forbes might want to start sending Ida Griffin some royalty checks, or at least a thank you note.
I found a couple of Rick Griffin skate decks from Vans’ promo for their Rick Griffin Vans on ebay for cheap a few years ago and Griffin’s skateboard graphics are just so much more pulsating, deep, dimensional, and detailed than Forbes’ artwork, which, while thematically similar, is really flat, plain, and weak by comparison. Maybe that’s the effect he wants, I don’t know.
I like Alan Forbes’ hawk and raven drawings for bands and the heaviness of some of his TeePee records artwork way better than the derivative stuff he’s doing based on Griffin’s art; his riffs on Griffin’s work are kinda lame. Not sure how he gets away with borrowing so heavily from another artist (maybe because Rick Griffin is dead?).
It’s a little like the Spusta take on the You’re Living All Over Me album cover, only even less reworked.
Of course, Rick Griffin wasn’t above a little heavy lifting himself; for Wake of the Flood’s back cover/record label art he took the crow image from a Mennonite playing card deck:
http://www.rookcards.com/Miscellaneous/Birth.htm
Still, most of his art came from his own mind/hand/soul/viewpoint, which is as it should be if we’re calling it art.
Why I care at all is, Rick Griffin was a pioneer of surf culture, skate culture, and psychedelic/rock culture, and he should be vividly understood as the one of the genius originators of rock poster art and surf/skate art; people shouldn’t mistake some rehash of his work for the genuine article, though surely some will.
I trace a big part of the back-to-the-land/flower power/environmental/music/social movement/aesthetic of the 1960s directly to Greg Noll and his cohorts in the late ’50s, Noll’s Surfer magazine, and Rick Griffin. Watch Riding Giants, or if you can find it somewhere, Pacific Vibrations, which features Rick Griffin. Amazing films! Check it out, Wendy.
Steve Barilotti, who used to work for Surfer magazine is working on a feature-length documentary on Rick Griffin; he told me he was inspired to tell Rick Griffin’s life story after seeing Dogtown and Z Boys. I think he’s got a great project going; Griffin was one of the great visionary artists of the 20th century for sure. Here’s hoping he gets the film done—in the meantime, study the source material…..
@Hybridge , Thanks! Really good read…
When burger records released a limited run of 250 tapes of the second album Paralyzed they changed the cover art.
It was done by Kyle Thomas(from the band) and his brother Luke.
http://www.getbent.fm/burger-records-to-re-issue-witch/The boards are on pre-order mid June and Limited to 200. Here’s the specs etc.
http://www.1939skates.com/Is Kyle Thomas (in)King Tuff? (insert stupid icon) He posts on here right? Or is that someone else…….Yep give it 10 years and I figure things out…New twitter person to follow!
Sorry for the Griffin worship screed. Alan Forbes is a talented artist whose stuff I like and it’s cool that he’s borrowing from the best. He should branch out a little, maybe try Victor Moscoso’s lurid colors and optical weirdness.
I think Rick Griffin had a very particular perspective, and the images and symbols he used in his artwork convey his scope and understanding. People come along later and employ those images in less personal, native, and intentional ways in their work and it loses something. It’s great that Forbes is referencing him at all, I guess.
Also, thanks for the link to Kyle Thomas’ Witch art; great detail, fine lines.
And now some kind of (at a guess stoner rock pedal ??) tie in with – http://www.1939skates.com/
Limited to 15 (Still can’t even get a fuzz munchkin!!) from Tym Guitars…Now on sale for $55 +$19.95 P & P (USA only though) They say email for a price on shipping(Still no reply), But it feels a bit guy in his garage. – Yep I’m sulking 🙂
I take it all back! (Mainly because it’s Dave Sweetapple that emailed me back – He could be in a garage 🙂 ) UK ship is $57.40 and all three boards would be $72.15.
Seems much like UK postal cost US ones have gone crazy in the last year.
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