Art tends to be the first thing that’s cut in school systems, and it’s sad that our society doesn’t always see the value in art.

And that was one of the motivations of Patty Roberts, Wendy Northrup and Courtney Arlow to team up and paint a mural at their kids’ school.

They saw a blank wall at Del Lago Elementary School and decided to turn it into a project that would benefit their community in more ways than one.

The three friends in Mission Viejo felt that by painting the handball court wall at their kids’ school, they would add color to the school and at the same time expose the kids to art on a new level.

Patty Roberts e-mailed asking if she and a couple of her friends could have permission to re-create one of my paintings.  Of course I said yes.  They chose my painting called LOCAL SURFERS, got Wyland Foundation and Sherwin Williams to donate paint, and got to work.

It took them about five days in the blazing sun to finish the mural.  They got some press – Mission Viejo Dispatch wrote an article called SURF’S UP AT DEL LAGO and The Orange Country Register wrote MOM’S PAINT MURAL AT SCHOOL PLAYGROUND.

Today I took Maria & Dylan and we got to see it in person.  They did an amazing job!  It looks awesome.

I’m impressed that these ladies took this project on for their kids school, and that they made art a priority in their community.   And I’m glad that I was able to contribute in a small way.

The world is full of great people, and today I got to meet three of them!

Life is Good – Drew

At the end of the 2nd mural, his shoulder was killing him.  He could barely lift his arm!

The first mural Drew painted was for Yogurt Wave, and you can read about by clicking on the link.

The second was for a company called LINKS in Costa Mesa, CA.  Our contact there, Tom, loved Drew’s painting called SUNRISE.  He’s also an avid fisherman.  So he wanted the mural to incorporate SUNRISE and fish somehow.  Drew pulled it off nicely.

Tom also wanted the wall adjacent to the mural to have a nice faux finish that would compliment the artwork.  And there are beams in the room that he asked Drew to paint to look like a big cross.  Check out the photos to see how it all turned out, below.

After all this, I wrote a piece on my blog called PAINTING A WALL MURAL – TEN WAYS TO PLEASE YOUR CLIENT.  The article is based on what I learned by watching Drew handle his mural painting and his clients.  In the end, Tom was very very happy.  And so were we!

Katie Staib applying paint

Our new clients, Yogurt Wave, came to Drew for help creating a cool atmosphere in their new store.

The owners, Kerry and Tommy, envisioned a fun spot where action-sports minded kids would want to hang out.

Drew was their man to make it happen with his vibrant, energetic artwork.

First they commissioned Drew just to paint a 46′ wall mural for their location in Costa Mesa, CA.

But as we started working on the sketches, they then asked Drew to re-create their logo for them.

THE MURAL:

We knew this one was going to be tricky, so we flew in expert reinforcement all the way from Spokane, Washington.  Her name is Katie Staib, and she’s had a lot of experience with difficult murals.  Katie has painted many murals on rickety old ladders to unite poor communities in Nicaragua.  So for her, this was going to be a breeze!

South end of the completed mural

The wall was in great shape, but with every big project, you’ll have adversity to deal with.  In this case, the challenges were three-fold:

1. the wall was wavy, not flat, which added to the difficulty level
2. the mural started over eight feet off the ground, which meant that Drew and Katie would have to paint the entire thing standing on scaffolding and ladders
3. the sealing process went wrong at the end and turned a 6 day job into a 9-day job.

The plan was that the mural would be finished in 5-7 days.  And it was exactly 6-1/2 days to completion!  Except for the sealing part…which added a couple days to the job.

When Drew went to seal the mural, there was a bad reaction to product he used.  It almost ruined it!  After a couple trips back to Costa Mesa, he got it done and it turned out great.  (Just once, wouldn’t it be nice if something was easy?)

But in the end, we had a beautiful mural and very happy clients.  Drew was happy, too.

THE LOGO:

Drew doesn’t usually agree to do logo designs.  For one, he isn’t a graphic designer and does little work on the computer.  All of Drew’s designs begin life as a big painting and then are scanned…

The second reason is that Drew doesn’t sign over his copyrights to anyone, but when you design a logo, obviously the client must have ownership to the copyrights.

But in this case we made an exception, because Yogurt Wave’s Tommy Bonacci was very persistent!

Drew designed the logo to have many different components that can be used together or separate.  This way the client can use just one component for napkins or cups or stickers or whatever.

We outsourced the vectorizing of the logo to Al McWhite of Jive Peoples Limited in South Carolina.  Why would we go so far to have it done?  Because Al’s the best, and only the best will do with our clients.

As you can see, the logo looks awesome and it’s goes perfectly with the mural.  Drew’s stoked on how it all turned out.  And, we have a very happy customer, which is what we do this for.  Life is good!

YOGURT WAVE GRAND OPENING:  Is July 23rd, 2010.  They are located at 3941 S.  Bristol Street, Santa Ana, CA (basically Costa Mesa) on Flower and Bristol, right across from South Coast Plaza.  Hope to see you there!

Links to buy the Brophy Chucks:  They are only sold through summer or while supplies last, so don’t wait:

Girls Pink - Girl’s Peace Sign high-top – Boy’s Blue

For Ladies: White Chucks with super awesome design (these are my favorite)

Drew’s always telling people to paint their own stuff and customize their lives.  Converse shoes are a great way to do that.  And of course, if you want Drew’s art on your shoe, now you can have it.

When Drew was a kid, he’d doodle dragons and waves on his Chuck Taylor All Stars.  His friends wanted him to draw on theirs, too.

This collaboration started almost 3 years ago when Converse sponsored our video PAINT PEN TECHNIQUES WITH DREW BROPHY.  A section in the video shows how to paint your shoe with water-based paint pens.  That led to a brainstorming about putting Drew’s art on production shoes.  Drew came up with a couple dozen designs (see the photo above) and they chose a number to move ahead with.

The collection is available at Converse retailers nationwide, including Journey’s, select Nordstrom locations and Converse.com.

Check this out:  Converse’s super cool blog features many different artists.  TALK interviewed Drew and featured a

video of him painting a Chuck Taylor All Star.

NORDSTROMS EVENTS FOR KIDS – Kids can help paint their own Chucks!

Drew will personally appear at 3 Southern California Nordstrom locations (kids shoe dept) and will sign and/or customize Converse shoes purchased in-store during the events.  Kid will be encouraged to join in on the creativity by adding color to their shoes.  It will be fun – Converse has lined up many activities for kids and there will be giveaways of Drew Swag like skateboards, art prints and books.

• Nordstroms Fashion Island, Newport Beach CA:  Sat April 24 from12-3
• Nordstroms The Grove in Los Angeles (Store#349):  Sat May 1 from 12-3
• Nordstroms Mission Viejo Mall, CA (Store #326):  Sat May 15 from 12-3 – ONE FREE DREW BROPHY ART PRINT OF SUNRISE (MOST POPULAR) WILL BE GIVEN AWAY TO EVERY PERSON WHO BUYS A BROPHY CHUCK ON SITE!

Drew's Pirate in Glass by Kyle Hunter Goodwin

One of the greatest things about growing older is you get to witness your friends becoming successful and growing in their craft.  It’s fun to reminisce about where you came from and how far you’ve come.

Kyle Hunter Goodwin is someone that we’ve watched hone his talent through the years.  His glass works have become more detailed, refined and beautiful as time passes.

We got to know Kyle  many years ago when we were planning the Sea Monster Ball.  It was a group art show, curated by me and Drew, and put on at the very beautiful ocean front Ocean-Institute.

We asked Kyle to be one of the artists exhibiting and he flew out from Florida to join us.  Since then, we’ve all come a long way in our careers, and we’ve kept in touch.

Recently Kyle asked if he could take one of Drew’s pirate paintings and re-create it in glass.  Of course, we were ecstatic at the idea!

It’s amazing how Kyle could take Drew’s painting (below) and create this beautiful glass piece from that.  It’s for sale, you can buy it by contacting Kyle directly at 352-213-3998.

Pirate by Drew Brophy

Go to his website at www.hunterglass.com and check out some of the awesome glasswares and art available.  You will love his work!

Photo by Michael R Foley

“I envision a place where people can live together more pleasantly than in any other place in America.” Ole Hansen, Founder of San Clemente.

Imagine a place where most people who live there are truly stoked on life.  Happy, beautiful women surf and enjoy yoga.  Young fathers ride alongside their kids on bikes to school in the mornings.  The world’s best waves and beaches are a stones-throw outside your door.  The climate is perfect, and people are friendly and kind.

Such a place does exist; it’s called San Clemente, and it’s been our home for 15 years.

San Clemente is an unusual hub for creativity, athletics and good living. It’s home to Surfer Magazine, famed skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and iconic artists such as Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and Rick Griffin.  Some of the best surfers in the world and other talented, interesting people live in this little surfing town by the sea.

Capturing the essence of San Clemente is difficult, since the life we live here is almost unbelievable to outsiders.  But the local newspaper, SC Times, is known for very accurately reflecting the unique lifestyle of the people who live here.

Recently we got a call from Andrea Swayne and Rob Elseewi of SC Times.  Rob came and filmed Drew at work in the studio.  It ended up being an entire day of Drew and Rob hanging out, surfing together, talking art and surfing and life.

Rob put together an incredible 20 minutes of footage that so perfectly captured the life of a surfing, traveling artist.  You have to watch it – it’s very well done:

Andrea Swayne also wrote an article on Drew called PAINTING THE GOOD LIFE .  Here’s part of the article:

When Drew Brophy was a kid, he was a doodler. At the age of four, he painted his name on his very first surfboard and from then on, his love for both has been an integral part of his life. Growing up, he would doodle waves, dragons, flames and other cool stuff on his surfboards, skateboards and pretty much everything he could get his hands on, including his Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. They are, after all, a canvas of sorts.

Brophy recalls that his friends clamored to have him draw on their shoes as well. What could be better than Chuck Taylors made better with original art? Fast forward to the present—about three years ago Converse sponsored Brophy’s… CLICK TO READ THE REST: San Clemente Times – Painting the Good Life

Here’s an older article from 2006 that SC Times did on Drew (It’s fun to look back and read these!) DREW REDRAWN by Kaerie Ray.

PHOTO CREDIT:  By San Clemente Photographer Michael R. Foley

Famed tattoo artist Mark Longnecker came to town and all hell broke loose.  Three major things went down:

1 – Mark and Drew collaborated on a surf inspired tattoo flash collection for the Rock The Ink Convention

2 – Mark and Drew painted two Escape Camper Vans

3 – Drew gave his first ever tattoo – on Mark Longnecker’s calf!

Mark was here for only a week, but he and Drew managed to squeeze in about 20 days worth of work.  They burned the candle at both ends, working on tattoo flash in the studio until the wee hours of the night.  Then Drew decided to throw a wrench into it and agree to have them spend an entire day painting Escape Camper Vans.

Then it was onto the 3 day Rock the Ink tattoo convention.  And Drew’s never had a tattoo in his life.  But he fit right into this scene of art and creativity.

When the convention was slow and we all had a few beers, Mark said to Drew “Dude, you’re giving me a tattoo.  Right  here.”  He pointed to a spot on his calf that isn’t covered in ink already.  Drew said “No, no, no, I’ve never held a tattoo gun before.”  Mark insisted.  Drew tried to put it off until tomorrow.  Mark said “No, dude, you’re doing it right now.  I’ll walk you through it.”  Drew was nervous – Mark’s one of his best friends.  He didn’t want to ruin that!

With the help of tattoo artists Randy Harris (Tattoos by Randy) Caroline and Mark, Drew’s first ever tattoo turned out great.

Below are photos of the crazy week and a video of Drew giving his first tattoo to brave and crazy Mark Longnecker:

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VIDEO SHORT of DREW GIVING THE ANGRY FISH TATTOO TO LONGNECKER:
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If you enjoy surfing, skating, the beach life and art, than you don’t want to miss this weekend!

ORIGINAL PAINTING EXHIBIT: Drew will have all new paintings on display and for sale in his Booth At the Boards & Waves Expo!

DRAW WITH DREW EVENT FOR KIDS:  Bring your groms to Drew’s booth and let ‘em get creative!  We’ll have a drawing area set up for kids to draw elements from Drew’s new book HOW TO DRAW WITH DREW.  No charge to draw, just have fun!  (Books available for purchase at $8.95 – or CLICK HERE to buy your book in advance.)

Dylan giving tattoos for tips

Oh, and this may be worth mentioning:  Dylan will be providing temporary tattoos for anyone who wants one, at no charge!  (He will accept tips…)

Darin and Lisa McClure in front of the Great Wall O' Sketches

Last Saturday we held a “Draw with Drew” event and book release celebration party at San Clemente Art Supply.

It took many hours and some pocket money to put this on, because Drew wanted to create an awesome interactive presentation of art exhibit combined with art activities.

And of course, I felt it was important to have beer and juice boxes alongside some great food!  (What, you’ve never heard of juice boxes at an art event?!)

Drew set up an awesome Art Exhibit of the artwork that was created for the book, including:   A painted Surfboard, skateboard, wall o’ Sketches, Painted Guitar and a lot of other paintings and drawings used for the book.

At the Drawing Table

Many good friends came to help us celebrate, while kids and adults (who act like kids) drew elements from the book.

Photographers who contributed to the book showed up, including Michael R Foley and Jason Wallis.

This event brought the making of this book project to a close, and now all we need to do is sell books!

If you haven’t gotten your copy of HOW TO DRAW WITH DREW yet, just click here to order!  it’s only $8.95 and we would be honored!

We are having a book signing and Drawing Party at Cocoa Beach Surf Company in Cocoa Beach, Florida on April 16th.  There are other events going on, too.  CLICK HERE for all the details.

Here are some photos of the party:

Walter's Wave Painting by Drew Brophy Mixed Media on Wood 48" x 72"

Why did Walter ride a wave?  Because Drew Brophy painted it that way.

In honor of the great Walter Foster and the new book titled HOW TO DRAW WITH DREW BROPHY for creative kids (published by Walter Foster Publishing), Drew painted this depiction of a happy guy surfing on a pencil alongside a trippy beach with happy crabs and bloomin’ flowers and screaming tiki’s.

The original painting was created for the book to show kids a fun way to draw a variety of elements and then pull them all together for one big painting.

If you’re interested at all in the story of how we got this book deal in the first place, go to the blog on mariabrophy.com article titled HOW WE GOT OUR ART BOOK PUBLISHED.

You can buy a copy of the book and a HOW TO DRAW GIFT PACK here – if you order before April 1, you’ll get both the book and the art print of Walter’s Wave signed by Drew.  (Wholesale pricing available for orders of 10 or more books here.)

HOW TO DRAW WITH DREW BROPHY Book release celebration party will be held Sat, March 27, 2010 from 4-7 at San Clemente Art Supply Store in San Clemente, CA.  The original Walter’s Wave painting as well as other paintings, surfboards and skateboard paintings that are depicted in the book will be on display.  Join us!

HERE’S A COPY OF THE SEMI-OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -San Clemente, California – March 15, 2010

Walter Foster Publishing and surf lifestyle artist Drew Brophy are happy to announce the release of HOW TO DRAW
WITH DREW BROPHY, an art book for creative kids.

The book’s format is paperback sized 9” x 12” and features easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions for drawing Brophy’s signature style waves, suns, crazy sea creatures and flames that come to life.  The MSRP is $8.95 and ISBN #978-1-60058-176-2.

Drew Brophy’s vision is to inspire generations of people to customize their lives with art and imagination.  In keeping with that vision, the book was designed to inspire youth to pick up a pencil and draw fun lifestyle elements which will fuel a passion for creating their own artwork.

Drew Brophy is best known for customizing skateboards, surfboards, wakeboards and other lifestyle products with
his unique paintings.  HOW TO DRAW WITH DREW BROPHY includes bonus pages that teaches the reader how to easily customize their own skateboard and surfboard using opaque paint pens.

“Anyone can be an artist.  They just have to pick up a pencil and draw,” says Brophy.  It’s his mission to encourage people of all ages to enjoy creating artwork for themselves.

The book will be released April, 2010 and will be available in select art and bookstores.

Media inquiries and review copy requests or image requests should be directed to Susan Hershberg, 978-282-3511 or susanh at rockpub.com.

Walter Foster Publishing
is a subsidiary of The Quarto Group Inc. and partners with another subsidiary, Quayside Publishing Group.   Walter Foster Publishing offers art instruction books and activity kits designed to instruct readers, both young
and old, on drawing and painting techniques. Walter Foster’s books are sold in arts and crafts stores, as well as via
the company’s Web site. Visit http://www.walterfoster.com.

Drew Brophy has been creating original art for lifestyle products for over 20 years.  You can find his distinct style and paintings on lifestyle products including apparel, hard goods, art prints, ceramics, wireless content, skateboards and beach items.  Visit http://www.drewbrophy.com.

Son of the Sea, Inc.
is the Master Licensor for Drew Brophy Properties and is dedicated to teaming up authentic lifestyle art with licensees who produce lifestyle products.  For more information, call 949-366-5236, e-mail mariab@drewbrophy.com, or log onto http://www.sonofthesea.com.