Author: Drew

24 Apr

Posted at 10:33h in Press by
19 Likes

Photographer John Cocozza interviewed me for Surf Shot Magazine.  He asked a lot of great questions that let me tell a couple stories that don’t normally come up in an interview, like the “town surfboard” when I was a kid, my favorite all-time painting, and being robbed in Peru.

Here’s part of the interview; for the complete interview go to Surf Shot Magazine.

When did you start surfing and who got you started? My older brother Tommy put me on a board when I was about 4 or 5.  It was an instant addiction!

What was your first board and do you still have it? When I was a kid, there were only a few (more…)

16 Apr

Posted at 17:20h in Adventure, Behind the Scenes... by
20 Likes

I’m stoked to say my t.v. show THE PAINT SHOP is now airing to over 4.2 MILLION households in CA and AZ, and that number is growing because more and more networks are picking it up.

Upcoming episodes will be featuring other artists.  We just finished shooting episode 4, which featured famous Florida Tattoo Artist Mark Longnecker giving a tattoo to another surf artist, Jenn Holmberg, in my studio.  That same episode has me and Longnecker driving around LA checking out some of the great street art and artists.  We’re also painting vans for Escape Camper vans in LA.

Here’s a 30 second commercial that gives an idea of what the shows about.  I’m posting this for my friends and family that are far away and can’t yet tune in:

12 Apr

Posted at 18:28h in Painting Story by
20 Likes

This is, by far, one of my favorite Uni-Posca paint pen surfboard paintings.

It was a commissioned piece by Paul Sampedro, for the charity MiOcean.

The surfboard painting was auctioned off last year at their annual event at St. Regis Resort in Dana Point.

The painting depicts a giant sandcastle  with Maria in the window holding a torch, and our son Dylan looking through a telescope at the top.

I’m the guy surfing in the tube, alongside giant kelp and fish.  The sun is exploding on the horizon.

A water molecule is painted at the top of the nose.  This water molecule symbolizes all life.

This board was a collaboration with my good friend, master shaper (more…)

16 Mar

Posted at 20:25h in Adventure, Painting Story by
18 Likes

I just finished a painting called SAMOA recently and framed it up.

This painting is a memory of an unbelievable vacation that we took to Western Samoa in 2009.

You can see the painting in my store by clicking here.

It was Maria’s dream vacation, where the bungalows are over the water and the ocean is warm.

We stayed at Coconuts Resort, an amazing, quiet spot.  It was like being in Hawaii 200 years ago.

Every morning I took a boat to the outer reef where there was a great left tube.

The rest of the day was spent (more…)

23 Feb

Posted at 07:32h in Painting Story by
20 Likes

This painting was created in 1997 back when I was still working out of my garage in San Clemente, California.

It was inspired by the over-and-under water  paintings in Wyland Galleries.

My paintings always get named after they are finished.

When I was putting the last bit of color on this one, my girlfriend at the time, Maria, looked at it and said, “Let’s call it WHY-LAND“.

Before I came to California, I lived on the North Shore of Oahu painting surfboards

I was flat broke and it was hard living there because not many people were friendly to me.  It can be lonely on the North Shore.

I spent a lot time waiting for the bus after painting surfboards all day at Barnfield’s.  The bus stop was right in front of Wyland Galleries, so I would wander in to in to check out all of the cool art.  Wyland himself was there every so often and he was always very nice to me even though I was always covered in paint and mud.  I’ve never forgotten that.

A few years later I moved to San Clemente.  After my art exploded onto Lost surfboards with Matt Biolis, he asked if I could to do some tee shirt designs for them that would match the surfboard art. Matt is very good at seeing potential in people and he must have seen it in me. I started painting on canvas with the paint pens for the first time.

This painting represents the inspiration from my days visiting Wyland Galleries and the confidence that my friend Matt had in me.  It was painted with the same markers that I used on the surfboards, a technique that I still use today.

Now, I see Wyland every once and a while and we talk about art and Business.  I think it was this painting that put me on his radar. I have no idea if he remembers me as that kid in his Gallery,  or if he realizes that his simple kindness and beautiful art inspired a kid to get to where he was going.

This painting is one of the few I’ve kept for myself, but finally decided to let it go out into the collection of someone who will appreciate it.  It’s in my online store, here.

Life is Good – Drew

04 Feb

Posted at 19:40h in Behind the Scenes... by
14 Likes

Posted on my Facebook Page:

“Whats up Drew.  Also an East coaster here.  Here’s my most recent work in progress.

I was Inspired by your Van paintings and decided to just go for it on my own.  I’ll be finishing her up come springtime.

Your work forever changed the way I look at mine, and thats what it’s all about …

You give the gift of inspiration to thousands of people, so keep it up and keep it real my man.”   Greg Mills

Thanks, Greg, for sending the photo in.  Killer painting!

I was so excited when I had the opportunity to paint vans for Escape Camper Vans.  It was such a release to be able to paint anything I wanted on these blank canvases that would be rolling around all over America.

It’s been my plan all along (more…)

02 Jan

Posted at 22:09h in Behind the Scenes..., Shows & Events by
18 Likes

SURF EXPO JAN 6-8, 2011 ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Surf Expo has been a big part of my art career for the past twenty years.

Every January the greatest show in Surf brings together surf companies and surf shops, girls in bikinis, stand up paddleboarders and professional surfers – everybody who is anybody in surf will be there.

I first went to Surf Expo as a kid, sneaking my way in with stolen passes to get a glimpse of all the cool stuff behind those big convention center doors. (more…)

13 Dec

Posted at 10:41h in Behind the Scenes..., Shows & Events by
18 Likes

I go to a mall one time a year; right before Christmas to buy gifts.  But this year, I went to 20 different malls between October and December.

Ugg Australia sent me on a 20-city tour to customize Ugg boots in Nordstrom stores.  I’ve been to Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and even Las Vegas.

MY MISSION: To make people happy by painting art on their boots.

Here’s what I learned about humanity through it all:

(more…)

28 Sep

Posted at 10:52h in Behind the Scenes... by
11 Likes

The great hat maker Flat Fitty challenged me to stump them on making a killer hat.  They gave me complete freedom to design it any way I wanted.  So I went crazy with the detail and colors.

Designing a cool hat took more than just putting good art on it.  It was the added details, large and small, that made it awesome.

When I first met with Elizabeth Miller, who is in charge of Flat Fitty promotions, she challenged me to create a hat that would show off what they can do as a manufacturer.  I was up for the task!

THE ART:  For the front of the hat I chose to use my painting SUNRISE.  I wanted it to pop when you look at it from different angles, and Sunrise has browns, blues, greens, many colors.

I had to manipulate the art so that it would work with the fold in the center of the hat.  This required modifying it so when you folded two pieces together, the art still looked good.  This took a lot of thought and time playing with the concept in the computer.

(more…)

17 Aug

Posted at 22:04h in Behind the Scenes... by
12 Likes

Del Lago Wall Mural by Drew Brophy

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.

del-lago-wall-mural-002-courtneys-side2

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. (more…)