FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me. I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning.
You might love ’em, you might hate ’em, but either way, I hope they invoke a feeling for you.
This painting is #5 of 50 in the #50Paintings series:
Titled SKULL– 8″x 10″ paint pen on canvas board.
In the spirit of Halloween, I felt a skull would be a great subject today. Skulls are so much fun to draw.
It is fascinating to see strange skulls of the world, from elongated Inca skulls to dinosaurs. Makes you wonder who or what they were. It is also a reminder that life is short.
This painting study is available for purchaseSOLD to Anna Antonini of VA. She bought it within 5 minutes of posting the “in progress” photo!
One of my goals with this series is to make original art affordable for those who want it. If interested in adding tomorrow’s to your collection, please email info@drewbrophy.com or text or call 949-678-8133 asap!
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me. I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning.
You might love ’em, you might hate ’em, but either way, I hope they invoke a feeling for you.
This painting is #4 of 50 in the #50Paintings series:
Titled FULL MOON TUBES– 11″x 14″ paint pen on canvas board.
Have you ever surfed during a full moon? It is amazing, everything turns to shades of blue grey.
I use to live ocean front at Pipeline and I surfed during a full moon many times, It is so cool how your eyes adjust, then your hearing and feelings are heightened. Surfing tubes under the moonlight is awesome.
This painting study is available for purchaseSOLD to Jason Long of Half Moon Bay, CA. It’s his first ever original piece of my art.
One of my goals with this series is to make original art affordable for those who want it. If interested in adding tomorrow’s to your collection, please email info@drewbrophy.com or text or call 949-678-8133 asap!
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me.
I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning.
You might love ’em, you might hate ’em, but either way, I hope they invoke a feeling for you.
This painting is #3 of 50 in the #50Paintings series:
Titled THE FLAME– 11″x 14″ paint pen on canvas board.
I have always been fascinated with fire; I love its warm glow in the night.
Imagine how different it was before electricity, or in the dark ages when the night was feared.
I love the darkness of the night, I believe we need it and we should embrace it.
We have many candles in our house and we often sit by the glow of a fire in our backyard.
It has a certain energy, primal, and soothing. It’s like the moths who travel far, mesmerized by the light in the darkness, they are drawn to it even if it burns their wings.
What do you enjoy about the glow of fire? How does it make you feel? Share in the comments.
This painting study is available for purchaseSOLD to David G. of Alexandria, VA. One of my goals with this series is to make original art affordable for those who want it. If interested in adding tomorrow’s to your collection, please email info@drewbrophy.com or text or call 949-678-8133 asap!
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me.
I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning when I wake up.
You might love ’em, you might hate ’em, but either way, I hope they invoke a feeling for you.
This painting is #2 of 50 in the #50Paintings series, titled TRANSFORMATION – 11″x 14″ paint pen on canvas board.
This painting began in my backyard this morning.
I have always been fascinated by butterflies, they are so fragile and light.
A few years ago we planted a butterfly garden in our back yard. Now the butterflies are abundant in my garden.
I watch them lay eggs, the caterpillars grow getting fatter day by day, and then they sneak off to the big sleep in their chrysalis. There they transform into something entirely different. Amazing!
This painting study is available for purchaseSOLD! To Chris and Brandy Gese in Spokane, WA.
One of my goals with this series is to make original art affordable for those who want it. If interested in adding the next one to your collection, please email info@drewbrophy.com or text or call 949-678-8133.
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me.
I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning when I begin the new painting for the day. I’m just having fun going with it.
You might love ’em, you might hate ’em, but either way, I hope they invoke a feeling for you.
This painting is #1 of 50 in this #50Paintings series, titled MAKING FRIENDS – 9″x 12″ paint pen on canvas board.
This series is about 50 things that fascinate me; it’s an exercise of letting ideas flow free in quick paint studies.
I have always have been fascinated with aliens.
I started this painting this morning at my 2nd office, the San Clemente Pier.
As I watched the waves I imagined all the things that could hide in the ocean depths, I think of Aliens not in space but right here living in the ocean.
Maybe they will one day just walk out and say hi. Maybe they would be friendly. Maybe dolphins are the aliens.
Maybe we are.
This painting study is available for purchaseSOLD! To Christopher Goodwin of NY.
One of my goals with this series is to make original art affordable for those who want it. If interested in adding this to your collection, please email info@drewbrophy.com or text or call 949-678-8133.
Some artists can’t let go of their art. I know of one who has a storage room full of beautiful art, but can’t bring herself to let them go; she says they are too much a part of her.
For me, moving out the finished work makes room for the new.
I love when a painting finds a good home, like children you do not want to see them leave but you have to let them go out into the world and bring joy to others.
This painting, called PLATONIC SOLIDS, sold to a new collector who just happened to stop into my studio when she was passing by. She said “I felt it’s energy immediately when I walked into the room!”
Maria and I delivered it to Carole’s home and installed it for her. She was beaming with joy when we left her with her new art.
By letting go of these pieces and allowing them to live somewhere else, they are able to connect with more people and spread inspiration and joy.
The meaning behind PLATONIC SOLIDS painting:
This painting is one of a series of Sacred Geometry art that I worked on last spring; it all was heavily influenced by my passion for physics and how it relates to nature.
Years ago I began studying physics and Unified Field Theory. Later I became a student of Nassim Haramein’s Resonance Academy, and then was inspired to paint sacred geometry to help visually illustrate the physical concepts I was learning.
I’m still in an experimental phase of this; I’m trying to understand it all and make it easy for others to understand through the art.
It has been said that viewing sacred geometry art can raise your vibration and generate an inner peace. I have experienced that myself.
The Platonic Solids are five three-dimensional shapes with amazing properties of symmetry; they are the Tetrahedron, Cube, Octahedron, Dodecahedron, and Icosahedron. All matter structures itself in specific shapes; these are the building blocks of all-that-is.
You find these shapes everywhere throughout nature; simple, balanced and perfect.
This painting was first created to be used for a line of yoga mats. Now I’m making fine art prints of it, because it’s been hitting a cord with so many people.
Do you feel the energy of the painting, too? Reply in the comments and let me know.
In 1996 Sublime’s music was a big part of my life. That was the year when my life as an artist changed dramatically; I had just moved to California from Hawaii and was painting surfboards for Lost. It’s also the year that I met Maria.
At that time, Bradley Nowell’s lyrics and music impacted all of us; at our parties Maria would play Sublime’s self titled CD over and over again.
That’s why we were so stoked when Maria got a call from Sublime with Rome’s record company in May. They asked if I would want to create the art for their new album. She said “Hell Yeah!”
I’ve always been a fan of Opie Ortiz, the artist who created art for Sublime’s albums, including his iconic burning sun for the 40 oz. to Freedom album. That art will live on forever.
It felt good to know that my work has progressed enough to be in the same company and to be able to work with talented people like SWR’s Eric Wilson, Josh Freese and Rome Ramirez.
We had a super tight deadline, I had only 10 days to get it done. Sometimes deadlines force you to do your best work.
I wanted the art to be authentic. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Rome, feeling him out, picking up the vibe and listening. One of the things I’m really good at is soaking up someone’s energy and then putting it into the art. Rome’s whole spin-off was about sirens going off; the world’s a crazy place. I had to put that into the art somehow.
I listened to the new album for inspiration. It helped me come up with ideas for the art. No doubt we’ll be listening to these songs for years to come, they are so good. One fan of SWR said it best about Rome continuing the music that inspired so many – read that at the bottom of this post.
After gathering my ideas, I drew my first concept sketch and sent it to the band for feedback. Rome e-mailed me back with “WTF! You’re killing it!”
We nailed it on the first sketch. It’s cool when projects go down like that; it just kind of happens, no dragging on. I started the painting right away.
I painted two 36” x 36” paintings on canvas; one with the art and one with the hand-drawn lettering. That way I could use the artwork, without the lettering, for limited edition art prints. The band agreed to sign 100 of the art prints for me, which is awesome.
There’s a lot of elements in the art and each piece has meaning to it. Here’s just a few:
The little skeleton guy; I pictured the old WWII air raids when they had to crank the siren.
The mushroom is a spin-off of Opie’s mushroom from the original Sublime art.
The heart represents Rome singing his heart and soul out on the stage.
The depiction of Long Beach is the pile of rubble they’re sitting on. It’s getting ready to be hammered by a giant wave. There’s an off-ramp to the 710 freeway to LA, which is shaking as a big earthquake comes through. The cop car in pieces is all that’s left of the cops.
The sexy siren is an omen, a ghostly premonition.
The psycho garibaldi fish is a throw-back to the Bad Fish lyrics. I’ve been drawing this fish forever and wanted to include it.
There’s a tribute to Bradley in there, I’ll leave that up to the viewer to figure out what it is. (Share in the comments what you think it is.)
This painting came together quick and easy, it just flowed. I’m happy with how it turned out, I hope everyone else is, too.
The new album is called SIRENS, it released on July 17th. You can buy it here.
Rome Ramirez and Josh Freese, signing 100 art prints
Also, there are limited edition prints of the artwork available; 100 of them are signed by the band members. You can order them here while they last!
Life is Good,
Drew
Sublime with Rome’s Rome Ramirez, Eric Wilson and Josh Freese Photo by Jonie Millhouse
Sublime and SWR fan Fan Manny Gonzales said it best (on a Facebook comment on Rome’s FB Page):
“Sublime is my all time favorite band. All the music that Brad created with Bud and Eric will forever be entwined with my soul. I know every word to every song that they made. If it wasn’t for Sublime, I would be lost in a dark abyss of depression self loathing.
Thanks to Brad I know what it’s like to be waiting for my ruca, I know that loving is what I got and for motherf**kers to remember that, and if I’m drunk by noon it’s ok, cuz I’ll be president someday. But sadly I was never able to see Brad perform live.
And I never dreamed I would be able to hear his music come to life on stage. Until you (Rome) came along.
I have had the privilege of attending two of the Sublime with Rome concerts in El Paso. And they were both amazing! Now I’m glad to say that thanks to you if been able to tell a girl to take it or leave it, I understand that lovers change like the seasons, and my world is a little bit safer. I can’t wait for the new album to drop, I already pre-ordered it. I just hope you know, Bradley would be proud. Keep up the good work man. Much love from the biggest Sublime fan I know. P.S. I know every word to your songs too “
Video below shows the drawing and painting of the artwork:
CASE STUDY: Greenfield Naturals Illustration and Conscious Life Expo Live Mural Painting
WHEN: February 2015
CLIENT: Greenfield Naturals
MISSION: Greenfield Naturals was exhibiting for the first time and wanted to have a strong draw to get people in their booth during the Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles.
They also wanted an illustration that would convey their mission and accurately describe their products in a way that the viewer would understand it.
They wanted the mural artwork to be designed so it could be used after the event, for multiple uses such as product packaging, marketing and advertising.
SCOPE OF PROJECT:
1 – ILLUSTRATION ART FOR PRODUCT PACKAGING, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING – Intensively research Client’s products and the molecular structure of water. Design an illustration that would capture the essence of Greenfield Natural’s water solutions and how it works. (Their products are used for molecular restructuring of water, using natural electromagnetic frequencies.)
Design the illustration so that it is suitable for multiple uses, such as packaging, website, merchandise and advertising.
2 – LIVE MURAL PAINTING – Paint the illustration art (mentioned above) on a mural, live, during the expo. Generate an interest by drawing people to the booth. The mural was painted over three large gallery-wrapped canvas, making a 6’ x 6’ mural. After the show, get a high res of the mural and re-work the illustration for multiple marketing uses.
RESULTS: Attendees could not walk past the Greenfield Naturals booth without stopping to watch the art come to life before their eyes! Two of the most influential scientists speaking at the event were drawn to the booth and engaged in discussion with the Client. The energy of a vibrant, live painting gave Greenfield Naturals an opportunity to engage and discuss their products with attendees.
Many attendees wanted their picture with the mural, which had the Greenfield Naturals logo prominently placed so that it will show up in photos.
Greenfield Naturals had an extremely successful showing. And they were able to take the illustration art and use it for multiple products for packaging and their future marketing needs.
Drew Brophy will have an art exhibit and will be painting a mural, live, during the Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles this week.
A 6′ by 6′ mural will be painted over three Fredrix Canvas pieces size 2′ x 6′, and is titled “Water is Life.”
Drew will be painting the mural live in the booth of Greenfield Naturals in the Permaculture Lounge.
The Conscious Life Expo has also given us space to exhibit Drew’s art during the show.
We will exhibit Drew’s 18 foot mural titled “A Life Well Lived” and two of Drew’s Sacred Surfboard paintings.
If you’re walking the show, come visit us at Greenfield Naturals booth and pick up your free art print, courtesy of Drew!
Take your picture in front of the live mural painting and tag it #DrewBrophy #WaterisLife #GreenfieldNaturals , and be entered in a drawing to win a prize from Drew.
WHAT: Live Mural Painting and Art Exhibit by Drew Brophy
WHERE: Conscious Life Expo, LAX Hilton, Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: February 6, 7, 8 2015
WHY: Come say hi, get a free Drew Brophy art print, create a Conscious Life!
SACRED SURFBOARDS VINTAGE SURFBOARD RE-PURPOSE PROJECT – Re-purposed 1970’s Classic Surfboards, painted using old-school airbrush techniques; mint condition, collectible, limited edition pieces of art and craftsmanship. (Email info@drewbrophy.com for pricing.)
One of my most fun projects this year was painting six vintage, re-purposed surfboards brought to me by collector Jeff Eilers. (SEE PHOTO SLIDE SHOW AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST, OF ALL THE SURFBOARDS.)
Jeff and his business partner, Erwin Spitz, had the idea to breathe new life into vintage, worn-out-beyond-repair surfboards, creating up-cycled pieces of art.
Jeff and Erwin have a process where they skin the fiberglass from old boards, repair the dings in the foam, and gently clean up the original shape. For some of the boards, they even enlisted the glassing expertise of master shaper, glasser and artist Roger Hinds of Seal, Beach, CA.
It is an extreme amount of work to repair them but in the end they came out so well that they wanted to do something extra special with them. Jeff and Erwin had a vision for these boards to reflect the time period they originally came from, the glory days of surfing during the late sixties and early seventies.
In the 1970’s I was just a little kid introduced to surfing for the first time, so my art has been greatly influenced by artists of that era.
With my recent studies of sacred geometry, I was excited to get my hands on these boards and explore what I could do with these new concepts.
Many people do not know that I got my start as an artist painting production surfboards in factories for some of the best surfboard makers in the world.
In those early years I had to master the craft of spraying boards with air guns and airbrushes. It is a more technical job than artistic and in some ways very limiting. I wanted to express my art more fully, and so I found a better way to paint surfboards by developing techniques using water based paint pens on top of glassed surfboards.
I soon became known for bringing a new style of painting to the surfboard market which was painting on the glass by hand with Uni Posca paint pens. It changed the way surfboards were painted forever. These techniques allowed me more creativity and gave others the ability to paint their own surfboards as well.
All of these years later, with the knowledge of tens of thousands of boards painted in every way possible, I was excited to revisit and improve upon my own airbrushing style.
This surfboard project was the perfect catalyst to do something really special, up-cycle old surfboards and turn them into a true collectible piece of art. Cool old surfboards grace the ceilings of surf shops and surfers’ garages all over, but what about the ones that are just too beat up and ugly to care about?
Using all of my years of experience, I committed myself to painting something authentic and over the top for this project. I created hand-made stencils for every board, incorporating symbols that speak to me these days; such as sacred geometry, chakras, om, yin-yang and the flower of life.
The boards are now completely re-purposed, in mint condition.
All six of these Sacred Surfboards turned out amazing; they came out better then we even dreamed of. Each one tells a story and is reborn as a unique example of craftsmanship and art that will live on.
The first 6 of the series are released for sale today; if you are interested in adding a Sacred Surfboard to your vintage surfboard collection, email info@drewbrophy.com for pricing, or call 949-678-8133.
Please, let me know what you think of the art in the comments below.
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me. I’m painting whatever comes to me each morning. 
I wanted the art to be authentic. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Rome, feeling him out, picking up the vibe and listening. One of the things I’m really good at is soaking up someone’s energy and then putting it into the art. Rome’s whole spin-off was about sirens going off; the world’s a crazy place. I had to put that into the art somehow.
CASE STUDY: Greenfield Naturals Illustration and Conscious Life Expo Live Mural Painting
SCOPE OF PROJECT:
Drew Brophy will have an art exhibit and will be painting a mural, live, during the Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles this week.
SACRED SURFBOARDS VINTAGE SURFBOARD RE-PURPOSE PROJECT – Re-purposed 1970’s Classic Surfboards, painted using old-school airbrush techniques; mint condition, collectible, limited edition pieces of art and craftsmanship. (Email