painting story Tag

16 Jan

Posted at 07:18h in Behind the Scenes..., Painting Story by
30 Likes

SUNRISE in South Africa As an Artist, people often ask me where I get my inspiration from.

Most all of my painting inspiration comes from nature and life.

Being a surfer and a traveler takes me to some of the most amazing places on earth. These experiences in my life are real and authentic, they become part of my story.

Art is so much more than painting pretty pictures, it is a different way of thinking and looking at the world.

It is raw creativity and wonder. Art is the ability to articulate an idea, feeling, or story, to others.

Here is a story about the SUNRISE painting I did after a surf trip to the other side of the world:

During a trip to South Africa, on the beautiful beach of Jeffery’s Bay, where the ocean is full of life and the waves seem to peel forever, I was inspired to paint the sunrise.

One morning before dawn, after the coldest night of the year, I awoke to be the first to ride one of these magical waves. Standing in the dark, shivering in my wet-suit, I used my surfboard to block the icy winds. The crashing waves kept me company but I could not see them in the darkness.  Above me, millions of stars illustrated the vastness of the universe.

As my mind began to wander, I felt cold and alone, as if I was nowhere in time or space,  just another soul or spec of light in the night sky so far from each other.

Finally a tiny faint glow in the distance caught my eye, it steadily grew larger with every second and in a sudden burst, a tremendous wave of light raced across the sky.  In a fraction of second it erased the darkness and the millions of stars. I instantly felt the warmth of the light as the wave illuminated me. I embraced it and basked in it, it felt like God’s warm hands on my face.

I was no longer alone, a new day had been born, the endless waves and our beautiful world came into view.  This is our true gift, every single day.

The earth is our mother.
The sun is our father.
The ocean is where I was born and feel most at home, it calls to me.
I am a Son of the Sea.

Life is Good,

Drew

PS:  Now Sunrise is available on stickers, so you can take it with you anywhere you go – check it out in my Store.

26 Dec

Posted at 11:32h in Behind the Scenes..., Painting Story by
24 Likes

I CAN SEE Painting by Drew BrophyI CAN SEE Original Painting, mixed media on canvas board, sized 12″ x 12″.

This painting was inspired when hiking through the Grand Canyon on a SUP whitewater expedition.

Most people aren’t paying attention to their surroundings.  They see what they are told to see, or what they expect.  They follow the herd.

Somewhere along the way, humans have shut out the details, only absorbing the obvious, or what’s being sold to them through the media.

Eighty percent of the important stuff is missed by most.

This fact was evident when hiking deep into the Grand Canyon.  I was on a 16 day expedition with a private group.  Occasionally, the commercial tours would cross paths with us, usually in groups of 30 or more.  Often, they trudged right past the most spectacular sights the Canyon has to offer; perfect heart-shaped stones, eagles flying high above, ancient messages left on rock.

On one very hot day (as a commercial tour group filed right past me, missing what had stopped me in my tracks),  I looked up at an enormous canyon wall, to see handprint impressions on the stone.

It was a message left in another time, from inhabitants of the Canyon.  I don’t know how long ago those handprints were made; hundreds of years ago?  Thousands?

The ancient greeting stayed with me long after returning home to Southern California.

So I decided to create my own handprint art.

I added the all-seeing-eye.  It represents that “I Can See”, because I feel that artists are given the gift of seeing more than most others.  Seeing things in nature, in people.

This painting was given to my sister-in-law, Caroline, for Christmas.  An artist herself, she fell in love with it.

For a fresh insight on the Handprints in the Canyon, check out this post by Andrew Guiliford, who felt that the handprints in the canyon guided him to safety one night.

Handprints in the Grand CanyonLife is Good – Drew

19 Jan

Posted at 08:14h in Behind the Scenes..., Painting Story by
36 Likes
PERCESSION 2012 painted by Drew Brophy, Uni Posca Paint Pens on 7’4″single fin retro 1970’s Surfboard shaped by Ron House.  POST UPDATE:  THIS BOARD is SOLD!  A portion of proceeds went to SurfAid’s Board Art Benefit.

(But, you can order your own Custom Surfboard Painting, click HERE for pricing and order form.)

There are 3 things that make this surfboard painting special:

1 – I’ve painted thousands of surfboards.  But this is the first where I’ve painted both sides and wrapped the painting around the rails;

2 – The proceeds are going to SurfAid’s Board Art Benefit and will provide food and water to the people of the beautiful Mentawai Islands, a surfing paradise;

3 – The theme speaks to the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012 and what it could mean.

THE INSPIRATION:  I’ve always been fascinated by the stories of ancient civilizations.  Most people don’t know this about me, but I’m an amateur historian.  I can tell you about the history of just about any civilization with accuracy.

But I’ve never really painted these subjects until now.

The Percession painting was sparked during a recent trip to Puerto Escondido Mexico where I flew over the Ancient Aztec Pyramids at Teotihuacan in Mexico City.

A man that I met on my flight filled my head with crazy legends of the pyramids.  His stories inspired me to want to go there and stand on the top of the pyramid of the sun.

While surfing killer waves in Puerto a local there told me more stories of ruins in the jungle just outside of town.

He spoke of how the Zapotec Indians ruled the Pacific coast and built massive cities in the area around Puerto and Oaxaca.

When they put the road into Puerto Escondido they discovered a massive sculpture of the head of Quetzalcoatl, the god of the underworld.

The sculpture was so large they could not even move it. The road would have to go around it.

The Indians there believe an awakening is coming in 2012.  One man told me about strange lights he had witnessed in a valley, balls of light of different sizes and colors emanating from the horizon at super fast speeds for over a half hour, all of this sent my head spinning as I charged giant tubes.

Who were these people and where did they go?  With it being 2012 and all I could not help but let these ideas spill out onto my painting.

THE PAINTING:  The Pecession 2012 painting depicts the center of a crumbling Mayan Calendar being overtaken by the roots of the Tree of Life.  A golden snake spirals from the sky, wrapping around the surfboard. This marks the end of days and the return of Quetzalcoatl.

The pyramid on the bottom of the board represents a re-awakening of ancient knowledge.

The waves on the top and bottom of the board represent stories of the great flood and Mother Nature’s ability to reclaim the planet.

The balls of energy emanating from the calendar are spheres of light, essentially energy, our life force.

In the final days you will either be doomed to start over, or be transformed with this awakened knowledge. It begs for an answer to a question:

How have you lived your life?

Drew

*For insight on my history of painting surfboards, please Read “What makes a surfboard special – why you should buy this board” on the Board Art Benefit Blog.

This surfboard was painted for the SurfAid’s Board Art Benefit in Solana Beach, CA.  Other artists and shapers include legend Gerry Lopez and artists Phil Roberts, Spencer Reynolds, Matt Beard, Rick Rietveld, Eric Abel, and so many more great surf artists.

UPDATE ON 3-26-2012:  This surfboard painting was purchased March 2012 by collector Greg P. of Leucadia, California.

 

 

21 Nov

Posted at 16:48h in Behind the Scenes..., Painting Story by
26 Likes

SURFED OUT is sized 20″ x 30″ mixed media on Canvas, mostly using Uni Posca Paint Pens and Createx paint for the background.

SURFED OUT is what it’s like on a surf day when the waves are so good, you surf all day.  Finally, you get so hungry you have to come in and eat.  Then, you pass out on the beach next to a fire.  It’s the best feeling in the world, being Surfed Out.

This painting was a commission for Spencer, a nine year old surfing dynamo!

His mother commissioned this painting as a gift for him.  Spencer’s been a longtime fan of mine, and I’ve painted a lot of surfboards for him and his brother and sister, all from a surfing family.

This artwork is available as a giclee print so you can put SURFED OUT on your wall, too. You can find it in my store here.

You can watch me paint SURFED OUT on The Paint Shop Episode 3 “Crusin’ to Santa Cruz” Full Episode in HD from The Paint Shop on Vimeo.

Everyone should have a Surfed Out day.  Life is good – Drew

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