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.
Life is Good – Drew
SEE ALL PHOTOS OF SURFBOARDS HERE: Sacred Surfboard Art Surfboards
FOR 50 DAYS, I’M CREATING 50 PAINT STUDIES that reflect 50 things that fascinate me. 
