Montana Skatepark On Deck 7

2011 Deck

The Montana Skatepark Association has emailed to let me know I'll be painting them another skateboard for their seventh On Deck exhibit!

How it works:

Montana Skatepark gets blank skateboards that didn't quite pass the flawlessness inspection test and sends them off to artists to do with as they wish. After the artist is finished doing what they wish, the board gets sent back to Missoula and is exhibited and auctioned off, online and in person. Proceeds go toward building free skateparks in Montana.

I was able to participate last year, and I blogged the progress of my deck painting along the way. I already have an idea for this year's board, and I'll post the sketch for it as soon as it gets out of my head and onto some paper.

One Last Goodbye

Well, my skateboard's gone. He was a good little dude, but we always knew he'd have to leave someday.

So it's up to you guys now, and here's what you need to do:

1. Check out the Montana Skatepark Association's site to see what they're about.
2. Read about last year's On Deck charity auction and exhibit.
3. Watch for this year's skateboards to be uploaded to their site in April.
4. If you're anywhere near Missoula, Montana on May 6, take a look at their First Friday Art Walk.
5. While you're at Missoula's First Friday Art Walk, take a peek inside The Brink gallery where you'll find all the skateboards on display.
6. Find The Rots' board and take lots of photos.
7. Send those photos to me: nora@the-rots.com.
8. On May 21, bid for your favorite skateboard at the live auction.
9. Pat yourself on the back for supporting free, public skateparks and the arts.

That's it! Great job

Skateboard sketch for On Deck 7

I had this idea to paint on a skateboard even before the Montana Skatepark Association said they wanted me to paint one of theirs. I finally got the sketch finished after weeks of just thinking about it.

The next step will be sanding off the finish on the deck, filling in the holes I don't need, priming the board and buying the hanging hardware. Not the most glamorous part of the job, but all necessary.

Skateboard for On Deck 7: Progress 2 AKA "The Great White Turd"

I've made a little more progress on my On Deck skateboard for the Montana Skatepark Association's charity auction.

I wasn't completely sure what colors I wanted to use for the toothbrusher's clothes except maybe that he should be wearing jeans. I grabbed some of the dark purplish blue I had used for inside the mouth and added a little white and Unbleached Titanium to lighten it up.

His shirt ended up yellow, and I'm thinking it's just because sometimes I tend to think in a primary color scheme.

The hardest part for me is always mixing a convincing flesh tone along with shades of it that don't make it look dirty. I started his skin, but then let it sit for a couple of days before I finished it. Just a little bit of nervousness about it, I think.

By the way, a few little pieces of trivia...

You may have known that the crew on the set of the movie Jaws referred to the three mechanical sharks they used as "Bruce," but did you know that Steven Spielberg named it after his attorney? Also (from IMDB):

"In addition to the well-known nickname of "Bruce", Steven Spielberg also called the shark "the great white turd" when he really got frustrated with the troublesome animatronic fish."

Bruce is also the name of the Great White in Finding Nemo.

Skateboard painting update

Another day in the studio working on my deck for the Montana Skatepark Association's On Deck VI charity auction and exhibit.

Today I started with a little underpainting on Reg's pants.

And then I painting both his pants and hair (which turned out to be the same rusty color).

Here's a close-up of his hair.

On this next part you'll have to use your imagination until I can get back in the studio. The shirt and shoes are only underpainted at this point, and they just happen to be that same rusty color from his pants and hair. I know right now he looks B-O-R-I-N-G (like, "What were you thinking?" kind of boring), but I promise he'll be a little more colorful next time I post.

You can click on any of the images to see them biggie-sized.

Another On Deck day

Worked a bit on my board for the Montana Skatepark Association's "On Deck" charity auction and exhibit.

First, I painted a rough outline of the image on the board (above) and did some paint mixing. He says his name is Reg by the way (and pleased to meet you, thanks). I used Alizarin Crimson for the sketch, if you're keeping score.

Next came the underpainting (Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow).

Then the background painting. Not sure yet how finished this part is, so I'll paint Reg first and then decide what else I need to do with the blue (Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Utrecht Unbleached Titanium, Payne's Gray and Titanium White).

Probably add some clouds in the mix later on.

Uh. Oh. I guess I'm not as original as I thought.

While I was online this morning, I did a little surfing around the gallery on the Montana Skatepark Association site from On Deck V (last year's), and I got an unexpected punch in the gut. One of the decks from last year was painted and doodled similarly to what I had planned on doing on mine.

Ouch.

This one isn't happening.

I sort of had to take a step back to square one, but not so much. I had an idea of what I wanted to do from the beginning, but then got sidetracked when I saw my sketchbook page with all the doodles. I get sidetracked easily. I could still use that very first idea as a backup, even though I hadn't done any sketches for it.

So I went back to the studio this afternoon, sanded the wood fill down from yesterday, and started coating the board with gesso. While the first coat was drying, I played with some new color mixtures for a background. When I first thought about this idea, I couldn't see it with any other background other than purple. Not sure why. I don't really use purple, but there you go.

The new mixtures are a combination of Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Payne's Gray (which is bluer and grayer than the swatch in the link shows), Utrecht Unbleached Titanium (different than Liquitex) and Titanium White.

I'll be painting the little guy on
the bottom left, with a replacement
foot from the sketch to the right.

While the second coat of gesso was drying I started playing with some sketches of that original idea. At first I was going to do the skeleton version (on the upper right), but I played around with the little guy on the bottom left, and now have decided to use him for my final painting.

Three coats of gesso, and
it's ready to paint.

One more coat of gesso, and I'm as far as I can go until it's dry.

On Deck 7 skateboards now awaiting your bid

My skateboard for the Montana Skatepark Association is available for your bid: http://www.montanaskatepark.org/ondeck-boards/nora-thompson/

I posted progress reports as I painted the deck, and you can find the lot of them here.

Go. Bid. Help raise a little money for some free public skateparks.

Skateboard for On Deck 7: Progress 4

Another day's work on the skateboard for the Montana Skatepark Association's On Deck exhibit and charity auction. I've finished up the teeth and started on the bubbles. Almost finished now.