In a recent interview with FLIP magazine, I cited a strong inspiration of mine, legendary artist Jim Phillips. I can even go further, he was my FIRST inspiration. His artwork for Santa Cruz Skateboards was my first exposure to graphic art (I was 14 years old), and set me on a similar path. Jim's style was, and still is in many ways, exactly how I wish my work to look. I've always had a dilemma between the look of grotty pencil line, or nicely inked heavy line. Jim represents the later for me, an artist who is a graphic master with black line. Furthermore, Jim's "Screaming Hand" that he designed for Speed Wheels introduced me into the idea of morphing and abstraction within a well constructed figure or form. I hope that he will inspire and influence some of you as well.
Jim Phillips was born in San Jose in 1944, but has lived most of his life in Santa Cruz. Phillips' first published work was in Surfer Quarterly, in 1962. In 1965 he attended California College of Arts, in Oakland. From 1975-1990, Phillips was art director for Santa Cruz Skateboards, for which he has become predominantly known.
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