Monday 18 July 2011

Off The Wall

Huey Crowley
A View with the Caped Crusader

image by cj foekler

Huey wrote to us not so long ago and asked what we thought of his work, we were pleasantly surprised. With a fresh eye on every day images, his interpretation left us wanting to find out more.

We hooked up for a caffeine window...

RD: Hello Huey, tell us where you're from.


I'm from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I currently live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.



RD: What is your medium of choice?


Acrylic and other paints: spray paint, ink, watercolor or oils.. but I usually stick to acrylic. Acrylic's good because it dries really fast and I enjoy the flat qualities it has. I've worked with most other mediums but paint is for me.


Sometimes I draw. Lately I've been trying to learn how to make music.


One Up

Lost Cat


The Combination- Pizza Hut/Taco Bell

RD: What is your art background? Can you explain your style and how you came up with it?


A style is something that happens from becoming somewhat familiar with your working habits.


My work is very process oriented. I paint, and scrap what I dislike. Sitting back and looking at the painting often doesn't do much for me because I'll usually only think the same thoughts, such as to use light blue or black. I need to be up close painting so I can make more "in the moment" choices.

I'm interested in a very spontaneous way of working. Figures are an interest of mine in the realm of a "creature"- there is an opportunity for many variations of form.




RD: We understand you have some skateboarding influence in your work. Do you skate yourself? Give us some insight into your skate graphics.


I taught myself illustration by looking at books like Disposable and interviewing artists such as Todd Bratrud or Ed Templeton. Skateboard graphics look a lot better when done by hand- I'm not really down with full on illustrator/ photoshop graphics, although most of the products I run for my company have been in that media.


I love old Consolidated graphics, old Anti hero stuff, any 90's stuff when Sean Cliver was doing his thing, or Todd Bratrud stuff. The clean lines of some of Black Label's older graphics. I have a lot of books on skateboard graphics that I like to read. The Disposable books are probably my favorite ones. I like to merge creepy content with poppy, graphic-y, somewhat funny stuff. . It depends on how I'm feeling I guess.


Antonio

Peace Panther


Mickey Mouse


RD: What is your favourite skate trick?


Nollie nosegrind shuvit or fs heelflip. Only because those are the tricks I have recently learned and I get psyched when I land them. I mainly skate curbs and flat ground.



RD: Fill us in on Chelsea Skateboards?


Chelsea skateboards is a company that I started with my friend Bill Hippert. We have a small team, and are a small operation. We just released our second deck, which was drawn by Patrick Jilbert- you may recognize his work from companies such as Creature and Consolidated skateboards, or Blood Is the New Black Clothing.


Its more about getting people's art out there on decks and hooking people up. We make some DIY stuff as well such as hand painted patches. I like to involve people in it that truly care about skateboarding or graphics. I think skateboarding and art share a lot of the same energy, and this "company" is about that shared common ground. Chelsea Skateboards is my nerdy hobby that I use to weirdly clutch onto skateboarding with.



RD: What do you have coming up?


I plan on couching it in New York fairly soon. That and keep on painting. Maybe a boring answer but its the truth. Keep trying to make music. I'm in a group show that opens July 29th called "a Dozen or Something Twenty somethings" at the Dean Jensen Gallery, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


Thank you for the interview. :)


RD: Thanks to you Dude, it's been a hoot!


Go check on Huey's site...Here.


Vamp

Snow Angel

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