The Art of the Skateboard Deck:
Decking out with the art of local San Antonio artist Erik Ybarra
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| Image Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, Erik Ybarra. |
Ah, the memory of skateboarding through the freshly paved streets in my childhood neighborhood on my brand new board. I had just gone to the local skate shop with my dad and he let me choose which skateboard art I wanted. I remember completely appreciating that awesome artwork and having the hardest time slapping stickers on my board but alas, I'd do it anyway. In this week's edition of Val's Art Voice, local artist Erik Ybarra chats with me about his artwork on the interesting canvas of a skateboard deck.
Erik Ybarra is a local San Antonio artist who's artwork has been featured through independent arts organization, RAW natural born artists. His art features anything from unicorns to friends in ethereal settings. It has a dark yet inviting quality to it. The pieces tend to draw you in and make you want to see more.
Video courtesy of RAWartists Media and The Art of Erik Ybarra, Erik Ybarra.
When it comes to his pieces Erik says that you'll see him use a multitude of mediums, from acrylics airbrush, mechanical pencils, watercolor, and most recently oil. Erik has been making art for many years. Though, he has used a skateboard deck as his canvas his in the past, he has most recently jumped into it this past summer saying that it's a nice little challenge working with the space limitations plus "people get a kick out of it". And according to Erik, this kick has been had before. "Skateboard art has it's own culture and following... I've seen postings and what not of shows that are exclusively deck art". Erik overall says that the reason he loves doing skateboard art is that he likes that one can make something more than what it actually is by adding customization and uniqueness.
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| Custom untitled deck piece by Erik Ybarra, courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra. |
This interesting concept brings a thought to mind. Most artists squirm at the idea of their art having the potential to be destroyed or altered in some way. How does Erik feel about this? He laughs and says, "I actually get asked that a lot... my answer is once they buy it, it's theirs to do with it what they will. Even though I cringe at the thought of pieces I've done being destroyed or altered in some way, which has happened, I do enjoy that these in a sense become a functional art piece and they take on a whole new life". He adds that it's the nature of skateboards to be potentially destroyed. I can definitely attest to this as I think back to my first skateboard being broken in half.
| Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, by Erik Ybarra. |
| All Images Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, by Erik Ybarra. |
When asked what inspires Erik, he answers with a simple answer; Life. He says that he's inspire by darker themes such as "dealing with duality, relationships, psychology, states of being, and loneliness". He feels that people are naturally drawn to darker things and he's told that as far as his other artwork goes, people love how "chaotic some of the images are with the dripping but very attractive with the faces or figures. Like an imperfect perfection".
You can find The Art of Erik Ybarra at the following links:
or at his next art show at Art Haus at Pour Haus on Sunday, February 12th, 2017.
More details can be found at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/events/401488540196412/
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