Jim Phillips Interview

Up today is an interview we did with the legendary skateboard artist, Jim Phillips.


Jim Phillips
What brought you back into doing graphics, seems like you took a little hiatus for a while?
Blame it on Matt French, he wore me down. I was happy working on my old truck but he was convincing enough to persuade me, and it's been very enjoyable and sometimes exciting. Working tooth and nail with Matt has been like the old studio days, and the internet has made communication possible in a virtual studio.

How is it working with VCJ on the compilation pieces you guys have done for pocket pistols?
The "MC Who?" deck we did together was set up by Matt French, who also arranges for Court and me to have an art exhibit this summer at the Volcom store in LA. In fact that's where I met Court and Matt in person for the first time. We all went out to dinner a few times with some other friends and we hit it off pretty good. I've always enjoyed VC's work, even though in the 80's he posed the most serious competition than anyone else I can think of. We plan to visit each other's home

I see in the PP's stuff that there almost seems to be a couple of jabs at Santa Cruz (i.e. the screaming hand graphic) is that an intentional jab at SC /NHS or more of a joke?
No jab intended. I might have been a little casual with licensing out some of my creations, but for now NHS, Pocket Pistols, Matt and I are all getting along. We've decided to all work together rather that get into some endless litigation. Isn't that what Rodney King wanted?

Out of all the pieces you've done over your career, which is your personal favorite, whether it be skate, surf, or rock and roll?
My favorite art genre is skateboard art. I was inspired by the great comic book artists of the 40s and 50s, and since skateboards were screen printed, the keyline style of pen and ink graphics turned out to be highly valued. Just dumb luck to goof off, spending a great deal of my youth reading comics drawn by the great masters who were cast into obscurity by society's preferences and the winds of time, and then wind up with a global following from the knowledge I gained from them. In today's world, it's very daunting when you see the high level of talent in today's animated digital movie images, very powerful stuff. But it all flies past your eyes so fast and after the movie you can hardly remember what happened. My simple pen and ink graphics don't even move but they have a power of their own. For one thing they are on display 24/7, and kids can just sit in their room staring at it. It sort of burns an image into their head and they can't forget it. That's what makes an icon.

Do you know how many kids have gotten there start in art by repeatedly drawing those graphics? (I know every single notebook I ever had, had a screaming hand drawn on there somewhere)
Hey Jer, that's copyrighted material! Ha-ha. I do get a considerable amount of fan mail from those whom it took a hold on. I must say that influencing young people to draw is one of the most satisfying rewards from an activity that tends to isolate because of the solitary nature of art. It never ceases to amaze me how a few lines on a piece of paper, drawn out of the deep of your inner core, can go out around the world and become an enduring entity.

Seeing as how you came from the old school of pen to paper type graphic design how has the transition to computers been for you, and what type of software, computer, tools, etc. do you use?
You won't live to see another invention as powerful and versatile as a computer. And one of the most accessible features is the control and interface between art and printing. But computers are a double edge sword, the continuing downward price of memory has made it accessible to everyone, and everyone can easily publish. You can get a CD 25,000 images for less than $99. Who needs artists? And I think with the power they offer, people tend to get lazy. Digital animation is amazing, but everyday ad art has become a stale mix of photos and type. Commercial artists like Norman Rockwell, Coles Phillips, Maxfield Parish and Leyendecker are no longer existent in our culture.

What is your process of creating these graphics, and generally how long does it take from initial idea to completed product?
Hey these are trade secrets! I usually draw with pencil, ink with felt tip or brush-pens and scan it to my computer. I use the art tools in Photoshop for the same reason I got it in the beginning: to color separate my black and white drawings. The time can vary from amazingly fast to painfully slow. You can do twice the work in half the time alright, but then a whole world opens up with millions of colors and options to suck you down a deep tunnel.

Not a question, but thanks for the inspiration, you are truly one of the great artists of our time.
You are too kind Jer! I appreciate your interest.

Orezona (Arizona)
Who were YOU inspired by, art-wise?
I believe inspiration seeds come in the formative years of childhood, and then light and watering can cause growth. So I must credit some of the most prolific and talented masters of comic art, who sadly remain unknown in a culture that idolizes music, movie and sports stars. My earliest influences happen to be some of the earliest comic artists, simply because their works were still being reprinted when I was a child in the 40s. Krazy Kat by George Herriman was a favorite, and one of America's first anthropomorphic animals. Actually I was into his friend Ignaz the Mouse, the story within the story. That newspaper cartoon originally dates from 1910. The next cat was Felix the Cat, by Pat Sullivan who made more than 100 cartoons by 1933, and Otto Messmer who inked most of the comic strips. Those Felix cartoons played endlessly on one of our only TV channels after school. I think Disney put ears on Felix and called it Mickey Mouse, but speaking of Disney, and his studio of superb artists, one of the greatest was Carl Barks who developed Donald Duck from an early simpler character. He wrote and drew the Duck comics single handedly, and all of the Scrooge McDuck adventures. On my fourth birthday I received a card with a flocked Donald Duck. My mother said that I loved it so much I would take it to bed. Then the Fleischer Brothers cartoons were pretty imaginative, with Popeye being probably the most recognizable. Later there were the great comic artists of the Golden Age: Hal Foster who drew Prince Valiant,, Burne Hogarth with Tarzan, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon. Tex Avery was King of Cartoons, and Jack Kirby was King of Comics. Then there are the wacky EC Mad Comics' inkers under Harvey Kurtzman: Bill Elder, Wally Wood, Basil Wolverton, John Severin, Jack Davis, Al Jaffe, and the whole gang before Mad changed to a magazine. EC Comics was a target of the McCarthy hearings and resulted in the Comics Code Authority, that little seal you see in the corner of comics to show there's no sex violence and crude humor. In my teenage years Big Daddy Ed Roth showed me that after big bulging bloodshot eyes, a row of big teeth and a flapping tongue, there wasn't much left for an artist that was any fun. Salvador Dali was the greatest, and Picasso was the cleverest. Bosch was out of his skull, and maybe E.C.Escher. Virgil Finlay's work just languishes in obscurity. There are so many artistic influences I have left out its shameful, but this list can give you an example of the extreme cross section.

How do you feel about the artwork on skateboards lately? Is there a lack of artistic value when it comes to deck graphics by all the "big companies" these days? Is there hope for "art" in skateboarding with the underground artists (Like Jeremy Fish) coming up through smaller DIY skate companies?
Read Alvin Toffler's book Future Shock, because in 1971 he laid out the foundation of today's fragmented culture of an ever-increasingly transitory nature. Artists and art is disposable as Sean Cliver points out. The quest for the next hot product has resulted in a glut of products trying desperately to secure a market share. You can't even begin to see all the graphics that are out there, and there's not much available that hasn't been done several times. A dealer will buy a new graphic but doesn't want to get stuck with dead stock, so there's a tendency to just keep throwing stuff out there. How can any one graphic or any one artist attempt to stand out among a hurricane of images?

You seem to have done pretty well for yourself with designing graphics for "useless wooden toys", what advice do you have for those who are interested in designing pieces of art that will get slid off on a handrail after only a couple days...
Hey Orezona, that makes them rare and that drives collectors nuts. And the collector market that has emerged validates the art. What kind of art is worth anything if it's not worth anything? My advice is to not limit yourself. Skateboarding really has nothing to do with art although it is rewarding to be involved with what you like, and that can always happen with the right circumstances no matter what you are doing. I guess it can depend on how much compensation you require for your time, which has something to do with things like inspiration, motivation and endurance.

Your old designs: should they be hung on a wall, or skated?
Is it a wall hanger or a skateboard?

Oldmanmike(Arizona)
Some of the new PP stuff was collaboration between yourself and VCJ. How do you go about the process when working with another person on one piece?
I was fortunate to work with someone like VC who was so smooth and professional. It's Matt French who causes me consternation and discombobulation. We work together on designs and argue back and forth about every detail for hours at a time. He tweaks me and I resort to sarcasm, and there's no sacred cows either.

I know that we have a few fans that are unbelievable artists on our site. Would you ever consider doing another art collaboration with someone unknown?
I like that, the unknown artist! Sort of like how Margaret Keane turned out to have painted most of Walter's paintings, who knew? It reminds me of Mati Klarwine, who did the Jimi Hendrix Abraxas album art. In the years before his death he would often pick up stray paintings at yard sales, add his touches to them and sign below the other artists' name. But Mike... if I don't know who they are, how do I know they will do anything worth while or even hold up their end? I don't need help wasting my time; I do plenty of that as it is.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Basil Wolverton... actually, I like the 3 Stooges a lot more than any artists.

What's your favorite deck design (not one of yours)?
My son Jimbo's Sick Styx barfin' board. I offered him $75 but I can't get my hand on one.

Chef (California)
How do you feel about the screaming hand being one of the most popular skate tattoos? - there is no question why.
I think it was because of the guy we saw who tattooed the mouth right on his palm. That's respect!

H (England)
Respect.
What a great subject for an interview.

Skateboard Graphics?
Always fancied the idea of doing board graphics.

Must be an absolute blast knowing that there are people that are stoked just seeing the images and that the graphics can totally make someone buy a deck.
It is a blast, H. I remember I was out to dinner with relatives in Oakland, I walked out in back alley for a smoke where there was a couple of kids skating off a piece of old plywood they propped up. I noticed they had my graphics on their decks so I walked up and said "Hey you've got my graphics on your deck." They stoked and asked me to sign their sticks, and it was like having instant friends anytime in any city.

If you were to do something for an "older" skater type what image would spring to mind to spin on?
A skating granny with her walker attached to a skateboard deck?

Oregonparkskater (Oregon)
Me and my son both have the "Cell Block" skater tattoos.
cool!

In general how do you feel about dudes like me and my son, jacking your work and putting it on our skin for life?
It's indeed an honor. Especially knowing that it's a lifelong commitment. I feel like we're sort of married.

El Gato Negro (France)
Are you aware that there's collectors who love your work so much they have walls covered with boards with your art (usually overpaid...)
They sniffed around and bought them before anyone could get a clue. I admire that. Except some of the bought them from me before I had a clue.

Did you have a meeting with a skater before you decided on a graphic, or did you draw and Santa Cruz randomly gave the graphic to a pro....
I always liked to have personal meetings with the pro, and get as much of him into it or out of him as possible, and I always tried to do what they wanted, unless it was totally lame and then I'd try to talk them into something.

Has someone refused one of your graphics?
Well I refused him let's say. Spidey Demontrond kept changing his mind and asking for redesigns, and eventually I just said no! Most of the refusers just politely insisted on their own stupid thing so I would assign them to one of my studio artists.

Do you have some of your art pieces on your walls?
I'm so tired of looking at it all there's hardly anything in the house. I have a MC Who hanging in my office, and my studio/garage has my collection of old and new decks hanging on the walls.

Do you earn royalties on your graphics?
Yes, and It's starting to get better. It's great although you are taxed at a higher rate for royalty income. Charles Schultz creator of Peanuts and Snoopy said that licensing was everything, despite his long and prolific career in newspaper comics.

What are you all time favorite skateboard graphic (one from you and pick one from another artist please..)
I would say the Slasher of mine, and I already cited Jimbo's Barfin Deck, so I'll say the VC skeleton guy.

What do you think about the reissue thing?
What goes around comes around... and around and around. Sort of a graphic reincarnation cycle huh? I just feel fortunate that the graphics can hold up over the years and still be appealing to younger skaters. A lot of the market is basically collectomania, and cousin of the huge sports collectable market.

And what about the blank war?
Hey, what if they gave a war and used blanks? I'm not up on the war because it's my job to make them un-blank.

That's it, I have a ton more but I leave some room for my fellow soldiers...
At ease then soldier. Fall out.

Thanks a lot for opening my eyes on art Mr. Phillips...
You are very kind to think that I had something to do with it. I hope it results in some drawing.

Rollerbob (Texas)
What was your inspiration for the screaming hand? It was one of my most favorite graphics ever, and made my parents uneasy (which as a teenager, I thought was awesome!) but it was totally fresh and unique and definitely made a lasting impression on me. Like a lot of the guys here, your artwork really had an impact on me and my appreciation for skateboard graphics as true art.
Hey thanks Rollerbob! I've drawn the clenching hand since I was a kid, just sticking up in the background somewhere. Or coming out of the water for the third time. Artists through out history have used hands to convey emotion, and it is very effective. Just try to talk without using your hands. So when I got the idea of adding a mouth to double up on the expression factor I knew right away that it was killer material, I just had to talk them into it.

(I was stoked to see your work on Pocket Pistols. It made me feel "comfortable" returning to skating after so many years away. Kind of like, not EVERYTHING had changed or was unfamiliar.)
Hey that's really cool to hear Bob! Thanks you're the first to say that. I've been riding a longboard lately and it's a stoker.

Is it as much fun now to design graphics for today's pros as it was back in the 80s? (was it even fun then? I'm assuming it was...)
It was more than fun, it was agony and ecstasy. And with art you can't live any closer to the muse than that. Working with pros is like being a shrink; you analyze and then take a stab at the Rorschach test. Nobody knows what the prognosis will be but you hope everyone keeps their sanity.

What did you appreciate about doing graphics in the 80s that may, or may not, be part of creating graphics today, and is there anything today that's better or easier, than back in the day?
You guys are staying up late thinking up these cogent inquiries aren't you? The hot thing about the 80's skateboard graphics was two edged. At first not many knew exactly where to take it because it was uncharted waters, but then you could do almost anything and it would be unprecedented. The first few artists in the field were able to define the substance and set the styles. There were no limitations due to any other artist's claim to any certain thing. It started out fairly anonymous and unimportant, but as the years went by it became so important that it resulted in anonymity. Does that make any sense?

That's all? Thanks everybody! Keep on drawing'!