Swimming in the sound.

Finally got some okay weather to go dive and swim around the kelp beds. 

Darrel cruising by. 

The green abyss. 

Green kelp

Ghostly kelp flowing with the current

Big sky, Blue water. 

AK squirt gun

Fun little squirt gun design.

Bamboo

Silver tinted bamboo forest.

Sketches

More surfer girl sketches.

Different realm

  Sometimes you find yourself in certain places that don't seem to be of this world. This picture of sunset is one of those for me. The water was almost glass, misty fog rolling in. Seemed to be a place far away, calm and serene. An abyss of color and light. Moments like this almost always seem to bring internal reflections. Then just as soon as it came, it's gone. The noises that you somehow didn't notice around you slip back slowly. A boat cutting the water, a barking sea lion, a distant car radio. Your piece of mind distracted once again by things. But how great it is to be able to experience moments like these! Just looking at this picture I can feel my lungs fill deeper with air....

Zen and Color. 

Sketches

Few sketches for an up coming painting. Surfer Girl....

Black and white

Color testing....

Few new ones

  Some of the new paintings.

Aloha

Twins

Fin review

 The Chuck Patterson Great White fin does exactly as it claims. A great fin design that allows it to stay stable, yet can easily be maneuvered when needed.

 I took the fin out for two separate tests. One on a downwind run, and one in flat water.

 The first thing I noticed in the downwind run was that the fin kept the board loose while dropping in on bumps. Once in the trough between bumps I found the fin easily let me change direction if I needed to follow, or catch another upcoming bump on the left or right. The fin also kept a very straight track. Some fins are great for downwinding because they don't veer off course, but sacrifice maneuverability when needed in tight spots. This fin has both. You can concentrate on catching and gliding, knowing that the point you're aiming for is still on track. The fin also had speed and didn't seem to have any drag what so ever. Easily gliding from one bump and into the next.

 The next run was over flat water. Some fins seem to work great in one set of certain conditions, while they lack in others. But not this fin. It held speed in flats just fine. Tracked a straight course just as it had in the downwind run. Even into a slight headwind (5 to 8 knts) it held course, and made it easy to concentrate on paddling by not having to switch sides every 3 strokes.

 All in all this is a very impressive fin. At first I liked the aggressive design, hoping that the fin would live up to the name. I had some doubts as some fins work great in some areas and not in other areas. But this handled everything I put it through. It was much better than I expected it to be, and a nice surprise. It does exactly what it says it will. If you're looking for a fin that can go from one set of conditions to another, or just want an all around good fin, this is it. Great fin worth the money. 

You can purchase it here.

The conditions of the downwind test. Fun bumps in about 20 - 25 knt wind.

The fin.

Motion Graphics

Working on some short motion graphics for work the past couple days. These will be intros or breaks....

Retro...

Microscopic.

The compression on the web stinks, sorry but these look better in person. But you get the idea.

Left to enlightenment.

New 8x10 acrylic on gesso board. Cruising through a left
barrel with Buddha looking on from behind
the clouds. 

Paintings for sale

 Got a good response to the artwork on my handplanes I've been shaping. So I've decided paint waves on some gesso boards. These are all acrylic on a very smooth gesso. Details about them are below in the photos. I should have pay pal up and running very soon. Until then if you would like one, leave a comment here and I will get in touch with you. Or find me on Facebook.

Blue lip - 5x7 inches on flat gesso board. Ready to frame. SOLD! 

Sunset set - 5x7 inches on flat gesso board. Ready to frame. SOLD! 

Tube vision - 6x6 inches on mounted 3/4 thick gesso board. SOLD!

Detail of 3/4 wood frame.

Hand Planes for sale!

 Some may have seen in recent posts, I've been hard at work making a fresh batch of hand planes. Each one is hand shaped and hand painted by me. Start to finish. Made from poplar wood, and completed with a strong  polycrylic finish. They're available for sale through my gracious friends at Stoke Harvester on their site. If you like what you've seen, head over there and pick one up!(Heck even if you don't body surf these would look great on the wall and I hate saying that but it's true) Thanks in advance for the support if you choose to grab one, and also thanks for all the words of kindness and support. I hope you're as stoked on them as I am!

Small beauty

Sometimes the most impressive beautiful things are right under us. You just need to look differently at the world around you. Finding beauty in small folds of water....

Green means go

Another hand plane painted. A big green lip.

Green is good.

Detail

Looking down the line.

Finished!

Finished painting. 

Painting Planes.

Running through some new hand planes. I'll have a more thorough description of how these are made, and the steps that go into them soon. For now here are a few pics of the beginning of the painting process. Starting with pencil sketching an outline, then moving into the paint. Final pics of these will be up later. 

Pencil Lip pitching

Pencil outline of a wave. 

Going left. 

Think the pencil will make the section? 

Start of painting

Color.