3.03.2013

chrome ball incident #874: jigoku

"From Hands That Bite"












 "From Hands That Chew"'









"Sometimes it's what you do off your board."

Thought I'd try something different tonight.

Precursors to Transworld's legendary "Brain Floss" series, 1987's "From Hands That Bite" and its follow-up from 4 years later, "From Hands That Chew" had quite an impact on me as youngster. If there was ever concrete evidence that skateboarders represented the kind of crowd that I wanted to find myself around and be part of, this was it. 

All so captivating... so much to say, so much to learn. 

I always liked that the focus of these pieces weren't just on artists on the fringes of the subculture that happened to skate a little. Natas, Lance, Miller... these are some straight-up legends. 

And I still don't think Lucero gets enough credit for his amazing graphic work over the years. 

On a related topic, I'd like to thank the always incredible Jon Horner for sending over these amazing "Where's Penny?" prints. Amazing work that will have you staring for hours. Recommended.

9 comments:

Leiv said...

I'm curious were the title "Jigoku" came from. That's the Japanese word for "hell".
Also interesting to see that blurb for Nisi. I didn't know Ollie magazine had been around that long. Today it is just a "skate fashion" magazine, for people who want that authentic skater look. Heh.

Dan said...

I loved Brain Floss. Had no idea these existed. Thanks for posting.

"Spots: I skate to the shops to ride curbs". Ha, yes. This kinda stuff was what I liked in mags - regular kids doing interesting stuff.

sweatercuff said...

pretty well timed post what with my email.
its a good'in too.

The Chez said...

Good work bro. Skateboard art has always been underrated. Maybe it's because these days it's so disposable but back in the day it all related to specific skaters. But even in the disposable graphics there have been some amazing ones. Makes me wish I had the money in the day to buy extras just for the wall.

Keith said...

I don't think I've ever seen either of these articles and if I did, I don't really remember.

Pretty good timing for them to get that Cliver one in while he was at PP. Wasn't that a pretty small window?

That Where's Penny poster is super cool!

Anonymous said...

i'm not gonna lie, i was massively influenced by that jawhn dettman painting, i tried to draw clouds like that in almost everything.

excellent post, as always.

chops said...

Leiv, no big thing. that was the movie I had on when I made this post.

Thanks guys!

Dan Moynihan said...

Thank you so much for posting "Hands That Bite." This article had a huge impact on me in the dawn of my skateboarding youth. My copy of the mag got cut up and pasted onto various notebooks. I loved the weird mystery that surrounded the world of skateboarding, and I wonder if any of that exists today. Are pro skaters still artists? I like sloppy inventiveness more than technical perfection.

Anonymous said...

anybody noticed in the chris johanson page louie barletta? mind blowing