Part One: Painting Your Path with Drew Brophy

While scouring the web in search of art to fill the whiteness clinging to the walls of our new digs here in Sausalito, I expected a surf art exploration to be a straightforward and picture laden experience. What I found, however, is that the stories behind the brilliant hands producing the iconic paintings, images, and films that have shaped the surf industry, are as equally profound as their artistic pieces.

Three artists who conjure immense respect and have played hugely influential roles in shaping today's surf culture are Rick Griffin, John Severson and Drew Brophy.  Each artist hails from a drastically different background, yet all have made an impact that reaches far beyond the board weilding masses.  Their art has had widespread cultural implications, inspiring people across every class, demographic and location to seek more in whatever wave, liquid or otherwise, they happen upon next.

Moving in chronologic retrogression, from present to past, we look into the life of contemporary artist Drew Brophy.  Born in South Carolina, Brophy grew up obsessively surfing the fickle waves of the East Coast and painting boards in the downtime.  His talent was evident, yet when his highschool guidance counselor pulled him aside and sternly warned- “Drew, you can’t just surf and paint your whole life”,  he was crushed. 

Determined to prove her wrong, he moved to Hawaii in the early 90's, hell bent on chasing his dream of becoming a prefessional surfer.  Fueled by the money he scraped together selling his art, Brophy traveled around the globe, surfing some of the world's heaviest breaks, always with his paint pens close at hand.

His prowess for painting proved to be his real calling, when in 1996 he moved to San Clemente and began painting boards at Stewart.  Shortly thereafter he approached Matt Biolos of Lost to collaborate and it was here that things really took off.  The duo traveled the world shaping, painting and surfing, and soon he was being commissioned for premier event posters and private pieces of various kind.

This year Brophy took his art to new heights, staring in his own TV show The Paint Shop, in which he shares inspiration and techniques for those of us brave enough to put a skull or sparkle pony on our board.

To hear his full-story first hand, check out Drew in the videos below:








"It's a fabulous Ride, I can't wait to see what's next for me." ~Drew Brophy