Picture this: skaters and punks signing their own art book
It turns out, some punk rockers and skaters can shred on the canvas, too, as evidenced by the new coffee table book “Punk Rock & Paintbrushes: The Insides of Artists Written by Outsiders.”
The 195-page book comprises artwork and personal stories from more than two dozen musicians and athletes including Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, Matt Hensley of Flogging Molly and skaters such as Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero. It also includes work by several visual artists.
Each chapter focuses on one artist and showcases their artwork alongside personal stories and photos.
“The cool thing about the book is that everyone in the book has such a different story,” said Emily Nielsen, founder of Punk Rock & Paintbrushes, an art collective that organizes art shows mainly focusing on works by musicians and athletes, mostly skateboarders.
Nielsen and Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, created the book.
“And all of these artists have such different art, too,” said Nielsen, who, along with Fitzgerald and some of the musicians and athletes, will be at a book signing at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach on Saturday.
Tangible things
The novel coronavirus pandemic sparked the idea for the book.
“When COVID hit, everyone started going virtual online, which is wonderful. But for us that’s not what we do. We’re a very face-to-face collective. We sell art; it’s a tangible item,” she said.
So with their events stopped, Nielsen decided to create a book with artwork that includes mixed media pieces, paintings and drawings.
Lindberg’s chapter features a realistic portrait of X singer Exene Cervenka and a drawing of a guitar with lyrics of Pennywise songs wrapped around it. Caballero’s chapter shows off some of the colorful drawings he creates for skateboards and T-shirts.
On the list for the signing Saturday are nearly two dozen musicians and skaters including Lindberg; Caballero; Hensley; Hosoi; and Eric Melvin of NOFX and his wife, artist Sarah Melvin.
People who attend will be required to reserve a time slot, wear face coverings and adhere to social distancing requirements.
“It’s something that people are able to hold; it’s a forever thing; it’s like a vinyl record,” Nielsen said.
“It’s something that people are able to hold; it’s a forever thing; it’s like a vinyl record.”
— Emily Nielsen, founder of art collective Punk Rock & Paintbrushes