2022 Surf Art Calendar
June
“The Joker”
By: Phil Goodrich
STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
I painted “The Joker” in 2010. I used a reference photo from Uluwatu, flipped around so it’s a right hander. I exaggerated the colors and stylized the lip a bit. When I was finished the purple and green color scheme reminded me of the Joker from Batman. The 24” x 24” painting is still available for sale on his website.
PERSONAL CONNECTION
I originally met Phil when I was in High School, where he was attending Point Loma Nazarene College and I was a frothy grom wearing a black wetsuit, working at Breakers Surf Shop, fighting for my place in the line-up amongst the Sunset Cliffs locals. Phil was a bit mysterious. He had dark black hair, always surfed alone, paddled out on the biggest days and had a good surf style. I remember getting a great session with him at Luscombs on a rainy day where we traded waves off of the peak with only a few guys out.
When doing research for the 2022 Surf Art Calendar last year I kept seeing Phil’s art showcased in the #surfart feed on Instagram and I decided to reach out to see if he was open to participating in my calendar project. It wasn’t until he’d already agreed that I realized it was the same person from San Diego who I used to trade waves with and it had all come full circle.
As I dove deeper into his artwork, I was really inspired by the use of wood for his oil paintings. Citing an interview from his website where he says “I only paint on wood… it has a neutral tone to start a painting, so lights and dark tones jump right out from the beginning.” His series integrating Blues musicians and waves is especially interesting to me as well. It is obvious he’s painting from a personal reference point having experienced some incredible waves first hand and surfing them well. Please go and check out more of his work at www.philgoodrich.com or IG @phil_goodrich_art
ARTIST BIO
b. 1971 Cape Canaveral, FL
Bachelor’s degree Studio Art; Point Loma Nazarene University 1993
Co-founder Soul Grind Skateboard Shop 1994 Pacific Beach, SD
Illustrations in Surfer Magazine and Transworld Surf Magazines 1995-1998
Interview in Surfer’s Journal; “Cold Turkey” 2006
Current residence; Fork, South Carolina and Telo Surf Villa, Nias Indonesia.
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