Battlemouth

Throughout these series I try to give a good variety of different level of artist…there are so many talented individuals out there but we try to get a good variety. From seasoned veterans to hobbyists, we have talked with many wonderful individuals in both Round 1 & 2 of the Indie Artist Series. I have no doubt that one day I will be trying to get some of our friends to be featured in the finale, hopefully they will still have time for my 7 questions! Jon Paul Kaiser, 64 Colors, LoveandaSandwich, Reactor 88…all amazing from all over the world… here is a re-cap of where you can track down their work, or just drop them a line and say hello!

Jon Paul Kaiser-
http://jonpaulkaiser.blog.co.uk/
twitter.com/jonpaulkaiser
64 Colors-
http://www.64colors.com/
www.rotofugi.com
twitter.com/64colors
Loveandasandwich-
http://loveandasandwich.com/
twitter.com/loveandsandwich
Reactor 88-
http://www.reactor88.com/
twitter.com/reactor88

As I have said before, with the man still keeping us all down, I like to try my part to help out these artists in their endeavors, and as I am no longer the richest man on my block, I do what I can…which is help publicize! One of our favorite artists out there these days happens to hail from the same neck of the woods as our fair site here! In fact, Mike (THEE Battlemouth), still rocks the New England area, and I am told loves it dearly. Sket One has been in the business for quite some time creating many original characters with the folks from Wheaty Wheat, Mindstyle, and Kidrobot just to name a few. Sket has certainly become a household name in the designer vinyl world, not to mention his design and graffiti work that is world renown as well! Mr. One has done custom skateboard decks that will blow your mind and beautiful original canvas pieces that are equally as incredible. His production toys are rivaled only by his customs which have certainly set a precedent for custom work on the whole. His use of unusual props (for lack of a better term) make his customs some of THE most sought after, and are always something amazing to see.

Sket One is also the creator of “Bode Jam” which has become an incredibly huge (and awesome) event. For those not familiar with the Jam, I Sket has a nice description as well as some pictures of the big day over on his Flikr . Here is his description: “The Bodé Jam was created in 2001 to honor the legendary artist Vaughn Bodé and his art. This is one day when we as writers all get together and pay homage to his style of art. From his lettering to his characters Vaughn Bodé has influenced graffiti writers since day one. Now in 2008 the Bodé Jam has been a graffiti highlight of the year. When artist get together and create pieces and enjoy a day of reminiscing and reflection of the man himself…Vaugn Bodé.”

I had the pleasure of meeting him at a certain Con (that I may or may not mention all the time) and can say from experience that he is as nice a dude as he is a talented artist. I dropped him a line to see if he would mind parting some wisdom on us by being our Featured Finale Interviewee and he graciously agreed!
So here it is, the GRAND FINALE INTERVIEW WITH Mr. SKET ONE!

AarontheStrong- Who is Sket-One?

Sket One is a graffiti artist, who since the beginning wanted to do more,
reach new levels and create new art constantly. I have worked in many fields
of art through out my life and find each one interesting from the next, so
as long as I grow, so does my art. Keep things new, fresh, and fun!

ATS- What inspired you to become the artist that we know and love today?

SKET- My inspirations come from many places around us within our daily lives, from
signs to advertising to TV to pop art to graffiti. It finds me in the
weirdest places, inspired by the weirdest things. I find so much
interesting.

ATS- Whose pieces could we find in your collection?

SKET- In my collection you would find: Seen, Katro Storm, Harry Oh, MAD, Huck Gee,
Tristan Eaton, Tim biskup, Shepard fairey, rob stull and stash

ATS- What music plays while you work?

SKET- That’s a hard one, mostly shuffle unless I am in a mood, I listen to
basically everything except country, I grew up in a family surrounded by
music and was exposed to so much and still love everything from Jungle DnB
to Iron Maiden to The Smiths.

ATS- Can we expect to see any new Sket-One pieces coming out soon?

SKET- Of Course I just dropped a design in the new Bic Buddies series and will
have 3 NEW dunnys coming up in the new year, also working on projects as we
speak…it’s never ending over here…always creating

ATS- How did you make the jump from design work and graffiti to designer
vinyl?

SKET- I was drawing a lot of characters for graffiti and when I stumbled upon
vinyl, I was anxious to have my characters come to life, just seemed so
cool. So the adventure begun researching getting involved being active in
any way I could…and it finally paid off.

ATS- Have you made plans to attend any upcoming conventions for the rest of
this year?
SKET- I am going to DRAGON CON sept 4-8 it’s one of the best conventions I have
ever been to, it’s fun exciting, fresh, hasn’t been spoiled by corporate
companies and wack schedules, it’s what all conventions should be!

If you happen to be in the Atlanta or Phoenix area over the next couple weeks stop by Dragon Con (ATL) or the MOLTEN BRO’s show: DECK III (which looks SICK, PHO) and say “What up” to Sket!

In a couple months Sket One is also going to be part of a few great show’s that I am sure we will be hearing about:
Nov 6 HOGWASH group show with Dave Quan and Josh Taylor
Nov 13th MUNNY World Custom show
Nov 20 Group show with PON, MAD, Shane Jessup

Thanks again to all who took part and be sure to swing back by the site (every day) in a month or two for ROUND 3!