Snowaka | Custom snowboard skin design

This post is related to a previous entry I made back in 2010, however, I never really took the time to describe what was going on. So I think this is a good opportunity to talk about the snowboard project.

My friend Rachel Halfpenny is an avid snowboarder and is addicted to the powdered slopes. As soon as snow falls at Mt Ruapehu, you can see her gliding down with a plume of snow racing behind her. She will get up at the crack of dawn and drive the 4 hrs to the mountain, snowboard for as long as the light permits, get up early the next day, hop on her board and spend a few more hours making tracks and then drive four hours back home... that's dedication!

It was only natural that she would want to personalize her board, to capture her personality and reflect who she is. This board was the end result. Her fun and happy personality can be seen in the cartoon of her but also her pride for her English heritage, the emblem and the St George's Cross is a dead giveaway.

You may be asking yourself where the word Snowaka came from or what it means. It's a play from the word snow and waka (maori name for canoe). So essentially she rides her snow canoe, hahaha. However, phonetically it could also be "snow walker"... clever huh?

Alexa Tattoo

Angry Teddy Bear making a sneak appearance as a tattoo. Love the way it looks! Love my model Alexa too :)

Light & Shadow

This is probably my favorite picture from the shoot I did with Alexa. I like the composition of the shot and the way that she stares directly into the light. Her gaze directs you towards the light but because there isn't too much detail, your eye goes back towards her and a dynamic tension is created. At least my eyes always tend to fall upon her ;) Getting nice pictures is easier when you have someone to inspire you!

Contrast

I love the way I was able to breathe some color into this picture. The original image was quite dark and had a brownish tint to it. A few filters from photoshop later and the skin has a nice healthy color. Love the contrast! As usual, I must thank my lovely model for putting up with me. Love you GG :)

Spring Fairy

 

Practicing with some brushes, trying to get a watercolor effect. The end result is quite nice although didn't quite obtain the effect I was after. Definitely need more practice. I do like the tones of the skin though, nice and peachy! It's spring finally and a fairy seemed like a good idea to draw :)

Painting

Snowboards

The ski fields are open and what better way to go down the slopes with one of these cool designs on your snowboard. I owed Rachel a birthday present and it occurred to me that there was no better present than making her a skin for her old snowboard. She wasn't intending to buy a new one soon so dressing up her snowboard with a cool design was the way to go. She was so stoked that she doesn't want to use it! I'm really glad she liked the design, after all, it's an illustration of her.

Lein saw what I had made and was so impressed that he asked for one. He went for the second design although being a dutch man, I thought he would go for the orange one. My favorite one is definitely the orange one. The design just flows completely with no boundaries what so ever which in my opinion gives if a better sense of freedom.

I wish I could hang snowboards all around the house now! hahahaha