Why be bored in school? Go to a Skateboard School! This Toronto District School Board alternative school design program helps students earn high school credits and graduate by creating their own brand and running a skateboard business / professional design studio. OASIS SKATEBOARD FACTORY (OSF) "ON THE GRIND": TDSB's ART & ENTREPRENEURSHIP O.G.s since 2006!

Saturday, December 12, 2015

GROW


My brand is Grow Boards. My brand is based around the childhood fascination most people have with animals and nature. The image of the tree is supposed to make you think of nature and the company name “grow” in the roots is because roots are one of the main ways trees grow, by absorbing water and nutrients through their roots and keeping the plant anchored in the ground.

One inspiration for this skateboard deck would have to be Habitat Skateboards because they use a lot of animals in their graphics and they really remind you of nature. The materials I used to make this deck were tape, a box cutter, spray paint and a paint marker. Once the board was pressed and sanded, I covered it in tape and cut out the bark of the tree, the roots and the word "grow". Then I spray painted all those parts a few different colours of brown. After, I covered it in tape again and cut out the leaves and the word "grow" a second time and spray painted those a few different colours of green. Then, I dripped a bit of the paint onto the leaves to add some texture. To finish it off, I added some details to the tree with a paint marker.

One of the elements of design I used was space because I left some of the board blank. Colour was used on the leaves and the tree bark to build contrast and to balance out the deck. What I am trying to communicate through this board is that maybe we can all relate to and appreciate nature a little bit more, I know its hard to enjoy or even care about nature living in a big city but I do think its important to be thankful and appreciative of nature. I am happy with how the board turned out and I learned a lot from the process. It was my first time pressing a board and I found that really interesting. I am not too experienced as an artist and it was the first time I used tape and spray paint to create the different layers. Overall, it was a really fun process creating my first skateboard deck and I would love to do it again in the future.