Throttle. X Artist Collab Series

Throttle. X Artist Collab Series

The things you love and hold dear to your heart always come full circle. Like great friends, you don’t need to call each other everyday, but when you reach out, you just pick up where you left off and you know they’ve always got your back. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been attracted to the design and aesthetics of things. This attraction is like a good friend to me. As soon as I could hold a pencil I tried to capture the things around me. I recall getting written up in the local papers for copying the Yamoto from Star Blazers when I has in kindergarten. By no means was it a great composition, but boy did I love drawing it.

Throttle. blog is also very near to my heart. I’m guilty of neglecting it and jumping on the other platform our community has embraced (instagram: @throttlefmc), but I’ve been meaning to help “bring back the blogs” and do it in a big way. So after 6 years of just posting, the Throttle. blog has received a long overdue refresh and is celebrating this by collaborating with 4 great artists to release the 2014 Throttle. X Artist Collab series.

Each selected artist has a style that is unique and special. It’s an honour to share these exclusive pieces of art with everyone in the form of very limited runs of Throttle. tees. This seasons collabs feature, Keith Weesner, GRIMB, FustyWorks and Adam Nickel.

Throttle. X Weesner

Painter & Illustrator, Keith Weesner (http://www.keithweesner.com) needs no introduction. His work speaks for itself and reflects his passion for car culture, vampy women, cinematic settings and brooding characters. All of his original pieces are easily identifiable and tell a story to me. It was a pleasure to work with him on his Throttle. X Artist Collab tee. Keith is naturally a car guy so drawing motorcycles can sometimes be a challenge. He was reminded that bikes are dangerous and can kill, . . . your brain, if you try to draw them! The result of his hard work after 4 cracks at hand drawing the bike is just stunning. I couldn’t be happier.

Throttle. X GRIMB

GRIMB Krazy Painting (http://grimb137.seesaa.net/) from Nara, Japan, is a true artist that takes great pride in his craft. His work and influence can be seen throughout the Japanese Hot Rod and Chopper scene. I’ve been a fan for many years and was overjoyed to have him contribute to the Throttle. X Artist Collab series. I asked him to put his spin on “Panheads Forever”. The composition and precision of work is mindblowing. The result is a beautiful one shot hand painted piece of artwork on black acrylic board that now sits in my shop. This original board is the source of the screens used to produce this Tee. I can’t stop staring at this artwork.

Throttle. X FustyWorks

As a fan for many years of the Japanese blogs of our genre, I kept seeing postings of these beautiful classically precise inked and outlined pieces of artwork. They were drawn by the hand of the talented Ken Sugihara of FustyWorks (http://www.fustyworks.com) out of Yokohama, Japan. It was when I saw his recent works for Jeff Deckers Hippodrome Garments that I made the connection and approached him to collaborate on his Throttle. X Artist piece. Ken’s boardtrack racer oozes his old-fashioned approach and for me is that snapshot in time where as a rider you become one with your machine.

Throttle. X Adam Nickel 2.0

This is Adam Nickel’s (http://www.adamnickel.com) second Collab Tee for Throttle. His own 50’s illustration style shines through in this piece. I asked him to capture the feeling of riding or the meaning of Throttle. He blew me away by taking it even a step further back, to a simpler time, the “initial spark” that has caught us all, the moment passion for choppers lays its hooks in on us. There’s a certain charm about this piece that keeps me looking back.

I’ve now got that same feeling again as when I was 13 or 14 years old, sitting in front of my parents home on a curb I’d waxed looking at skateboard graphics and loving every minute of it. Thanks to these gentlemen for taking me back to that time. Let me know what you all think, I hope you love the work as much as I do - Throttle. X Artist Collabs 2014.

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