Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Things are in the works. Loughead and Seth the Rabbit both recently got new cameras that shoot HD video. And in turn, I bought Seth’s old photo camera and Mclovin bought Loughead’s old Nikon. Look for some new stuff on the site soon. We’ll be going on a trip in the beginning of April.
Category Archives: News
Media Frenzy
Loughead’s Van
Loughead decked out his Van with a new sticky. When I drew the sticker I had no clue it’d ever be covering someone’s whole rear windshield. Stoked!
The Importance of Sketching.
( Megan brings us another article for the art department. Sketching is how any good idea starts.)
As an artist, it comes as second nature to me to begin an idea with a drawing. My professors always say that sketching and more importantly brainstorming are both key to great work, and I agree. With this in mind, I felt it an obligation to tell others about the importance of sketching.
First I want to start by saying that how you draw isn’t as important as what you draw. This doesn’t require amazing talent. You do not have to have rendering skills or even know what chiaroscuro means. Having said that, keep in mind that this is about sketching and brainstorming; it is not about finished pieces. This is about beginning a process that will help you with a desired outcome. It will tie up loose ends and provide direction in which you may not have thought you would take.
Start with a blank sheet. This is the only rule. Where, when, and why you draw is all up to you. I find that it is best to start with my first thought. Whatever comes to mind, I write it down or draw it. From there I keep on going with the thought.
Don’t be afraid if you’re getting off topic. If your purpose is to create an advertisement for toothpaste and you find yourself drawing a spider with creepy eyes then keep going. All you’re doing is discarding your distracting thoughts and making way for new ideas. The key is to keep your pen moving, whether you’re writing or drawing, make sure you keep putting things on the paper.
Do this until your entire page is covered. Step away from the paper and take a break. When you go back and look at what you’ve drawn you can decide which ideas have potential and which ones really wont work. Once you choose what you like most, start a new page with your best idea. Start the process over again with this one idea in mind and branch off.
From there you can really see what will and what isn’t going to work. Once you bring your ideas to the medium you will use for your project you will have a clear understanding of exactly what you want to do.
The more you brainstorm the more ideas you will create. Don’t give up at first if nothing is coming to you. Keep thinking and putting it on your paper. Some of the best ideas come from the smallest most insignificant doodles.
(The following images are an example of my own brainstorm process. I did a logo/tag for a hypothetical clothing company. There are sketches and then the finished product. These sketches are more typography based but you can see what I mean by keeping your thoughts going and doing what doesn’t always make sense while brainstorming.)
The Panty Dropper.
If I ever had a signature seat this is what it would look like. Through the course of an afternoon I designed this completely awesome product. The Gray is really more of a flat black leather but I wanted to shade it a little. The purple would be luminescent just like the real Panty Dropper.
Interview & Bikecheck with Loughead.
How’s it going Matt? how is the winter treating you in Coatesville?
Not bad not bad, definitely trying to ride as much as possible. Hell, this winter has barely even been “winter”, its only snowed like 3 times and they’re saying its supposed to be in the 50s this week. School and work take up way too much of my time but make me really grateful to be on my bike when I can. I’m always daydreaming about riding and doing new tricks on certain spots.
We’ve been riding Slade’s boxes a bunch lately and hitting up parks like York and Charm whenever possible. Slade’s boxes are a fucking blast and can be set up in a bunch of different ways. Charm has been real fresh lately too since they added a whole new half thats mainly street obstacles. I haven’t really been able to get out and ride enough street though.
You recently made some drastic changes to your bike, small bars to big bars, 2 to 4 pegs, and a little bit ago, a new frame. Can you explain what made you make those changes?
Haha, I don’t know if I’d call the changes to my bike “drastic” but yes I’ve switched some things up. My bars have been getting bigger gradually but I still wouldn’t say they’re all that big. I made the switch to Spacebars when my Vinnie’s cracked. I used to run pretty small bars until I started doing luc-e’s and wanted to be able to dip my front end more so I looked for something with more rise. I think wide bars are retardedly unnecessary. Mine are cut down about 1/2″.
I got my Benny L frame a few months ago after getting rid of my S4. I got the S4 after my Dehart2 cracked and I just didnt like the size of it at all so I knew I needed to make a change. The geometry of the Benny L is amazing and makes spinning a breeze.
As for my pegs, I fucking love 4 pegs!! Seeing Dave Thompson’s Verde video part and Ryan Howard’s ALYK: Still Here part made me psyched as hell to try them, Dave Thompson’s part especially. From the first day I put them on I was hooked. It was really refreshing, I was basically learning something all over again. Being able to grind on the opposite side allows for all new tricks and lets you to do a lot more with less stuff to ride. They feel really natural on my bike. I think a lot of people are hesitant to run 4 pegs because of the extra weight but the weight of my bike has never really bothered me especially with bicycle technology progressing the way it has in the years that I’ve been riding.
And do you feel like it has an effect on your riding at all?
I’ve noticed that my riding has gotten a bit more dialed and I take my time more than i used to.
Have you played around with crooked grinds at all? (switch or reg) I used to do switch crooks back when I still had RSD but never could lock into reg crooks once I got LSD.
I’ve messed with crooks a bit and they’re definitely tricky, I hate having my front peg come off and bash my sprocket into a rail. I think I’ve started to get the hang of leaning back and whatnot. For now I’ll be sticking to doing them in skateparks until I get more comfortable. My favorite opposite trick so far is opposite feeble threes, they’re just awesome and look cool.
Yea, Ryan Howard’s Still Here part made me want four pegs as well. Have you had any problems with catching your back foot on the opposite rear peg?
I might’ve hit my heel a bit the first week or so but I’ve adjusted and I dont hit my foot at all now. it’s surprising because I run 180mm cranks and the Benny L has such a short rear end, plus I wear size 10 shoes (not that thats a big shoe size or anything).
What made you go with Gray on the new paint job? and are you making any other modifications to your bike setup since you’re putting it back together?
I went with the gray color because I thought it would look cool with my kelly green bars and forks. I also really liked the matte color of my Dehart2 frame when I had it.
I’m not making any modifications. I just wanted to clean everything real well and re-grease it because my bike had gotten super squeeky and it bothered the hell out of me.
I’ve got some trip ideas lined up in the near future. In the beginning of april we’re going to do another pittsburgh weekend just like the last one we did about a year ago. I also have a big week long trip to Tulsa that i’m working on that would be ridiculous.
Frame: Fit Benny L 20.75”
Forks: Odyssey Director
Bars: Odyssey Spacebar
Grips: Deluxe Shovelhand
Barends: Animal
Stem: LE CUSTOM Fit DLR
Headset: Kink/Deco
Seat/Seatpost: Shadow Solus Mid Combo
Cranks: Profile Lite 180mm/Gold cone washers/GDH spindle
Sprocket: Profile Spline Drive 25T
Chain: Shadow V2
Pedals: JCPCs green/black
Rear Wheel: Odsy V3 Hub/ Proper Rim/ Fit FAF 1.95”
Front Wheel: Odsy Vandero2 Hub/GSPORT Birdcage Rim/Odyssey Aitken PLYTE 2.25”
Pegs: 3 Shadow Little Ones, 1 shit one
Hubguard: S&M Cymbal Steel
Weight: 24 lbs
Mods: Cut flanges off grips, grind side on my left pedal, cut bars a little, cut steerer tube, slit cut for my seatclamp, cut rear axle, cut seatpost
Good Timber..
I’ve always collected the little fortunes from fortune cookies whenever I eat some good Chinese. Some are dumb and some don’t make sense, but once and a while you’ll get one that’s got a decent message.
Into the Void // Eli Platt.
The ninth section of The Shadow Conspiracy’s second full-length DVD release,
“Into the Void,” featuring Eli Platt. Filmed and Edited by Johnny Devlin
First of all, I want to say that the above video gets me so stoked to ride every time I see it. Eli has an effortless style that really comes through here. I also want to mention that there’s been a lot of debate on DVD vs web videos. I like both, however, I do think there is one difference between the two. Patience.
In order to produce a dvd you really have to wait till all the footage is together. Sitting on footage isn’t fun, I have been working on a video part that has some 2 year old clips but I’m psyched on them. And I’m willing to wait to show them. Also along with the patience aspect is sitting down and actually watching the video. Eli’s part refrenced above is the second to last part in the video. When you actually watch the Into the Void dvd you’ll watch all the other parts first (usually) before you get to this part. Which adds suspense to the whole thing.
When a dvd section is released online, how is it usually uploaded? section by section. which takes away from the suspense of wondering who’s going to be up next instead of just clicking the person you want to see.
The last thing I want to mention is isolation. I want to say more often than not, my friends watch web videos usually in their own free time as to watching a dvd in a room together. I do that too, I’ll sit here and watch what ever I’m interested in over on TCU and then go about my day. It becomes something you’ll talk about with your friends once you get to see them and ride but sometimes not something you actually enjoy together. And that’s one thing I really liked especially as a young kid growing up. To watch a video with your friends, everyone gets psyched and then head out to ride. Now, you can still very well do that with a web video barring that you have the capabilities to hook your laptop up to your tv, if not, everyone’s crowded around a small laptop or monitor not fully seeing the detail of the clips.
Basically what I’m saying is as long as its on a big screen and it’s not some pixelated garbage I’m in. Getting your friends together and seeing which clips gets them stoked also helps you learn about eachother’s vision of what bmx is and I think that’s pretty cool.
RidePAbmx // Brett Snell
As promised, here’s some footage of Brett Snell from last year. Brett’s really fun to ride with and if you missed it you can see some more footage of him from our first Mixtape.
Clip of the Week: Brett Snell (theyea) from ridepabmx.com Filmed/Edited by Matt Smith
Collages.
Old collage pieces from art school. we had to make numerous collages. (above) an old collage of Joe and Dan Cox. Pictures taken from a DIG BMX magazine. (below) a more personal one. They’ve gone through a flood and have started to rot so I figured I’d scan them in.