Customer Reviews

Surf, Skate & Rock Art of Jim Phillips

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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I ordered this book sight-unseen, having been a big fan of Jim Phillips' skateboard art when I was a teenager. But ultimately, when it arrived I found it to be a real disappointment.

Almost none of the art is reproduced from the originals. Skate stickers, for example, are all printed from the stickers themselves, as far as I can see, with little attempt to clean them up for print. I counted exactly one picture of a work in progress. Plus, they seem to be trying to create the "comprehensive" book of Phillips' art (despite not having access to any of it), so they chose quantity over quality. As in, there's a million zillion pieces of art in the book, all reproduced at about 15% size. I'm not kidding -- there are entire twelve-page comics he drew reprinted here, where all 12 pages are laid out on A SINGLE PAGE OF THE BOOK, almost completely illegible. Bummer.

Much of the rest of the page space is taken up with this long, rambling essay about the artist's life. There's little discussion about art technique, influences or inspiration; most of it is about Phillips' experiences in Santa Cruz, hanging out with people, going to shows and surfing. I've lived in Santa Cruz. I'm sure he had a fun time and all, but it's not a very interesting life to read about. Needless to say, I couldn't get more than a few paragraphs into the saga, even though it often dominates entire pages, with drawings crammed into the margins at maginfying-glass defying size, like some high school kid's doodles.

The editor seemed more interested in some of Jim Phillips' rock posters for the Maritime Hall than he was with the skate stuff, because some of those are reprinted fairly well, on full pages. Strange choice of emphasis, though, for a book that places the "screaming hand" (Phillips' most instantly-recognizable iconic image) on the front cover.

You'll notice that Amazon lists this book's author as Jim Phillips. I doubt the man himself had anything to do with putting it together. This accredation is just to make up for the strange omission of an author's name. Nobody is credited with this book at all, that I could find. The overall impression is that it was either a fan's scrap-book labor of love, or just slapped together for a quick buck. Phillips' art deserves a better treatment.

I wish that the world could also see a complete collection of Jim Phillip's motorcycle artwork. I first met Jim when he was creating artwork for the motorcycle industry. I was proud of him then, and I am proud of him now.

As far as the Surf, Skate & Rock Art of Jim Phillips book, I quickly bought a first edition copy and I treasure it. Those who pan the book are making a poor judgment.

For instance, full-sized reproductions of Jim's original artwork would require an enormous book.

Jim's wonderful book can only give strangers a taste and a glimpse of this creative genius' productivity. Don't let the detractors keep you from getting a copy for your own library.

Although I didn't find Phillips's other two books to be nearly as good, this one is *terrific*; the intricate details of his art work are really impressive and the colors are brilliant.

Jim Phillips is one of my all time favorite artists! The very first time I saw one of his graphics was (for me) on the Santa Cruz skating gear in the late eighties...I would never buy or purchase any other gear, I also believed that the Santa Cruz gear had the VERY best graphics and any of the others were either badly executed or a very very poor imitation...so why not go with tthe BEST? The graphics simply blew my mind! I immediately felt a connection to the drawings (viscerally), for me they were as influential and as important as Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's images were to hot rodders in the 50s...it was amazing to have something that was of the same draftsmanship and gross-ness, violence and horror as those3 Big Daddy Roth graphics...To this day I own a Rob Roscopp deck from about '89...I barely used it, because I never wanted to mess up the gorgeous image that was printed onto the bottom of the board (also, truth be told I was never much of a 'skater' at all...I mostly hung out with them and listened to the same music)...today that Roskopp deck hangs in my studio as I create my very own graphics and images inspired in large part by this magnificentt artist: Jim Phillips! God bless you Jim, I never thought you got enough recognition or fame...kudos, and here's to ya! You influenced so many people in my field and of my generation...I'm so gald they finally put a book out on you!

The title says it all. If you don't know find out who Jim Phillips is. If you are into Skate, surf or Rock Art buy this book. If you are a graphic designer buy this book. If you are a skater over 25 you should already have this book. This is the man responsible for the look and feel of the lengendary Santa Cruz Skateboards of the 80's.

This is an engaging book for the art, which is fantastic. I was put off by the errors in spelling and omissions of entire words, making reading the long, rambling text even more difficult. But, hey-don't buy it for the lame text (which appears to have no credited author), but buy it for the incredible vision of a great artist. Hopefully someone will take up the torch and print a more comprehensive (and coherent) volume of Phillips' work. Until then, this is a must.

the title says it all. If you like surf, skate or rock art buy this book. If you are a graphic designer buy this book. And if you are are a skater over 25 you should already have this book. This is the man responsible for the look and feel of the legendary Santa Cruz skateboards of the 80's