This is what the studio sessions are all about. Bringing in the best, most inspiring artists and seeing what pops into their head, and subsequently down onto the page. No sketches, no erasers, just a highlighter and a Sharpie to demonstrate your skills. Once again we’ve brought top-tier talent into our studio; this round featuring the Australian born and USA based artist SHANK.
Writing graffiti since 1985, SHANK has built quite the name for himself. For those of you that have been living under a rock, and aren’t up on SHANK’s game, you might be surprised to learn that he is also consistently prolific writing DMOTE as well. That’s right, this guy is crushing it on two levels while you’re struggling with one. If you haven’t yet peeped our video with DMOTE, same guy different writer on some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shit.
SHANK, aka DMOTE, began his way to the top after a long involvement in the local hip hop movements of his home town, and many years of scrawling his name across Sydney’s city streets. After polishing up his style he began to take a slightly different approach to his work, standing out from other artists and paving his own way. This caught the eye of some commercial interests and landed him jobs designing for local companies.
Over the years SHANK has continued to work and develop, surviving through the many eras of graffiti, continuing to be inspired by the streets, and infusing that Australian flavor into the stateside scene. His tenure is visible in his work, which simultaneously captures that 80s computer rock with a more modern illustrative style. Accomplishing more with two names than most do in their career is one thing, but SHANK is also the consummate professional, applying his skills to work in advertising, fashion and fine art – as well as his still finding time to get up.
The featured video gives us a look at the hands behind those classic SHANK tags and pieces. With a highlighter in hand freestyling the letters SHANK, and wrapping it with a fresh sharpie outline. He was one of the first people I can remember to do intricate two color pieces, making them pop with inline details like cracks and bubbles. Nuanced simplicity is what I like to call it. With that style he continues to prove worthy of a top spot, something undoubtable from one of the culture’s most infamous prime suspects.
If you didn’t know before, you do now, the homie SHANK is not to be slept on. As someone who’s been pushing the boundaries of the scene for decades now we are proud to have been able to work with such an influencer. Study up and hit those books, because skill like his doesn’t come easily.