I Can’t Think Of A Caption

On Saturday, we headed out to the fashion district and took a cruise around the Melrose strip.

John (Greenville) joined us on our trek and of course, we had to break him into the food section of our blog. We had some good homestyle Soul Food cookin’ in LA.

We put Adam’s two phones to good use…

I hadn’t seen Adam in a few days and all of a sudden, he has a huge koi fish on his neck.

Birds in Hollywood are overly-dramatic with their nests. This is ‘Queer-Eye for the Straight Bird’. One of the most creative shops in Melrose and I don’t even know what goes on in there.

My favorite part of Melrose are the back alleys where all the real art happens. Every inch of the backside of the stores are drenched in graffitti arts.

Afterwards, I dropped in on a littie soire of sorts for Angie as she’s returned from her two-week vacation in New York.

Soon after, I was home laying flat on the bed and had the best two-hour knock-out sleep ever.

–dinoxsketchpad

Another Candle On The Cake

Moria’s birthday dinner at Lucille’s.

Yea, WTH?

According to her, MAGGOTS is her real name.

So MAGGOTS and her friend STURF called me DINOSAUR the whole night and made an illustration to fit with my new name.

Afterwards, we paid Will a visit at his new apartment and they did the ‘usual’.

One of these wallets do not belong in the bunch.

Now, to make it easier, I subtracted two of the wallets out. One of these is as authentic as $80USD Jordans on EBay.

Can you see how fake this wallet is by the texture? Wanna see the guy who owns it?

Well, on a good note, at least he has money to put in there from time to time, right?

–dinoxsketchpad

TAPATIA Is A Bottle Of Female Hot Sauce

Nothing humbles me more than to see how people react so positively to what I do. When someone compliments the work I’ve done for the Sketchpad brand or when they purchase one of the shirts we’ve worked so hard on, it’s just an amazing feeling. Before this whole project panned out to what it is now, Adam was very enthusiastic about the idea and it was just an incredible feeling to be around someone who appreciated my vision as much as I did. The whole story of how we began was quite interesting but that’s for another time. This post is a nod of appreciation to our friends who’ve supported us so much. Not fans. Friends. Thank you.

As for the collage, a special thanks to one of our favorite cheerleader / hype-woman who’s been there with us, practically since day one, for putting it together. Candice aka TAPATIA. There are certain people you meet, who convey so much enthusiam and positive energy, that you can’t help but be absorbed by it. Candice has always been that kind of person, and the CRAZY part of it all is that we’re not even paying her to be that way. On a serious note, we’ve all been very grateful of your continued support.

–dinoxsketchpad

It’s A BUSINESS

Rick Klotz (FreshJive) puts it all into perspective for everyone starting a clothing line, a record company, or any business ventures PERIOD. No one cares about what statements you’re making unless it sells. At the end of the day, it’s a BUSINESS.
Adding to that fact, I think the whole ‘tee-shirt’ business as a whole has become highly saturated. This is known to be a DIY-Generation and it’s good to see everyone brushing off the corporate structures and creating their own paths, but at the end of the day, for every ‘one’ original brand, you see hordes of copy-cats and it’s really dragging the whole scene down when too many bandwagons jump into something they know nothing about. There’s only so many skulls-n’-bones and firearm designs you can come out with before it gets to the point of overkill. Yes, skulls and guns are very 2006. It’s to the point where I, personally, bite my tongue about even saying that I run a brand just so I can let my art pieces speak for themselves because it’s quite cliched NOW to say you own a ‘tee-shirt’ line.
I support everyone trying to pursue this business to promote their arts, but I will never endorse a company who’s eyes are solely focused on any financial gains rather than a cause. Sure, money is always good, but as with power — how will you use it?
I’ve conversed this with many people and I’ve made myself clear that this SKETCHPAD project is a ‘longevity’ experiment. Keeping our pieces exclusive and being nit-picky with the stores we sell to is a part of the whole mainstay of the company. I’d rather bearly break even now than bask in the temporary pleasures.
This goes hand-in-hand with any collaboration projects in which I hesitate on because even if it is something as simple as a tee-shirt, a relationship has to be formed so I would be comfortable enough to put the Sketchpad label on it. We are currently working with some other ventures, which I cannot name as of right now, but it is only because I personally agree that they have something wonderful to offer.
Although I do agree that no one cares about a statement that doesn’t sell, I do believe that if your statement has enough conviction and an artistic approach, the statement sells itself. So if you lack vision, imagination, education, and identity, please stop killing it for the rest of us who do this as ART.
No hard-feelings but at the end of the day, it’s ALL a BUSINESS.

–dinoxsketchpad

Now AVAILABLE

Pick one up at Ground!d.

images courtesy of Ground!d

–dinoxsketchpad

Hot Days + Cool People = STILL HOT!

We went to UNDFTD LA where Kuizzy picked up the Nike ‘LAX’ Blazers and the Jordan Packs. The sun was already beating down on us at 8-9AM so we tried to do everything else throughout the day consisting of walking into air-conditioned buildings. I went to the theaters with Kuizzy and finally saw the Zohan flick and it was entertaining BUT what made the movie much better were the 2lbs of chicken wings we snuck into the theater courtesy of Albertson’s. I’d love to take pictures of us scarfing down on those wings but the flash on the camera would disrupt everyone else too much.

 

Where’s Dino & Kui?

Our friend,Topless Nik, staying AND looking cool with the Optimus Prime fit. As for the male-stripper-ish name, we don’t endorse it but he loves it because now he can drop the top off of his convertible AND his own top just to be that much cooler.

–dinoxsketchpad

Goodbye DAVE

Dave (GROUND!D) is leaving to take over Europe so what better place to throw him a FAREWELL party than at GROUND!D. From the first time I stepped foot into the store until today, he remains to be one of the nicest and one of the most popular faces in the store with his beat-up Unkles’ and all. I guess this means Ground!d has a modeling slot open but those are some big shoes to fill because Dave does have some big feet. We wish you well.

Jon parks like he runs the place but it’s okay this time because he’s responsible for some of the footages on this blog. Yea, he took all the horrible shots and blamed my camera like he runs this blog too so you kinda get the picture.

Where’s Jon?

Where’s Dino? Remember those? I haven’t had one of those shots in a while.

Kenny. Still EVERYWHERE!

 

It’s gonna be different without Dave hanging out at the store all the time but everyone is still staying “Ground!d” and there’s a bunch more good people still running the show. Watch out for the Ground!d “LONG BEACH” City Tee coming out really soon. We’ll keep you posted.

–dinoxsketchpad

Fun With The Camera

In an attempt to build up my street-cred, I got in a fight at the park.

Dino VS. Alex

More of these coming soon.

 

–dinoxsketchpad

 

Dear Summer

One of my busiest weeks so far has finally come to an end. The problem is that we haven’t even begun this Summer season yet. I’m sure everyone’s feeling the wrath of that California sun now and thanks to this whole global-warming issue, I wake up sweating and drained. Despite the heat and the hectic schedule, I’m very happy to end it with one of our shirts coming out of production.

I’ve emphasized many times about how this whole experience with Sketchpad has been a mere dream coming to fruition. The whole objective of the brand was to inspire everyone to reach for that ‘dream’. Everything SKETCHPAD represents revolves around that moment when you’re sitting in class or at your workstation and you daydream about doing something more and then you strive to do whatever you have to to get there. The whole theme was the inspiration behind this ‘DREAMCATCHER’ tee. Now, as a debut to the summer line, go CATCH YOUR DREAMS. Can anyone tell me where the quote on the back is from? Hmmm….

 

–dinoxsketchpad

Just The Beginning

I was at the Long Beach Poly Graduation Ceremony yesterday evening at a packed Veteran’s Stadium. So many proud parents screaming and chanting their children’s names as it were announced. Confettis. Balloons. The worst — the blowhorns in my ear. I think every graduation ceremony is just a beautiful occasion because it’s a stepping-stone for these young adults to finally do whatever it is they’ve always dreamed about. The potential to be great starts NOW. Congratulations to the CLASS OF 2008 EVERYWHERE. Welcome to the REAL world.

This picture was taken just seconds after I noticed this kid was giving me the middle finger for — I don’t even know how long.

The guys from DEFINED couldn’t get enough of the SKETCHPAD BLOG fame, so they came back for seconds. I was kind of surprised how they knew where I was at the exact moment. It was as if they were stalking me, but it’s always good to see people I know in a crowd of strangers because that just means I’m that much more popular.

Brandon said Lil’ Wayne is better than Jay-Z, but little does he know that he’s actually throwing the ROC in the air.

Now we EAT…

Of course, the reason everyone was there.

There goes KENNY (GROUND!D). He’s EVERYWHERE.

Congratulations Angie.

 

–dinoxsketchpad