Neil Blender.

"Into his own, sporting low tops and long hair, Neil Blender casually grabs tail off an over - vert wall at Westminster."

There's no way you can go wrong with Neil Blender. My friend Alan recently said that the only pro skateboarders he recognizes any more are Mark Gonzales, Jason Jessee and Neil Blender, plus maybe Frank Gerwer.

This is the same mini ramp Remy Stratton was skating for yesterday's post.

The photo was taken by Scott Needham.

Thrasher - January 1991 Volume 11 Number 1

Remy Stratton.

I don't think there has ever been a bad picture in print of Remy Stratton on a skateboard. Spike Jonze took the photo.

Transworld - May 1991 Volume 9 Number 5

Justin Lovely.

The idea behind the Justin Lovely persona was a joke by Foundation owner Tod Swank. The gimmick was to have a pro model for a fictional person. The obvious gag for this ad is to claim that said fictional skateboarder placed first in the NSA Vertical Championships of 1989 in Dayton. The reality is that Swank got last in the contest and had a little fun with it. Some guy named Tony Hawk won the event. I wonder what he's up to these days?

For whatever reason the early Foundation advertisements have stuck with me visually throughout the years. The cut and paste 'zine style is a great look when coupled with Swank's simple drawings. It looked different from other stuff at the time. Plus the company had Dave Carnie and Andy Jenkins as riders.

Note that at the time of the ad, Foundation was still distributed by World Industries.

Thrasher - May 1989 Volume 9 Number 5

Blind.

This one still makes me laugh.

Transworld - June 1990 Volume 8 Number 6

Riky Barnes.

The Lucero graphics are some of my favorites. They have an interesting mix of playfulness and well developed design. It isn't just an over simplified cartoonish outline, like some of the H - Street graphics. Don't get me wrong, I was a huge H - Street fan, but looking back I wish I had ridden some Lucero boards, too. I'm guessing this photo of Barnes was taken at the Turf. You can kind of make out the copers in the original ad and there weren't that many indoor bowls in 1989.

Thrasher - December 1989 Volume 9 Number 12

Chris Johanson.

This is from a Transworld feature on skateboarders who are also visual artists. Ron Cameron, Thomas Campbell, Sean Cliver, Dan Eastabrook, Mike Hill and Nisi were included in the story as well. The kids have it so easy today. Now they can pull out a copy of the Beautiful Losers exhibition book or reference the Art In America article on Chris Johanson from a few years ago. By the time fall hits, there will also be Ed Templeton's Deformer book. And I guess you can't forget the whole internet thing either. But back in the day when you would tell your art professors that you were influenced by Neil Blender or Mark Gonzales, all you would get in response was a blank stare.

Transworld October 1991 Volume 9 Number 10

Ben Schroeder.

I don't think there is much else to say about Ben Schroeder other than burly. He is doing a transfer from the vert ramp to the mini at Jeff Kendall's Kennedy Warehouse in San Jose. It took me forever to figure out what was going on because of the extreme distortion of the mini ramp from the fisheye lens when I first saw this ad.

Thrasher - July 1989 Volume 9 Number 7