Mark Kowalchuk is one talented dude. Just check out the sick 33MAG logo he whipped up in two days for this profile. I first met him about five years back through Kevin Sansalone, who was getting Mark to paint helmets and boards for an art show in Whistler. I couldn't help but be impressed by his talent back then, and when I checked out his work recently was not surprised to see that he's continued to grow as an artist, with some of his latest creations really being things of beauty (in my humble, art-ignorant mind anyways!).
It's also great to see that Mark is busy and supporting himself with his artwork, partnering with brands such as Volcom, Spy, Sandbox, Yes, Airblaster and Trouble Andrew amongst others. Not only because it means he's making a living off his art - which is awesome of course - but because it also means his art is getting out there and in front of way more eyeballs, something it truly deserves.
He's also co-owner of Artschool Skateboards. A unique brand less about making money and more about creating sick decks that feature wall-worthy artwork. Very cool indeed.
Some of Mark's commercial work:
I tossed Mark a few questions to try to get to know his a bit better, check out what he had to say:
33MAG: Introduce yourself quickly. What is your connection to the snow/skate/surf scene?
Mark: My name is Mark Kowalchuk and I am an artist, snowboarder and skater. I pretty much suck at surfing so I won’t call myself that.
I do a lot of art for the snow/surf and skate industry. Recently I have been doing art for the music world as well.
How would you describe your art work?
I use to tell people I was a graphic artist but these days I tell people I’m an illustrator. I like to think that my art is heavily character driven and more hand-drawn looking and becoming less computer drawn these days. I’ve done a full 180 in that aspect. I originally took fine arts in university majoring in paint, print and drawing. Then, after fine art school I moved to Toronto to take design school where I majored in Print/ graphic design. I currently live in Calgary. I would say my work is a mix of all my schooling. I like my work to always have the feeling of being hand drawn and less computer drawn. I think that is my style…. Who knows! My style is constantly evolving. I’m 35 years old and still changing my style constantly to be what I am into at the time.
YES Co-Owner DCP with a board Mark painted the base graphic of for YES:
Your paintings and drawing definitely have a bit of a creepy and dark vibe to them. Where does that come from? Are you a dark dude?
HA! I would say just the opposite about myself. I think the dark style definitely is a reflection of my love of metal music and, well, metal art. I am a very mellow and very positive person. I think also that maybe drawing dark things is my own personal balance. I can take my frustrations and anger out on the canvas and in my art so I don’t have to personally lose my mind. We all need channels to deal with our issues, most skaters and snowboarders can take out their aggression on the mountain or skate park.
You seem to be all over the skateboard and snowboard scene with your artwork appearing on tons of boards, tees and other commercial uses within the industry. How does it feel to see your work out there representing brands? Do you actively try to align yourself with companies that share your values?
Well for me art is my passion so I don’t much look at it as a trophy seeing my stuff on things. I’m more stoked when people that don’t know me personally like what I’ve drawn or created, for me that is the best reward. I would draw and paint regardless if companies were putting it on things, it’s just a bonus that they are. I’ve definitely aligned myself with companies that are great artistic people that get me. Companies like Volcom, YES, Sandbox, Ekumenik and Herd have done wonders to support me and credit me as the artist behind the designs which is major. Volcom and Yes have been especially crazy for me because they are big companies and they were backing me when no one knew who I was and I’m pretty honoured to be involved with them. Trevor Andrew was one of the first people to discover my art and working with him on a lot of Trouble Andrew/Trouble Gang stuff really opened a lot of doors for me. He is definitely a very talented and amazing person - you should probably interview him instead of me ha. So yep its all about aligning yourself with the right people that get what you’re doing. Now that I have gotten my feet wet in the music industry with Trevor and the band In Flames I get emails daily asking to do more and more music art but I really just love dealing with Trevor and Anders as people so I usually turn other gigs down just because I’m so busy. I’m just one person I can’t do it all and right now I’ve got a lot of great people to work with so I can’t dilute the quality I put out.
You're also co-owner of Artschool Skateboards. What are the goals of that brand?
Our goal is to be the first skateboard company on the moon. That would be rad but it’s more about just combining our love for art and skateboarding.
Most skate companies concentrate on having pro riders ride their decks to sell the boards - ours is more about showcasing sweet art. We have a great team of riders as well, but the deck graphics themselves, we want people to consider them works of art that they may want to hang on their wall someday.
The idea came from a conversation that my business partner Jeff and I had about which old school decks we had hanging on our walls of our houses and why. We decided that not only did the boards have sentimental value because we owned it when we were young but that the graphics were memorable enough that we wanted to hold on to those decks as well. That was the factor that created artschool, the hope that someday people would hang our decks on their wall and say “I remember that board it was sick”.
Some of Mark's paintings and sketches:
To see more of Mark's work, please check out his site at markkowalchuk.com
And check out artschoolskateboards.wordpress.com for more on Artschool Skateboard,
Mark:
And a bonus for making it all the way to the bottom of this post - A sick timelapse of Mark painting the 2013 YES PIck Your Line Snowboard graphics:
