Fiends & Streams: Drawing a Pro Model for Creature Skateboards
From sketchbook idea to pro deck — a mash-up of skate art, old fishing mags, and Creature energy.
When a Sketch Turns Into a Pro Deck
When I was a skater in the ’90s, Creature Skateboards was gnarly — heavy graphics, heavier skating. Their videos felt like horror movies on wheels. Then David Gravette came along — this all-terrain Creature kid who could skate anything. Years later, getting a message from him asking to use one of my drawings for his pro model graphic was completely unreal.
How “Fiends & Streams” Started
I didn’t grow up doing digital art. In my mid-30s, while working retail, I started learning Photoshop just to edit photos and videos for our website. But once I figured out how to scan a pencil drawing, clean it up, and color beneath the linework, it completely changed how I worked. Suddenly, traditional sketches could live as full-color digital illustrations.
I was obsessed — studying artists like Evan Hecox, Todd Bratrud, and Dave Kloc and reverse-engineering their process from Instagram posts and YouTube tutorials. One night, scrolling through photos by Portland skate photographer Garric Ray, I came across a shot of Gravette that looked great. I could just see it as a drawing.
Original Sketch and Final Skate Graphic
The Concept: From Field & Stream to Fiends & Streams
As I worked on the drawing, I started thinking that it looked like it could work as a magazine cover. Gravette had been posting about his new obsession with fishing at the time. That made me think of old Field & Stream magazine covers — those 1950s and ’60s hunting and fishing illustrations with bold colors, dynamic compositions, and vintage type.
Creature’s whole Fiends identity clicked in my head, and I thought, what if it was Fiends & Streams? A Creature take on the classic outdoor mag — fiending for a fishing trip. I finished the piece, colored and composed it in Photoshop, and posted it on Instagram — not the typical Creature style, maybe a little campy, but it made me laugh.
When both Creature Skateboards and David Gravette liked the post, that was enough of a win for me.
Then, two years later, I got a DM from Gravette asking if he could use it for his pro model. Unreal.
Bringing the Art to Life
Once it became official, I went back and refined the illustration — cleaning up the linework, shifting the palette toward those Creature greens, and balancing the composition.
I wanted it to look solid but still carry that tongue-in-cheek vibe — like, why is this skater on the cover of a fishing magazine?
To share it online, I didn’t want to just post a static graphic. So I animated it using Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects, bringing that fake Fiends & Streams cover to life.
It became a moving mix of Creature energy and vintage outdoor illustration — pulpy, funny, and kind of unsettling in all the right ways.
Tools & Process
Mediums
Pencil sketch on paper — based on a photo by Garric Ray
Digital Workflow
Photoshop – line cleanup, color separation, and digital painting
Premiere Pro – timing, composition, and motion pacing
After Effects – final animation, parallax movement, and type reveal
Inspiration
1950s–60s Field & Stream and Outdoor Life covers
Creature’s classic Fiends campaign aesthetic
Artists like Evan Hecox, Todd Bratrud, and Dave Kloc
Tech Details
Color palette built from Creature’s signature greens and muted forest tones
Layered type treatment mimicking mid-century print registration
Animated parallax depth to make the static art feel alive
Takeaway
Even after all the digital cleanup, I wanted to keep that hand-drawn imperfection — the small quirks that remind you a skater made it, not a robot.
David, the Fiend by a Stream
What I Learned
This project reminded me how skateboarding and art overlap — both are about experimentation, problem-solving, and chasing ideas just because they feel right.
You don’t always need a huge plan. Just make things you like, share them, and stay open to what happens next.
If You’re Into This Stuff
If you’re into skateboard illustration, animation, or graphic design, I’m always sharing new process work and behind-the-scenes projects on @andyrthompson.
If you’re a brand, designer, or skater looking to collaborate on board graphics or creative campaigns — I’m always down to make something bold, weird, and fun.
