THREE ACES: EAST

It’s time to go United States for search the best pieces by East.

‘When I was asked to participate in MTN-World’s Three Aces I knew that sifting through over 30 years of painting would be a difficult task. There were a dozen or more directions I could’ve gone for this which added to the difficulty level… My three favorite trains, a brief overview of how my pieces have developed over three decades, pivotal pieces in my career that helped spring me forward, etc.etc.etc… Too many options.

So I went with a simple approach in the end. I’ve always been known for my lettering & I figured, who doesn’t enjoy seeing a full blown burner!? So I put a folder together of my favorite burners over the last decade & eventually brought it down to these three. There seems to be some common threads in these as well which I found to very interesting. Apparently I’m a fan of Orange! Lol! Enjoy & thank you Montana Colors for the shine!

My first pick is a piece I did with my crew mate Taste. This was one of the first real burner link-ups we did together & it was the first piece we did that year. I particularly love this piece since the lettering style is deeply rooted in a traditional funk flow but the coloring & the way it was painted gives a nod to newer techniques. My favorite part of this entire piece is the simple flare off of the arrow on the right… It just adds a subtle bit of depth to it. I’m a fan of details.

My second pick is a piece I did with friends & crew mates in Pueblo. This was a freestyled sketch & I really like the way the “A” & “S” inter-connect to form the back kick on the “S”. I didn’t have a plan for the color scheme either so I played around with a couple options on the outline, settling on the blue which I felt was just the right tone to set it off from the background.

Again I feel this piece has a strong base in funky lettering but certain subtleties help set it apart from my more traditional outlines. The connection I mentioned, the odd shaped insert in the “S” & the non traditional shape of the “E” to name a few. The pressure was on as well, painting next to a perfectionist & lettering technician like Kems…I sweated it out a bit for sure! Lol.

Finally my third choice is a simpler styled piece but for many reasons I consider to be one of my very best. I got to paint it with a good friend & somebody whom I look toward as a stylist & out of box thinker…my man Omens from the Chi! Once again I sweated it out, hah!

Omens paints like nobody else. He has a strong sense of movement & design coupled with more abilities & techniques than I could ever shake a can at. So I wanted to do something bold & graphic without a lot of distractions from the base letters, bringing just the right amount of techniques & effects to ensure it had depth without being overpowered by “tricks”. The subtle shading into the fill from the outline, the extensions off the outline with the arrows & bits, these are a couple of things I used to build off of the letters for more depth of line without disguising the letters to a point of distraction.

With how loosely we painted the background I feel that going with a simpler approach on the lettering & techniques is what helps this piece shine & also why I am magnetized to it. I also feel like it will hold up against the test of time & years from now still be considered a quality burner.’