VERB SKATEBOARDS X Bruce Mackay
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What was your inspiration or the idea behind your
Verb design?
It’s a cross between a Biblical resurrection and
flipping bad-ass zombie skeleton ghost.
Did you have any formal art education, or are you
self-taught?
I dropped out of college in 2005 after six months and
taught myself to paint for the rest of that year. After
that I studied graphic design at AAA in Cape Town.
Could you briefly explain the process you went
through in creating this work?
Well, I probably went through an entire layout pad
trying to get the pencil drawing right, adding and
removing different elements and props and trying to
get the negative space right. Then I went over it and
inked it a couple times to get the line-weight right.
After that I did all the lettering separately. When all
the line-work and typography was done I vectorized everything and layed it all out. Then I created blotched
ink with a dry brush and built up the background.
Finally I added the texture masks.
What music were you listening to while you were
creating your graphics for the Verb range?
The Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes and Attack in Black.
What sort of full-time work do you do currently? Are
there any other projects you’re involved with at the
moment?
I was working as a motion graphics designer for
television when I worked on the Verb deck. I recently
resigned to freelance as an illustrator.
What sorts of mediums do you work in and what do
you enjoy about it?
usually work with acrylic paint and ink – especially
ink – and drawing with a brush or dip pen. I like
making stencils and Lino prints. I really like different
kinds of printing techniques and obviously digital
work. I had to teach myself vector after I left college
because I used to do everything as digitized hand-
generated work before then, which was pretty lazy on
my part. I’m starting to teach myself digital painting
these days.
