JIM PHILLIPS

Jim Phillips is a graphic artist who is best known for his surf and skateboard art. Born in San Jose, Ca., he's lived most all of his life in Santa Cruz, Ca.
Jim’s first published work was in the spring 1962 issue of Surfer Quarterly, his “Woody” a pen and ink illustration was a winner of a 1961 surf car cartoon contest held by the magazine. Soon Jim’s surf art began to appear in the major surf magazines during the 60’s and beyond. His earliest jobs were in local surf shops that were manufacturing surfboards, where much of his work was applying art and designs to surfboards. In 1965 and 66 Jim studied fine art under a scholarship at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California.
Phillips became sole artist and art director for NHS Inc. during their early years in the 1970’s and 80’s where he created thousands of decks, t-shirts, stickers, product illustrations and skateboard magazine ads. In 1988 he founded Phillips Studios where he trained young skateboarding artists to create designs for NHS. Jim’s art has grown even more popular in his later days and NHS currently markets his work in 80 countries. In 2016 – 2017, The Screaming Hand, an NHS art exhibit tribute to Jim Phillips’ art, travelled to 25 art venues worldwide, invited 50 world class artists to join, and broke all attendance and membership records at the eight month exhibit at MAH, the Santa Cruz Art and History Museum. In 2020 NHS will be presenting a similar traveling art show based on Jim’s art and advertising for Santa Cruz wheels, and will culminate a world wide exhibit at the MAH in the spring of 2021.

Contact Jim Phillips at:

PO BOX 2512, Santa Cruz, CA, 95063-2512

 


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