Ampal Crew, James Brockman rockin’ a Darkside fedora.  From his part in the new Zero video Strangeworld. James has been throwin’ it down lately, scoring a Thrasher cover shot and feature, but recently suffered an unfortunate knee injury. We wish him a speedy recovery.

While down in the hometown, La Jolla, I caught up with our buddy, Derek Dunfee.  Derek has been charging since we were groms, but recently got some long needed recognition when he won the 2009 XXL award for the Biggest Paddle In Wave of the Year.

His XXL award comes after years of dedication; last minute all night drives to Mavericks (above from last weeks Eddie swell), Todos, and Nelscott’s Reef in Oregon amongst others to chase the biggest waves around.  This winters madness has included two trips to the Artic to surf an icy death slab right.  Derek has also taken advantage of his traveling to hone his photography as well as shoot some amazing water shots.  A few are shown below, and you can check out more at his blog.

I was turned on to the amazing sand art of Jim Denevan through Patrick Trefz surf film Thread.  At the most basic level, as describe on his site “Jim Denevan makes temporary drawings on sand earth and ice that are eventually erased by waves and weather.”
The precision of his patterns and lines is especially impressive considering the scale.  This summer Jim created the largest piece of art in the world, this amazing – 3 MILES in diameter – piece in the deserts of Nevada.

It took 8 days and over 100 miles of walking.  Check out this amazing video of the project:

Like the tides that reclaim his beach pieces, a massive rainstorm erased it a week after completion.  If you saw the amazing vintage bus in the video, its Elvis’ old tour bus, out of which Jim runs his other business “Outstanding in the Field” where as an acclaimed chef he serves haute organic sustainable cuisine in its natural environment.  Truly a brilliant mind.

Lil Wayne in our Ash Quattro Fedora from our Premier Collection. Behind the scenes shots from the “On Fire” Music Video shoot.



images DERICKG.com

A few pics by our friend Jacob Heftmann.

We just launched AMPAL DIRECT – our new online store, featuring our entire new collection. We also just realized we have already passed our 100th post and to thank you for all your support, we’re offering free shipping on all orders. International customers get 40% off shipping – please contact us for more information.

(images link to full-size versions)

Big thanks to JH for the new site and these desktop images.

Weezy protege Gudda Gudda of Young Money rockin an Ampal 44th Snapback.
via MTV

Kehinde Wiley – “Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II”

“The massive Rubens-inspired oil, called “Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II,” swaps out the Spanish monarch’s face for Michael Jackson’s. The story behind the 2009 painting is as legendary as any tale in Jackson’s book.

As it goes, after seeing Wiley’s work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Jackson contacted the artist for a commission. Jackson, who frequently had himself painted as a king made a natural match for Wiley’s magical-realism depictions. After Jackson and Wiley spoke for nearly a half-an-hour over the phone in 2008 about the artistic vision behind the piece, they agreed that Wiley would photograph Jackson in an Old Masters pose. Thoroughly impressed with Jackson’s knowledge of the painting process, Wiley sent Jackson a set of reference images but then stopped hearing from him and was unable to contact him after Jackson changed his hotel several times.

Following the star’s death, Wiley decided to complete the piece, a large royal sprawl as majestic as the King’s work himself. Choosing to paint Jackson at the peak of his career, the images shows a figure comfortable in his own body, confident behind a wall of armor atop a bowing horse. With bold blues and reds, and surrounded by heavenly cherubs, it’s a portrait that would have made the King of Pop proud. Miami visitors, this is a must-see before it falls to the home of a private collector.”

via coolhunting.com

check out more amazing and full size work here



via JH

“Rollin High” Dice Game by Mike Giant, $10 with this bitchin poster (below) – got the email at 4:21 pm sold out by 7 @ rebel8.com, shouldn’t have slept on this one.