Interview by Jacques Slade (@kustoo)
Best known as a street artist, painter, illustrator, toy designer, and all-around renaissance man, Tristan Eaton is one of the few artists that Nike Basketball tapped to help interpret the Kobe Prelude pack. Selected to highlight the Kobe V, Tristan used his extensive experience with several disciplines of art to create the piece.
Last week, we sat down with Tristan for a quick interview to talk about some of his inspirations for the Kobe V Prelude piece, as well as some of the favorite sneakers he has in his closet.
When Nike came to you to create this piece, where do you start?
Nike starts with a brief that tells you what they are looking for and what they are looking to get out of it, so there are a few targets you have to hit right away. But, in general, they are pretty open. The brief was pretty open and it gave me a lot of freedom. I’ve been on a mission with my personal work, doing a lot of portraiture and murals that have this kind of feeling, featuring multiple executions and styles within one piece. All the style and genres I have been working on separately for last few years, all came together for this piece.
I had been working in these different styles, so it gave me a great perspective and inspiration to get started on Kobe right away.
When they asked me to take on this piece, I was in such a good place. I had been working in these different styles so it gave me a great perspective and inspiration to get started on Kobe right away. They (Nike) was really open about that and really gave me the freedom to create with that mindset. So once I started with that, I used basketball lines, instead of my usual jagged lines, to break up the picture or provide a window frame of the different aspects of Kobe, Los Angeles and basketball in general. After submitting the first pass, I didn’t really get much blow back, which felt really good and is rare.
How long does a piece that covers so many styles take? Because this is commissioned work does it take longer?
I am trying to find out what my typical time line is right now. I started making paintings new way and when I paint a wall in public, maybe 20-feet tall, I can get it done in a day. On the other hand, I do a painting a quarter of that size that is just as detailed with brushes, and it takes me a month. So I am still trying to figure out what typical means for me. But for this piece directly, it took me about four or five days.
A lot of it flying by the seat of your pants. You might mess it up and have to start it over again. Luckily, for this one, it was a straight line. I just started and finished it. I didn’t start it and start over, or mess up.
Do you see the painting before you start? Or does it evolve as the work progresses?
Most of the time, I paint exactly what I see in the first place. Usually, I have an idea, and I do exactly that. But, I do allow for time when I follow that road and it doesn’t work, and I have to try something different. It isn’t always successful.
Also, along the road, accidents happen, and you have to follow that. A lot of time, I try to execute exactly what I see in the beginning, but the road varies. There are definitely twist and turns and it is hard to say.
People will look right through you and judge you based on your sneakers, in a pretty vicious way.
Your painting was inspired by Kobe Bryant, but also his 5th signature sneaker with Nike, the Kobe 5. Is there a particular sneaker or sneaker design that you really love?
Yes. I am in to Air Max 90s like crazy. I have been since I was a kid. Love those. I moved around a lot growing up. I was born in Hollywood and lived here until I was eight, and back then it was all about cool skating shoes and Vans.
I moved to London when I was 16, and that was a sneaker town. It's crazy. They are hardcore about sneakers. When you are a young kid in London, your sneakers say so much about you. People will look right through you and judge you based on your sneakers, in a pretty vicious way. People can see that you live in a council flat (housing projects) or if you have money, or if you have taste, or if you have personality, and I remember that being a thing when I was 9. People would look crazy cause I was wearing Gola.
In London, that was a real thing so I had to always make sure I had good sneakers. Nike were always dope. I used to skate a lot so I wore a bunch of skate brands as well. But at the end of the day Nike wins. You have to respect a brand that is able to nail it the first time and have designs, actually many of them, last for years, sometimes 20 or more, and still be fresh. That is awesome.
