[ED TEMPLETON] 87 drawings

A collection of works by American professional skateboarder and artist Ed Templeton.

The group of works included in this book can be said to be a remarkable retrospective work that summarizes the drawing style produced over 30 years from 1990. Focusing on adolescent teenagers and young adults, he captures the unique personality of each subject while documenting the visual identity of the unique skateboarding and surfing culture that originated in Southern California. He is well versed in the culture there, as he grew up there before becoming a former world champion professional skater , or as a contemporary artist and photographer. The artist's subjects are often drawn like portraits, and in contrast to the body traced with simple lines, the details of the face are impressively finished. Despite the fact that the image is portrayed in a cool and indifferent manner, the author shows respect and affection for it, exposing and admiring the anti-establishment style of the young people. As editor-publisher-journalist-curator Kim Hastreiter puts it in the introduction, the author's secret ingredient is empathy.

The album also includes eight more personal drawings, including a self-portrait of his wife and collaborator Deanna Templeton and a drawing of the two of them together . In addition, 14 paintings, which are said to focus on place rather than time axis, are drawn on vintage hotel stationery. The artist's grandfather collected a lot of stationery, which he used to connect his life with the culture of Southern California. The author, who was raised by her grandparents, concludes the book with a portrait of her in her later years as a token of gratitude to her grandmother, who told her that encountering and touching art "makes life very rich."

The opening page has the subtitle ` `IATROGENIC CALAMITY '', which the author explains literally means ``illness caused by a medical procedure''. He said he liked the term because it conveys the idea that the very act you are trying to help yourself is harming you. The author has a deep cynicism towards humanity, always feeling that if something good happens, bad things will follow. This book was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic and contains what is closest to the author's heart. Teenage smokers, punks, disaffected youth and the walls that define Huntington Beach. The first work included in the book is a nude sketch of Deanna, drawn in 1990 when she was 18 years old. Without a doubt, Diana is the author's North Star.