The pieces range in price from 0 to ,000; because they’re so expensive, most people put the boards on display instead of using them. Sometimes the most compelling art comes in unexpected packages. For Damian Estrella, the canvas is particularly radical: He paints the undersides of skateboard decks. Estrella is a trans man, and some […]
The pieces range in price from 0 to ,000; because they’re so expensive, most people put the boards on display instead of using them.
Sometimes the most compelling art comes in unexpected packages. For Damian Estrella, the canvas is particularly radical: He paints the undersides of skateboard decks.
Estrella is a trans man, and some of his pieces also aim to capture some of the feelings that he has experienced throughout his journey.
The more boards he sold and commissions he accepted, the more seriously Estrella began considering building a brand around his skateboard art. Eventually, he decided to name the company Voards, a mashup of the word “boards” and the first initial of his name before he transitioned and assumed the name Damian.
Estrella’s latest pieces are remarkable for vastly different reasons. Perhaps the most meaningful of the bunch is a deck titled “Funk Monk.” The piece depicts a monkey using its fingers to plug its ears to block out noise from the outside world. A literal interpretation might be to connect the piece to the phrase, “See no evil, hear no evil.” According to Estrella, the piece represents his experience as a trans man tuning out haters and skeptics.
“When I started, I didn’t think of this as something that could become a business; I was just doing what I loved to do,” Estrella said. “Then it hit me: Maybe I’m on to something.”
“The outlines really pull these pieces together,” he quips.
He gets the blank decks from a skateboard warehouse in Los Angeles. From there, the process is simple: He sketches the initial idea with a pencil, thickens in the outlines, and applies the colors with acrylic paint or paint pens. Often, he’ll go back and thicken the outlines some more, to create a cartoonish contrast.
Painting more board during the pandemic
One of his boards is on display at the center, as well.
“There are people in my life who don’t accept me for who I am,” he said. “I try to tune them out. And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with this.”
The 24-year-old is a recent graduate of Sonoma State University, where he studied studio art and museum studies. Currently, he moonlights as an artist.
“There isn’t much space on a skateboard, but you can say a lot in the small space that you have,” he said. “More than anything, that’s what I think I like best about this kind of art — it can make a statement and still be personal and private.”
Today Estrella creates most of his masterpieces after work in his Rohnert Park apartment, either at the kitchen table, on his bed, or on the floor.
Estrella spends his days curating exhibits and arts administrator at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts just west of downtown Sebastopol.
Damian Estrella, a custom skateboard artist from Rohnert Park, paints expressive art on decks, gaining over 332,000 TikTok followers since starting his business in 2020.
The creative process at home
Estrella has been interested in art for as long as he can remember.
Growing up in Lodi, he spent most of his free time sketching and drawing. Once he got to college, Estrella discovered a second love: skateboarding. At some point during his freshman year, he started experimenting with customizing his own board by painting on it. Several roommates saw his work and wanted him to do the same for them. So he did.
Two of his other recent creations spotlight other animals; “Hammerhead” offers a mug shot of a very angry (or is it hungry?) hammerhead shark, while “Octopus” depicts — you guessed it — a Giant Pacific Octopus.
With exaggerated lines, colorful characters, and often subversive messages, Estrella’s artwork evokes the punk-rock street-art vibe of creations you might find on the side of a building or a subway car.
Estrella usually creates three or four decks per month — some pieces take a few hours, while others can take several days or even a week. He adds that more than half his pieces depict animals, especially marine animals.
Estrella leans heavily on color, usually dark ones. He also sometimes incorporates splatter work and geometric shapes, particularly in the background.
When the pandemic hit, Estrella found himself killing time by painting more skateboards. He uploaded images and videos of his first few boards onto TikTok and word of his creations spread.
(His current personal board, for instance, is purple with a skeleton on it.)
“I thought it would be cool to keep it,” he said. “Even before I transitioned, people would call me Voards on TikTok. I liked that more than my actual name. Since then, it’s just kind of stuck.”
He never sought to change it again.
