Graffiti & Skate

Some skateparks just get it right. Most parks give you concrete and call it a day, but Scott Carpenter Skatepark in Boulder, Colorado has legal graffiti walls. Kids can grow up with skateboarding and graffiti culture side by side, without anyone getting in trouble for it.

I spent the day painting a fresh graffiti piece on the Scott Carpenter Park walls, then stuck around to film a skate session once the paint dried. After 20+ years of getting paid to make things look right (approval rounds, client notes, revisions), it's freeing to paint with no notes at all. Nobody's grading you. Someone will paint over it next week, and that's part of the plan. Here today, gone tomorrow, and then somebody else gets their turn.

In this video: 🎨 Painting loose: color down first, details built up in layers, not overthinking it ☀️ Mid-summer Colorado sun cooking the paint right on the wall 🌧️ Going from extreme heat to a full downpour (I didn't check the weather 😅) 🧱 Years and years of paint layers on these walls, and the whole park is covered in graffiti 🛹 Skate clips after the walls dried, until my legs were toasted 🧢 Some old-school spray caps.

If you know what they are, drop a comment, I'm curious who remembers them If you're anywhere near Boulder, come check out Scott Carpenter Skatepark. We need more parks with paint walls like this. Let me know if you make it out!