SNUK ONE is an Art of Austin artist! SNUK is an OG graffiti artist that paints with a distinctive crispy style – be sure to read his informative interview to learn more about the street legend!
SNUK ONE
AoA – How long have you been an Austin based artist and how did you find your way here?
SNUK – I’m actually an Austin native so I’ve had the privilege to grow alongside a growing city. I’ve been drawing and painting since I was kid. I guess you can say I decided to get more serious with my art career around 2010. This is the time I became more invested and started seeking my style and place as an artist in Austin.
AoA – When did you realize that you were an artist?
SNUK – I realized I wasn’t half bad at drawing in middle school when I was drawing lowriders hitting a 3-wheel motion, next to walls covered in graffiti (influenced by my older cousins that were in gangs). Then again in highschool I started focusing more on my lettering and quickly became the dude drawing everyone’s names to slip in their front cover of their binders. Then I ended up going to The Art Institute of Austin in late 2008 where I began and became president of The Street Art Club. It wasn’t until I started selling paintings in 2010 that I realized I have a shot at being a self-made artist. And I say self-made in the sense that no one taught me to paint graffiti style and at the time there wasn’t much to learn from besides calligraphy books and old documentaries.
AoA – Can you speak to your art training?
SNUK – I’ve had several different types of training during my art career that covered different styles and techniques like designing boat vinyl wraps and installation, wheat-paste, stencils, to taking on apprenticeships with a hand sign painter, Larry Perez in Round Rock. In art school, I also took color theory, 3D and perspective drawing, typography and publishing, but most of my influential training was from painting in the streets. My passion for perfecting my handstyle technique came mostly from bombing allies and tagging dive bar bathrooms.
AoA – Where do you find inspiration?
SNUK – I find that most of my inspiration has come from traveling. The fact that my brain is not in work mode, I actually have, and take time to appreciate my surroundings. This is when my brain begins to get creative. I can pull inspiration for my color palettes from the environment around me. There is nothing more colorful than nature and mother earth. The way the light hits certain objects helps me understand how to color grade my pieces. Architecture from old buildings also inspire me with my letter structure.
AoA – What is your work concerned with?
SNUK – How art responds to the sounds of the streets is beautiful. The clatter and clang of a spray can rattle, just the same as speakers pumping out A Tribe Called Quest gives us gravity to what we believe when we think about expression, attitude, and life. There are kids riding skateboards, bands cranking their amplifiers to eleven, and artists using whatever canvas they find as their next great broadcast message. Snuk One is not conventional. This is art that’s manifested in graffiti, music, design, and the streets and rhythm of Austin, Texas, a city built on banjo twangs and trap beats. No matter what the venue, what the outcome or what the medium, the end goal is universal: how can the viewer be challenged? How do you elicit emotions when heads are buried in screens? Eyes tuned into momentary love, rage, and sideshow entertainment by the second? How do you make those heads fall in love with the pencil lines, the way a logo looks, the way a piece moves? That’s the beauty of art, it’s meant to shake up the senses in a cocktail glass, giving us flavors we never anticipated. This is not the corporate boot to the heart. Instead, these images, these sights are an extension of belief – can we challenge you to see design that speaks a little loud, maybe a little more Mexican, maybe a little more Texan? Or maybe it’s a full-on alien.
The art of Snuk One shows that the output is honest, that the programming is clean, that the heart is there between the splashes on canvas, paint on walls, or scribbles within a notebook. This isn’t about branding, it’s about identity. Identity means something now more than ever.
AoA – What are your preferred medium(s)?
SNUK – Spray paint, hands down. The technical capability it takes to master can control is something you need to be passionate about. You can’t just pick up a spray can and say you know how to use one.
AoA – Can you talk a little about your creative processes?
SNUK – My creative process normally varies on the type of project/client, but fundamentally the structure is very similar. Inspiration is at the stem of all of my work – I begin with a theme, sketch out a rough draft to put my thoughts on paper. Sometimes I render a digital sketch so I can see what different color combos work best. Once I’m happy and I have a good idea of where I’m going with my project, I begin the implementation. I put on some good music and basically get tunnel vision from there. Having a solid workspace is essential to my creativity process. Less friction = more efficiency!
AoA – Do you have any feelings towards Digital Art versus traditional mediums?
SNUK – Coming from a Graphic & Web Design background, digital and traditional mediums all play a major role in my creative process. I use my iPad and Apple Pencil the same way I use my sketchbook and pencil. My thought process is the same and the end goal doesn’t change.
AoA – Who are some artists that you look to?
SNUK – Locally – I’m always inspired by what some of my peers are doing but most importantly respect the hustle they put into their craft like Laced & Found, ER, Zuzu, Matt Tru, Sloke, News, Mez, and too many more to name.
AoA – If you could own 1 piece from a living artist, who would it be?
SNUK – Banksy
AoA – Big question. What do you feel the role of art is in the world?
SNUK – To me, art means unity. Art doesn’t have any language barriers and brings people of different cultures together. Art sheds a ray of colorful light to communities around the world
AoA – What else do you enjoy besides making art?
SNUK – I’m an avid poker player, exotic car enthusiast, and very much enjoy any area of creative activities. Recently I’ve grown a soft spot for growing plants with my wife. Every weekend we’ll take a trip to a nursery and pick up baby money trees. I’ve been buying tons or repotting soil and it seems like we have an addiction to huge Birds of Paradise plants!
AoA – We almost hate to ask because it is all we hear about these days, but how have you had to adapt artistically to the current Covid-19 pandemic? Where can we currently find your work?
SNUK – Since Covid / Social Distancing / Quarantine-ing I’ve been going back to basics and started taking more online classes, I’ve been reading more books and online articles, and anything to help improve my professional artist career. Self growth is something I’m always investing and every-now-and-then I’ll get out and paint some walls with some homies, safely distanced of course. You can mostly find my work online nowadays and of course on walls around Austin.
AoA – Any final advice for all the artists reading out there?
SNUK – Keep doing the damn thing! Hustle like someone else is hustling harder for your spot, and most importantly continue to improve your style. Ultimately, you are your only competition so stop sleeping on yourself!
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