Surfpaints Interview Series
We hand-select individuals from our community to hear the stories behind their designs.
Hi Madison, Welcome to the SurfPaints Interview Series!
@madis.archives5
1. Can you introduce yourself? Age, location, occupation, surfing experience?
Hi! My name is Madison Dodd, I'm a 17 y/o girl from Perth, Western Australia.
My local spot is Trigg Beach, but I like to get down to Yallingup and Margaret River for better waves.
I recently graduated year 12, so I've had plenty of free time on my hands! Been on a few surf trips here and there.
I started out on a foamy when I was 10 years old. My dad taught me how, helping me onto the waves. But I've only started to get into it over the past 6 months since I finished school.
2. What made you want to paint your surfboard?
Well, I'm already into art. I've had a bit of practice, drawing and painting. I started by putting some stickers on my board, but I felt it needed some extra pizzazz.
3. What Surfboard did you paint, and why that one?
I painted my fibre glass because this is the only board I had at the time. I've recently bought a 9 foot foamy for the smaller waves, which has been a blast.
4. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Well, I knew I wanted to paint a sea animal, and I thought the squid would fit best with the shape of my board.
I actually changed the design as I went. I was originally going to do it yellow and red. But I decided to use more colours.
The Tie-dye look worked well, because I could paint it roughly without having to worry about staying inside the lines.
5. How do you rate your artistic skills?
8/10. The design came out a lot better than I expected, and I had fun while doing it.
6. Roughly how long did it take to complete?
My design took me about 8 hours. That includes sanding the board, sketching the template, painting the design and spraying it.
But time flies during the painting process.
7. Any tips for preparing the surfboard before painting it?
The biggest thing would be to plan your design first. I drew the template up with pencil first on paper, and then on my board.
8. What was one tool that helped you achieve this amazing design?
Following the surf paint handbook helped me the most actually. I wouldn't have thought to sand my board first, I was about to dive right in, silly me.
But the handbook gives you a great guide to creating your design.
9. What is your favourite thing about using Surfpaints?
They are really bright! I was surprised with how colourful the surf paints came out. It really made the design pop.
They were also very easy to apply, they didn't run everywhere like other paint pens do.
10. One piece of advice you would like to give others about painting a surfboard for their first time?
Let your creativity flow! Your final design may not be how you pictured it at the start.
But in my case, it came out better than I expected!
Just relax and adapt in the moment. Whatever the result, it will be individual to you.
@madis.archives5