Hate it or Love it. Interview is down below and was taken from SkateAllCities.com - Online Skateboarding & Graffiti Culture.
» CRAOLA Interview - May Issue (5/2005)
Oh yes my brothers and sisters… its that time again. The team over hurrr at Skate All Cities caught yet another graff head better known as Craola slippin for yet another Cross Examination interview.
Every now and again a writer will rise to the surface of the standards expected to survive in the Los Angeles jungle. Even more rare is when that artist surpasses those expected standards and with that "out of the box" type of attitude raises the bar for the rest of the world.
Craola has done just that.
Remembering back to the days of probing the local and distant yards with the utmost attention, Craola's name stood out amongst the rest. Bringing a new meaning to 3 dimensional pieces and that wild style funk. Not a single yard from the L.A. area to the South Bay was safe from the mind of what was soon to be a master in the art of graff.
Whomever said that along with talent brings a certain arrogance was most definitely not speaking of Craola.
Craola
Illustration by Craola
SAC: What do you write?
Craola: Craola
SAC: What crews do you push and what are their underlying meanings?
Craola: CBS (Chunky Bunny Soup), WAI (Willies Aunt Ingrid), BASHERS (ummmmmmmm. I don't know), VT (Visual Terror)
SAC: How did you come up with your name and what's the meaning behind it?
Craola: okay, you asked....Being the youngest of 18 children, I always got the bum end of the stick when it came to toys. MY oldest brothers and sisters always had erector sets, legos, big wheels, magical unicorns, remote control airplanes, but when it all got filtered down to me, all I would get were some have way used beat up crayons. Luckily I knew how to draw and to get back at my older brothers and sisters I would create monsters in my magical sketch book. At night these creatures would come alive off of the pages and chase my siblings around their rooms creating quite a racket. T.V.'s would get pushed over, beds would get wet, windows broken, all kinds of nonsense. My parents would always come into the room to see what all the noise was about and would punish my brothers and sisters for breaking things and lying.. It wasn't till years later that my oldest sister found my sketchbook and a box full of broken up Crayola's that she new what was going on. The rest of my siblings dubbed me Craola because of my drawings and I have had that name till this day...Well how did you gt yours and what does IT mean...
SAC: When did you start and how did you get into the graff game?
Craola: I was 17 and some friends encouraged or pushed me to try doing my drawings with spray paint. Then I saw a can control magazine and it was all over. I was hooked.
SAC: What are your reasons behind doing graffiti? (i.e. fame, fun, bitches, etc.)
Craola: I think it is fun and a good way of expression. It is large and everyone who sees it has to take notice.
SAC: Who or what are your influences in terms of where your style is derived from?
Craola: Cartoons, friends that I paint with, other artists, it is hard to nail down. We are being influenced from the day we are born and alot of stuff comes out in our artwork, from color choices to linework to concept, lots of stuff influence us.
SAC: If you had to choose one and only one, would it be Quality or Quantity and why?
Craola: Quality... I like a good production over a thousand bombs.
SAC: What’s your best surface to paint?
Craola: I like stucco walls. It holds the paint well.
SAC: How do you feel about the documentation of graffiti on the internet and the aspects involved with it such as internet fame?
Craola: The internet came out and everyone just evolved around it. Any new technology people are going to take advantage of and exploit. I wonder how graf kids are going to make PSP's into some kind og graf fame game.
SAC: What is your definition of “All City”?
Craola: SOmeone who is up all city?
Craola
Craola
"Got my fingers almost broken by cops for just looking at graffiti once face in the dirt and everything." - CRAOLA
SAC: Who are some of the most slept-on writers putting in work lately?
Craola: I don't know. There are alot of good writers. I like Midzt and Atlas alot, but they aren't slept on.
SAC: Which brand of paint do you prefer using and why?
Craola: Belton is the best. Spray good. I still use Krylon alot though. just used to it i guess.
SAC: Rack or Buy?
Craola: Buy. Romans 13.
SAC: Any memorable or crazy missions you would like to share with us?
Craola: Ran through a mile of sewer pipe that was 5 feet tall in the complete dark from cops. Ran from train workers who were going to beat us down with crow bars. Just ran alot. Got my fingers almost broken by cops for just looking at graffiti once face in the dirt and everything. Cut my leg open on a rusty hook climbing into an abandoned building to paint. sprained my ankle running from gangster who caught me bombing a fence.
SAC: Best place(s) you’ve ever painted?
Craola: Melrose is always fun. It's more about the people I am painting with then the place that makes it fun.
SAC: What are your Top 5 Colors?
Craola: Smoke Grey, Pewter, Flat Black, Flat White, Gold
SAC: Who are the Top 5 Bombers of all time?
Craola: DEAS, ESEL, ATLAS, REVOK, SABER
SAC: What has being a graf writer done for you so far?
Craola: Just opened my eyesto all sorts of art and styles. Gave me confidence years ago to try bigger things with my artwork. Met alot of cool people doing graffiti. It has been an art school in itself.
Illustration by Craola
Craola
Craola (Detail Shot)
Illustration by Craola
SAC: What is your advice to the new jacks that want to get into the graf game?
Craola: Have some respect for your other writers. Don't look at it like you have a better style so you are a better person. Don't get a big head and treat others how you would want to be treated.
SAC: Where do you see yourself in the game 15 years from now?
Craola: I'll be 45 balding, a big old gut, a few kids, arthritis in my trigger finger trying to hit up a wall with WD-40 because my brain is so fogged from aerosol and I think it is Krylon.
SAC: Any thanks or shout-outs?
Craola: My wife Jenn of course, Deas, Esel, Potna, Gloss, Anger, Axis, Posh, Plek, Toshae, Ditch, Casl, Tazer, Vox, Atlas, Midst, Lotus, Bleek, Circus, Exist, Rygar, Steven, Deph, Glory, Gozer, Gunnar, Adam Hathorn, Jeral Tidwell, Sieze, Epik, KE42, Werk, Lango, Phobia, Split, Aura, Natoe, Rukus and all the guys in CBS, WAI, BASHERS, and VT. Peace and God bless....
Craola
Craola
WEI by Craola (Done for White Elephant Industries)
Craola
Illustration by Craola
CBS/BASHERS/VT/WAI by Craola
Craola
For more information and flicks visit: www.ImScared.com
