Today we’d like to introduce you to Sake One.
Hi Sake One, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my artistic journey around 1975 and the age of six. I started art-making like most kids in school with paper, pencils, crayons. I was creating primarily cartoonish stylings with current animation influences like bugs bunny etc. I would also create characters or family members and mix them up with characteristics of a snoopy profile and create a hybrid. I also dabbled, drawing realistically and painting animals and sceneries.
In the mid-1970s, one of My art heroes was a character named J.J. Evans from the TV show good times. I wanted to be an artist like J.J. Evans. Little did I know the artist Ernie Barnes painted the artwork for good times. Mr. Barnes was also a San Diego Charger for a bit in the ’50s. Another influence was my older brother’s record collection and his earlier drawings of chipmunks. The lettering on the album covers, my brother collected music from Prog-rock groups like “YES,” and the art on Elton Johns Captain Fantastic, Caught my eye. I would find the stylized lettering fascinating because of the letters connected and how well they flowed. So I would try and draw the letters which are the band’s logos of the bars.
I don’t recall tracing them, and I was always free-handing when I drew. When I was living in Homestead, Florida, I would sneak into my brother’s room and pull the album’s covers and stare at the artwork. The thrill of sneaking and trying to draw them probably also cemented my fate for the future. I had to sneak; otherwise, my brother would probably beat my ass. In the 70s, albums were handled with extreme care and treated like the Mona Lisa. Strange but true, I wasn’t into comics or superheroes, which is peculiar. But I don’t think I had access to comics. Not sure if my brother was into comics. I was more of a children’s book reader and would draw the characters in the books and look at the illustrations. The thing is, I don’t think I even knew an artist drew those, or I even thought about it like that. When I instruct children on art-making, I make it a clear point that everything you see around them in the classroom or home, etc., was designed or created by an artist.
I’m a self-taught artist, and As a kid or a teen, I didn’t have anyone guiding me in my art. I was free to do whatever I wanted, which could be reckless. My parents were supportive, of course, but I’m sure they didn’t know what to do with me or guide me towards education in arts. I was barely passing grades and was constantly struggling in school. However, I was labeled the “artist” in all my classrooms. I even had my first show at my elementary school; the teacher wanted to put up my drawings and paintings at home. So I did respect a few teachers, and my classmates were encouraging towards me with art and labeling me as one.
My parents did try, and they did their best; this was the 70’s, and La Presa was mainly a new community, and the education system wasn’t on par with the arts, although they did have theater productions, and I was the lead in most of the plays. I’m sure my parents would have had helped me even more if they could or shuffled me towards the arts even harder if they had some insight and support, especially with the guidance of my photographer Auntie and Uncle and their ties with the New York City art scene at this time. But we were living on the other side of the states, and life was moving fast for all parties.
However, I noticed I always had art supplies, more than likely, and my folks purchased them at the Navy Exchange. My mother has always supported my art journey either illegally or legally. She didn’t like the tagging and throw-ups on people’s property, but she didn’t mind the masterpieces with wild colors and usually accompanied by a character or two. My mother also got my artwork professionally framed at a framing and art store in National City, where I got oil paints for the first time. I remember the smell and trying to use them and had some minor success, but it was mostly a struggle not knowing what to do with them.
After My Father retired from the Army, we moved to San Diego in 1976.
After settling at the new Duty station with the US Customs at Naval Air Station, Coronado must have been around ‘77 or 78; after hanging out with my father at his post at NASC, my pops drove us by Chicano park. He wanted to show me the murals painted on the giant pillars supporting the Coronado Bridge. I believe he was encouraging me to see art on a larger scale and pushing me in that direction possibly. I remember that encounter and driving by and being sorta concerned because I saw on one of the main pillars written in bold red color “!Varrio Si Yonke’s No!” I thought that Yonke’s meant “Yankees” in Spanish, and being from New York, I felt not welcomed here. I’m such a dork!!! Little did I know it meant “Neighborhood Yes! And Junkyard No!” At that age, I was already aware of race and identity and was around a group of Multi-cultured friends in the neighborhood. I won’t be comfortable being around other races and cultures.
During the same time of the Chicano park tour, He also took me by another mural that somebody created, this one was different, and it was upon a hill where the 805 and the 8 in mission valley Are. He told me that this was an illegal mural painted during the nights. Not sure how he knew. Maybe the news Reported on it. But the mural was a bright sunset or sunrise landscape scene. I thought that was the coolest thing, not necessarily the imagery, but because it was painted at night, large scale, and without permission. That mural lasted for decades and was painted over in the late ’90s. My father got sicker with cancer and passed away on Feb 3rd, 1980. I now reflect on how those moments stuck with me, probably more than I have given credit.
While living in upstate New York, I was aware of my environment and constantly reminded of this due to the weather. You can’t help notice all the colors of the leaves, grass, and foliage, the abundance of lakes, streams, and rivers like the Hudson, and the tremendous old bridges that cross them. With nice clean air, tasty waters, and tons of trees, The crisp, clean air of the seasons blowing through and when winter comes, the snow-capped trees were plentiful and while playing in the snow was the norm for us, summers are spent in the pool at the Saratoga Spa State Park or fishing in its rivers, Living in Saratoga Springs was idyllic. When going to NYC, it was a culture shock to see the heavy smog that hung over the city as we approached the City from afar on Interstate 9 or the 87. Being the youngest, I was thrown in the back of the station wagon, peeking out and seeing the strange colors of what could be abstract lettering on the walls and trains while most of the city was in the grime of dirty bricks and trash. I knew that what I probably was seeing didn’t belong. Those fleeting memories have made a lasting impression on me. I didn’t understand what I was looking at or why it was created or by who; I had no clue when I first saw it around 1974. I then started noticing it in movies, and the most noticeable and consistent was the intro to the TV show “Welcome Back Kotter,” which, besides good times, was one of my favorite shows airing at the time.
Since I was the youngest out of the four Kinney siblings, I had a solid rambunctious rebellious spirit at a young age, especially since moving to Spring Valley; I was a jokester early on and had a carefree spirit, I was an active kid on the streets of the neighborhood, being creative in many ways like building forts, playing army and making fake guns out of wood, creating Halloween spooky houses in my parent’s garage, making huge BMX jumps out of the dirt with my best friend, Rich Real, along with building large wooden ramps with stolen wood from construction sites and just living life and doing the trick riding on my Torker and Haro freestyle. We would also find homes for sale and find Abandon pools in the back yards to skate in them. And at night, we would practice maneuvers in parking lots around Spring Valley. For fun, I dismantled my BMX bike; often and then, I would put it back together again and then repeat. One time I sprayed my entire bike, gold, rims & tires included; that was probably my first time using a Spray can creatively. I was around nine years old. I was being a free kid, hanging out with friends and having the most fun and laughs possible within a day and causing a little trouble at times, and getting into a lot of fistfights with neighborhood bullies.
My first encounter with learning about Gang writing was around 78, one of my best friends, Tony Navaro, who was in SVL or claimed to be, taught me how to draw the capital “S,” which in practice you mark eight lines out, it’s sorta like the old Suzuki logo. He would show me that the gang letters had a lean-to it, and you bend the angles in deferent directions; it reminded me of a Greek alphabet. During this time, the only writing on the walls I have seen out and about around San Diego was Stoner and gang hits, like SVL’s, Lomita Village (70), Seven O’s, Old Town National City, Logan Red Steps & Bloods. Stoner kids wrote stuff like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, ZOSO, and the infamous SVBT, which stood for “Spring Valley Bong Team” this was the norm around SV and, of course, your occasional local satanic writings in sewers and abandoned buildings, but there were no NYC subway “masterpieces” or tags anywhere. Not that I was looking for it or was even aware of the difference at the time or what it was, except with my early encounters in NYC and with the TV show “Welcome Back Kotter,” but when I think back and remember, those times, that’s what was on the walls. San Diego was relatively clean, and anything written on public property was easily seen and noticed. Besides myself and crewmates painting. I only saw others painting NYC subway art after the movies Beat Street and Break’n in 1984; it was what I would call these images “Breaking” related artwork, with words like ‘FRESH,’ BREAK, or POPPIN. It was simple in design, like bubble letters and the color choices were usually red & black during the tail end of 1985 after the media and Practitioners labeled Bboy’n or Breaking a fad and was “uncool” to do after this is when I started seeing more of an authentic NYC influence happening around San Diego and on the west coast primarily due to books like subway art.
In the winter of 1981, On the way to my grandfather’s funeral in Saratoga Springs, My brother drove us through the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. An authentic eye-opening experience, I got to see firsthand the damage done on the streets and the trains. I was able to see it in person and up close with the elevated trains along with the burnt-out cars, some still on fire, and the destroyed buildings, parts of the city, did look like it was a bombed-out city in Germany during WW2.
In 1982 I saw a movie about a New York teenager painting subway trains in New York City, the actor who played King 65 was a familiar face to me and was in a movie I saw from the ’70s called escape from Witch Mountain. I happened to catch the commercial, and it caught my attention. It looked interesting enough. So I dialed in when it first aired, and it only aired once on ABC as a Friday night movie. I was fortunate to see this movie, and with my past experiences and being an artist; otherwise, I doubt I would have started painting. The opening scene of the subway yard and the kids that we’re painting was chased by cops hooked me immediately. They showed kids spray painting names on the sides of a subway train; it immediately made sense to me and answered why and who? After being a fan of movies based in New York City, dealing with crime and gangs, movies like Death Wish and Fort Apache the Bronx, king kong 78, and the warriors all had shots of subways with paintings and writings on them. After the movie aired, I was up for the adventure, and I grabbed a few spray cans from my dad’s old paint cabinet and snuck out and painted a name I made up that night. I chose “Solo” as my name because I thought I was the only one doing this out here. That is a bold statement, but out of all honesty, I haven’t seen anything like this out here in San Diego, LA, or San Francisco, which I visit often. So after I got the paint, I left it on my bike to my Elementary school and painted my name on the backside of a furnace. And I haven’t stopped ever since.
During my 7th & 8th grade years, My art class teachers at Parkway Junior in La Mesa were encouraging in many ways. Around this time, I understood how to draw Portraits realistically and loved the challenge. I would also remove BMX illustrations, cartoons, and Logos like the JT racing and, of course, the local hero of Spring Valley, Bob Haro, the inventor of Trick riding, better known as freestyle BMX. He had his own company called “Haro” He was an artist too, and I would copy his drawings of trucks and characters inside the BMX publications.
He was my latest art hero. Little did I know, my sister’s best friend was her brother, which blew my mind!
My 8th-grade teacher was so fantastic to us, and she went as far as pulling my friend Joey Hiel and me out of our classes to show us a documentary she recorded the night before on KPBS called “Style Wars” She knew we were trying to paint and draw pieces like the subway artist in New York City. This moment cemented my fate and created many new art heroes for me, like Seen, Dondi, Case2, Min, Shy & Duster.
After making my marks on the streets of Spring Valley and doing illegal work, my big break came in 1985, when my mom let me paint a scene of a Disney character on our house exterior wall. That was my first official commission/ paid gig. It made the newspaper and TV news. It was a big deal! And I became famous at my high school for this. No one out here understood the impact of the use of Spray Paint in art or mural making. The overall concept of using spray paint was super foreign in San Diego and on the west coast; and or outside the New York art scene. People had no idea. Luckily for me, this gave me a leg up, and I got another gig because of that exposure to the media; my commercials gigs haven’t stopped since then.
During these years, 1985-1988, I was lucky to have plenty of interested clients and regular people interested in this new exposure of Wild Style lettering and imagery from NYC, which helped build up my portfolio and furthered opportunities. One was a mural inside the Monte vista art room under the guidance of Mr. Davis along with fellow crewmate Izzy. I was pretty busy with work and was usually the first choice; I was even painting car club logos on the back of lowered truck clubs like “Sweet & Low” or “City Limits” I was also busy painting jackets, hats, and designs on jeans for friends and school mates. I also painted senior parking spots and cheerleaders “scream” cones and boxes at various high schools. I was making money. But it wasn’t much; I had zero business sense. I could have quickly developed into a business with silk-screened T-shirt design through Mario Lopez, who was the primary silks screener for G.A.U. Mario started up a silk-screening business early on. We were friends with G.A.U. But they were also our only competition in the county.
Unbeknownst to us, Doze Green (rock steady crew NYC fame) moved to Encinitas in 1986, and I finally met up with him around 1987 after an article in a Magazine called “Revolt in Style. Doze, being from NYC, was light years ahead of us and was already making moves in creating a clothing line. I regard him as the father of streetwear brands. He is the first and was in the center of the “action sports” community with skateboarding, Surf, and BMX brands. It was a matter of time before “normal” people the hip hop culture caught on, and We tried to follow suit in 1988, creating designs for T-shirts and creating a brand ourselves. We helped open up the first Hip Hop shop on the West Coast and possibly the nation. Rays Hip Hop shop is where we will sell the T-shirt design and hand-painted pieces we created in-house. It didn’t last too long, but like usual, we were a little too far ahead of the curve.
Doze was on a Mission for his brand to flourish, and along with him Being one of the first “Hip Hop Celebrity” due to his presence in Rock Steady Crew, touring around and setting up booths were not a struggle for him. With the guidance of Doze and his “Doze Cloze” brand. We would help cut leather medallions and create custom pieces for movie stars and musicians. It was a crazy time, and I wished I had a business sense. Not too long after seeing what Doze was up to My Boss Jim Stenson, who was an excellent businessman and had his own business running a window cleaning company, knew that we could do this our selves and went as far as buying us a heating rack, shirts, inks, and silkscreen octopus. It was time to get busy!
We started making the designs after trial and error. Without the guidance of Doze after moving to Los Angeles to work with Ice T. We lost the contract soon after he moved, and now we didn’t have any idea how to move all the designs that I created; they sat in boxes, or we just gave them away. It was that new; this didn’t even have a name yet! We had no clue what Doze started, and we followed suit. That was the start of a multi-billion dollar industry called “Street Wear,” predominantly a “Hip Hop culture-based designs. Again, we were just about a decade too soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m an artist first and always first and then maybe a vandal, so coming into this culture was a struggle because of the identity of being an artist and being a vandal. I knew I was an artist that did illegal art with a tool that sprays paint. This art form is predominantly name-based, and you use your signature or a tag to mark the city and public property. The name you write is generally created with a marker or spray paint. Hence, the association people have is automatically is that it’s Gang writing or the term widely used and accepted by all
“Graffiti,” which, in reality, “Graffiti” is just a scratch on a surface. The mediums we use are mostly spray paint, which lays on top of the cover; If the subject comes up, I would rather instead use the safe and friendly word “Street Art,” but that’s another subject. What I do and other like-minded people we call “Style Writing” or “Aerosol art,” well, that is if the imagery is in play. Another challenge that I come across in the culture is I have done my fair share of illegal works, a shit ton. Still, this art form is way past that and has always been way past the illicit aspect. But, I do agree up to a certain point that if you’re going to be a part of this culture, you do have to go through the ropes, hit the streets, get your name up with tags and throw-ups. But what makes this culture unique and separates us from other name or lettering mark-making cultures is to do the pinnacle. And that is to paint a masterpiece wild style Burner, Whether it is illegal or not.
Doing street hits is cool, but a considerable part of this culture and the part that exposed it all to the world is via the young artist from NYC who was a part of the Breaking era, the Hip Hoppers who was rocking true masterpieces for videos and performances. Rap music was still foreign to the masses and disliked by all. The visual of letters being able painted was exciting and new. If you were able to create new lettering forms, being a style creator, and being decent at it, that’s what it was about, painting your name in a stylistic way that burned everyone. This lettering approach separates us from Philadelphia, the west coast Gang “Placaso.”
Besides all that noise, inside this culture is this saying, “if you’re not doing it illegally, you’re not keeping it real,” or you’re not doing “graffiti.” Yes, part of that is genuine, but at the same time, it’s absurd; during the early years, the NYC scene in Washington Heights, the Birthplace of this art form, during the mid-’60s, over time and development, the artist’s tags grew into a distinct writing style that included a street number. After a year or two, when the “Tags” went on to the subways around 72, those tags developed into a Bubbles and then into Softie letters then the transition was the “masterpiece,” a more extensive, elaborate decorated correctly with arrows and the movement of the lettering (not fonts) using Oven cleaner nozzles for a wide spray for the use of ”fill-ins” and outlining tips for clean outlines, design work and using multiple different brands of spray paint for a vibrant array of colors. Yes, the kids around Washington Heights started as vandals, But ended up as artists; this was early on in the culture and established with organizations like UGA and NOGA, with members like Coco 144, Phase2, SJK, Mike 177, Bama, Flint 707, Kase 2, Butch, Stan 153, it was considered an art form in publications like Newsweek, with the early exposure to the gallery and museum shows, whether it was illegal or not, so fighting each other over who is not getting up illegally or not is not only mad played out, but historically it’s completely rubbish!
If you are an artist, there will be a shift in your work, where you want more from it, and you would Like to grow past the illegal side of things, even if you paid your dues. There is nothing wrong with this, and it’s okay to move on.
Besides, I look at myself as a style writer. I develop “wild style” lettering that retains the shape of the letter and form; sometimes, I push that extreme, but that’s usually a “New Wave” or an abstract approach, and I stick within the confines of what I consider proper subway styles and craftsmanship.
I look at Chinese calligraphy; for
Inspiration for this thought, the artist of China & Japan proved to me that lettering is an art. The way you alter the letter and how you flow has been going on for centuries; this is nothing new, but what makes “Style Writing” unique is the medium, techniques, and of course, the approach.
I’m known for my wild style lettering, characters, portrait realism work, and murals, which I use, Spray paint as my primary medium. But I also use acrylics and oils. As one of the Fathers of creating realism and hyper-realism portraits, using only spray cans and freehand. Freehand means I don’t use grids, projectors, or overlay scribble grids; I took an idea I had of accepting the spray can as an art tool and established many looks and styles within my mural and canvass practices, pushing what the jet can is capable of doing the effects it creates. Not only with a smoothed, over-airbrushed look but also with an organic approach and not hiding the spray lines and motion of the can that can conceal the layers. I have also explored the concept of ‘Dripping” I did this for the first time because I was in a hurry and was at the Museum Of Contemporary Art San Diego. I purposely made drips on my entire piece. I have since pushed this concept to new personal heights, and my recent work has reflected this. I have been experimenting with anything that leaves a mark on a surface like paints, markers, oils, stains, etc., smooth or ruff; the work I create on canvases is mostly imagery of woman’s faces. I like to guide the paint and color in a freeway, I to let the paint Do its thing. I try not to fight the paint; I let the spray can, brush & paint do its natural path and guide sometimes with precision. If I do make a mistake, I try to let it be.
As I naturally tend to move towards a hyper, realistic painter, I’m trying not to be a perfectionist with my art; in the future, I can see myself looser. Right now, I’m getting ready for a solo show. It was supposed to be in May, and that month marks my 40th year of being an “Aerosol Artist/ Style Writer ” but had to cancel due to a current 275 foot mural I have been working on the last year and because of a travel engagement that is happening for a Mural festival in Bristol, England. Most of the work for the Solo show will be of new portraits, figurative, and some experimental “wild style” lettering concepts, and maybe I’ll show a few older pieces that I have done In the past but never delivered. I’m Looking at dates, maybe in November for my 53rd Birthday. I’m also planning on publishing my first book, which I have been working on for years.
In a professional commercial sense, I Would Say I’m able to adapt to many surfaces, and I’m able to create many looks and feels with my artwork to please a client and myself.
I’m proud of my kids and how I helped create and shape them as tiny humans and can never be any prouder than those two works of art that will grow and flourish with time.
Artistically speaking, I’m always striving to do better than my last piece and improve my general practice. As an artist, I’m always willing to try and do better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known for my wild style lettering, characters, portrait realism work, murals which I use, Spray paint as my primary medium. But I also use acrylics and oils. As one of the God Fathers of creating realism and hyper-realism portraits, using only spray cans. By freehand, which means I don’t use grids, projectors, or overlay scribble grids, I took this idea of mine of accepting the spray can as an art tool and established many looks and styles within my mural and canvass practices, pushing what the jet can is capable of doing the effects it creates. Not only an average-looking smooth airbrushed look but also with an organic approach and not hiding the spray lines and motion of the can that can conceal the layers. I have first explored this concept of ‘Dripping” at the Museum Of Contemporary Art San Diego. I purposely made drips on my entire piece. I have since pushed this concept to new personal heights, and my recent work has reflected this. I have been experimenting with paints, markers, different surfaces that I create on canvases, and guiding the color to let the paint Do its thing. I try not to fight the paint; I let the spray can, brush & paint do its something with precision. If I do make a mistake, I let it be.
I try not to make them, but if they do, I let it go and move on. As a hyper and realistic painter, I’m trying not to be a perfectionist in the future.
Right now, I’m getting ready for a solo show.
It’s in May, and that month marks my 40th year of being an “Aerosol Artist” Most of the work for the show will be of new portraits, figurative and some experimental wild style lettering concepts, and maybe I’ll show a few older pieces that I have done In the past.
In a professional commercial sense, I Would Say I’m able to adapt to many surfaces, and I’m able to create many looks and feels with my artwork to please a client and myself.
I’m pretty darn proud of my kids and how I helped create and shape them as tiny humans and can never be any prouder than those two works of art that will grow and flourish with time. Artistically speaking, I’m always striving to do better than my last piece and improve my general practice. As an artist, I’m always willing to try and do better.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Professionally speaking: The importance of having a solid contract.
Make sure you are taking care of your fundamental needs like materials cost, labor, hours square footage rate, gas mileage, everything you can think of, also tax write-offs including travel if you were painting out of state or in Another country be though and be 100% complete with your contract and get a lawyer to help with this. Make sure every angle, every corner is covered; protect yourself. Sharks will take advantage of you and your talent, Trust me, I learned the hard way multiple times. Be clear and don’t leave anything out, and always leave room for the unknown cost.
Personally speaking: I should get better at these rules that I’m about to mention. Create nonstop paint or draw every day or try to exercise that brain and hand muscles and keep your body moving; stay active! Eat right, drink plenty of water daily, read books and educate yourself with different arts.
And most importantly, never give up on yourself! Don’t sit around thinking the phones will be ringing off the hook because you killed it on some wall or you sold work. You have to put the work in Commit and do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sakeone.pb.online/
- Instagram: @sakeonedesign
- Other: wwwSakeonedesign.com
