13211 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90066
www.ridershack.com
310.821.SURF (7873)
877.57.SHACK (74225)
Beyond The Borders Of Era: Natas Kaupas Designs Handcrafted Surfboards With Shinola
He is known around the world as a legendary skateboarder, but there’s nothing Natas Kaupas loves more than creating, whether it’s for wheels–or waves.
In Santa Monica, surfing has always been just as important as skateboarding. Skating and surfing are a natural way of life, and growing up in this community led Natas to the art he creates today.
“Growing up and using local shapers, you’d get custom boards. You’d always think of the designs, the airbrushes and the colors. That part is pretty natural—deciding how you want your board to look,” he says.
Santa Monica was nurturing in that way, Natas says. He began surfing and skating both at a very young age, and he loved watching the locals, skating pros like Jim Muir or Jay Adams, zoom by.
“It was almost like a bigger brother kind of feeling,” Natas says. “There was some mentoring, especially on the art side. Wes Humpston, one of the original Dogtown artists, would give me pens and little pointers.”
Despite watching the local pros skate around Dogtown, Natas developed as a skateboarder much on his own. He recalls spending time alone, experimenting and woodshedding tricks.
Nowadays, Natas finds inspiration in the community and collaborates with many artists and craftspeople on various projects.
“These sports are very expressive, and a lot of people consider it an artform. There’s a lot of creative people involved in surfing and skateboarding. And you have this perfect canvas,” Natas says. “You have this tradition of silk screening and adding graphics to skateboards and colors on surfboards. I find it inspiring.”
His latest creations, in collaboration with Shinola , are limited-edition surfboards and beach towels. The two share a similar design—two Ws that pay homage to West Washington Boulevard, the previous name of what is now Abbot Kinney Boulevard and the location of the Shinola Venice store. Natas describes the style as a bit looser, drawing inspiration from traditional 1960s boards with a resin tint and acid splashes.
“The thought was to bring a little bit of that without looking overly traditional,” Natas says. “I wanted to push that a little bit.”
Natas likes to draw from the past, often turning to hand lettering and vintage books for inspiration. He sees today’s great skateboarders—or “rippers” as the skateboard community calls them—learning tricks from history.
“I really love watching this current generation of rippers that pick and choose of era. They don’t stick to just one,” Natas says.
Curating this artform—pulling from tradition while simultaneously challenging it—is no easy task. Natas notes that crafting in traditional ways is a slow and difficult process. These surfboards require a lot of engineering, and shapers and glassers have many variables they must take into account. With hydrodynamics, every detail matters, from the contour of the bottom to the shape of the fin. Crafted by hand with a planer and a saw, these boards require the expert eyes and hands of the shaper.
“There’s a lot of craftspeople involved, people you need to trust and communicate with. Up to a fraction of an inch will make a huge difference,” Natas says.
This kind of commitment to quality drives all of his creations, and it is one of the many reasons that drew Natas to collaborate with Shinola .
“I’ve been doing projects with Shinola for a number of years now, and I really get along with the way they operate—the transparency and the honesty,” he says.
For Natas, quality hinges on reliability, especially when you’re skating the streets or surfing the ocean.
“I’m attracted to things that are of quality because of the reliability. When I go surfing or skating, I don’t want to wonder if this thing is going to break in my hands or not perform the way I want it to,” Natas says. “With quality products, you don’t get left high and dry, and you get to enjoy things to the fullest.”
Quality doesn’t come quickly, but it’s always worth the wait. Shaping can take a long time because of the many elements involved in the creation, Natas says, and shapers are notorious for taking longer than they say.
“It’s a running joke in the surf community: ‘Is my board done yet?’” Natas says.
One thing that is never done for Natas is creating. Whether it’s a new project, painting for fun, or making crafts with his toddler, Natas lives for it all. And though this leaves him with little time for waves or wheels, he still tries to sneak in a surf or a skate whenever he can. Because for Natas, life in California—surfing, skating, creating—never gets old. More at Shinola
He is known around the world as a legendary skateboarder, but there’s nothing Natas Kaupas loves more than creating, whether it’s for wheels–or waves.
In Santa Monica, surfing has always been just as important as skateboarding. Skating and surfing are a natural way of life, and growing up in this community led Natas to the art he creates today.
“Growing up and using local shapers, you’d get custom boards. You’d always think of the designs, the airbrushes and the colors. That part is pretty natural—deciding how you want your board to look,” he says.
Santa Monica was nurturing in that way, Natas says. He began surfing and skating both at a very young age, and he loved watching the locals, skating pros like Jim Muir or Jay Adams, zoom by.
“It was almost like a bigger brother kind of feeling,” Natas says. “There was some mentoring, especially on the art side. Wes Humpston, one of the original Dogtown artists, would give me pens and little pointers.”
Despite watching the local pros skate around Dogtown, Natas developed as a skateboarder much on his own. He recalls spending time alone, experimenting and woodshedding tricks.
Nowadays, Natas finds inspiration in the community and collaborates with many artists and craftspeople on various projects.
“These sports are very expressive, and a lot of people consider it an artform. There’s a lot of creative people involved in surfing and skateboarding. And you have this perfect canvas,” Natas says. “You have this tradition of silk screening and adding graphics to skateboards and colors on surfboards. I find it inspiring.”
His latest creations, in collaboration with Shinola , are limited-edition surfboards and beach towels. The two share a similar design—two Ws that pay homage to West Washington Boulevard, the previous name of what is now Abbot Kinney Boulevard and the location of the Shinola Venice store. Natas describes the style as a bit looser, drawing inspiration from traditional 1960s boards with a resin tint and acid splashes.
“The thought was to bring a little bit of that without looking overly traditional,” Natas says. “I wanted to push that a little bit.”
Natas likes to draw from the past, often turning to hand lettering and vintage books for inspiration. He sees today’s great skateboarders—or “rippers” as the skateboard community calls them—learning tricks from history.
“I really love watching this current generation of rippers that pick and choose of era. They don’t stick to just one,” Natas says.
Curating this artform—pulling from tradition while simultaneously challenging it—is no easy task. Natas notes that crafting in traditional ways is a slow and difficult process. These surfboards require a lot of engineering, and shapers and glassers have many variables they must take into account. With hydrodynamics, every detail matters, from the contour of the bottom to the shape of the fin. Crafted by hand with a planer and a saw, these boards require the expert eyes and hands of the shaper.
“There’s a lot of craftspeople involved, people you need to trust and communicate with. Up to a fraction of an inch will make a huge difference,” Natas says.
This kind of commitment to quality drives all of his creations, and it is one of the many reasons that drew Natas to collaborate with Shinola .
“I’ve been doing projects with Shinola for a number of years now, and I really get along with the way they operate—the transparency and the honesty,” he says.
For Natas, quality hinges on reliability, especially when you’re skating the streets or surfing the ocean.
“I’m attracted to things that are of quality because of the reliability. When I go surfing or skating, I don’t want to wonder if this thing is going to break in my hands or not perform the way I want it to,” Natas says. “With quality products, you don’t get left high and dry, and you get to enjoy things to the fullest.”
Quality doesn’t come quickly, but it’s always worth the wait. Shaping can take a long time because of the many elements involved in the creation, Natas says, and shapers are notorious for taking longer than they say.
“It’s a running joke in the surf community: ‘Is my board done yet?’” Natas says.
One thing that is never done for Natas is creating. Whether it’s a new project, painting for fun, or making crafts with his toddler, Natas lives for it all. And though this leaves him with little time for waves or wheels, he still tries to sneak in a surf or a skate whenever he can. Because for Natas, life in California—surfing, skating, creating—never gets old. More at Shinola
Banks Journal introduces their newest Comrade West Adler
Fourteen miles from the center of LA lies the famous seaside town of Venice Beach. What first started out as the 'Venice of America', a short lived residential concept by tobacco tycoon Abbott Kinney, the heavily neglected 2 mile stretch of coast quickly transgressed into the 'Slum By the Sea'. The waterways and canals that first drew so many people to the area on the Westside soon became clogged and unnavigable from local oil drilling. Corrupt politics, mismanaged money, and gang violence indirectly became a perfect melting pot for hippies, weirdos, punks and surfers alike. It was here where a homeless bum, Jim Morrison, started writing his first lyrics and booze induced poetry. Jack Kerouac called it a jungle. Andy Warhol called it plastic.
A few blocks inland and the scene transforms to a burgeoning mixture of foodies, socialites and techies. Locals know it as Abbot Kinney Boulevard where more often than not, money is no object. But there's still pockets of the ol' Venice stretch, just visit the boardwalk on any given day or night and you'll be bombarded by the sights, sounds, and yeah, smells. For some, it's a bit easier to navigate than the clogged canals and selfie taking influencers.
We meet West out front of his house. He's 18 and just graduated high school, drives an old Benz and has a couple small dogs that bravely try to chase us away until we bribe them with belly rubs. As the newest comrade to our Banks Journal team, we saw it only fitting to spend some time with the Venice local and (admittedly) make him remind us of what it's like being fresh out of school with nothing but surf on the agenda.
BANKS: Hey West! So tell me about yourself, were you born and raised in Venice?
WEST: Yeah, not always in the same spot but yeah, Venice it is. I actually was in Topanga for a few years, but came back for my last year of school.
BANKS: How is it up in Topanga?
WEST: It's cool man, just really far from basically everything. You're close to the valley I guess, but nobody wants to be close to the valley, it's hot and boring. Having to navigate traffic around that area is a nightmare. Surfing Topanga, was just as hard to get to as any of the other local breaks, and if you don't leave before the sun comes up you'll be stuck for hours. Both ways, even though I lived right there. I love surfing Topanga though, I like the left better than the right... if you know, than you know.
BANKS: Bit of localism there, huh...
WEST: Oh yeah, it's always been like that, such a protected beach even though everyone surfs there. Everyone surfs there and everyone gets yelled at, but it still doesn't deter anyone from going out. It's kinda weird, kinda funny. I've seen people snap fins out of other boards there... Stuff like that isn't even a big deal anymore. I mean it used to be more when I was younger, but it's kinda phased out now, almost. Localism in general, how fast it phased out, was kinda crazy. I remember seeing people get their ass beat in the parking lot with lead pipes and that wouldn't fly anymore. BANKS: I wonder if it's because people film everything these days... WEST: Yeah, and just the volume of people that have moved to Venice or vacation here, is so insane. There's no way you could stop it all, even with heavy localism. It's like a horde of locusts. You can try to catch 'em all but you'll never be able to. It sucks haha. But hey, at least Venice has good food now! LA food used to be such trash. Now it's kinda become a mecca. I like that part about it, there's a few businesses that I appreciate being here that have added some value.
BANKS: What's your go-to spot to surf around here?
WEST: The Pier. Although I've been finding these fun little novelty waves in, uhh, we'll say in Dockweiler. And yeah, more recently I've been surfing those but most often you can find me at the pier. Always the pier. There's always gonna be something I can stand up on there cuz the waves are usually shit around here. So at least I know it'll be working. It's close to my house, I know where to park, and I don't have to give a shit, I can just do whatever. It's Venice, it's a little fun, piece of shit wave.
BANKS: Welcome to LA.... What are you usually surfing on?
WEST: It depends. Usually in the summer, there's a super fun peak that forms off the north side, so I'll surf a shortboard or something. I've been having a ton of fun on this Rabbit's Foot that I have, it's amazing. It's a Lovelace board that I actually got to shape with him back in 2014, but I just glassed it. It's been wrapped in plastic for like 4 years haha. That thing goes great around here actually, I was surprised. It's an asymmetrical finless, it relies more on channels with a bit of hull influence. There's a lot of different edges and concaves on the board, it's a trip, something you need to see and feel. I love finless boards, I've been surfing them since I was thirteen, I actually bought an alaia for my birthday that year. Like a 6'2" Wegener. It happened to be too big, pretty funny actually, because I traded that in for my first longboard! So that's when I picked up longboarding, kinda random haha.
BANKS: What's your quiver like now?
West: My favorite boards at the moment are:
9’4” Thomas Surfboards Harry model
7’0” 88 Surfboard (always finless)
5’8” Dead Kooks 80s model...it has sick green airbrushed flames.
5’3” Ryan Lovelace Rabbits Foot
5’1” Thomas Surfboards Fish
See more of West in action on his Comrade Page here .
Fourteen miles from the center of LA lies the famous seaside town of Venice Beach. What first started out as the 'Venice of America', a short lived residential concept by tobacco tycoon Abbott Kinney, the heavily neglected 2 mile stretch of coast quickly transgressed into the 'Slum By the Sea'. The waterways and canals that first drew so many people to the area on the Westside soon became clogged and unnavigable from local oil drilling. Corrupt politics, mismanaged money, and gang violence indirectly became a perfect melting pot for hippies, weirdos, punks and surfers alike. It was here where a homeless bum, Jim Morrison, started writing his first lyrics and booze induced poetry. Jack Kerouac called it a jungle. Andy Warhol called it plastic.
A few blocks inland and the scene transforms to a burgeoning mixture of foodies, socialites and techies. Locals know it as Abbot Kinney Boulevard where more often than not, money is no object. But there's still pockets of the ol' Venice stretch, just visit the boardwalk on any given day or night and you'll be bombarded by the sights, sounds, and yeah, smells. For some, it's a bit easier to navigate than the clogged canals and selfie taking influencers.
We meet West out front of his house. He's 18 and just graduated high school, drives an old Benz and has a couple small dogs that bravely try to chase us away until we bribe them with belly rubs. As the newest comrade to our Banks Journal team, we saw it only fitting to spend some time with the Venice local and (admittedly) make him remind us of what it's like being fresh out of school with nothing but surf on the agenda.
BANKS: Hey West! So tell me about yourself, were you born and raised in Venice?
WEST: Yeah, not always in the same spot but yeah, Venice it is. I actually was in Topanga for a few years, but came back for my last year of school.
BANKS: How is it up in Topanga?
WEST: It's cool man, just really far from basically everything. You're close to the valley I guess, but nobody wants to be close to the valley, it's hot and boring. Having to navigate traffic around that area is a nightmare. Surfing Topanga, was just as hard to get to as any of the other local breaks, and if you don't leave before the sun comes up you'll be stuck for hours. Both ways, even though I lived right there. I love surfing Topanga though, I like the left better than the right... if you know, than you know.
BANKS: Bit of localism there, huh...
WEST: Oh yeah, it's always been like that, such a protected beach even though everyone surfs there. Everyone surfs there and everyone gets yelled at, but it still doesn't deter anyone from going out. It's kinda weird, kinda funny. I've seen people snap fins out of other boards there... Stuff like that isn't even a big deal anymore. I mean it used to be more when I was younger, but it's kinda phased out now, almost. Localism in general, how fast it phased out, was kinda crazy. I remember seeing people get their ass beat in the parking lot with lead pipes and that wouldn't fly anymore. BANKS: I wonder if it's because people film everything these days... WEST: Yeah, and just the volume of people that have moved to Venice or vacation here, is so insane. There's no way you could stop it all, even with heavy localism. It's like a horde of locusts. You can try to catch 'em all but you'll never be able to. It sucks haha. But hey, at least Venice has good food now! LA food used to be such trash. Now it's kinda become a mecca. I like that part about it, there's a few businesses that I appreciate being here that have added some value.
BANKS: What's your go-to spot to surf around here?
WEST: The Pier. Although I've been finding these fun little novelty waves in, uhh, we'll say in Dockweiler. And yeah, more recently I've been surfing those but most often you can find me at the pier. Always the pier. There's always gonna be something I can stand up on there cuz the waves are usually shit around here. So at least I know it'll be working. It's close to my house, I know where to park, and I don't have to give a shit, I can just do whatever. It's Venice, it's a little fun, piece of shit wave.
BANKS: Welcome to LA.... What are you usually surfing on?
WEST: It depends. Usually in the summer, there's a super fun peak that forms off the north side, so I'll surf a shortboard or something. I've been having a ton of fun on this Rabbit's Foot that I have, it's amazing. It's a Lovelace board that I actually got to shape with him back in 2014, but I just glassed it. It's been wrapped in plastic for like 4 years haha. That thing goes great around here actually, I was surprised. It's an asymmetrical finless, it relies more on channels with a bit of hull influence. There's a lot of different edges and concaves on the board, it's a trip, something you need to see and feel. I love finless boards, I've been surfing them since I was thirteen, I actually bought an alaia for my birthday that year. Like a 6'2" Wegener. It happened to be too big, pretty funny actually, because I traded that in for my first longboard! So that's when I picked up longboarding, kinda random haha.
BANKS: What's your quiver like now?
West: My favorite boards at the moment are:
9’4” Thomas Surfboards Harry model
7’0” 88 Surfboard (always finless)
5’8” Dead Kooks 80s model...it has sick green airbrushed flames.
5’3” Ryan Lovelace Rabbits Foot
5’1” Thomas Surfboards Fish
See more of West in action on his Comrade Page here .
Saturday at the Venice Pier. These photos were shot by Six12 Media .
You can find a few more photos from this session, all full size and in high-resolution, in this photo gallery:
If you were out there, we probably got some cool surfing shots of you, go check them out!
Wanna see photos from previous days at this and otherlocal surf spots?
Click Surf Spot Galleries and look for the spot and then the date.
Big city, bright lights: everybody we know can be found here. Jack Coleman and a full cast of characters descended upon the 'bu for a lengthy board meeting on this most recent south swell. Palms were greased, deals were made, and the majority shareholders were pleased with their return on investment. Enjoy this edit of the multi-shredder conglomerate of Southern California.
WNW/NW and S Swell Mix; Winds An issue
Surf heights for northern, central and southern California on Tuesday.
NW windswell and old S swell easing out into mid week
New out of season WNW/NW swell for mid-late week
Fresh South swell also moves in, modest in size
Onshore winds an issue with S winds/eddy for SoCal
Surf heights for northern, central and southern California on Tuesday.
New out of season WNW/NW swell for mid-late week
Fresh South swell also moves in, modest in size
Onshore winds an issue with S winds/eddy for SoCal
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