WORKING WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN ENTERTAINMENT, FROM MARVEL TO POKÉMON, WORLD-RENOWNED CRAFTSMAN AND COMIC SUPERFAN BEAR WALKER BLENDS HIS TWO PASSIONS ON ULTRA-EXCLUSIVE, ONE-OF-A-KIND SKATEBOARDS
BY BLUE SULLIVAN
In examining the sport of skateboarding, a skilled athlete is not a dry expression of the natural laws of motion and gravity. A great skateboarder, rather, is something far more important, breathing in the rich history of those spiritual kin who came before him, and breathing out something new, some-thing so singular as to be nearly indistinguishable from magic. In other words, art. Understanding this, it is easy to imagine why this world would attract a world-class craftsman like Bear Walker. His colorful, gorgeously envisioned boards are an art of a similar magic to those who ride them.
They burst with vivid color and brilliant detail, almost giving the impression that they are leaping off the canvas, a living part of the ride. So it makes perfect sense that so many of the most important pop-culture tastemakers have contracted his services. Th ink of the most famous, most widely fetishized bits of modern pop culture: Marvel, Star Wars, Stranger Th ings, Pokémon, It, Th e Joker, and Th e Flash. Bear has been contracted to design boards that celebrate them all. “I can’t remember a time growing up when I wasn’t in a workshop, woodworking with my Dad or creating something with friends,” noted Walker. “I’ve always had a passion for art and technology, but never imagined how deeply it would eventually intertwine with my love for craftsmanship.” While pursuing a graphic design degree at his “dream” school, Clemson University, Walker stumbled upon skate-board art while completing a senior design project. “I was given the task of designing a skateboard with innovative printing techniques…I ended up designing around 40, and I was hooked.”
Upon graduation, Walker tried on a variety of vocational titles, from prop fabricator for an events company to book designer for Amazon, all while stoking his fervor for boards as a hobby. One day, a commission led to a fortuitous discovery, forever altering the course of Walker’s career. “I was working on a sandblasted sign for a client and the light bulb went off : this would make awesome grip. About a week later the fi rst thing resembling a Bear Walker board was born.”
Today, Walker drops collections about once every six weeks, usually capped at 250 pieces. Th ey are constructed of the highest quality maple ply and feature his one-of-a-kind wood-carved grip. His latest release is a series of limited edition Pokémon skateboard decks, emblazoned with colorful expressions of Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu. Later this month, a collective of Spiderman boards (another Marvel collab, following his series 1 release featuring Iron Man, Black Panther, Hulk, and Wolverine) will drop later this month. “As soon as I rode it I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Walker recalled of the fi rst time he stepped on one of his boards. “I can use my passion and creativity to make badass designs. I can use my love of technology to create innovative grip. I can use my craftsmanship to combine those into the highest quality skateboards on the planet. And my perfectionism made it so I could do it consistently. Th e part that surprised me is how much I would like to make them for people. Getting to hear people’s stories and ideas and embodying them into a piece of functional art has given me fulfillment and drive. It’s given me a dream job.”
