Those who enjoy the snake mural at the Zero Gravity Skatepark in Cochrane will soon be able to see one of the artist's work on a larger platform.
Those who enjoy the snake mural at the Zero Gravity Skatepark in Cochrane will soon be able to see one of the artist's work on a larger platform.
Kyle Desnoyers, a Calgary-based artist, has been asked to sign on with Odd Future as a designer for its apparel. Odd Future, originally called Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, is a Los Angeles-based hip-hop collective.
Tyler, The Creator, an American rapper and graphic designer among many other things, started the collective in 2007. Through Odd Future, he also operates his own clothing company, Golf Wang.
Desnoyers came out to paint a mural at the skatepark thanks to his connection with Levi Switzer, organizer of The Inside, a local skateboarding group. Desnoyers collaborated with Tyler Hochhalter, a Calgary tattoo artist, to paint the mural depicting a snake breaking a skateboard.
“That was the first time I've ever done a mural, I usually paint on canvas and design on computers. So to have an actual piece of cement that I could paint on was pretty fun, ” Desnoyers said.
Desnoyers, 25, is a self-taught artist who has been working on developing his skill for the past six years. He drew most of inspiration from designs and styles put out by Odd Future.
“Most of my pieces are based off of their designs, so I really look up to them. I got introduced to Tyler, The Creator's music and pretty much fell in love with it. I was really inspired by where he was going so my drawings were highly influenced by that, ” Desnoyers explained.
Desnoyers began using Instagram as a platform to promote his work and currently has more than 10,000 followers. He described his style as hyperrealism with a cartoon-look.
“I got most of my follower-base from that group, nobody was really drawing stuff about them back then. I was one of the few people who were getting noticed for that. Tyler, The Creator started noticing my work off Instagram and some of the group members started following me, ” Desnoyers said.
He'd even meet up with some of the collective when he would take trips to Los Angeles. After about six years, Odd Future's manager, Brick Stowell, finally contacted him officially.
“When they called me, it was pretty much a dream come true… When I first started I wasn't making much money, I was getting more followers and a light on my art, ” Desnoyers explained.
About a year ago, one of the collective members, Mike G, reached out to him. The two worked separately of the entire collective.
“I did three of his album covers and I'm still doing them for him recently and we're working on clothing together and stickers and that kind of stuff, ” Desnoyers said.
Desnoyers said the reason Stowell contacted him was because his style is true to the original style Odd Future embraced when it first started.
“Stowell said ‘Hey we love your style, you're still doing what it was back in the day'. He wanted to hire me so I could continue that artistic kind of vibe and keep Odd Future going, ” Desnoyers explained.
“To get the opportunity to fire Odd Future back up and continue the iconic brand is a dream come true. I never thought I'd have that opportunity, I was just drawing designs here and there and it finally paid off. It's cool to have this spotlight on me for once, ” Desnoyers said.
Desnoyers' position with Odd Future will be part-time to start but he's excited to get his foot in the door. He anticipates to start working in the fall but is still waiting for more details.
“I'll be doing designs to start, it'll be enough to get me started. I haven't had a job yet where I'm strictly focused on my art, ” Desnoyers said.
Though the industry can be tough to break into, Desnoyers urges anyone with similar aspirations to keep going.
“Never give up. I almost gave up to be honest - last year I kind of wasn't feeling it anymore. I was looking at my art and kind of overwhelmed myself by taking on too many projects, it got to the point where I wasn't where I thought I should be at that moment, ” Desnoyers said.
“When Brick contacted me he said, ‘Yeah we've been checking out your Instagram all the time.' So for five years they were kind of watching me grow, and if I gave up and never did that I don't think I would have been contacted by him, ” Desnoyers said.
