‘In my drawings, I am trying to depict the (Thrasher) pages as they live in my bleaching memory.’
ROGER ALLEN
Canada
August 2025
What is your name and where do you live?
Roger Allen. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
What came first? Drawing or skateboarding?
I began skateboarding before drawing but drawing and skateboarding are closely connected. In 1985, at the age of 13, I purchased my first Thrasher magazine. I thought the illustrations and skateboard graphics in the magazine were very cool. I started making collages of the drawings I saw in Thrasher onto my t-shirts, and soon my friends and I were customizing everything we had.
What is your medium of choice?
Photography felts and pencil crayons.
How does skateboarding influence your work?
I’ve always loved skateboarding because it allows me to see the world with unlimited possibilities.
Can you tell more about these illustrations?
I created these illustrations using the Thrasher skateboard magazines I’ve been saving since I was a kid in the 1980s. The images still inspire me for their style, skill, and attitude. Using a yellow marker to quickly capture the energy of the image, I then use pencils to get the angles and proportions right, but I also enjoy experimenting with erasing and scratching the paper surface to add texture. In my drawings, I am trying to depict the pages as they live in my bleaching memory.
How do you describe your style?
I had a lot of influences, I thought Dogtown and Zorlac were really cool but I lived in Vancouver which is often cold and raining so I gravitated towards Skullskates and PD’s Hot Shop which was just a bridge and tunnel from where I lived. I like skateboarding by myself. I like the freedom of that.
Any proud or embarrassing moments?
I had nollie bigspins wired and could do them on transition. Once I did the nollie bigspin but accidentally landed in an axle stall on top of the bank, and because my momentum was still turning, I pivoted back into the transition. I think of it often.
‘I like his style; it reminds me of Halloween; it has a playful dark quality.’
Which board company do you like most in terms of their graphics?
Don Pendleton – Habitat skateboards, I like Dons graphic style and Habitat had more variety in the art than Alien Workshop. Michael Sieben Roger skateboards.
What do you like about Sieben’s Roger skateboard company?
I worked for Color skateboard magazine part-time, and I wrote an article on the skateboard shirt. I’m pretty sure that’s where I first spoke with Sieben. I actually met him once in Vancouver at Antisocial skateboard shop. I like his style; it reminds me of Halloween; it has a playful dark quality.
If you could interview any person in the world, who would it be?
Pushead, I saw his art on record sleeves and the Zorlac’s Metallica skateboard in the 80s, over the years I would see his art in different places. I recently got a Be@rbrick he designed.