Roy Gonzalez is the spirit of San Clemente. The little beach town I grew up in has seen a lot of change. Characters like Roy are harder to find at the beach nowadays. The generation before mine in town was a rad bad bunch of guys in many ways living by a different set of rules. Rock n Roll stars. Or at least thats how I remember them. Most have moved through or out of town creating a new vision of San Clemente. This was a cool trip for me to meet with Roy and create a graphic together and learn some more about that time in town.
My first memory of Roy’s artwork were posters in Surfing magazine for the brand F.A.B. I believe that was a company that the Beschens were involved with at the time that made Sunglasses. FAB would run these ads of Gav, Shane, Archy, DIno looking like the godfather family and then would have these insane cartoons. The most imaginative drawings of surf scenes gone wrong. I would get so lost in the art. Hot chicks, Devils that looked like kahunas, barrels with fangs it was so out of this world I couldn’t believe it. The feeling of his art has no boundaries, creating dark twisted new realities with the backdrop of surfing.
I would tear out some of the cartoon story drawings of Roys and try to recreate them in my own way in art class during high school.
At that time I didn’t really register the San Clemente connection. But I would definitely see his art work in many different places around town. Some surf contests, some magazines, some posters. His style is so distinct and unique it stood out and always made me stop to absorb the pictures. Roy put on an exhibit in San Clemente one year right down by the triangle on Del Mar street. The triangle is three of the most divey dive bars in San Clemente that line up in the shape of a triangle. A fixture of a young San Clemente kids upbringing. I went with Patrick and Dane to say hello.
Thats the first time I met Roy.
He looked like Elvis.
No Joke.
Hair slicked up and back greased in place and shiny. The shine almost matching the outfit he had one, with a dapper suit and big lapel. He didn’t look like a surfer. He looked like a rockstar. In my memory the thing that stood out wasn’t the art, it was him. He owned the entire room telling stories of misadventures and radness. It cemented Roy for me as a legend.
Then I started to seek out his different drawings and want to know more and more. The “aloha from hell”, the first Christian Fletcher Surfboards design, all the Astro boys movie posters. They were all Roy’s artwork.
Personally, I have a deep relationship with Merch and T shirts. I collect and hoard them. I love shirts from events, shirts that are gifts, and shirts that are limited. They are wearable art. When the first episode of Finders Keepers came out it was really one of my first thoughts. How could I make a T shirt to commemorate this project. Even if it was just for me.
I reached out to Roy on instagram and asked if he was still doing graphics. My expectations were low because I didn’t know how that would work or if Roy would want to draw something for a project he didn’t know. To my surprise he hit back and said, “Hell yeah, you and your brothers got soul! I’d love to draw something up!”
I was so stoked.
So we met up.
First a Rapport Coffee in Dana Point (an amazing cup if you haven’t tried yet). Roy came dressed to the nines.
Radical Aloha shirt, loafers, slicked back hair.
We grabbed a cup and talked art, san clemente, and surf.
I learned about Roy’s life and journey through the surf world. We shared the same high school art teacher in Mr. Delanty. Roy told me about the surf shop “surf spot” that used to be in San Clemente. It sounded like the epicenter of debauchery back in the day. McElroy, a legendary San Clemente shapers' zone filled with guys like Archy, Dino, the Mcgonagles and Mcnaulty’s. The stories were absolutely classic. Made me proud to have come up through the San Clemente lineage.
Over the next 2 months we met three times. Each time Roy would bring his art pad and show the progress of the drawing. He was so excited on the “garage sale” feel of the graphic. He drew all his favorite boards from Martin Potter’s to Andy Iron’s iconic sleds. The time I spent with Roy was the shit. Just catching up about things I didn’t know about San Clemente. I’d always ask about this surfer, or that place and Roy would educate me. The study of San Clemente before I lived there.
Sounded raw. No Rules.
On our last meet up Roy said his next plan was to head back down to Cabo and chill out for the summer. I couldn’t believe that the graphic I had in my hand!
I saw it sketched in pencil, then filled in with color, and now finished as the most rad and special piece of art.
I have the original at my house and will always keep that as a cherished piece of my journey through the surf world.
Hope you dig the graphic and story of the first ever Merch for Finders Keepers. Roy’s art connects for me the surf lineage that comes from San Clemente and was a good omen for the radness that hopefully will keep coming.
Thanks again ROY.
Check out Roy's art here-
https://gonzalezartz.com/about/
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