ORDER BY PHONE 800-810-6673 ORDER BY PHONE 600-810-6673 FIND A STORE FREE STANDARD GROUND SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $50 across the US*     Sign In / Register
Art

AMANDALYNN: HAIGHT ST DM’S MURALIST

Our Haight Street store in SF just got a fresh mural, celebrating the area and DM’s shared history of rebellion, subculture, and self-expression. We sat down to talk with the artist, Amandalynn, about her process and inspiration.
DM’S: Hi, and thank you so much for speaking with us. Could you give us an introduction?

AMANDALYNN: Hello, my name is Amandalynn, and I am a muralist and fine artist based in Northern California. I have been painting in the streets of San Francisco, California and around the world for the past 20 years. I started painting my first walls in San Francisco early on with a group of local graffiti writers, who taught me the importance of painting simply for the love of it. I enjoy collaborating with other artists and have dedicated my career to curating, creating and assisting many large productions throughout the world. Traveling and creating with all different types of artists and locations has inspired me for a lifetime, however, still to this day, my favorite city to paint is San Francisco.

We love the mural you created for our Haight Street store. Could you talk about the process you go through to create a piece like this?

Thank you, I had a lot of fun with this piece, as I very much identify with the Dr. Martens brand aesthetic and style. Dr. Martens has such a raw, hard, and free style, that I really tried to capture that in my imagery. I created a detailed hand drawn sketch of a combination of different elements – from spiky hard edge punk, to the images of the free and uncaptured ease of a true wild child. I then overlaid a custom illustration of the classic Dr. Martens boots overtop of my illustration, leaving elements of the boots transparent, so as to show the story that lies behind each pair of truly worn boots. When painting the actual piece, I used several layers of collage paper and layered the surface to give the feel of painting on the streets, like on an old, un perfect wall that may have previously had layers of wheat paste posters and old paint (which is my favorite kind of wall to paint). I feel like this gives the piece more of an authentic city style feel. I then transfered my illustration image onto the surface, painting the background elements first, then the boots overtop.

‘Wild and Free’ is the title of the piece you created. Could you tell us a little about what that title means to you?

To withstand the test of time, one must not only be tough, durable and timeless, but must also live everyday, Wild and Free.

What inspiration do you find yourself drawing from for your art?

I am inspired by many things in my daily life, mostly nature and the incredible strong, talented and beautiful women who surround me. I am also always inspired by new experiences and interactions with people when I am out painting and creating. I find that painting murals, especially outdoors, tends to bring the world to me, sometimes my experiences can be a little crazy, but most times they are intriguing and inspiring.

Do you have a favorite medium to work with?

Yes, my favorite is acrylic paint, a good brush or two, and a Big Wall!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.