![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish)](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-photo.jpg)
Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish)
January 21, 2025
Van Eggers is an artist and illustrator working out of Long Beach, California, who recently collaborated with Toy Machine to release a seven-deck series called Horror Show. We had the opportunity to talk about it with him and learn about his art, his vision to create good skate graphics as well as making board graphics for Foundation, Girl and Deathwish.
Can you introduce yourself?
I’ve been drawing since I was two and just continued on because I wasn’t very good at anything else, and I got into skateboarding around five years old. But with skateboarding, graphics come right along with it, so it immediately kind of merged with a pre-existing love for visual art. What really took hold of me at a young age was graffiti art. Growing up in the suburbs outside of Chicago, we would take the train into the city to go skate and you would see graffiti off of the tracks and when you would arrive at the skatepark, a lot of people would have graffiti on their grip tape and I thought that was the coolest thing. So I wanted to learn how to draw the graffiti characters and letters so I could take part in this and immediately along with that I was totally seduced by people like Sean Cliver and Marc McKee and a whole host of comic book artists. I really love comic book art and have since a young age. All those things seem to be sewn together in a visual language between graffiti art and skateboard art and comic book art, those were my earliest influences.
I’ve been drawing since I was two and just continued on because I wasn’t very good at anything else, and I got into skateboarding around five years old. But with skateboarding, graphics come right along with it, so it immediately kind of merged with a pre-existing love for visual art. What really took hold of me at a young age was graffiti art. Growing up in the suburbs outside of Chicago, we would take the train into the city to go skate and you would see graffiti off of the tracks and when you would arrive at the skatepark, a lot of people would have graffiti on their grip tape and I thought that was the coolest thing. So I wanted to learn how to draw the graffiti characters and letters so I could take part in this and immediately along with that I was totally seduced by people like Sean Cliver and Marc McKee and a whole host of comic book artists. I really love comic book art and have since a young age. All those things seem to be sewn together in a visual language between graffiti art and skateboard art and comic book art, those were my earliest influences.
How did you end up doing your first skateboard graphic?
Well I got pretty lucky! When I was living in Florida, I was good friends with Julian Lewis who was also living in Florida at the time and when we both moved out to California, he was riding for Foundation Skateboards. So I went to the Tum Yeto headquarters and I hit up Corey Glick who was a rider for Foundation at the time and I asked him if he could talk to someone in the warehouse to let me go in and give them this zine that I had made, to see if they were interested in my drawings. It’s funny how it worked out because Corey said: “Yeah, let me talk to [Matt] Barker”, and Barker just came out, opened the warehouse and he was like: “Hey, you’re Van?” and I was like: “Yeah, I just wanted to meet you guys and give you a zine and shake hands and tell you that I’m here in California trying to produce some skate graphics if ever you were interested”. Based on that conversation, he was like: “Well, let’s do a series, let’s try it out”. I owe all that to Corey and Julian for vouching for me so I could meet the people who were behind the art direction at Foundation.
Well I got pretty lucky! When I was living in Florida, I was good friends with Julian Lewis who was also living in Florida at the time and when we both moved out to California, he was riding for Foundation Skateboards. So I went to the Tum Yeto headquarters and I hit up Corey Glick who was a rider for Foundation at the time and I asked him if he could talk to someone in the warehouse to let me go in and give them this zine that I had made, to see if they were interested in my drawings. It’s funny how it worked out because Corey said: “Yeah, let me talk to [Matt] Barker”, and Barker just came out, opened the warehouse and he was like: “Hey, you’re Van?” and I was like: “Yeah, I just wanted to meet you guys and give you a zine and shake hands and tell you that I’m here in California trying to produce some skate graphics if ever you were interested”. Based on that conversation, he was like: “Well, let’s do a series, let’s try it out”. I owe all that to Corey and Julian for vouching for me so I could meet the people who were behind the art direction at Foundation.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Skateboard Graphics 1](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-1.jpg)
Did you move to California to get closer to the skate industry?
That’s right! I had ambitions of working in the skate industry from a fairly young age and I was between going to graduate school in New York or just coming out here and giving it a try. I ended up not having enough money to go and continue my studies and so I figured why not come out here and give it my best shot working in the skate industry.
That’s right! I had ambitions of working in the skate industry from a fairly young age and I was between going to graduate school in New York or just coming out here and giving it a try. I ended up not having enough money to go and continue my studies and so I figured why not come out here and give it my best shot working in the skate industry.
So you’ve recently created the Horror Show series for Toy Machine, where did you find the inspiration?
That thing started with Myles Willard, who’s one of the pros for Toy Machine. When he was still living in Long Beach, we would go to thrift stores and VHS stores around the city and pick up weird horror movies that we thought looked really gross and fun and corny. The stuff that was filmed in the late 90s, early 2000s, with low budget was visually kind of rich and always had over-the-top ridiculous gore and totally implausible story lines. Myles and I like that stuff so we would pick up whatever based on a cool VHS cover and we would watch it and make fun of it. At some point, I had the idea to pitch a board graphic to Myles based on these VHS movies that we were watching. It has the Baltimore cityscape, which is where he’s from, and the classic Damsels In Distress type of scene, trying to use the Toy Machine monster as the main figure for whatever this horror movie would be. I sent it to Ed Templeton and he was cool with it.
That thing started with Myles Willard, who’s one of the pros for Toy Machine. When he was still living in Long Beach, we would go to thrift stores and VHS stores around the city and pick up weird horror movies that we thought looked really gross and fun and corny. The stuff that was filmed in the late 90s, early 2000s, with low budget was visually kind of rich and always had over-the-top ridiculous gore and totally implausible story lines. Myles and I like that stuff so we would pick up whatever based on a cool VHS cover and we would watch it and make fun of it. At some point, I had the idea to pitch a board graphic to Myles based on these VHS movies that we were watching. It has the Baltimore cityscape, which is where he’s from, and the classic Damsels In Distress type of scene, trying to use the Toy Machine monster as the main figure for whatever this horror movie would be. I sent it to Ed Templeton and he was cool with it.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Quote 1](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-quote-1.png)
Did he ask you to make a series out of this graphic?
I actually asked him if he’d be down to make a series out of it and he agreed which was super nice of him. From there, I was talking to Myles and I was like: “Man, let’s figure out what a ridiculous storyline would be for each of the Toy Machine icons that suits the personality of the rider a little bit”, so I tried and made a graphic around that.
I actually asked him if he’d be down to make a series out of it and he agreed which was super nice of him. From there, I was talking to Myles and I was like: “Man, let’s figure out what a ridiculous storyline would be for each of the Toy Machine icons that suits the personality of the rider a little bit”, so I tried and made a graphic around that.
So did you get in touch with every skater of the team?
No, I wish. I’m pretty close with everyone on Foundation but the only riders on Toy Machine that I really know are Myles, Daniel Lutheran a little bit, though he wasn’t included in this series because he’s now on to other things, Jeremy Leabres a little bit too. So I’d do the graphic and send it to Ed to see if it was good, and if I knew the rider, I’d send it to them and see if they were stoked on it, like I showed it to Georgia Martin and she was like: “Oh cool, I’m super into that”.
No, I wish. I’m pretty close with everyone on Foundation but the only riders on Toy Machine that I really know are Myles, Daniel Lutheran a little bit, though he wasn’t included in this series because he’s now on to other things, Jeremy Leabres a little bit too. So I’d do the graphic and send it to Ed to see if it was good, and if I knew the rider, I’d send it to them and see if they were stoked on it, like I showed it to Georgia Martin and she was like: “Oh cool, I’m super into that”.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Skateboard Graphics 2](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-2.jpg)
The Horror Show series
The Myles Willard board is the only one that doesn’t have Toy Machine written on it. Is it because you made that board first and then the whole series after?
Yeah! I think with that one, it was so loosely thrown together and I didn’t even plan on it being accepted, so I didn’t put in too much time. I later went back and refined it a bit, but I didn’t even bother branding it because this was just a pitch to see if Ed would go for it and because he liked it, I didn’t want to revise it too much by adding the Toy Machine letters into it. So I included that in every other one down the series.
Yeah! I think with that one, it was so loosely thrown together and I didn’t even plan on it being accepted, so I didn’t put in too much time. I later went back and refined it a bit, but I didn’t even bother branding it because this was just a pitch to see if Ed would go for it and because he liked it, I didn’t want to revise it too much by adding the Toy Machine letters into it. So I included that in every other one down the series.
You said on one of your Instagram posts that you spent an insane amount of time on it.
Oh man, each board probably took about two and a half to three months to draw. I don’t know if it was this new style I was doing because usually it’s outline and a couple hatching lines and then I would just fill it with color. But with this one, I wanted to do something with soft pencil, be less graphic style but more fine art influenced, like the older illustration styles. I wanted to see if I could pull it off and once I did one with that style, I was like: “Well, the rest have to follow suit, they all have to be up to this standard”. So I’m happy with how it came out but with that being said, I probably wouldn’t do it again because it took so much time.
Oh man, each board probably took about two and a half to three months to draw. I don’t know if it was this new style I was doing because usually it’s outline and a couple hatching lines and then I would just fill it with color. But with this one, I wanted to do something with soft pencil, be less graphic style but more fine art influenced, like the older illustration styles. I wanted to see if I could pull it off and once I did one with that style, I was like: “Well, the rest have to follow suit, they all have to be up to this standard”. So I’m happy with how it came out but with that being said, I probably wouldn’t do it again because it took so much time.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Quote 2](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-quote-2.png)
When did you start drawing the one for Myles?
It’s hard for me to remember but I would say over two years ago. That was really when I pitched the idea to Ed so it may have been even a little little longer than that. I’m not a full-time employee or even a retainer for the brand so it’s not like I had any deadlines to meet. It was my idea and because they didn’t have it already slated into their schedule, I could take as much time as I wanted with it.
It’s hard for me to remember but I would say over two years ago. That was really when I pitched the idea to Ed so it may have been even a little little longer than that. I’m not a full-time employee or even a retainer for the brand so it’s not like I had any deadlines to meet. It was my idea and because they didn’t have it already slated into their schedule, I could take as much time as I wanted with it.
Some in-house brand artists have multiple graphic releases a month sometimes.
The other designers that are in-house have deadlines, I think that’s probably the reason behind the quick turnover process, trying to do graphics a bit more swiftly. In today’s market, I think what sells better is less. I think less is more, which is good and bad. I’ve seen some really cool graphics that are a bit more reductive, but me having this illustration background, I really miss seeing a board that was just jam-packed with little visual nuggets, with lots of time invested into it. It’s not to say there aren’t artists producing that kind of work, there certainly are but I think companies are less inclined to even make those boards because I don’t think there’s a strong consumer appetite for them.
The other designers that are in-house have deadlines, I think that’s probably the reason behind the quick turnover process, trying to do graphics a bit more swiftly. In today’s market, I think what sells better is less. I think less is more, which is good and bad. I’ve seen some really cool graphics that are a bit more reductive, but me having this illustration background, I really miss seeing a board that was just jam-packed with little visual nuggets, with lots of time invested into it. It’s not to say there aren’t artists producing that kind of work, there certainly are but I think companies are less inclined to even make those boards because I don’t think there’s a strong consumer appetite for them.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Favorite Board Graphic](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-my-favorite-board-graphic-title.png)
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Favorite Board Graphic Fists](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-my-favorite-board-graphic-toy-machine-fists.png)
“My favorite graphic of all time is the classic Toy Machine fist graphic because as a kid, it made the strongest impression on me, seeing it in my favorite skate video, which is the Transworld Modus Operandi from 2000. You see Brian Anderson and Brad Staba skating it and you know exactly what it is if you only catch it for a split second going through the air. There’s something so clever about it and deceptively simple. That board has stood the test of time and I think for good reason. There’s a myriad other graphics out there that I love but that’s the one that always sticks out.”
It makes you think of the late 80s, early 90s graphics, super detailed Jim Phillips or Sean Cliver stuff. But what’s your take on minimalist graphics?
I’ll be honest, I do like that stuff too. I think it’s pleasing if you have a graphic that’s less cluttered, when you’re skating in a clip, it’s more visible in a flip or snaps, you actually get to see the graphic while the board is flipping or something. It registers a bit more clearly, so I understand why they’re doing it. But growing up, the stuff that really influenced me was the work of Sean Cliver and Marc McKee and Andy Jenkins graphics, and even earlier than that, VCJ [Vernon Courtlandt Johnson] and Jim Phillips who were doing some of the graphics that you had just referred to. That was the work that I really studied and I really wanted to produce work of that standard. There’s definitely a few designers out there that are upholding those standards too. There’s an artist Clay Halling who works for Deluxe, he does a lot of work for Real and Anti-Hero Skateboards. His work is top shelf as far as I’m concerned, he’s as good as any of the predecessors that came before him, if not better. So there’s people out there producing work of that standard, it’s just a smaller amount of it.
I’ll be honest, I do like that stuff too. I think it’s pleasing if you have a graphic that’s less cluttered, when you’re skating in a clip, it’s more visible in a flip or snaps, you actually get to see the graphic while the board is flipping or something. It registers a bit more clearly, so I understand why they’re doing it. But growing up, the stuff that really influenced me was the work of Sean Cliver and Marc McKee and Andy Jenkins graphics, and even earlier than that, VCJ [Vernon Courtlandt Johnson] and Jim Phillips who were doing some of the graphics that you had just referred to. That was the work that I really studied and I really wanted to produce work of that standard. There’s definitely a few designers out there that are upholding those standards too. There’s an artist Clay Halling who works for Deluxe, he does a lot of work for Real and Anti-Hero Skateboards. His work is top shelf as far as I’m concerned, he’s as good as any of the predecessors that came before him, if not better. So there’s people out there producing work of that standard, it’s just a smaller amount of it.
Do you want to stay as a freelancer or become a dedicated designer for a brand?
I would love to be on retainer for a specific brand so I can consistently get to do skateboard graphics. Because with freelance, you put a lot of time into these pitches to send to the companies and probably 80% of the time the answer is: “No we’re not interested”. You spend an enormous amount of time creating these loosely mocked up versions of boards and you get nothing to show for it. So as great as it is to get to work with a variety of different brands and because I love producing boards so much, I would really enjoy the opportunity to work for a company exclusively, but those positions are hard to come by.
I would love to be on retainer for a specific brand so I can consistently get to do skateboard graphics. Because with freelance, you put a lot of time into these pitches to send to the companies and probably 80% of the time the answer is: “No we’re not interested”. You spend an enormous amount of time creating these loosely mocked up versions of boards and you get nothing to show for it. So as great as it is to get to work with a variety of different brands and because I love producing boards so much, I would really enjoy the opportunity to work for a company exclusively, but those positions are hard to come by.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Skateboard Graphics 3](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-3.jpg)
That’s the best I can wish for you!
Thank you but the skate industry is in a tough spot right now. There’s not a tremendous amount of money coming into these board companies for the simple fact that there are so many. For these companies, to be able to pay the people that are doing art direction and pay the warehouse workers and then pay their team on top of it, they’re stretched pretty thin. So it’s hard for them to be able to hire a full-time artist. I understand that and it’s unfortunate but it is what it is.
Thank you but the skate industry is in a tough spot right now. There’s not a tremendous amount of money coming into these board companies for the simple fact that there are so many. For these companies, to be able to pay the people that are doing art direction and pay the warehouse workers and then pay their team on top of it, they’re stretched pretty thin. So it’s hard for them to be able to hire a full-time artist. I understand that and it’s unfortunate but it is what it is.
Would you say that your graphics convey a message or is it purely aesthetic?
Oh, well, my favorite thing as far as skateboard graphics is if one of the team riders comes up to me with their idea and says: “Hey, I had this idea for a graphic, can you flush it out for me?”. I love if I get to help out one of the riders put into images what they had in their mind, but if that’s not the case, I always have to come up with the concept first for the board, why it would suit the rider, why it would suit the company, how it might work into a series. I don’t think I’ve ever thrown stuff onto a board and said: “This looks cool”, and there’s no concept behind it. I definitely need something driving the images.
Oh, well, my favorite thing as far as skateboard graphics is if one of the team riders comes up to me with their idea and says: “Hey, I had this idea for a graphic, can you flush it out for me?”. I love if I get to help out one of the riders put into images what they had in their mind, but if that’s not the case, I always have to come up with the concept first for the board, why it would suit the rider, why it would suit the company, how it might work into a series. I don’t think I’ve ever thrown stuff onto a board and said: “This looks cool”, and there’s no concept behind it. I definitely need something driving the images.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Quote 3](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-quote-3.png)
What makes a good skate graphic for you?
Legibility, I think you want to be able to distinguish what’s happening from a distance because more often than that, that’s how you’re seeing it. Something that can also sustain a prolonged viewing, something that’s at once legible from a distance but also has enough going on where you can look at it up close and discover new details and new things about the graphic that are exciting to you. If you can accomplish those two things, I think you’ve got a pretty good graphic. But I’m also a sucker for anything that’s funny or subversive or has an element of the rider that it’s promoting.
Legibility, I think you want to be able to distinguish what’s happening from a distance because more often than that, that’s how you’re seeing it. Something that can also sustain a prolonged viewing, something that’s at once legible from a distance but also has enough going on where you can look at it up close and discover new details and new things about the graphic that are exciting to you. If you can accomplish those two things, I think you’ve got a pretty good graphic. But I’m also a sucker for anything that’s funny or subversive or has an element of the rider that it’s promoting.
All the boards you made have a vertical graphic, do you like it better that way?
Actually I would love to design some horizontal boards but companies try to stay away from that. For whatever reason, it seems that horizontal board graphics don’t sell as well as vertical graphics, so most companies will ask you to create them in a vertical orientation.
Actually I would love to design some horizontal boards but companies try to stay away from that. For whatever reason, it seems that horizontal board graphics don’t sell as well as vertical graphics, so most companies will ask you to create them in a vertical orientation.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Skateboard Graphics 4](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-4.jpg)
My guess would be that it looks better when you hang boards on a wall or even when you hold your board by the nose.
That last thing you said about holding your board, I think you want the graphic to be in alignment with your body, not running perpendicular to it, that’s probably why people prefer the vertical orientation. The horizontal orientation might display well at a skate shop because they’re hung horizontally, but at home, I think most people are going to display a board vertically. I think those are probably the two key reasons why companies prefer you to do the vertical orientation, but there are exceptions to that of course.
That last thing you said about holding your board, I think you want the graphic to be in alignment with your body, not running perpendicular to it, that’s probably why people prefer the vertical orientation. The horizontal orientation might display well at a skate shop because they’re hung horizontally, but at home, I think most people are going to display a board vertically. I think those are probably the two key reasons why companies prefer you to do the vertical orientation, but there are exceptions to that of course.
What’s your favorite board graphic that you’ve designed so far?
It would definitely be the one that I did with my friend Julian Lewis, which is a blend of an Elliott Smith album cover and the therapist that he was seeing at the time. It was his idea to take the therapist that was helping him through some mental health issues and pictorialize her in the style of this Elliott Smith album cover that he was really into. So he showed me photographs of the therapist he was seeing and showed me the album cover and then said: “Do your interpretation of these two things together”. That’s my favorite, I think it turned out really well. I invested a lot of time into it and because it meant so much to Julian, it meant a lot to me.
It would definitely be the one that I did with my friend Julian Lewis, which is a blend of an Elliott Smith album cover and the therapist that he was seeing at the time. It was his idea to take the therapist that was helping him through some mental health issues and pictorialize her in the style of this Elliott Smith album cover that he was really into. So he showed me photographs of the therapist he was seeing and showed me the album cover and then said: “Do your interpretation of these two things together”. That’s my favorite, I think it turned out really well. I invested a lot of time into it and because it meant so much to Julian, it meant a lot to me.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Quote 4](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-quote-4.png)
You are mentioning your work with Toy machine and Foundation, but what about the boards you made for Girl and Deathwish. Can you tell us more about these graphics?
So the one I did with Niels Bennett, where there’s a guy in a suit skateboarding with a long backpack on his back, that was his idea. At the time, he was living down the street from me and we had talked about boards for a long time, but Niels is very specific with what he wants. One day, I was skating at Cherry skate park and Niels rolled up to me and he was like: “Dude, I got it, I know exactly what the graphic is and I want you to draw it”. He showed me this parody of a hiking commercial of a guy with this backpack which just extends up this insane length over him and he was like: “I want a guy on a skateboard wearing this, then work the Girl logo in somehow”. So I drew it, he gave it the green light and the people at Girl approved it as well. That was really fun because I got to work with Niels on that one. The one with Simon Bannerot, which is a rooster on a yellow board, I came up with the idea because I know he has a farm that he grew up on with a lot of chickens and stuff going around. I was looking at matchbook designs and so I wanted to do something that would look like an old matchbook cover. I pitched it to Girl as an idea for a series but they decided they wanted to do just the one for Simon which was great anyway.
So the one I did with Niels Bennett, where there’s a guy in a suit skateboarding with a long backpack on his back, that was his idea. At the time, he was living down the street from me and we had talked about boards for a long time, but Niels is very specific with what he wants. One day, I was skating at Cherry skate park and Niels rolled up to me and he was like: “Dude, I got it, I know exactly what the graphic is and I want you to draw it”. He showed me this parody of a hiking commercial of a guy with this backpack which just extends up this insane length over him and he was like: “I want a guy on a skateboard wearing this, then work the Girl logo in somehow”. So I drew it, he gave it the green light and the people at Girl approved it as well. That was really fun because I got to work with Niels on that one. The one with Simon Bannerot, which is a rooster on a yellow board, I came up with the idea because I know he has a farm that he grew up on with a lot of chickens and stuff going around. I was looking at matchbook designs and so I wanted to do something that would look like an old matchbook cover. I pitched it to Girl as an idea for a series but they decided they wanted to do just the one for Simon which was great anyway.
What about Deathwish graphics?
That was through Jake Hayes, he follows me on Instagram and I asked him if he’d be interested in doing a board together. We had a couple ideas back and forth, when we finally landed on something, he brought it to his higher-ups and gave me the email of Trevor [Kishi] who’s the brand director at Deathwish. Then we took it from there and fleshed it out to their standards. The Calvin and Hobbes graphic I made for him is one of my favorites. It’s a really popular comic strip here in the states, me and Jake are both massive fans. I used the famous strip of stepping into the transmogrifier and becoming a variety of different creatures, but in this one, it’s the vertical landscape of Calvin and Hobbes getting under the transmogrifier and coming out as Jake and a kangaroo. That was really fun, and I got to use the icon of Calvin and Hobbes which was very near and dear to me growing up.
That was through Jake Hayes, he follows me on Instagram and I asked him if he’d be interested in doing a board together. We had a couple ideas back and forth, when we finally landed on something, he brought it to his higher-ups and gave me the email of Trevor [Kishi] who’s the brand director at Deathwish. Then we took it from there and fleshed it out to their standards. The Calvin and Hobbes graphic I made for him is one of my favorites. It’s a really popular comic strip here in the states, me and Jake are both massive fans. I used the famous strip of stepping into the transmogrifier and becoming a variety of different creatures, but in this one, it’s the vertical landscape of Calvin and Hobbes getting under the transmogrifier and coming out as Jake and a kangaroo. That was really fun, and I got to use the icon of Calvin and Hobbes which was very near and dear to me growing up.
![Interview with Van Eggers, Artist and Illustrator (Toy Machine, Foundation, Girl, Deathwish) Skateboard Graphics 5](https://gooddaytoskateboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/interview-van-eggers-skateboards-5.jpg)
Do you collect boards?
I’m really limited on space being in Long Beach, I do all of my work in my bedroom and I just have one small bedroom to house everything that I own. If something’s really good like when Baker came out with the Barry McGee series or when Toy Machine reissued the Margaret Kilgallen series, I absolutely have to have those. Also, I try to get my hands on anything that Phil Guy has done, he’s done work for a variety of different companies. He’s been such a massive influence to me and so encouraging and kind so I try and collect about everything he does.
I’m really limited on space being in Long Beach, I do all of my work in my bedroom and I just have one small bedroom to house everything that I own. If something’s really good like when Baker came out with the Barry McGee series or when Toy Machine reissued the Margaret Kilgallen series, I absolutely have to have those. Also, I try to get my hands on anything that Phil Guy has done, he’s done work for a variety of different companies. He’s been such a massive influence to me and so encouraging and kind so I try and collect about everything he does.
So what are your plans for 2025?
Some boards coming out which I’m pretty excited about, one is with Dakota Servold. It’s an idea that he came up with, him walking in front of a volcano with a devil in the background, like a devil at the crossroads sort of theme, which I was really into so I’m excited to see that one come out. I have one more board coming out with Myles Willard that is influenced by an old jazz poster that he found and he wanted to take the aesthetics of it and merge it with a Baltimore theme. I think both of those are coming out this year so I’m stoked to see them. Then outside of skateboarding, I’m working on a comic book that I’ve had an idea for and the desire to do for the past several years. I’ve just now started to get into that so I’m hoping to wrap that up by the end of 2025 and either have it published or printed this year or early 2026.
Some boards coming out which I’m pretty excited about, one is with Dakota Servold. It’s an idea that he came up with, him walking in front of a volcano with a devil in the background, like a devil at the crossroads sort of theme, which I was really into so I’m excited to see that one come out. I have one more board coming out with Myles Willard that is influenced by an old jazz poster that he found and he wanted to take the aesthetics of it and merge it with a Baltimore theme. I think both of those are coming out this year so I’m stoked to see them. Then outside of skateboarding, I’m working on a comic book that I’ve had an idea for and the desire to do for the past several years. I’ve just now started to get into that so I’m hoping to wrap that up by the end of 2025 and either have it published or printed this year or early 2026.
Check out more of Van Eggers’ work on his website.