The Monsters By My Side: Lucas Beaufort

If you’re into surfing, snowboarding or skateboarding, you might’ve come across one or two of Lucas Beaufort’s rad artworks. Be it for magazine covers, photo series, ads or even whole board graphic series, the French illustrator and painter bursts in on the scene with his acrylic drawings of edgy, colourful monster characters. And as they’re peering out of a window, lurking in a sewer tunnel, drinking beers, having fun and cheering the riders on, he gives the rough, jaw-dropping shots a twist of humour and weirdness that surely leaves you with a big fat grin on your face.

While the artist draws inspiration from his dreams and particularly his nightmares, not every stunning photo he finds fits his painting makeovers. It’s not so much the action or the trick that he looks for, but all the elements that make up a great piece of photography. So before he experiments with the canvas and lets them creep right into the open, Lucas makes sure his monster brigades have enough space to hang out and support the cover boy/girl in their own, adorable way.

Astonishingly, Lucas is pretty much a late bloomer when it comes to art. He didn’t get into painting until he turned 26, only encouraged by friends, who liked his early doodles. One day, the magazine lover rifled through his collection, grabbed a Vice issue, re-worked the cover and off he went. By now, dozens and dozens of drawings later, he produces art like a well-oiled machine and admits his daily routine has become a frenetic, yet positive obsession. Keep it up, dude!