mark “fos” foster A rt i s t - De s ig n e r - a r t d i r e c t o r - c o m pa n y ow n e r - v i d e o g r a p h e r - B r a n d M a nag e r
ust 30 kilometres north of Manchester, England, Mark “Fos” Foster was raised up in the borough of Rossendale. He spent a bit of time at art college at Burnley, Lancashire, before attending Goldsmiths in New Cross, London. After getting his degree, he went on to work at Slam City Skates, a UK skateboard distributor, in the warehouse before taking on the sales director role. During his time with Slam, Fos started his own board brands, Heroin and Landscape, and quit his job in 2002 to focus on them. Currently, he
calls Los Angeles home, where he keeps Heroin going and works as the art director for Altamont Apparel. Fos’ drawing style is rough, sketchy and utterly distinctive. With any of his projects—whether it’s the graphics he’s done for REAL, Black Label, Toy Machine, Zero, Foundation, Deathwish, Baker, Creature or Emerica—he injects his own dark English wit and satire into them. Naming his brand Heroin is a perfect example: “At first some shops in the UK would refuse to stock it,” he explains. “Then people read my
clockwise from top left:
Heroin “Fos Balls” deck Heroin “Deer Man Balls” deck Heroin “Shimizu Balls” deck Heroin “Childress Balls” deck Heroin “Chopper Beer Monster” deck 20
Concrete skateboarding
interviews, knew I was straight edge and that it was about being addicted to skateboarding. With a name like Heroin, it’s about upsetting the establishment.” With Americans Daniel Shimizu and Chet Childress on Heroin now, the brand has made the jump over the pond with distribution in Canada and the U.S. No more spray painting boards in the backyard for Fos. —Randy Laybourne heroinskateboarding.com altamontapparel.com
Heroin “Deer Man Skeletal” deck Heroin “Shimizu Lucky Cat” deck Baker “Reynolds Skeleton” deck Deathwish “Dixon Black Jesus” deck Altamont “Surreal” tee Altamont “Hand” tee
Altamont “Approved” tee Emerica “Ridgemont” shoe Deathwish logo Brigada logo Altamont logo
visit concreteskateboarding.com to download art blender wallpapers for your computer / iphone / ipad.
J