ND'A: Wheat paste cliff notes

If you don't know ND'A yet than this will be a quick crash course. The Portland native turned NYC illustrator hit the streets running with a strong and unique style. His heavy-handed brush work and comical characters nestle within the forgotten grooves of Brooklyn. Unlike the typical graffiti characters found on the street, his work is like a troubled second cousin. One can't help but be fascinated and slightly repulsed. Not to say they are grotesque but that they are grotesque, as the word was originally intended to be used.

Even amongst the street art du jour his work seems foreign while giving a nod to the much earlier days of comics and editorial-style cartoons. Although ND'A shrugs off the comparison, I find the work of Pettibon to be a strong influence. The main differnence being ND'A breaks free of the monochrome palette with a dense and decorative layering of colors. Oh yeah, and ND'A goes BIG! Give him a 20 foot wall and he'll find a way to go 22 feet. Check out some of my favorite big murals by him...

Things that make you go hmmmm in Bushwick, Brooklyn. With VENG RWK (left) and IRGH (right).

Prime time in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

ND'A with IRGH (center) and OverUnder (left)

ND'A attempts to mask the real smell of the Lower East Side

ND'A vs OverUnder in Rochester, NY

Since becoming a pretty active tag team with the gent two summers ago I've seen ND'A really come into his own. I think we all remember seeing his piece with Chris RWK or his work at Coney Island and being stopped dead in our tracks. During that time one constant has remained, his love of paper.

When I first met ND'A he was working at a letterpress in the city. Those days are long gone but his affinity for paper is here to stay. Which lends itself perfectly to the weird, world of wheat pasting. To ND'A and I, we break bread by pinning up a fresh stretch of rolled paper, crank up the HOT 97, and clear the air with some cheap spirits. Looking at the work, the booze probably explains a lot. Well you be the judge. Here's a few of my favorite works on paper.

And then...it came down within a week. Sad day for wheat pasters. Off Myrtle Ave.

I've learned over the years that painting open-mouthed characters leads to big penises. Bushwick, BK

One of the early pieces in the Old Navy Yard, Brooklyn.

ND'A above Tomcat in Williamsburg.

So now you can probably see why I'm so excited to show work with the guy! Not to mention Labrona, the third leg of our Paperboys tri-pod. I'll leave you with one more thing. Hopefully not to many of you have seen this already. Well kick of your shoes, get comfortable, and shut up already because this is Nick the Amazing.