While preparing the above image for the new website, I had difficulties getting the skateboard to look natural in the pose, especially since I was taking photos of my own skateboard as a source reference to include in the image and I wasn't getting the angle right.

Anyway, I sent two possible angles over to Nate, our resident skater, and here is his detailed analysis of my image:

Nate's explanation of why the above image is completely unrealistic and unnatural

Wow.

Both of those graphics look dope! You're gonna hate me for saying this, but truth be told, neither of them looks that natural. Of course, to the non-skater eye, they're both fine, but anyone that skates and does tricks will know straight up.

The first question is always "what trick"? The fact that it's a contextless image (ie, skater against the sky with no ground in view) makes the question all the more pertinent. And in these images, you definitely can't tell what's going on.

Here's why:

First of all, the upper torso doesn't match the legs. From the waist up, Chris is very dramatically twisting in a certain direction - backside. He's a goofy skater (not natural... badoom ching!). While the arms are a bit marvel comicy a la Silver Surfer, we'll let that go because what Arto does with his arms mid trick is totally different to what Grecs does which is totally different to what McCrank does and so forth. Taking just the torso into account, I would guess that Chris is doing a kickflip backside lipslide going from right to left. There is a problem though. A kickflip back lip is a very precise trick and he would be looking down at his board looking for the catch and the spot where the board is put down into the slide - not looking ahead at the bottom of the rail for his landing before he's even sliding. Another problem that tells me this is definitely not a kicky back lip is that once you look at his legs and feet, you know it aint. Let me go on.

That spelt out, what's going on with the legs and feet? Lets start with the feet. Judging by the angle of the board, Chris is not nollieing at all, he's popping off the tail because for artistic effect so you can see the bottom of the board, it's going a bit kebab. However, his back foot is pointed downwards and his front foot in the foreground is flat. This makes absolutely no sense. He is obviously popping off the tail which would make the back foot flat and the front foot contorted because it's the front foot that flicks and makes the board flip. The only reason the back foot would look like it does in the pic is because Chris would be doing a 360 flip coming head on (see Brian Anderson's in the slo motion opening of Yeah Right for what I mean), thus the back foot being responsible for the 360 scoop action. However, his upper torso clearly indicates that this is not a 360 flip coming head on, he's travelling in a certain direction right to left, in which case, it can't be a tre flip anyway.

By the way, the above paragraph totally destroys the second picture, because the board is flat ie. the flip is being caught. However, you know it's not being caught because of the back foot. During the catch, the skater's feet are always flat because basically, tricks over, you're landing, it's natural.

Perhaps lastly because I've shot them both down enough, what's going on with the picture perfect clothes? Chris is obviously in motion somewhere around the catch. If he's around the catch, than he's at the peak of his pop and is if anything, coming back down. This would make his cloak fly up in the air. Sure, his cloak would look like it does if he was travelling up, after the pop but we all know by his convoluted motion that he's been doing this trick for a while. He isn't just coming off the pop.

IF you made me choose, I would say the top one, but again, it doesn't look much more natural than the top, it's just that because the board isn't being caught yet there's a bit more leeway in that anything could be happening.
Though I am totally lost as to what that anything would be because his body is totally, totally convoluted.

I know you've probably put a lot of work into these images, but if you were to do them again, I'd say pick up a skate mag and copy the stance of a photo. It doesn't matter who it is, though obviously a picture of a skater
with good style like Arto or Froston is gonna translate better than Jo Somebody's arms flailing about. Don't go for someone as smooth as Gino or Penny because it won't look real - way too casual and relaxed. The point of
copying off a photo is though, you overcome the main problem in these two pics which is different parts of the body look like they're performing different tricks. Chris' body is all mongy because his body is not in unison. His upper body is not cooperating with his lower body and his feet are a different story altogether. The motion will look more natural in a photo, the body will be twisting, contorting, whatever in the right direction as a unified body simply because, it's real.

Hey, you asked.

Pickier than your average beeyatch,
Nate.