The birth of Luxepop

When I was young kid, I wasn't into toys much. I just never quite understood the passion that my fellow peers would have for playing with action figures and other mind numbing boys toys. Too young to be given any sniff of a computer console I was heavily obsessed with my bright yellow BMX bike, Lego, Lego Technics, the odd toy car, and copier paper. Wait, did he just say copier paper? Yes.

I would often become giddy at the prospect of being given a fresh pack of plain A4 photocopier paper. I would love to run my finger tips across the sleek finish of the wrapping paper it came encased in, while conjuring up vivid images of what I would draw on each sheet inside. Self taught, I would lay on the thick piled carpet in the front room while the rest of the family watched Catchphrase and Blind Date, honing my skills. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Check. Bart Simpson, Check. My own hand, Check. I would consume images and then become hellbent on recreating the exact image on paper. Still life. Shading. I was obsessed.

Fast forward to 2014, and not much has changed. Strangely, I get the exact same buzz from drawing and creating things. I fell out of love with drawing a few years back and never picked up a pencil. It was like I had the artists version of writers block.

Then one day, it dawned on me. What do I love? Trainers. So why not draw some? What started as a loose half hearted doodle, slowly unlocked a deep passion that had been laying dormant inside of me for almost a decade. I impressed myself, and I began smiling. Then I was walking about showing anyone that would look. I still had it. Then somehow I even began to unlock memories from when I was a young child... Me, drawing my pairs of trainers or shoes and then sticking them on my bedroom wall. I even remembered taking one of my big car posters off my wall, then drawing a huge Nike trainer on the glossy white plain reverse of it. That was one of my best pieces.

Looking back on those memories, the penny dropped. What kid do you know would tear down a perfectly good poster of a car and draw a trainer on the back of it and then hang up his drawing? I was tripping out, as I recalled this vivid memory. Armed with this nostalgia, my passion was re-ignited. The secret to my artistic passion lies in drawing things I'm deeply passionate about.

Since this recent life changing epiphany, I've not only been drawing... I've been creating. Constantly critiquing myself along the way, each finished product becomes more and more refined.

Welcome to the lifestyle brand that is Luxepop. A brand I've founded that combines my love for creating art inspired by my passions.

Instagram: @Luxepop

Joshua, TCC