Rick Griffin’s prolific art career started in the classroom and the Palos Verdes High School student’s surf-inspired doodles selling for 50 cents a pop.
As a kid growing up in Lakewood, Griffin was enthralled with reading, collecting comic books and Disney animation. But in 1958, when his family moved to Palos Verdes, Griffin’s newfound love for surf at age 14 began inspiring his art – decorating schoolmate’s notebook covers and T-shirts.
Griffin would become one of surf culture’s early-era influencers, bringing a playful comic – and later a color-popping psychedelic – style that was showcased in Surfer Magazine as the growing culture boomed.
Now, his work is being showcased at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente, which is hosting a retrospective of the artist’s life work with a panel on Saturday, July 8, that will discuss his influence in the surf world and beyond.
“He definitely is the most foremost surf artist, ever,” said Barry Haun, curator and creative director for SHACC.
While in the South Bay, Griffin was part of the Haggerty’s Surfing Club, which sponsored surf movies by filmmaker Bud Browne. He was introduced to Greg Noll, a big-wave surfer who also shaped surfboards and had a surf shop in Hermosa Beach. Griffin drew cartoon images on the walls of the shop, according to SHACC.
After a showing of “Surf Fever” at his high school, Griffin met John Severson, the producer of the film who was also the publisher and owner of the newly created Surfer Magazine.
Severson liked Griffin’s cartoon drawings and hired him to illustrate a comic strip in the magazine. The main character was a blond-haired little surfer called “Murphy,” Haun said. Skateboarding was also catching on at the time, and Griffin often added the counter-culture sport into his comic strips.
“He was just so amazingly talented,” Haun said. “There isn’t a surf artist that hasn’t been influenced by Rick. We all emulated his…
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