Greg "Craola" Simkins (born February 28, 1975) is an American artist.

Education and early life

Greg Simkins was born in Torrance,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, slightly south of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His artistic ambitions bloomed at age three with drawings inspired by cartoons and books. Some of these works, such as ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...

'' by

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

, ''

The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollb ...

'' by

Norton Juster Norton Juster (June 2, 1929 – March 8, 2021) was an American academic, architect, and writer. He was best known as an author of children's books, notably for ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' and ''The Dot and the Line''. Early life Juster was born in ...

, and ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural ...

'' by

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (9 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist and writer of the books ''Watership Down'', ''Maia'', ''Shardik'' and ''The Plague Dogs''. He studied modern history at university before serving in the British Army ...

, still find reference in his art. He grew up with a variety of animals, including a number of

rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit specie ...

, which often appear in his paintings. Simkins earned his B.A. in Studio Art from

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in 1999.

Professional career

After graduating, Simkins went to work as an illustrator for several clothing firms before moving on to the video game industry, where he worked on games for

Treyarch Treyarch Corporation ( ; formerly Treyarch Invention LLC) is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü, it was acquired by Activision in 2001. The studio is known for ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

such as ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subs ...

'', ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...

'', and ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...

''. He made the leap to full-time artist in 2005. CRAOLA Reptile Wall

Style

At the age of 18, Simkins began doing

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

under the name "Craola". Graffiti drove his inspiration to create and gave him the confidence and experience to paint large scale works. It also taught him

color theory In the visual arts, color theory is the body of practical guidance for color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors into primary color, seconda ...

and perspective while further developing his artistic skills, as later demonstrated in his masterful work with acrylics. Out of his love for the animal world he seeks to bring together unlikely camaraderies and conflicts from the landscape of his mind to the confines of canvas, paper, and walls. It is common to see deer with killer whales, puppies with crustacean pals, and birds sharing the air with rodents in his playfully ominous to ominously playful

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

compositions informed by smooth,

gradients and balanced layouts that draw the eye through story lines and little vignettes. Good Knight

Exhibitions

Simkins' paintings have been included in various

narrative art Narrative art is art that tells a story, either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. Some of the earliest evidence of human art suggests that people told stories with pictures. Although there are som ...

exhibitions including the group shows ''

Suggestivism Suggestivism is an offshoot of Lowbrow art that invites the viewer to develop their own interpretation of the work, i.e. 'suggestive'. Nathan Spoor entitled a 2011 gallery exhibition "Suggestivism" at CSU Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center in S ...

'' at Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, ''Family Guy!'' at the Los Angeles Museum of TV & Radio, ''Street Cred'' at the

Pasadena Museum of California Art The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) was an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States, showcasing art and design originating from California. The museum was founded by long-time Pasadena residents and art collectors Robert ...

, ''

Visionary Art Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences. History The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, first establis ...

'' at Mondo Bizarro Gallery in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, ''Art from the New World'' at the

Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...

in Bristol, England, ''Sons of Baby Tattooville'' at the

Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...

, and ''MasterWorks: Defining A New Narrative'' at the

Long Beach Museum of Art The Long Beach Museum of Art is a museum located on Ocean Boulevard in the Bluff Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California, United States. The museum's permanent collection includes over 4,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, works on paper, a ...

. Simkins' solo shows include: ''Good Knight,'' ''Stop Haunting Me,'' and ''Cloud Theory'' at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in

; ''Inside the Outside'' at Joshua Liner Gallery in New York; a two-person exhibit with

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

at Galerie d'Art Yves Laroche in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

; ''The Pearl Thief'' at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angeles; ''Seeing Things'' at FIFTY24/SF Gallery in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

; ''It Wanders West'' at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight; ''It Wanders East'' at Joshua Liner Gallery; ''The Well'' at m modern Gallery in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

, CA; ''I’m Scared'' at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight; ''Don’t Sleep'' at FIFTY24/SF Gallery; and ''Ima Monsta'' at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight. Simkins had his curatorial debut with ''INLE'' at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in 2011, a show in which he also participated. The exhibit included art inspired by the book ''

'' by over 100 artists.

Publications

Publications by Simkins

* Simkins, Greg. (2011) ''Drawn From the Well''. Presto Art. . * Simkins, Greg. (2013) ''The Outside''. Presto Art. .

Publications with contributions by Simkins

* Ganz, Nicholas & Manco, Tristan. (2004) ''Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents''. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. . * Gibson, Jon M. and Klosterman, Chuck (2006) ''i am 8-bit: Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s''. Chronicle. . * Beinart, Jon. (2007) ''Metamorphosis 2: 50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic, and Visionary Artists''. BeinART. . * Weber, Diana. (2009) ''Juxtapoz Dark Arts''. Gingko. . * Owens, Annie. (2009) ''Hi-fructose Collected Edition''. Last Gasp of San Francisco. . * Spoor, Nathan. (2011) ''Suggestivism: A Comprehensive Survey of Contemporary Artists''. Gingko. . * Ziegler, Tina. (2010) ''Hunt & Gather''. Mark Batty. . * Smith, Kevin & Gallery 1988. (2011) ''Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art''. Titan. . * Eaton, Tristan, and McCormick, Carlo. (2011) ''The 3D Art Book''. Prestel. .

References

External links

*
Greg "Craola" Simkins at Beinart Gallery
Available art & bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Simkins, Greg 1975 births Living people 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Painters from California People from Torrance, California American graffiti artists 20th-century American male artists