Tyler Warren

Tyler War­ren is a Cal­i­for­nia surfer/artist who appears in the film “One Cal­i­for­nia Day” and the soon to be released “The Tyler War­ren Exper­i­ments.” A fine artist, his paint­ings and designs have been shown both locally and inter­na­tion­ally. We spoke with Tyler to learn more about his life and inspirations.

What was your life like grow­ing up?
Great. I grew up in Dana Point and San Juan. My child­hood con­sisted of skate­board­ing, bike rid­ing, the beach, boo­gie boards, junior life­guards, snor­kel­ing, boats, surf­ing and draw­ing. My par­ents always enjoyed the beach and ocean, so it led me to love it too.

When did you get your first surf­board?
I think I was 9 or 10. It was a Bruce Jones chan­nel bot­tom twin fin from the late 70’s  I still have it.

What was the feel­ing you had when you first stood up on a surf­board?
“Yes! This is awesome!”

Who did you look up to and admire when you were a young man?
My older friends that long­boarded (down at Doho and San O), local style mas­ters like Dar­ren Eudaly, Robin Kegel, Cody Fair­cloth, John Husak, Oliver Parker, and Cody Simp­kins.  Then the guys in the videos: Joel Tudor, Matt Howard and Tom Cur­ren. Artists like Rick Grif­fin, Andy Warhol, Thomas Camp­bell, Barry McGee, Alphonse Mucha, Ken­ton Nel­son, M.C. Escher, Nor­man Rockwell.

Where did your inter­est in art come from?
Well, my par­ents always encour­aged my draw­ing and cre­ativ­ity. My mom was inter­ested in art in high school and col­lege. Her brother—my uncle Kenton—is a suc­cess­ful oil painter and my great uncle was a famous Mex­i­can mural­ist.  I have enjoyed draw­ing since I was very young. I would draw lots of heli­copters, planes, boats, knights and Indians.

Who/what inspires you?
Life, vin­tage illus­tra­tion and the ocean.

What is the great­est thing you have learned in your life?
All your dreams come true if you put the work in.

What are you most proud of?
The life I am lead­ing.  I am doing exactly what I wanted to do when I was younger.

How did the idea for The Tyler War­ren Exper­i­ments come about?
It all started with one ses­sion on my new Man­dala quad. John Smart was stoked on my surf­ing and we kept shoot­ing for the next cou­ple years. The project has led us to Mex­ico, Aus­tralia and beyond—meeting lots of great peo­ple along the way. The movie is going to focus on shapers, board design, a wide vari­ety of surfers, art and hav­ing fun. Mark Jere­mias (maker of One Cal­i­for­nia Day) is team­ing up on The Exper­i­ments, so its all a mat­ter of time and some more good swells.

Of all the places you have trav­eled to, what place in par­tic­u­lar stands out and why?
It is to hard to pick one place. Each coun­try is so spe­cial and offers so much diver­sity. My trav­els have taken me to Aus­tralia, New Zealand, Bali, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Belize, Japan, Canada, Mex­ico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

What mean­ing does surf­ing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
Surf­ing is my escape and love.  I have met so many great peo­ple through surf­ing and been able to travel the world.

What brings you the most hap­pi­ness in the world?
A perfectly-shaped wave with no one around. (Laughs) Or just an uncrowded wave, my girl­friend, fam­ily, com­plet­ing a job and creating.

Who are some of the peo­ple you feel are shap­ing the path for surf­ing today?
Richard Ken­vin, Ryan Burch, Lucas Dirske, Justin Adams, Ryan Thomas, Nathan Adams, Andy Nieblas, Chris­t­ian Wach, Alex Kopps and Alex Knost,

What is your cur­rent favorite board? Your favorite surf spot?
A 4’10″ twin fin inspired by all my favorite shapers: Bob Sim­mons, Mal­colm Camp­bell, Terry Mar­tin, Manuel Caro, Greg Lid­dle, George Gree­nough, Steve Lis and Skip Frye.

I enjoy surf­ing the Tres­tles area.

What’s your favorite meal?
A bur­rito or a good sandwich—anything with avocado.

What are you cur­rently lis­ten­ing to on your iPod?
Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Benny Good­man, Iron and Wine, Bob Mar­ley, Mod­est Mouse, The Cure, Hank Williams, Talk­ing Heads, Radio­head, Kings of Con­ve­nience, Brid­gette Bar­dot and many more.

What are you most grate­ful for?
My fam­ily, girl­friend, friends, my art and surfing.

What’s next for Tyler War­ren?
Off to Costa Rica to surf and shoot with Chris Klopf. Then going to New York with Von Zip­per to launch their new clear lens line.  I did the art for their new ad cam­paign.  I have been work­ing on a film with John Smart and Mark Jere­mias for the past three years titled The Tyler War­ren Exper­i­ments. I am going to con­tinue doing art, design­ing, shap­ing, surf­ing and traveling.

Find out more about Tyler War­ren at his blog here. Learn about John Smart’s new film “The Tyler War­ren Exper­i­ments” here. Pho­to­graph num­ber two pro­vided by Cam Oden.