Texas born and Texas made, David Ibarra is better known to his homies and clients by the name of "Bigg Shadow." Shadow is well known for his ability to take on any project in any type of medium from airbrushing to tattooing and window etching. We met Shadow a few years back and were blown away by his murals that portrayed the streets and the Chicano culture. Shadow's able to show us the beauty of the hood and where he came from by sharing his skills, mostly in the rolling canvases of the award-winning lowrider cars that travel around the nation.We like Bigg Shadow's work so much that we had him custom draw the cover for this issue. The cover represents some of the street elements that we're accustomed to, but Shadow shows it to us in a different perspective; one that reveals to us the beauty of the streets. We sat down with Shadow in his hometown of Dallas, Texas, and asked him a few questions about his art, skills and lifestyle.
LRA: Tell us a little bit about your background.
Shadow: My real name is David Ibarra. I was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1967. Shortly thereafter I moved to Sacramento, California, where I was raised up through junior high. That's where I was influenced by the whole Chicano scene; the low-lows, oldies and the cholo scene fueled my arte. I first started drawing at the age of five, expanding my mind to artistic perspectives on whatever I could get my hands on. We were a large family so art supplies were hard to come by, so I used an ironing board to draw on. It was perfect because it adjusted to my height and I mostly used grocery bags to draw on when they used to be made of paper.My parents moved the family back to Dallas in 1982. A few months after arriving there, we were at a flea market where I first saw people airbrushing T-shirts. I knew that I had to learn. My father directed to offer my labor in exchange for airbrush lessons, so I worked all summer and immediately started developing my style, which has been a long transition. In 1990, I painted my first hood, an Aztec collage that changed me forever. I became consumed with painting on metal. I couldn't even sleep at night from all of the untaped concepts, shapes, dimensions, colors and formulas that started coming naturally to me. After a few years, I did a ride called "Public Enemy #1" that put me on the map. After that, I went on to do such cars as the '63 Impala "Strip Tease," '61 Impala "Gin and Juice," "Hard Times" Suburban, '62 Impala "Tipsy," Chrysler 300 "Pura Feria" and many more.
LRA: Your drawings are raw. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Shadow: The inspiration of my arte is a reflection of my life. Whether family, love, pain, death, religion or my political views, I try and stay true to my arte by using true experiences.
LRA: What motivated you to start drawing?
Shadow: I started drawing at a young age and always had a fascination for it, but my older brother also drew and he was the one who introduced me to Chicano arte. Then I began to understand that you could actually project your life through arte, not just images.
LRA: The stenciling art form of airbrushing has become very popular to create lifelike murals. Why have you not moved to that technique?
Shadow: All of my techniques that I use are self-taught, with the exception of a few tips from artists here and there, but I have always held a high respect for freehand, and I enjoy the challenge of every stroke of the brush. I may try it someday, but for now it's all freehand king over here.
LRA: When you create a mural on a car, what do you do to make sure that the customer gets what he wants?