Lee Saunders is quite the character, and a loose idea for this column first came about while working on a Concrete feature called "Penticton Pirates: Underworld Goes Yard Camping" in Issue #101, August 2009. This was the first story Lee ever wrote in a skate mag, and in the piece there was a full-page nosebluntslide photo of Lee that Rich Odam shot. During the layout process Brian Caissie and I zoomed-in to get a closer look at Lee's lower-leg tattoos since he was wearing shorts. While trying to make sense of the tatts, I determined it would be a good idea to get these crucial answers from the man himself. Lee's ink has interesting stories that seem to be dominantly themed around skateboarding, grim reapers and Windsor/Detroit. But the 25 year-old also dabbles in other skate-inspired mediums such as the Cows and Cousins bro-down video project (more on that below). Both Lee's work behind the video camera and his skate skills are showcased in Bigger and Better Things and The Sophomore Jinx by Don't Sleep Productions (he's also set to appear in their latest project, TENS). The same goes for Jarvis Nigelsky's upcoming video:

"I'll have a part, and I also help with the filming," he mentions regarding City Of New Lights." Sometimes we'll go out and there's no photographer, so I'll run the video camera and Jarvis will shoot photos. I've been helping out a lot with that project."

Lee currently resides in East Vancouver where he rides for Underworld skateshop, Osiris shoes through No Limits, Thunder trucks and City Stars through S&J. He describes his skating as "probably creative, like weird sh*t you wouldn't normally see at spots."

Let's further explore some of Lee Saunders' Mixed Media, shall we?

Filming And Editing
"I have a Sony VX-2000 with the fisheye. I don't know how the filming came up, I just wanted to try out something different, I guess. I started with that while I've been living in Vancouver, about 4 years, so it hasn't been long. I was filming with Benny Stoddard but he was always busy filming other people and working, so I just bought my own camera so I can film whenever. I just go out with my homies everyday and film some sh*t. With editing, I'm an amateur. I've only been doing it for a couple years. It's more like a hobby – I just edit my own stuff at home. I've got my MacBook Pro, a couple external hard-drives sittin' around, a nice big screen, and I'm using Final Cut."

Mad Drips Productions
"I draw a little bit, and mostly do graffiti. Bombin' is the way to go. Some burners, some throw-ups, some fill-ins – get those drips goin', you know? That's where Mad Drips Productions came from. It's my own little ghetto production company, but it's not even a company at all. There's no money in it [laughs]."

Cows And Cousins Blog/Video
"That's something Jeff Falconer, Richard Sarrazin, and Danny Wark came up with. They were probably just all drunk one night, and someone said, "You're my Cow!" Jeff and Danny are Cousins. It's one of those random drunken things that just sticks, and it's strictly confidential bro-down business [laughs]. Cows And Cousins is meant to be a good-times video with skating, some partying, and hopefully some topless girls in there. It'll be something to watch with friends, and something to look back on later. It's probably the loosest video. The video blog is supposed to be daily posts from the crew, but we've been kinda slackin' on it because it's been summer and you don't want to sit on your ass in front of the computer. If we go out skating for the day, we'll make a montage out of it and put it up there. It's more about keeping it fun with the boys, drinkin' beers, and listenin' to music. That's skateboarding to me."

Video commentary: "I was the Cow and Falconer was the Cousin in this one. It was a couple hours at the Main Street Station bench. The bum that was there was funny as hell. He was like, ‘Are you guys filming for a major TV station?' He just wanted to be on TV. We said, ‘Yeah, totally,' so we got him on there and he started talking sh*t. That's a busy corner, and there's a lot of cute women walking by. It's fun going out with the camera, seeing and experiencing what skateboarders encounter whenever they hit the streets."

Tattoos Revealed

"This is my first tattoo (calf), and it's what set off the other grim reaper tattoos, I think [laughs]. The image is actually from a photo of Kareem Campbell doing a varial heel in an old Transworld. I took a piece of paper and traced him out. He was actually wearing a hoodie in the photo, but I didn't want somebody's face in there, so we just filled it in. I was 15 – young and dumb. I thought I was so cool, and when some girl had a party in the dead of winter, I showed up wearing shorts so you could see my tattoo [laughs]."

"It's a grim reaper holdin' a board (shin) – he represents skateboarders in general taking over the world. We're always in the streets, always skateboarding. There's a city poppin' out of the globe, it's called 'My City' [laughs]. I was like 16 when I got this one, and my homie just started out with tattoos. He was like, 'Let's tatt your legs.' It's pretty ghetto [laughs]."

"I got this one in 2008 (forearm). My hometown is Windsor, and I grew up skating in nearby Detroit. It felt like I lived there because we'd skate there about 4 days-a-week. My grandma lives over there, too. Hart is a plaza in Detroit, right by the water, which kind of reminds me of Love Park in Philly. There's ledges and pyramids, a rain spot, and there's crackheads hangin' out, so it's one of those wily spots. There's a police station right beneath it so they cruise in and bust you. Sometimes I wouldn't be allowed over the border unless I paid my ticket. Hart Plaza's a cool meet-up spot and there's festivals, like DEMF (Detroit Electronic Music Festival). I saw Erykah Badu and The Roots there."

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Related:
Jarvis Nigelsky: Living For The Golden Hour
Tattoos, Metal and Skateboarding with Dan Arget
Nolan's Ink