New Surfer Mural Adorns Wall at Entrance to Ocean Beach

Part of new mural on gas station wall coming into OB. (All photos by South OB Girl)

Meeting the Artist – Henry Goods – Commissioned by Gas Station Owner

by South OB Girl

Entering Ocean Beach along Sunset Cliffs Blvd., the brightly colored mural on the 76 gas station wall may have caught your eye.

One can’t help but see the new mural shortly after seeing the Ocean Beach entry way sign. On the right — Robb Field and the iconic Ocean Beach entry way sign (newly restored and freshly painted).

The full mural.

On the left — Dusty Rhodes Park and the 76 gas station wall with a mural depicting two surfers (male and female), a giant wave, and some sea gulls. The mural might appear to be part of Dusty Rhodes Park, but actually is on the property of the 76 gas station at the corner of West Point Loma Blvd. and Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

The artist – Henry Goods.

The mural is the work of Henry Goods. And upon meeting him, it is clear that his personality comes out in his painting and his painting captures his energetic and vibrant personality.

The owner of the 76 gas station commissioned the mural. Henry has had an ongoing partnership with United Oil painting murals for 18 years. Most of his previous work is in the Los Angeles area, from East LA to West LA and into Oxnard. He has worked on large projects and small projects, interiors and exteriors, corporate projects and projects for individuals.

Detail of western edge of mural.

The same week he was working on this Ocean Beach mural he headed back up to Santa Monica to work on a mural at an elementary school. I asked him what he was thinking of painting. He replied, “Butterflies.” And gestured with his hands as if he envisioned the wall he would be painting was covered with hundreds of butterflies.

He clearly has an imagination. And that imagination has taken him from his childhood growing up in Compton and Watts to painting all over Southern California.

I commented that the “surfer girl” in his Ocean Beach mural was quite beautiful and sexy. With detail, he explained to me that the only thing sexy is her eyes. He explained that if you cover her eyes, everything else is quite natural and conservative.

And furthermore he explained —

“You have to see her eyes from a distance.”

Henry was given a picture by the gas station owner for the “surfer boy” – who is based on a local young man of Swedish heritage. Henry thought about orcas and dolphins for the mural, but decided against it because of the SeaWorld protests. He went with this fun beach scene, with the two surfers, a detailed ocean wave, and sea gulls.

Henry Goods’ work in LA.

From the start of the project to now, Henry has worked closely with the owner of the gas station -which is currently under renovation. The first plans he submitted to the owner were declared to be too provocative. He had originally thought about painting two women carrying surfboards on their heads, but the owner decided against that.

Additionally, Henry explained, he was given specific instructions that the man and woman be painted carrying their surfboards in their hands and not on their heads — and was told that real surfers don’t carry boards on their heads. I explained that here in OB you will see people carrying and transporting their surfboards in all different kinds of ways, but carrying by hand is a sensible choice.

Aside from the owner’s personal requests, there were no permits or approval needed for the mural. This is in contrast, Henry reflected, to one project he did at a gas station in Beverly Hills. He said that he, along with a representative from United Oil, attended six hearings to obtain permission for a mural.

I asked him what sort of paint he uses to obtain such bright colors. He responded:

“Plain old house paint from Home Depot… Behr paint for exteriors.”

Gas station wall at First and Cedar in downtown San Diego.

There is artistry in choosing the colors, and he has a particular knack for choosing them. His flair for color is also evident in his only other mural in San Diego: a mural on a wall that stretches a block long at the 76 Station at First and Cedar downtown. That mural features an under water seascape with fish and sea creatures, as well as tropical beach scenery. All done in vivid, bright colors. It is worth a trip downtown to see.

I also asked him about his technique. He uses a mix of a spray gun for painting and brush work. The skin tone he accomplishes with a specific technique, starting with a white paint base he sprays in the skin tone like a spray tan and contours and shades the musculature with color.

Detail of eastern side of mural.

If I had not actually met with Henry, I would not have been given the insider tip to view the mural with 3-D movie glasses. Then the mural will “really pop.” He specifies, “The cheap paper 3-D movie glasses, those are the ones.”

I am imagining lines of people in Dusty Rhodes park wearing 3-D movie glasses– what a sight that would be. There is also a particular place on the sidewalk from which Henry suggests people will get the best view of his mural. It will be a little harder to spread the word about that exact spot — but it was a good place to stand for an ideal view of the full mural.

Henry has enjoyed working in Ocean Beach. People passing by him on their way into Dusty Rhodes Park have admired his work and have been very friendly. People driving by have shouted out encouraging things.

He has worked in rough parts of LA where local thugs seem to eye up a wall for tagging while he is working on it. And he has learned to gain respect from kids like that. And here in OB, he has not faced any such individuals “eyeing up the wall” under his watch. Even at night, when he often works with a bright light illuminating the wall. Night time is actually when he prefers to work, he said– in the quiet of the night.

Now that I have interviewed him — if some taggers do tag up his mural — he has given me instructions to let him know and he will touch it up.

His business card reads: Henry Goods, artist, muralist. And underneath that it says, “interior decoration, art work on cars, bikes, tattoo design, portraits.” And on the bottom of his business card is the following saying, “let art interpret your vision.”

Meeting Henry and speaking with him– one can quickly see he has vision and lots of it! He is vibrant and charismatic, full of energy and full of ideas. He loves people and art, and takes great pride in the work that he does. It is not a surprise that he works with cars and tattoos as well. A creative mind that creates works of art with such bright, vivid colors does not stop at walls.