WHO IS DREW TOONZ?
If you hang around the Old Waialua sugarmill on the North Shore of Oahu, you may find yourself wandering into a whimsical surfshop filled to the brim with witty, captivating artwork portraying topics ranging from surfing cats to the politics of resin in the surfboard making industry. And if you hang around often, you’ll see that the artwork and even its placement is anything but stagnant- new pieces pop up on the daily, adorning the walls, floors, and T-shirts of the Sugarmill’s Third Stone Surfboard Factory and beyond.
The mind behind the messaging is Andrew Miller, a quizzical and talented artist from Pennsylvania, now residing on the North Shore of Oahu. Drew plays cartoonist or visual translator for the madness that comes with screaming swells in the wintertime and lazy days in the Waialua Surf Shop. His ability to say so much using so few lines on paper or a screen is his superpower, his raw and real style always speaking for itself in his work.
PIPE MASTERS, VOLCOM, AND SURF SKOOL
After attending a touch of liberal art school in Pennsylvania and graduating from Philadelphia Art Institute, Toonz took his passion for making back to the North Shore of Oahu and created “Surf Skool”, a series of animated shorts for Volcom centered on a character named “Johnny Stone”, a typical North Shore surfer. The hilarious and raw cartoon depicting the team riders and their lives surfing and living in the Volcom house became Drew’s big break in 2007, leading Toonz to work on animation projects with Lil Wayne and even a psychedelic music video for LolaWolf and Miley Cyrus. You can watch Toonz' episodes of Surf Skool and more of his work here on his Youtube channel.
Toonz even picked up some brushes and in the earliest hours of the morning of the 2001 Pipe Masters created a massive mural filled with characters and barrelling waves to backdrop the day’s hot event, gaining his work more attention in the surf community. With these early artworks, Toonz was just setting the stage for years of characters and curated chaos in many mediums to come...
A TENSE SCENE FROM SURF SKOOL, episode 3 (?)
SELECTED CLIENTS
EXHIBITIONS
THE BEGINNING OF TOONZ / THE SUGAR MILL
It began with a few busted old cars that quickly became canvases for Drew… and with that, advertisements on wheels for Stephen and Pete Matthews of Third Stone Factory’s growing Surfboard business back in the 90s North Shore. After that, Toonz never stopped. As the surfboard business expanded, so did Drew Toonz’ portfolio of work. Over the years Drew has become the official artist of the Waialua Surf Shop and Third Stone, painting anything from boat hulls for parties to bikini babes on surfboards.
When you walk into the Waialua Surf Shop, it isn’t a typical quick lap through stacks of surf products and a nonchalant goodbye. Because of the people like Toonz and the nature of the environment that make the shop what it is, going to the Waialua Surf Shop is an experience. Wandering into the shop means meeting Drew Toonz’s cheetah-spotted dog named Rocky (he has a stylist) who, much like Emocat seems to embody the artist himself, being serenaded or even getting a live rap performance on the shop’s baby grand piano and Drew Toonz’ techno psychedelic synth, or listening to stories of North Shore past with legends hanging around the mill like the animated big wave surfer Tamayo Perry or resident shaper Owl Chapman. Music and art go hand and hand in the mill, and Toonz is at the center of both. The Waialua Surf shop is called “The Gathering Place” for a reason and its no better setting for an artist like Drew Toonz to thrive within.
Drew has now taken up studio residency in the North Shore Surfboard Factory in addition to the walls of the surf shop and can be seen rolling through the wide open mill on his one-wheel- carrying fresh exciting artwork in one arm and his rocky rocky in the other. By the time you see the trail of dust blazing behind, floating skyward to the Mokuleia mountains, Toonz has already planted his latest painting in its perfect new spot.
THE ORIGINAL THIRD STONE VAN WITH ART BY DREW TOONZ
EARLY SHOP STOREFRONT
EARLY DREW AND STEVE MATTHEWS, OWNER OF 3RD STONE
EARLY SHOP STOREFRONT
TOONZ PAINTING A THIRD STONE SURFBOARD
MEET EMO CAT
Drew Toonz expresses himself through a cool cat with a dark sense of humor named Emocat, a character that has become a vessel for Andrew’s thoughts on the highs, lows, and drab details of life with maybe some political notation thrown in just for the occasional spice. Emocat is honest, satirical, cynical, insightful, and sometimes excited, all at once. But Toonz doesn’t do it for the hype of it all, he lets Emocat cartoons speak where other words fail. It’s incredible how relatable a small cat that only exists on scribbled notes pages can be, and Toonz’ 100k followers on Instagram feel the same.
You can find Emocat sprinkled throughout the surf shop, featured in some Third Stone Apparel, or positioned in the “No Work City” logo, Toonz’s series of art dedicated to depicting the perfect lifestyle of no work, all play (not excluding such a fantasy’s repercussions.)
THIRD STONE X DREW TOONZ
Drew Toonz quickly became like family with Third Stone Manufacturing’s owner Steve Matthews after living next door on Velzyland’s infamous street “Crazy Lane.” Drew has been an integral part of the story since Third Stone’s start and his artwork has put the heartbeat in the business for years to come. With Third Stone’s “Core” mentality and business aesthetic mixed with Drew Toonz’ free flowing and raw artwork and messaging, a duality of craft and style is born.
THIRD STONE APPAREL
Third Stone’s largest collection of their island-famous Tees are hand designed by Drew Toonz. When a new Third Stone shirt launches, the message of the design could be based off a witty remark someone in the shaping room blurted out inbetween boards or a timeless message Drew was able to profoundly portray using simple and captivating visuals. Toonz’s designs are hand printed on silkscreen in a neighboring warehouse to Third Stone right here in the mill.
After a quick during covid, Toonz is back on the map and ready to share his latest inspiration and work… You can shop his graphic tees at Thirdstonemfg.com or buy his original artwork, totes or prints, here. Much art has been made, but we’re just getting started. Emocat is back on the map.
Written by Sophia Noel / @DrewToonz / @3rdStoneHawaii for more of Drew's Work