Live art smackdown at Artslam 7 with Buff Monster, Lamour Supreme, and Japanther

But that's the fun part.

Yeah, exactly. That's like why we did it, right? It was extreme sports before the word was coined.

You do a broad range of work, from illustration to toys. Where does your painting come from?

I think I might have been screwed up as a kid with all that black light poster stuff; it's like the first introduction into drugs and that whole culture. It's usually fluorescent colors, bold lines, and simplistic sprays on the kaiju end. That whole kaiju scene in Japan is stuff they've has been doing for years. That's been an inspiration, too. Its hard to pick up on that up and make it your own style.

Is your work distributed in Asia?

Oh, yeah. The Japanese have been real receptive to what I've been doing. Some of the top toy makers, I've done collaborations with them because they like my customs, or my art.

You and Buff Monster have worked together. Do you share imagery?

When we do a colab, he'll do an image, and I'll do part of an image — it's like crossing streams. Our first collaboration was last year at Art Basil Miami. I slept on Buff's floor, and went around with him — so we ended up doing a wall together. The styles really work together. Recently, we did two collaborative prints for Bee Street magazine in Paris, and did live painting for an event they did a few weeks ago.

What are you doing at ARTSLAM!?

Maybe a collaborative piece, where the artists keep their own style, but it all works together.

CODY SCHIBI

Cody Schibi has been painting at ARTSLAM! since 2011. The Austin-based illustrator, who does album art for bands, gallery work, and picks up commissions on the Comic-Con circuit, also tries to make many of the smaller events the producers stage in SA throughout the year. We asked Schibi what it's like to paint live at ARTSLAM!.

How does the music affect your painting? If you're in one groove, and another set comes on, does it move your flow to someplace else?

I think it's cool. If I have a certain image, that's ultimately what it's going to turn into. The music changes the environment; it keeps it fresh and interesting. It adds an extra flavor to the art.

Is it weird painting in front of people, having all these people in your studio, so to speak?

That was my initial thought when I started doing it. I'm usually just in my room, just drawing. But having everyone and a lot of madness around was something to get used to. But I love it. ARTSLAM! is definitely my favorite show that I do, because you get to interact with every single person who shows interest, or if they want to ask you anything. Just ask whatever — it's really cool. For people to see the process of what I do, they seem to get a kick out of it, and I get a kick out of their reaction. It's awesome.

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