Nighted Life Presents: Shawn Whisenant

Dude is everywhere- act like you know.

It seems like your life is a whirlwind of creative side-hustles (art, photography, shows, zines, sign painting…). That’s fucking awesome.

How do you keep yourself on schedule? 

Yeah, it makes it super hard when people ask me what I do for a living. I guess I work in the creative world. Everyday is different. This year I’ve been really focusing on my sign painting business and getting that up and running. One day I’ll be sign painting up on a ladder or at the bottom of a staircase, shooting skate photos, meeting with clients, or at home, sewing zines and making art. Just about everyday consists of a little of all that stuff. It all works out. There is no schedule, you just get things done when they need to be done. My life is filled with deadlines. It’s a non-stop grind. Always working. A whirlwind to say the least, but I love every minute of doing what I do.

Is there a standard daily routine you stick to? If so, what’s that like?

Depends on what deadlines I have, or signs in the works. I always wake up at 7am, and by 8 or 9 I’m out getting coffee. I always go shoot photos around the city in the morning, I love the chilly SF mornings. Then by 11, it’s home to emails and whatever the day brings! Today, I’m painting a sign for a camera store here in SF, editing photos, have to go meet with a gallery at 1, hardware store, post office, walk the dog, etc. Then my day usually ends between about 11pm and 2am, depending on how I feel.

Let’s do some call and response: I’m going to throw out some phrases- let us know what they mean to you.

E-40- Everyone who really knows me knows I’m a huge longtime fan of Uncle Earl!

San Francisco- Home and history.

Blood of the Young- My boys up in Canada, and longtime supporters of my work! They make the super sick zines. I have a new publication with them coming out soon! BOTY!

35mm- Always in my pocket. Today it’s some Kodak Tmax B&W 400.

Needles and Pens- Best zine store on the planet! If you visit SF, stop by and buy one of my zines! Andrew, the owner, is a fellow sign painter and all around good guy! needles-pens.com

Bombing- Damm, need to get out and do some. Street cred don’t pay the bills, and I’m older now, so I’m not done painting outside but things have changed on the streets and in my life these days. Always got a pen and pocket full of stickers, but it’s not bombing, it’s just maintaining the name. Hard to call what I do bombing anymore, but you’ll for sure see me up in any train yard or major city!

48 Blocks- My folks and fam! It’s an SF based skateboard site I do a lot of journalism stuff for. I have done a lot of cool interviews with pro skaters for their site. Check them out at 48blocks.com

Shawn has an awesome blog, flickr, and he’s featured in our Nighted Life Zine!!