Four G's is proud to announce that Four G's Magazine Issue Three is now available for distribution. Issue Three is 60-pages, full color and includes cover art and exclusive interview with San Francisco artist APEX. (... more after jump)Also featuring 14 of California's finest graffiti crews: AWR, CBS, HTK, ICP, KOG, MSK, NR, OSH/PT, RSN, TBK, TITS, TKO, UM & WAI, an interview with SKATE ALL CITIES founder RICKS, a special article on illustrator Nate Van Dyke. 5 assault rifle profiles, an article about Real-life terminators, 5 California girl profiles and 3 ganja strain showcases, with photos and growing information. Also includes a visit to Oaksterdam University and Rebel8 Clothing HQ to meet with Joshy D.

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Here's a preview of Issue Threes Content:

Color Theorist: APEX

Four G's: You been painting for over 15 years right, how’d you get started?

APEX: Yeah longer then that. There’s the bombing years, that I don’t count, cause it’s not what I’m doing anymore. But I got started in 3rd grade—Just like one time a day, everyday. Being born and raised here in San Francisco—the fuckin’ eighties—this shit was destroyed. It was like being any kind of artist, how could you not get into it? It was like 92’ when I started piecing I was still in-between street bombing and piecing.

I’m 31 now, so 17 years I been piecing. So in those 17 years, I have the first five that I was toy, but I was still piecing; then like the next group I was kinda exploring my individual style. Like really separating myself away from what everyone else was doing, but still with that foundation. Then the third layer was me perfecting that and starting to infuse a lot of traditional stuff into it. Now at this point, I feel like I’m focused on a new path of doing 3-D pieces without being monochromatic, taking it back to the whole idea of what a burner is.

Four G's: What APEX means to you?

APEX: Something I can always strive for, something I can always achieve. It’s a win-win and losing battle. I set the bar so high, that I always try to get to the top, but you never really can get to the top, ya know? You just keep pushing forward and keep growing, is my viewpoint. So the apex is growing.

Four G's: Have you reached your Apex?
APEX: No, I hope not. I hope I just keep growing, and growing, and growing. If I get there, I don’t even wanna know; I’ll just keep pushing and going to the next level. Right now in the history of my career, I’m at a very high place, but I have ideas in my head right now that I’m like, damn.

And at times, APEX is the evolution of me. If you look at my older pieces there’s a slow—like transformation that happens through the evolution of my complex—more connections, more ways of understanding how to bend a letter, and how to make it wilder. For me it’s a balance in my opinion, especially in this modern day, there are a lot of people really into legible letters.

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To read the rest of this interview with APEX pick up Four G's Magazine - Issue Three here, including talk all about his latest Superburner series pieces.

Ten Questions with RICKS of SAC

One. What is Skate All Cities? How’d it get started and where is it based out of?

RICKS: Skate All Cities is a skateboarding & graffiti crew based out of Los Angeles, California that is evolving into a brand. SAC started off by my old skate buddies Levi Medina and Jerry Morales back in the early 90’s. We were all little grommets skating Cal State Los Angeles and wanted to start a skateboarding crew for fun so my boy Levi just gave it a random name and said we should call it “SAC.” At that time I was barely getting into graffiti and I came up with the pseudonym “Skate All Cities.” I kinda flipped it after seeing a major tagging crew getting up back in the day called “TAC” aka “Tag All Cities.” The rest is history.

Two. How’d you get these skaters and writers involved?

RICKS: We all started skating around the same time back in the early 90’s and eventually got down with graffiti just by seeing it so much in the streets and on the RTD buses. A lot of us are homies and have either kicked it or partied with each other for a long period of time as well. We usually place our “potential members” on a probation period where we make sure that you chill out with us on a consistent basis and see how well you adapt in the streets, and most importantly see how your attitude is, and what you can contribute to the crew. Skate All Cities is more like a family and we don’t care if you’re extremely talented or not. If we don’t kick it and party together, rack paint, smoke bowls, snort lines, or chill then none of that matters.

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To read the rest of this article about RICKS of Skate All Cities pick up Four G's Magazine - Issue Three here, including the other eight followup questions.

N8 Van Dyke, the man behind the chimp

San Francisco illustrator, Nate Van Dyke refers to his preferred medium, pen and ink as being an “honest and beautiful” art form. Honest and beautiful is a description that suits his work; whether it’s a chimp, a skull, or characters in a video game, Nate takes the time to master his subjects. He studies his specimens allowing them proper respect and then unleashes them to the world in beautifully honest representations. Nate’s reaction-provoking work has been perceived in many ways and yet one thing this artist continues to maintain is the beauty of honesty. True to himself, his work, his inspirations, and his audience, we bring you the man behind the chimp.

Nate Van Dyke started drawing around the age of two. He spent his childhood amongst the talent of many artists, with the most prominent influence being his mom, a marble sculptor. Growing up he spent a lot of time hanging out at her studio, gallery, and shows. With an encouraging mom and four generations of artists in the family, Nate found art naturally, “I was the kid who had the crayons—64 colors; I had the big box with the sharpener on the side.” His skills advanced quickly; by his teens he had exhausted all high school art classes and started taking life drawing courses at the community college. When it came time for Nate to consider college himself, he passed on various scholarships to art schools.

“The smartest thing I ever did was not go to school, so what do you kids want to do,” was a question Nate posed to his Advanced Illustration class when he taught at CCA (California College of the Arts, in San Francisco).

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To read the rest of this article about Nate Van Dyke pick up Four G's Magazine - Issue Three here, including more talk about his chimpanze friend Dutch.

Joshy D.'s Rebelation

Ok, so maybe you’ve never heard of them, but you should be interested. After you read about Rebel8 you’ll see the love child of graffiti legend, Mike Giant and creator of Hifiart.com, a former graffiti and art community, Joshy D. popping up everywhere. The street wear company Rebel8 stemming from the word, “revelation,” has shown to be anything but conventional.

Think pretty girls, turned into works of art, clad in homemade sharpie style tattoos. No computer graphics just Mike, his imagination, and a few various sized sharpies. With influence drawn from San Francisco and its more than often liberal views, Rebel8 is fast becoming a staple of the city of the bay.

Mike was a prominent figure in the graffiti scene, known as GIANT while repping BA crew through the 1990’s. The Rebel8 style reflects his experiences with architecture school, tattooing and graffiti. His art has been featured across the world, most recently in galleries in France, Australia, and Spain. Though his name remains a giant in the graffiti culture he now devotes most of his creativity to Rebel8.

Joshy D., who is self-declared the brains behind the company, began with his own t-shirt brand called Teamwolf from 2000-2002. He admits for Rebel8, “We never had a business plan; we never looked for investment plans.” It really just all started with Joshy asking Mike to come up with the design for a shirt that he wanted to produce.

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To read the rest of this story about Rebel8 pick up Four G's Magazine - Issue Three here.