Todd Overholtzer: waterman, photographer, surfer, scuba-diver, fisherman, chef, spear fisher and now accomplished self-taught artist.
His unique style was coined “California underwater folk art” by a critique artist at the Malibu Arts Festival, and there’s nothing else quite like it.
Each meticulous painting is a rendition of what Overholtzer has seen both above and below the surface of the water while scuba diving. His “Point Dume State Preserve” is full of detailed fish, marine mammals and other sea life he saw underwater in that particular spot.
Overholtzer titles all of his paintings, then lists the names of every species pictured on the back of the canvas – abalone, squid, cow cod, starry-eye, vermilion rock cod, etc. He reels off the names and discusses their behaviors with an ease that would be the envy of most marine biologists. He paints most often from memory, which is remarkably accurate.
The paintings are action-packed, with white sharks going after sea lions, cabezons (fish) eating crabs and octopus eating lobsters.
“I’m always painting what’s happening at sea,” Overholtzer said.
Overholtzer grew up loving the ocean. He’s been surfing and scuba diving since he was 11 years old, and took up photography in high school. His father was a night watchman on the Malibu Pier, living in “Alice’s tower,” and his mother also worked there.
When he was 13, his father bought him an old 17-foot Boston Whaler boat that he took out as often as he could. The boat had to be sold when he was 21, but he managed to get the same boat back 10 years later.
“I stripped it down and rebuilt it the way it is today,” Overholtzer said. “I’ve spent 1,500 days on it in the Channel Islands since 2001.”
Overholtzer didn’t star t painting until he was 21. When he and a friend managed to get special access to the generally off-limits surfing beach at the military base on Point Mugu, he was jazzed. “I couldn’t sleep for three days. Those were the best waves ever,” Overholtzer said. “Even though I’d been a photographer, I didn’t have my camera with me.”
He was determined to preserve the experience.
“I decided to paint the scene I saw that day. I went to Michael’s and got some paints, found a rock and painted the scene on the rock.”
Overholtzer continued painting on rocks, and eventually graduated to hand-painted ball caps, picture frames and canvases. He began depicting underwater scenes to reflect his scuba diving experiences.
Overholtzer’s first art show was at Duke’s in 2011. He was astonished when 400 people showed up and bought 30 hats and eight canvases. He’s only shown his work publicly one other time – at the 2014 Malibu Arts Festival.
The art usually sells by word-of-mouth – no advertising or website. Overholtzer receives custom orders, most often from other surfers and divers in Malibu, for certain surf spots, boats, animals, fish or even buoys.
“Right now, I have orders for 40 hats,” he said. “I’ve sold more octopus hats and paintings than anything.”
Malibu Mayor Skylar Peak is a customer.
“I’ve known Todd for over 20 years,” he said. “His art depicts our local marine environment as seen by a true waterman and one of the most accomplished surfers from around Malibu. His art is really special and unique to California.”
Overholtzer’s day job is in the “biz” – he’s a union set builder, which sometimes takes him out of town to work on various film and television projects. His latest stints have been an untitled Warren Beatty film about Howard Hughes and TV’s “Castle.”
When he’s in town, he’s all about heading to the ocean.
“Something has to inspire me in order to sit down and paint,” Overholtzer said. “The love of the ocean has given me so much — all the beauty it has to offer. You never know what you’re going to see. It could be something as simple as a jellyfish or as awesome as a humpback whale.”
