The Story of
Slightly Choppy

Scott grew up just outside Detroit, where he became an early surfer on the Great Lakes. The factories, barges, gritty textures, and rocky shorelines of that environment shaped his appreciation for rawness and contrast.

His interest in surf culture eventually brought him to the California coast, where he continued surfing while pursuing a passion for visual documentation, art, and design. Scott has worked as Creative Director for iconic surf brands and has exhibited his artwork in galleries in Los Angeles, New York, Honolulu, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, and Barcelona.

A student of art history and graphic design, Scott is influenced by hand-drawn typography, bold color combinations, natural fibers, aged textures, and the hand-painted signs found in places where everything doesn’t have to be perfectly exact.

He is especially drawn to the friction between urban, man-made objects and organic environments—the quirky signs, worn surfaces, and unexpected details that communicate clearly while retaining the personality of the person who made them.

The Slightly Choppy studio is tucked inside a former boat shed and sail-making loft in Newport Beach, an area shaped by generations of boatbuilders, shipwrights, surfers, and old salts.

The studio is filled with surf artifacts, collected objects, aged materials, and pieces of inspiration gathered over time. Everything has a place and a story. It is a space where old ideas are given new life, where tinkering is encouraged, and where the surrounding coastal landscape continues to influence what gets made.

The work embraces imperfection over precision—everything is hand-done, a little worn, and sometimes a little off. That’s Slightly Choppy.

Every piece begins with a sketch and takes shape through a genuinely hands-on process. Hand-drawn typography, letters trimmed from felt, well-used stencils, tea-stained materials, worn canvas, and the natural ebb and flow of paint all come together to create something one of a kind.

The hand and the slight imperfections are what make each creation unique. Every step is time-consuming by design. The irregularities, worn edges, and variations in color are part of the process—not flaws to be corrected. They are what make the work art rather than a machine-produced product made for mass consumption.