Rose City artist brings derby names to life

Tyger Bomb's own helmet

Taking on a derby name is a pivotal right of passage in the sport. Thanks to the preternatural painting skills of Guns and Rollers team skater Tyger Bomb, Portland derby girls can round out their alter ego with a custom logo.

Tyger painted her first helmet in 2009 for derby wife Slim Sheety of the Break Neck Betties while sidelined with an injury.

An alternative to craft store stickers

“She was talking about putting her name on her helmet and didn’t like the basic stickers you find at the craft store, so I offered to do graffiti lettering to keep it in Eminem’s “Slim Shady” style,” Tyger recalls. “Since then I’ve painted 32 derby helmets.”

Tyger has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember, and also adds metalsmithing, jewelry making, and painting murals and furniture to her repertoire. When she’s not working for the City of Portland in human resources or skating derby, she splits her time between painting and jewelry making, selling her creations on etsy and taking commissions for derby helmets from league members.

Capturing skater personalities

Knowing everyone on the league helps ignite inspiration and capture the essence of the skater when it comes to commissioned work.

“I know most league skaters at least slightly and some of them quite well,” says Tyger. “So I know their personal style—sparkly princess, punk, pinup, hooligan, superstar, gun moll, assassin on wheels, honey badger, or mama grizzly.”

Supa Sixpack's helmet

Supa Sixpack's helmet

Awnry's helmet.

Awnry O'Hulligan's helmet.

Mad Splatter's helmet.

Mad Splatter's helmet.

Scorcheon's helmet.

Scorcheon's helmet.

Tyger's team logo.

Inspiration from derby names

“Plus derby names are a great thing,” says Tyger. “Most of them are so descriptive and creative you can’t help but get an image in your head when you hear one. I mean, come on, Mad Splatter? Awnry O’Hulligan? How can you not be inspired?”

“Most of the time my ideas have been right on the mark, but I don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t like an idea—the whole point is to make something they are going to love to wear, that represents them.”

RCR skaters also take Tyger’s helmet designs into consideration when choosing a name. “Every time I think of a potential derby name, I wonder what the helmet design for it might be,” says Fresh Meat skater Sam Wagner.

The confines of the helmet canvas

Tyger’s flawless work and the way she creatively captures a derby name almost makes her work look easy. But she says her biggest challenges are her own perfectionism—“freaking out over details”—and the limited space available on a derby helmet.

“A lot of clients want pinup girls, so I have to explain that for the design to show up it’s best to use poses where the girl is sitting or kneeling,” says Tyger. “Standing poses end up too small so you can’t see the face – they’re not a good use of the space we have to work with.”

WOJ team helmets.

Custom team helmets

No one particular helmet stands out in Tyger’s mind as her favorite, although her biggest and most thrilling job was painting 20 team helmets for the Wheels of Justice, Portland’s nationally ranked all-star travel team.

“There were helmets all over my house for a couple of weeks,” says Tyger. “But it’s such a charge for me to see a helmet I painted being worn by Sully Skullkicker or White Flight or Napalm Beth.”

WOJ skater Joyride says the feeling was mutual: “I was so excited the day I got my helmet it felt like I had been awarded a badge of honor.”

Painting for other leagues

Although Tyger has painted helmets primarily just for RCR league members, she is currently expanding her services to other leagues. Some skaters come to her with very detailed instructions, while others leave the conceptual design up to Tyger. Either way most of the exchange happens via email and she finds long-distance commissions as successful as those on her home turf.

“As long as the client is able to communicate her needs I should be able to make her or him happy,” says Tyger, adding that she also works with male derby skaters and refs.

Hire Tyger — Tyger jewelry

Custom helmet art starts at $70 although she does give RCR skaters a discount. To see Tyger’s artwork or to contact her regarding a custom design, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/tygerbombhelmets

To see Tyger’s jewelry, visit: www.tygertyger.etsy.com

Tyger Bomb