Most people are askin to post flix of Chris' work. I read RIP threads all the time but never till now did I realise how much graff really doesn't matter in this case. I would trade any tag he ever did for him to have another minute. When we talk about writers we only know em as their names, what they hit, what kind of style thay have, In this case when someone dies, how they were as a person is what matters, that's what should be remembered. And Chris was like no other, embrased everyday and always made everyone smile. You'd never the true meaning of an uplifting presence until Chris would walk in the door, I'll remember him not as the tags he did, but the smiles he gave me. RIP
i heard of him, rip, his work was good...sad i wont be seeing anything new from him man, i hate it when people die
RIP btw is he the guy that got hit in lachine two weeks ago about with another friend(who didnt die) it passed in the news
…I was just making a thread on Chris.. with sketches and filx for that section as it would particularly be fit for a graffiti forum .. but ill just copy paste what I had wrote for now.. then add/edit and start a new one for the flix section soon as I take more flix and fix my scanner …unless this thread gets going.. (perhaps there may be a couple little irrelevant philosophies or whatever in it etc).. I don’t know.. I wrote it on word pretty soon after he passed.... then put it aside to work on it later particularly to put it on a graffiti forum... I’ll just post this for now the way I wrote it then. I’ll come back later with a more proper one… edited and with more memorize… so this is just mainly some nice memorize i had of Chris… R.I.P…… So outgoing funny fun nice spontaneous wildish outside personality etc… (and like anyone isn’t one sided.., these are just his character presences that stood out for me and for most I assume…) I know its only graffiti, Christopher’s (R.I.P) trademark name “DRAKE”, which I think is even further away from oneself than their limited choice/locked focus of outside personality n behavior that people associate with “yourself”.. although attached or a part, well i guess we generally see personality as someone'a 'self'.. who knows for sure how related these observable actions are.. if there’s something (a “self”) really distinct or if any expression is equally part of ‘you’,... but anyway, since this is a graffiti forum ill share some of the graffiti related memorize I have about him etc.... since I knew him through the common interest of graffiti.. (and I’m sure I don’t know him-(in simple terms) as much as other people who may browse this site (..Verdun writers excetra) or whomever, so please sometime when your ready perhaps add any (funny/nice, whatever) memorize that you may have of , him that would be nice.. cause haven’t seen him in a few years.... but we were definitely friends and he was really friendly… etc… .... Right now.. I believe the first time I met him was in 97 or 98. .. and he was painting on the outside of the coke factory (was just south East of the Montreal West train station) he was a bit pudgy back then.. and RADZ was guiding him a bit (Chris found out by the results that a dark fill and dark outline don’t contrast well lol).. he was doing a dark green full name fill with black outline I think… at the time he seemed to be the only writer my age so Radz wanted/suggested later for us to start a little crew for fun.. talked about it on the phone etc.. but I never actually knew him in person un-till 1999 when we started chilling as I met him through his cousin and best friend Justin. “Duck” and “Bate” FA were the two guys I was mostly with when I hanged with Chris).. and chilled for im not sure how many… maybe only 5 or 6 full days (seems like a lot more though) nice long day chills from my house to n.d.g ,“TA” wall, “CBR” wall, downtown, Lachine (Jenkins etc), verdun etc.. and chill whenever saw him wherever (at shows etc)… .. The First time I painted with him was at ‘T.A’ wall (99) and he was now sort of tall(er) n slim.. (remember him putting up stickers on the way there from Lionel Groux (specifically a grey street light pole on St Antoine just west of Atwater on the North side of the street) etc.. anyway… and it was inside that building just below the long lower ‘TA’ wall he used my red n did a bunch of outlines etc.. and so I wonder if its still somehow visible.. but he did a fresh piece/outline (looks very similar to the sketch I’m showing here I think).. downstairs in the basement of that building, which is not there any more (right now there’s a gold ‘kers’ fillin I think still floating in the air as it was done by standing on the roof of the little section that I’m talking about) and so there was a little ice rink down in there that hadn’t thawed yet.. so he went across it and did that piece/outline in red… then it was floating over the water (melted ice) in the summer so it looked cool.... So today it’s probably buried underneath that square section right now. Covered in earth.... its a tad east of the ‘TA’ wall building Just below the ground there... A random memory of him walking through the TA wall area that day was him singing “You know what Drake, I don’t like your attitude” (replacing Dre with Drake.. imitating off eminem’s first album that probably just came out.. of the song “voices” or whatever) in with his accent I cant describe really.. also laughing talking/joking about a crazy homeless person when he just came out the metro earlier when I just met him… He had such a nice / fresh piece (it was a yellow fill with a blue outline I believe) on one of the big fat pillars next to the exit ramp on the upper T.A wall (I think on the one where there’s currently a Sake floating (and previously ‘play’ over ‘hyh’ over etc..) but perhaps I think the DRAKE piece was on the other side of that pillar… anyway .. he said that he had a certain family member look out for him when he did that piece which I thought was cool… I think the next time I painted with him was again at the T.A wall in 99 or 2000… A funny memory from that day was... there was car (regular automobile) parked in the lane in between the ‘T.A’ wall building and those house complexes just south of the T.A building.. and the car parked there was already bombed up (I think DEKS had a fillin somewhere on there).. and so Drake got busy doing a DR fill-in .. silver fill black outline on the side of the bombed up car.. and so a guy living in the complexes came out to confront us and started lecturing us about it (Duck FA was there),.. mainly lecturing towards Drake I guess saying.. “I was watching you from my window.. I was going to phone the cops but I thought that I’d hate to see a few kids being taken away in cop car so etc..”… “those spray cans cost a lot of money (waste)”… “the owner of that car is really pissed that people write on it” ..basically lecturing us for 5 minutes… a reply from Drake I remember is something like “I thought he let people write on it or “I thought it was abandoned” (which seemed likely) etc.. Drake wasn’t scared or anything either... so the man then went back into his home... but Drake went right back just after he finished his lecture and went back to finish his outline!! lol… I was kinda scared about that then (even though I wasn’t doing it).... but he did it we flexed and nothing happened.... other random memories.. like of him tagging my block in broad daylight with a cigarette in his mouth.. looked cool.. then at that moment he turned around yelling “Ey Paddy!” repeating that (in a half friendly/joking intimidating way) at my friend who lived next door who had just called my name from a block away (so Drake responded like that lol) (but he latter had more friendly small talk with him though.. when I was with them at the legal graffiti convention on Decarie near Vendome a year later)… He put me in FA (Forbidden Art) even though I only knew a couple people in it... the funny shit talking about certain writers... but also complementing or general comments on them.. like I remember him being kinda impressed by the 'Verse' roof that was on Jolicoeur metro.. walking to st. henri metro he joked about his friends tag Mr Sean (the mister part) and then was telling how “that guy is nuts”.. (something like.. “he’s a small calm kid but he goes crazy” (im pretty sure it was about Sean) Drake was saying how he was throwing spray cans at construction workers at the t.a wall… yelling at them “Fuck you!! Etc” and he showed me pictures (again im pretty sure it was Sean) or someone in Cad hanging off a metal beam with one hand on the ceiling of the Jenkins ( funny how memories are linking to memories constantly retrieving new ones..) Oh yea.... a funny memory.. when were walking on the sidewalk near De L’eglise metro.. as he’s passing in front of a girl going by on the side walk he started jumping n kicking spinning in the air yelling “CHA CHA WAA!!” etc… like a goofy ninja or something, and the girl had a wierded freaked out look on her face.. jokes.. but he was always casually doing this behavior.. he had that slight childish devious way while being really outgoing… really fun entertaining to be around.. I remember he used to surf on the metro’s a lot.... on the side of the door as the train leaves the station and run off of it… the first person I saw do that.. always fun childish behavior.. He had that outgoing proud Irish fun kind of attitude… when I told him I was Irish he asked me“you want to be in IG!!”… I thought it was some kind of joke like a dumbass so gave a boring response, but then I noticed IG’s on the green line all over and it was his crew Irish Gamblers!!... it was also by his tag he did on my bedroom wall he did that day ( but I didn’t realize till after).. and at my house he was eager in saying “ill buy that baileys off of you” enthusiastically (those little tiny bottles) looking over towards on an upper kitchen counter… at least these two things gives me the sense of that proud Irishman vibe out of him… I always remember his face and the way his eyes squint looking confidently somewhere.. observing whatever catches his eye. I haven’t seen him in a while… so I really shouldn’t be the one to talk too much… Just felt like sharing some memorize I had of him.... I’m sure there’s people that were close to him that browse this site.... share any memories of him.. One of last times I saw him when I was at my friends house down my block and I heard a loud voice yelling as it was talking (as if he was in a live party or something) on my quiet street.. with that wildish behavior and it was Drake.. with his friends, I was going to yell his name from my friends window as he had come all the way to my house (but like a wuss I was letting my friend control me as saying “don’t” pulling m back)… I feel so stupid because some of the last times I saw him he was really enthusiastic but I was shy then because he was with groups of people.. now I wish I wasn’t so boring like that (especially contrasting with his personality)…acting like there was something better somewhere else.. t But I talked to him in person I guess 3 times after that (meeting of schools, under pressure 2001 and then through a friend who went to school (Options) with him that’s the last I think… or maybe under pressure was the last… Anyway .. so its really sad he was such a cool person… It really hits you when you think of it as your watching other people having fun being so focused in towards whatever....makes you feel kinda guilty as everyone’s just living on like that... but then again in this form for now I guess just ‘live’ be happy etc… and those that got attached to him by any degree will always love and remember him and play by instinct role by being sad... He was so friendly… .R.I.P Christopher Amboise … nothing completely disappears Just other forms to adapt to… other areas of attachment etc.... still part of everything… Love You Patrick O
we always loose the best ones. Although i dident know him, i feel what he was about through your post Patrick, thank you for that. Tragity brings everyone involved closer together. Remember, for what its worth, that you have strong support on this sight from the good people on here, even though i know its just a web-community. much love, stay strong, stay together, and most of all rest in peace Drake.