Today we’d like to introduce you to Snack Braff.
Hi snack, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
i started painting in 2017 because i wanted to be like KAWS, Matt Gondek, and Uncle Strawberry. i enjoyed their work and wanted to try my hand at recreating that bold, flat, clean pop art genre.
i painted, exclusively, cartoon and comic book style pieces for almost 10 years and was able to learn a lot about getting the results i wanted in terms of matching the styles of those artists.
most recently i have leaned into painting slabs with elbow rims and neon popped trunks in an attempt to learn more and challenge myself with new form and subjects.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
no. although, i think it would have been.
in my opinion, i have been the cause of many of my own struggles. there have been too many opportunities presented to me that i did not treat as professionally as i should have and i feel that, in addition to lack of consistency, have resulted in a large period of stagnation.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a self-taught painter based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area working under the name Snack Braff. I started painting in 2017 with no formal training — just a need to make something and enough stubbornness to figure it out.
My work spans a few bodies but shares the same DNA. I’ve built a following through bold, flat pop art — wrestlers, cartoon characters, comic book energy, hyper color. That work is loud on purpose. More recently I’ve pushed into new territory with my Out The Mud series — paintings of Southern slabs, elbow rims, and popped trunks with song lyrics burning in the neon. It forced me to learn realistic rendering from scratch. Blending, shading, depth — all of it taught myself, all of it demanded by the work.
What I’m most proud of is the distance. Nearly ten years of self-directed growth with no institution behind it, no formal instruction, just iteration and honesty. The Out The Mud series specifically — because it’s the first time I built a body of work around real intention. Lyrics that followed me for twenty years, subject matter I actually lived, technique I had to earn.
What sets me apart is probably the combination of things I shouldn’t be able to do at once. I paint wrestling icons and Houston slabs with the same seriousness. I work a 14-days-on 14-days-off rotation on an oil rig and paint in between. I’m not coming from an art world background and I’m not trying to. I’m making exactly what I want to make and I’ve been doing it long enough that it shows.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Professionalism. Early on I cut corners I shouldn’t have — sent out prints I knew weren’t up to my own standards, missed communication windows for shows and events that could have moved the needle. Small things that compound over time.
The art world is smaller than it looks. People remember how you handle business just as much as they remember the work. I learned that the hard way and it changed how I operate. Every interaction, every order, every opportunity gets treated like it matters — because it does.
Pricing:
- Paintings: $3.50/sq. in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.snackbraff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snack_braff
