Surf art is visual art about or related to the sport of surfing. There is a strong connection between art and surf culture, which reaches back 3,000 years to Peru, where some of the world's first historians carved bas-reliefs of surfers. The intersection of the surf and art realms today, however, extends far beyond art documenting life. Both have stretched to encompass each other and the areas of popular culture and commercialism. Art today incorporates graffiti, advertisements and everyday items, and surfing is as much about clothes, attitude and punk music as it is hitting the waves.

Photography is a popular and influential medium of surf art. Imagery documents life, and in surfing terms, it encapsulates a passion, a sport, and a lifestyle. The main objective of surf photography is to not only enlighten the viewer of the pleasures of surfing, but also to demonstrate other facets of the life of a surfer.

Notable Surf Artists in current times include Rick Griffin, John Severson,Alex Lanau, Bill Ogden, Leroy Grannis, John Van Hamersveld, Drew Brophy, Jay Alders and Jeff Divine.

Surf is the wave activity in the area between the shoreline and outer limit of breakers. It may refer to a breaking wave in shallow water, upon the shore, or in the area in which waves break

Surf may also refer to:

Art is a term that describes a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities, but is most often understood to refer to painting, film, photography, sculpture, and other visual media. Music, theatre, dance, literature, and interactive media are included in a broader definition of art or the arts. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences, but in modern usage the fine arts are distinguished from acquired skills in general.

Many definitions of art have been proposed by philosophers and others who have characterized art in terms of mimesis, expression, communication of emotion, or other values. During the Romantic period, art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".

The nature of art, and related concepts such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.

The Encyclopædia Britannica Online defines art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others". By this definition of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theories restrict the concept to modern Western societies. The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft." A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

Drew Brophy is an American artist born in 1971. Known as a "surf artist" Brophy is best known for his surfboard paintings and distinctive painting style, using Uni-Posca water-based paint pens.

A self-taught artist, Brophy began painting on surfboards as a young boy when he first began to surf in his native South Carolina. Originally, Brophy set out to be a professional surfer, and he traveled the globe using artwork to help pay for his surf adventures. More and more, he was commissioned to create art, and a lifetime profession was born

After living & surfing in Hawaii in the mid-1990's, Brophy moved to California in 1996 to put his art career in high gear. He now lives with his wife, Maria, and their son.

Brophy became known as the artist who pioneered the art of surfboard painting with water-based paint pens, and has taught a generation of artists his techniques.

McFly's Dougie Poynter plays a Music Man Sterling Bass, featuring a custom paint job by Brophy.

Brophy’s painted surfboards have also been collected by Kid Rock, Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil, Eddie Vedder and Uncle Cracker.

Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best known posters and record jackets. His work within the surfing subculture included both film posters and his comic strip, Murphy.

Griffin was born near Palos Verdes amidst the surfing culture of southern California. Griffin biographer Tim Stephenson notes:

While attending Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, he produced numerous surfer drawings, which led to his surfing comic strip, "Murphy" for Surfer magazine in 1961, with Griffin's character featured on the front cover the following year. In 1964, he left Surfer and briefly attended Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts), where he met his future wife, artist Ida Pfefferle. That same year, he hung out with the group of artists and musicians known as the Jook Savages.