Art and skateboarding go hand in hand. Paul Rodriguez (P-Rod), one of the best skateboarders on Earth knows this, and so does Don Pendleton, who's been a fixture in the art world for more than a minute. From the graphics on the boards, to the work of art that is created when a skateboarder puts together a perfect line, the one thing that is certain is skateboarding and everything that goes with it is a form of expression. It's always had a D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) attitude. No one is going to create for you, whether it is skateboarding or painting, ramp building or photography, filming or editing, everything you put into the substance you make progresses riding a piece of wood on urethane wheels that much more.

There's another presence in skateboarding that knows this too. It's Green, Yellow and Red and comes from a high altitude. Mountain Dew has been putting on the Dew Tour for five years, rewarding skateboarding as well as giving back to the art that comes with it. This year is no different. To coincide with the 2010 Dew Tour the Green Label Art: Shop Series will be taking place, a contest that gives back to skate shops and their local artists.

Here's the Gist; Mountain Dew, P-Rod and Pendleton have challenged 35 skate shops in seven US regions to design the artwork that will be featured on a nationally distributed Mountain Dew can. If that's not enough, there is also $10,000 up for grabs, $5,000 for the artist and $5,000 for the shop.

To provide inspiration P-Rod and Pendleton have collaborated to design the art on a current can (the art is pictured on the right). In case you didn't know Pendleton has been behind a lot of the unique art that has been a staple of skate deck giant Alien Workshop, and if you don't who Rodriguez is, you pretty much don't know what skateboarding is.

The first stop of this year's Dew Tour is set to kickoff this Friday in Boston, MA at the TD Arena, where the Celtics play. Friday night there's an event to kickoff the Green Label Art: Shop Series. I'll be there and will report back with what went down. Also, a few weeks ago I was on a Mountain Dew commercial shoot with P-Rod, Pendleton and one hell of a production team. The commercial will be airing nationally, and will give you a visual experience of this art and skateboarding project is all about. I'll be dropping a behind-the-scenes account of what went down along with some photos. Stay tuned I'm off to Bean Town.

For more on the Dew Tour click here.