I just finished printing up the latest installment in my
series of
prints commemorating local St. Louis "folk icons" -- legendary comedian and TV star
Redd Foxx! I had done this painting of Redd a while back and was gonna try and capture the same moment, Fred G. Sanford's famous heart-attack pantomime, as well as draw that sweet junk-truck again.
But the more I read up on Redd's life and past, the more I became interested in his early stand-up work, specifically the raunchy image he created through his under-ground "
party records."
I decided to focus on this under-appreciated aspect of his career in my early sketches...
... and went so far as to do a final inked drawing:
Ultimately though I decided that I was losing the power and recognizability of Redd Foxx as an icon with this approach, and just couldn't quite get the composition & colors to work anyway. I went back to the drawing board...
...and did some research via
YouTube to really try and nail Fred Sanford's phony seizure / ascent to see his wife Elizabeth above:
Here's how that ink drawing turned out:
And the finished digital art (white, red & blue ink on chipboard):
These will be available to purchase from me directly (write me if interested) and hopefully at some shoppes & shows around town. I'm gonna take a break from this series - at least until I get some inspiration for new St. Louisians - so it's a good time to complete your set!
I just finished printing up the latest installment in my series of prints commemorating local St. Louis "folk icons" -- legendary comedian and TV star Redd Foxx! I had done this painting of Redd a while back and was gonna try and capture the same moment, Fred G. Sanford's famous heart-attack pantomime, as well as draw that sweet junk-truck again.
But the more I read up on Redd's life and past, the more I became interested in his early stand-up work, specifically the raunchy image he created through his under-ground "party records."
I decided to focus on this under-appreciated aspect of his career in my early sketches...
... and went so far as to do a final inked drawing:
Ultimately though I decided that I was losing the power and recognizability of Redd Foxx as an icon with this approach, and just couldn't quite get the composition & colors to work anyway. I went back to the drawing board...
...and did some research via YouTube to really try and nail Fred Sanford's phony seizure / ascent to see his wife Elizabeth above:
Here's how that ink drawing turned out:
And the finished digital art (white, red & blue ink on chipboard):
These will be available to purchase from me directly (write me if interested) and hopefully at some shoppes & shows around town. I'm gonna take a break from this series - at least until I get some inspiration for new St. Louisians - so it's a good time to complete your set!
10 comments:
Hi Dan,
Great job. FYI, my biography of Redd Foxx, "Black and Blue," will be published in 2011 by Applause Books.
Michael Starr
msethstarr@gmail.com
i'm looking forward to that biography!!!
Nice job, Danner! Love both the inked versions, very sharp and clean.
Love the theme music. Quincy Jones!
Hey Dan- your site is so educational—the chance to see your creative process is wondeful. thanks so much for sharing. John Foster
Redd Foxx...looks great Dan!
What do get when you cross a mule with some peanut butter?
?
?
A piece of ass that sticks to the roof of your mouth!
Haw haw R.I.P
Terrific print (as usual)!
CCC
Dan -- unlike the wimpy, anal, perfectly-inked Moleskine sketchbook drawings most cartoonists post, your sketchbook drawings show thought-in-action, invention, and a mind-at-work. Don't stop...please! - Austin
Great process post.
Do you Desert Island Comics in Brooklyn? They sell art prints.
I wouldn't be surprised if they took these. Redd Foxx posters should be big sellers with the rocker crowd.
Can I purchase a print of this from you?
Nice prints! you actually made some awesome designs, there's no doubt about it!
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