![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4YJD7feRI/AAAAAAAABqA/3K5rc4TUWL8/s400/zettwoch_foxx_print.jpg)
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.
![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4YJ_kg_5I/AAAAAAAABqI/Son3xmiZwcw/s400/Zettwoch_SanfordPaintingLo.jpg)
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."
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4YcLD6OnI/AAAAAAAABqY/5bVY73WiXE4/s400/reddfoxx_records.jpg)
I decided to focus on this under-appreciated aspect of his career in my early sketches...
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4Xmb44i3I/AAAAAAAABpQ/rG0oHpvUYWE/s400/foxx_sketch1.jpg)
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4Xmjc-ViI/AAAAAAAABpY/yw2JETugiZ0/s400/foxx_sketch2.jpg)
... and went so far as to do a final inked drawing:
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4Xl4fjp6I/AAAAAAAABpI/Crt79Kf33sk/s400/fox_artv1.jpg)
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...
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4XnMyS_2I/AAAAAAAABpg/c0RsksEr0bs/s400/foxx_sketch3.jpg)
...and did some research via
YouTube to really try and nail Fred Sanford's phony seizure / ascent to see his wife Elizabeth above:
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4YIyhP7iI/AAAAAAAABp4/Xj42s9oy4Rs/s400/sanford_heartattacks.jpg)
![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4Xnfc2yXI/AAAAAAAABpo/bb70wZpZ9L4/s400/foxx_sketch4.jpg)
Here's how that ink drawing turned out:
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4cARFJO9I/AAAAAAAABqg/XJDUgM5uNBg/s400/bw_artBITMAbitmap.jpg)
And the finished digital art (white, red & blue ink on chipboard):
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/_DsuKQ5xER_I/SX4dE_IK0II/AAAAAAAABqo/MqCvknW3eFI/s400/foxx_layout.jpg)
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!