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“THE PRINCIPLES OF ART DON’T CHANGE.”

On episode sixty-six, we’re joined by the legendary Kenny Youngblood. An automotive artist of the highest order, his early start in the funny car lettering field is where most will know him from. A man whose professional career has been spent around and working with legendary names like John Buttera and Don Kirby, the stories are practically endless.

The Gearheads are joined by Round Six’s fourth man, Carson, and his interaction as a young kid with Kenny led to a long career in the industry. Kenny was cool enough to give a kid some lessons, and inspired him to take up the brush. A life-lesson in that example for anyone who sees the spark in the next generation to be sure. Please go and do likewise! Carson went from being a kid hiding in a corner watching, to becoming a skilled sign painter.

THINGS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Kenny’s influence on one of Round Six’s own, Carson
  – Painting cars at Don Kirby’s Custom Paint
  – Carson hanging around as a kid
  – The Barry Setzer Vega
  – From Medical School to sign painting
• Early art influences
  – Learning as a kid from his artist Mother
• Hand drawing blueprints
• Early racing efforts with an injected Hemi-powered dragster
• Tom Kelly’s busy schedule provides an early break for Kenny
• Creating isometric projection drawings
  – The “Fudge-O-etric” drawing
• Early Buttera cars
• The Bank of Ameri-Car
• Learning to letter race cars
• Kenny’s business advice: “Raise your prices”
• Passing work to the guys coming up
• How to grow your business as an artist
• The move from hand-painted to digital and vinyl
  – “I’ve had things blow up on the burnout!”
• The golden age of great-looking race cars
• The Youngblood-style grilles and headlights
  – The afro pick headlight technique
• “I could always tell how good an idea was by how often it was stolen”
• Early funny car names
• Nostalgia funny cars
• Pouncing with Butcher paper
• Carson and Kenny’s paths cross once more at Hot Wheels
• Making the shift from painting on cars to painting cars on canvas
• Motorsport Fine Art
• The dawn of the age of motorsport collectibles
• The Lions Drag Strip Museum

Start your own art collection by grabbing some of Kenny’s work HERE.

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