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In Person - Kenny Youngblood
MEET LEGENDARY AUTOMOTIVE ARTIST KENNY YOUNGBLOOD!!!
KENNY YOUNGBLOOD:
Pioneering The Art Of Speed
No one person has influenced the artistic appeal of motor sports more than Kenny Youngblood.
Youngblood’s visually flamboyant career in hot rod art began to blossom in the late 1960’s, when he started out doing hand lettering and airbrushing on many of the top funny cars and dragsters in the country. His work defined the genre and captivated fans around the world; setting benchmarks for style and innovative effects.
In the mid seventies, he moved onto the drawing board, designing graphics and illustrations for literally hundreds of clients in an exploding performance industry; establishing himself as the first full-time artist specializing in the field.
In the late seventies, he moved ahead yet again. This time, from the drawing board to the easel; creating fine art paintings that depicted a myriad of hot rod and racing subjects. Realizing there was potentially a huge audience, Youngblood published and sold the images to the mass market; unknowingly becoming the lone pioneer of today’s billion-dollar motor sport collectibles business, and almost a decade before the rest of the racing world eventually caught on!
Kenny’s God given talent combined with his love for drag racing and hot rods, has left an indelible mark on the way performance vehicles look today, and a mark who’s timeless beauty will reflect itself with every new generation.
For more information, contact: Terri Youngblood 909-702-1895
Biography of Kenny Youngblood
Motor racing’s most prolific artist was born November 2, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Rosemead. Kenny had inherited a tremendous talent for art and, as a kid, developed a keen interest in mechanical subjects; especially hot rods. The majority of his art training and inspiration came through his artistic family. Both Kenny’s parents, as well as an uncle, were all talented painters. "My mother had an incredible knowledge of art", says Youngblood, who credits her with being "the best teacher I ever had".
At about age 12, Kenny and his friend John Kaiser were treated to a day at San Gabriel Drag Strip, where the young artist became inextricably hooked on the world’s most powerful motorsport.
Wanting to get behind the wheel, and with lot’s of help from John’s dad, the two boys started out racing go-karts and eventually built and raced a Chrysler powered ‘32 Ford. Kenny’s direct involvement in racing would continue throughout his life. "I’m a racer at heart" says Youngblood, who went on to build and drive two "slingshot" Fuel Dragsters, and has done stints as crew member, crew chief and co-owner of various types of race vehicles.
In 1969, the first phase of Youngblood’s career as a drag racing artist had it’s inauspicious beginning when he did some lettering on another friend, Gary Messenger’s dragster. Upon seeing his work, custom painter Dick Olsen hired Kenny to handle all the sign painting at his Bellflower, California shop. Youngblood’s friends called him "Blood" for short, so he signed his work "Blood Did It". Youngblood was in the right place at the right time, with the right abilities. His lifelike airbrush work soon established a new standard, and within the next two years, many of drag racing’s top machines featured Youngblood’s handiwork. Yet, while the sign work was fun, Youngblood knew his abilities exceeded that arena. In the early seventies, encouraged by promoter Bob Kachler, Kenny transferred his skills to the drawing board; designing graphics for all kinds of performance vehicles. He was the first artist to specialize in auto racing and would eventually be called "The father of modern day race-car designs". Examples of his work soon adorned the pages of virtually every publication in motorsports and his designs were responsible for dozens of "Best Appearing" awards.
Although his client list was a "Who’s Who" of motorsports, his most recognizable design didn’t appear on a race car, but rather on millions of record albums. Adorning the sides of the "Eliminator" '34 Ford coupe (and subsequently the pattern for the most infamous "key chain" in history) was Youngblood’s interlocking logo design for the rock group "ZZ Top". There was, however, still more he could do with his talent. Kenny occasionally did paintings of race cars on canvas, and found that buyers for his racing "portraits" were becoming easier to find. It occurred to him that there were a lot of enthusiasts, like himself, who, if given the choice, would hang something on their walls that represented their interest. Consequently, in 1978, Youngblood began offering limited edition prints of his originals, and was unknowingly the world’s first, strictly motorsports art publisher.
By the mid 80’s, the vision Kenny had for the future of motorsports art was indeed becoming a reality. His limited edition prints had gained popularity with collectors worldwide and other modern day racing artists began following the path he’d pioneered. In 1993, with help from industry leaders Roger Holdaway and Jerry Moreland, Kenny opened Youngblood Motorsport Gallery, in Orange, California. It was a spectacular showcase for his works and other top artists in the field. The gallery’s annual "Hot Rod Art Show" was the premier event in the world of high speed art and was featured on the NHRA Today TV show. Youngblood’s contributions to the visual enjoyment of motorsports would be hard to number. "Someone called me an ‘icon’ the other day and I can’t think of a greater measure of success", says Kenny, who’s still cranking out his "Nitro Powered" art.
Today, Kenny is seen more frequently on TV, including “Monster Garage”, and as a celebrity guest at major car shows and events across the country, including Darryl Starbird's Shows, the Detroit Autorama and SEMA Show. "The car culture has gone mainstream, it's a great time to be involved in hot rodding" says Youngblood, whose work has been featured on TV shows like "Monster Garage", and can be seen at the Hot Rod Grille in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was 1960; Kenny was fifteen years old and sitting at the kitchen table. He was drawing his favorite subjects (slingshot fuel dragsters) when his mom walked by and said, “Someday you’ll get paid for that”. “At the time”, recalls Kenny, “I thought she was crazy; who would ever pay anyone to draw dragsters?” If you’re into motor sports, you’ve probably heard his name; if you’re not, you’ve probably seen his work. Kenny Youngblood is not only the most prolific artist in the realm, but also the most significant pioneer in the field.
Kenny’s amazing career grew out of his own need for speed; “I’m a racer at heart” says Youngblood, who, in the mid 60’s built and drove two slingshots of his own. After hand painting the graphics on a friend’s car, he was hired as a sign painter and thus began the first phase of his career.
“I was in the right place at the right time, and with the right abilities”, says the Las Vegas, Nevada resident, whose artistic talents (inherited from a family of artists) were put to good use during what he calls “The Great Funny Car Boom Of The Seventies”. As Youngblood tells it, “It was ‘BC’ back then (Before Computers); everything was hand painted and the funny cars needed airbrushed grills, headlights and taillights”. His eye for what looked good became the standard and his touch was soon in great demand. Funny cars like those of Don “Snake” Prudhomme, Tom “Mongoose” McEwen, the “Blue Max”, the “Black Magic” and an unknown score of others all featured “Blood Did It” designs.
The second phase of Kenny’s career moved him from the paint shop to the drawing board, as his artistic paint schemes met the increasing demand for professional looking graphics as well as a flood of sponsorship proposals. “Pretty soon, we were doing graphic designs and sponsor proposals for all kinds of racing vehicles and shipping them all over the country.” His client list for graphics looked like the “Who’s Who” of racing, including a young NASCAR driver named Dale Earnhardt.
Perhaps Kenny’s most recognizable contribution to the beautification of hot rodding, was the logo he created for the rock group ZZ Top; Youngblood’s design of the interlocking “Z’s”, adorning the sides of the Ford Coupe on their “Eliminator” album, became the world’s most infamous key chain!
As the seventies came to a close, Youngblood moved from the drawing board to the easel, and into the third phase of his career; “I knew there were a lot of fans who would hang paintings of race cars on their walls if given the choice, so we gave them that choice.” In 1978, Kenny became the first to offer fine art paintings, depicting racing subjects, to the mass market. In so doing, he was unknowingly the sole pioneer of what would become the multi-billion dollar business of racing collectibles. His dramatic images (reproduced as posters and limited edition prints) were sold by the thousands to collectors world wide.
Although he still draws and paints, Kenny enjoys the current phase of his career the most; meeting and entertaining fans and enthusiasts at cars shows and automotive events around the world; “I love traveling, I love people, I love drawing and I love hot cars”. And, as it turns out, his mom was right!
For more information, contact:
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