Art & Inspiration Dave Bell art

Is there a collection of Dave Bell's HENRY HIGHRISE art for sale? I am talking about a book form. Would like to have a copy.......

 

Never cease to Amaze Mark...

 

Always took me an hour just to make sure I didn't miss something. Always neat.

 

View attachment 4906314 Boy, Dave Bell art in Street Rodder was my inspiration for many years of my automotive artwork, most of it was OT because of the time frame. I absolutely loved his "Across 49th street" art because of the GTO which was a dead ringer of my buddy's car( my personal dream car). He was a artistic god , much like Dave Manns work in Easy Riders. Life changing to be sure. Mark, sorry this is sorta OT,( delete if needed) ........ Mitch.

 

Mabe the folks at RODDERS JOURNAL mite consider a book on all of Bell's art work in a book form. I think it would be a million $$ seller............

 

Ive googled his work, theres alot but in book form would be tge greatest, we just gotta cross all out fingers and stuff. Mitch

 

My original Bell

 

Dave was an old friend, I really liked the guy. Hit me hard when he passed.
Here's a couple panels he did that included my '40 Merc.
One from street Rodder & one from Custom Rodder magazines.
I would think a Dave Bell Art book would be a great seller.

Mick

 

Good stuff. This was my favorite thing in Street Rodder back in the day. Snowman

 

I also miss Dave. First met him at the Nationals in Louisville many years ago. He included my Cabriolet in one of his drawings. He was a talented artist.

 

Great stuff, I often turned to the page his drawing was on before looking at the rest of the magazine it was in. That may have come partially from when I was small and sitting here in this living room looking though my grandmother's Saturday Evening Post and starting at the back because she told me that was where the cartoons were.

 

I met Dave at John's Drive In, San Jose, Ca. in '84, we talked Oldsmobiles, and he had a '53, as I remember. We were down for the Nostalgia Nat's @ Fremont. Nice guy !

 

Looks like I am not the only one that likes cartoon hot rods. I hope someone with the where with all will consider publishing a book with Mr. Bell's art work. A RODDERS JOURNAL type book would be a great addition to any hot rod book collection.......a hard back book would be a classic.................

 

YES! I am very excited to say that there is a book in the works. I have been compiling content and have received permission from Dave's widow (a lovely lady) to make this happen.

I'll bookmark this thread and try to keep people posted. Otherwise, I am @32PERCENTER; @STEEKEQUIPPED and will be posting on @HENRYHIRISE as work progresses.

My goal is for a summer 2021 release.

I am happy to see this post and reaffirm there is interest. As I have been going through these what stands out to me is the evolution of Dave's style, and his amazing way of documenting our hobby. It's fascinating stuff!

thanks,

John

 

Dave was a legend and an inspiration to so many of us growing up in that era. He was more than an artist, he was also a storyteller. You didn't just look at his work, you read it, deciphered it and then you went over it again and again to amaze yourself in the brilliance of how he pieced it all together. He didn't just illustrate cool cars, he was also a master at lettering and design, and the Henry Hirise stuff was especially cool since it documented events and highlighted cool snippets of information. I would even grab a magnifying glass and go on the Easter Egg hunt for hidden gems, the stuff you had to look real close to see. Even his minute details were impressive and I usually would find little items I didn't pick up on initially.
So, yeah, any collective printing of his work would be a must have for me and I would imagine many, many other fans and admirers of his work.

 

Glad to hear there is a book in the works!! I am sure it will be enjoyed by all. Will it include other work beside HENRYHIGHRISE ?? God speed on the process.............

 

Hello,

Dave Bell was an extremely talented artist. His drawings looked like a lot of fun was had in the actual time of the drawing. His commentaries, drawings and little pokes at various hot rod/custom art was always challenging. Yes, there should be a book with his commentaries and definitely his artwork.

Jnaki

His art has its own character that is missed and will be hard to match in the future.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-for-the-weather.1203012/page-7#post-13813003

 

Count me as another fan.

Has anyone seen a real car with raised white letter tires proclaiming Big and Little ?

 

Always looked forward to seeing what he came up with, each month in Street Rodder Magazine. The details in each cartoon were so cool, from license plates to lettering on the tires! His cartoons inspired many of the hot rods that were built in the 70's & 80's, he was one of the best!
This is one of my favorites! We've all been there! Check out the message in the cops uniform.

 

Very interested in the book John, Dave’s cartoons really grabbed me as a kid, and I spent many an hour with a rotating pen in my hand. His work was amazing, so much detail.

 

Looking forward to a Dave Bell book. Has been one of my favorites along with Stroker.

 

Good question Gary. You would think somebody would have done it. Well my searches didn't turn up anything so after stewing on this a while I decided to make a pseudo-realistic representation for you and at the same time pay tribute to Dave.

 

Hello,
In looking back at my only ¾ angle artwork, I was wondering how I came up with the idea. I had taken plenty of ¾ rear angle photographs back in those early days. I knew that is one of the best angles for all hot rods. Yes, the front end is also nice and there is a low ¼ front angle that has the same tendencies.

But knowing my limits in art, I must have come across this fabulous artwork in Dave Bell’s repertoire. This is the only ¾ angle ever completed as I tried other hot rods, as they came with the same photo angle. I just could not make any of them work as well and the angle was driving me crazy. In high school art class, perspective and angles were a part of the lessons, but as much as I tried, it never worked out as well as I would have liked.
Jnaki
So, left hand facing flat art is fun to do and detail. The ¾ stuff I will leave up to the other artists’ skills.

 

John's drive In. Boy does that take me back. Before the Drive In there was a Flying " A" GAS STATION THERE and a Babes Muffler across the street. Getting back to the real reason I chimed in was. I too met Dave and he really did like to talk. Nice guy.

 

Dave was amazing ? Top to bottom, side to side, every available space filled with art or lettering. This requires an enormous amount of time and patience and a ton of talent to get it to flow.

@Moriarity: Being one of the stars of Dave's work you and a few others here could get some requests for autographs if this book does get published. What do you think?

@jnaki: Stance is really important. Dave was really an expert at perspective and giving his cars that cool stance. Here's what I mean using your pic as an example. Just a little tweaking to improve the stance. I really love the coloring style here by the way. Has sort of a Peter Max vibe to it.