There is no denying the impact and importance of automotive artists to our hobby. In this instance, we're not talking about metal shaping artists, but rather the men and women who transform their imagination into reality on paper. These are the artists who in many cases not only influence what we build, but also excite our own imagination into dreaming up the seemingly impossible. The sad part of that is while most of us can image new and interesting ways of building and seeing future project cars, transferring those thoughts onto a canvas can be impossible.
This brings us to the need for, and respect of, artists like Darrell Mayabb. Mayabb is one of the latest inductees into Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Hall of Fame. Mayabb's contribution to hot rodding is extensive, to say the least, since just about every automotive publication has featured his works of automotive art either by showcasing his talents with a paintbrush, or by featuring the countless hot rods and street rods he has owned. Then there is a cartoonist called C. Cruz, Mayabb's alter ego of sorts. Through this outlet, Mayabb, or rather C. Cruz, creates caricature-style cartoons with so much detail they can hardly be considered cartoons. These pieces contrast greatly with Mayabb's museum-quality art that has been admired all around the world. However, it all comes from the same artist.
The story behind the man starts at a very young age in Dayton, Ohio, where Mayabb studied car magazines as if they were schoolbooks (sound familiar to anyone?). Mayabb was seemingly born with a knack for drawing, and with a budding interest in cars, it was only a matter of time before he found his niche in the automotive art world. Before he began his career in earnest, many seemingly unrelated opportunities came up for Mayabb that ultimately helped mold him into a Hall of Fame artist.
While in high school, Mayabb's art teacher gave the class an assignment to write a profile on a famous artist. He was to study and give a report on Salvador Dali. Mayabb, having already delved into the automotive world, remembered Dali as one of Von Dutch's big influences, and since Von Dutch was one of Mayabb's biggest influences, he couldn't help but be fascinated by art history.
The next great influence in Mayabb's life came in art school when he took a class on drawing the human form. While he had previously only been interested in drawing automobiles, Mayabb soon met his instructor, Virgil Alston, and found that he was not only one of the finest freehand artists he'd ever seen, but that Alston was also the first artist he knew who was actually earning a living as an artist.
After art school, Mayabb moved to Southern California to work for another big influence in his life: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Also working as an illustrator for North American Aviation allowed Mayabb to earn money and still give him enough free time to hang out a Harvey's Broiler, which was one of Southern California's most famous hot rod hangouts of the '50s and '60s.
From there, Mayabb bounced around the country from Dayton, Ohio, to Miami, Florida, and finally to the beautiful state of Colorado, where Mayabb and his family live today. During all the years of creating the automotive artwork he is so famous for, Mayabb also created some fine street rods, hot rods, customs, and even a few really cool European cars. With a successful career as an automotive artist and illustrator of just about everything, a beautiful home and workshop in Western Colorado, and a loving and supportive family, Darrell Mayabb is one of those lucky individuals who we all aspire to be. The trick for Mayabb seems to be simply taking life as it comes, and paying close attention to the aspects of life that give us the most joy.