A couple of years ago I came up with the idea to do car features in video form. For some of you that have been following for awhile, you’ve seen these before. For the new folks take a few minutes and hopefully enjoy!
The concept is simple, get the car owner on camera telling the story of the ride. Unfortunately it is a time consuming process and time is what I don’t have much of. So…. there are 2 to date. I am planning on releasing a 3rd one next week (a year after I meant to release it). And hopefully more will follow. Feature videos are the perfect way to capture your memories of your favorite ride to remember for the rest of your life and pass on to future generations.
Between Christmas and New Year’s I was on a road trip and had a little time to stop by and see my friends at Chaotic Customs in Mulvane, KS. They’ve done some work on one of my cars and a couple for my dad and I wanted to drop off some Christmas candy from my family to the Chaotic crew.
Here are some cell phone photos from that visit.
The 2014 SEMA build is Karma’s Mustang. The top has been chopped and numerous other changes are underway.The 2014 SEMA build is Karma’s Mustang. The top has been chopped and numerous other changes are underway.Jack’s 39 Ford is in the shop for some new floors and rust repair. The chassis sports a ton of parts that Jack got from RJay’s Speed Shop.This hot rod is getting the full treatment with a whole bunch of custom treatments, stay tuned for more on it.Chaotic’s Chris Carlson showing the newly chopped removable hard top on this kustom MercuryAnother project is this ’59 Chevy.The crew at Chaotic is really doing a kool job on this Stingray Vette. Adding a bit of muscle to the front fenders, sucking the bumpers into the body a bit for a more streamlined look, re-shaping the wheel wells again to show a bit of a bulge on the body. Almost like the way the designers may have envisioned the car before the bean counters took over. I can’t wait to see this one all finished up.
Thanks to my friends at Chaotic for opening up the doors to my dad and I and taking the time to show us all of the projects in the shop. I’m sure the big tray of candy had nothing to do with that :). I have upcoming shop visits planned for 3 new shops in the next few months, stay up to date by subscribing in the top right hand corner of the page.
**** Note: From time to time I want to feature pieces by some of my friends here. Last month I featured Gears And Gals Magazine (here), Steve Giangreco from Gears And Gals has been gracious to loan us this article for all of you out there. Enjoy!****
Matt Espy’s Ford
by Steve Giangreco
I met Matt Espy one day while I was at Tallant’s hot rod shop. Dan Tallant thought I would want to see his car and he asked Matt to drive it into work. Wow! I was so happy he did!
When I got to the shop, parked outside was this aggressive looking Model A Ford sitting low and mean. I walked around the car just taking it in. Every detail of this car is right. There wasn’t anything I could pick out that I would have done different.
The Model A was made available for sale to the public in December of 1927. It was the model that replaced the Model T. In the cars three year run, the Ford Motor Company produced over 3 million units. This made the Model A popular with hot rodders early on. They were lightweight, inexpensive, and plentiful. Over the decades not much has changed. The Ford Model A is still a favorite among hot rodders. While a Ford Model A hot rod is nothing new, they are not all created equal! Many things set them apart, build quality and aesthetics being the two most important. Some look good but can’t run, some run like hell but look like it too! Not Matt’s car. Matt’s car is right on in both categories.
Matt told me that he bought the car at a swap meet in 2004. “I looked at it in the yard until 2008 until my boss Dan and I decided to start building it”, Matt said. They started by taking the car to Dan’s house and laying the body on the floor. They began to mock up the new frame they were going to build for it. He wanted it to sit as low as possible so airbags were a must. The motor and transmission were laid on the ground and they built the frame into the body. They only channeled it about an inch. Matt is 6’3” and needed all the headroom he could get.
They used a 5″ dropped axle and some wishbones which they split from one of Dan’s old 48 Fords. A rear end out of a 55 Chevy was mounted with air ride technologies triangulated 4 link set up with bags. They made all the floors for the car and tranny tunnel. After that, the top was chopped 6 inches. It rolls on red steel wheels with wide white wall tires and cheater slicks in the rear. There are disc brakes up front for stopping power. The interior sports custom pin-striping , Moon gauges, and a Lokar shifter.
For the grille he wanted something that was a little different. He found one from a ’35 Ford on eBay that he liked. As soon as he got it, he cut about 8 inches off of the bottom and fabricated a new one out of round bar. He also made the hood and ornament from scratch.
He frenched in 1959 Cadillac taillights in the rear and painted the car a Mercedes flat gray with silver scallops. Eric Campbell added the finishing touches by doing all the pin-striping.
All of this together makes for one bad ride. This is one Model A that does NOT get lost in the crowd.
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For a couple of years now I’ve covered a fairly new show called The Chill held in Park City, KS in the fairgrounds buildings next to the Kansas Coliseum just north of Wichita, KS on I-135. I’ve enjoyed the show each time I’ve been to it, it’s always good to have another event to attend. The show has 1 giant room dedicated to bikes and bike related vendors, and 2 that are filled with cars and car related vendors. The show this year goes down Feb. 28 – Mar. 2, 2014. For more info go here.
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The Texas Thaw is an awesome drag race/car show event held March 1st at the North Star Dragway along I-35 just north of Denton, TX. In 2013 I made my first trip down to the Thaw, what I found was a great selection of vintage drag machines and hot rods that were out taking some passes on the track.
2013 was a fun year. In total over 50 new photo galleries were added to the 2013 folder, I haven’t added up the miles yet, or the expenses on hotels and such, but the fun meter was pegged all year long. Here are the most popular photo galleries from 2013 in slideshow form, click on the slide show to see the entire gallery. The total photo views for Royboy Galleries for 2013 was 4,462,950 not counting tomorrow of course. Since moving my photos to their current home on Smugmug just after the 2010 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular the total photo views for the site are now at 11,581,517. That just blows my mind. The majority of those views comes from people looking at my car show coverage threads on the H.A.M.B. but this year a big chunk was also from right here on my own site. The largest single day of the year was 7/29 (just after the KKOA) with 183,318 however most days average under 10,000 photo views.
The top 10 Royboy Productions galleries with the most views for 2013 are:
This was the first time that I showed my Galaxie at the Starbird-Devlin show and with it’s fresh Jeff Myers paint job (the plan is for an update to that paint job just before the show this year).
The 2nd time that I’ve made the trip down to this show at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. I have a lot of friends in North Texas so I suspect that I will return for this event in the future, not sure about 2014 yet though.
I missed the first few H.A.M.B. Drags events but it’s one I go to every year now. It’s great to see so many of my H.A.M.B. friends, get to see them run their cars and it’s turned into a family event for us with friends and family gathering from 4 states to hang out in Joplin.
A cold and rainy forecast kept many away from the Stray Kat 500, but still the car count was HUGE for the weather, with my personal estimates in the 400 range.
The other Stray Kat Kustoms show is the Starliner, and unlike many of the shows this year it wasn’t rainy, it was almost unbearably hot on that tarmac. Not the hottest show we’ve had in the last few years for sure but it was pretty brutal. Still one of the koolest shows on the planet.
Greaserama had a new home this year, some said that they would not attend because of it. They weren’t missed, this was easily the largest Greaserama to date and has room for growth in the new venue.
ANOTHER Texas show, this one a bit farther south. Austin’s Lonestar Roundup keeps getting bigger and bigger, which can cause problems in a city already experiencing growing pains with horrendous traffic and construction zones. The show was huge this year and I had a blast taking my ride to it for the first time. I’ll be back in 2014.
And the most popular photo gallery of Royboy Productions for 2013 was:
If it wasn’t for this show, I might not be doing this today. When the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular came to Salina it breathed a great new life into the show and it’s grown year after year. The last 3 years were incredibly hot with temps over 105 degrees, but this year was different. The rain that in some way was present for most of the year was again a factor but on Sunday this year it was 65 degrees instead of the 109 of the previous year. The show reached a new high of 1,867 entries. I hope in future years we can increase the number of kustoms and hot rods!
In my mind there is no greater escape for me than to hop in a great car with a great stereo, roll the windows down and go blasting down some two lane highway. For as long as I’ve been driving, music and cars have gone together for me. As the years went on I found that it was possible to create a pretty fantastic listening environment in my favorite place to listen to music.
Please excuse the copious amounts of tweed, these were taken in the 90’s 🙂
About a decade ago some friends and I were going to make a run at competing for a world championship again in sound quality ranks of IASCA and USACi auto sound competitions. Life got in the way. I still have most of the equipment from that buildup as the car was never finished and I’m making plans now on putting a system in the Galaxie. Not to compete again, we were once among the very best in the world, that competitive nature is long gone from me. Now I just want to get in, put on a great song and just get lost on the road to nowhere.
Stay locked into the blog over the coming months, I hope to have a whole bunch of tech articles for you, both auto sound and just old car related. From installing new high output headlights in the Galaxie to better see at night and new taillights so you can better see me, to new weather stripping, sound deadening, proper wiring selection for a stereo system, building speaker mounts, system design, wiring harness installation (maybe), etc. I hope to provide more show coverage from outside photographers as well from shows that I cannot attend. If you have any other suggestions for the type of content you’d like to see, let me know here. As long as it goes to the common goal of talking about kool hot rods and hot kustoms built in the midwest, I’m open to hear your suggestions.
My goals for 2014 for Royboy Productions is to make this site into a daily digital magazine, turning up the volume with shop features, car features, the car show coverage that I do so much, tech articles and more. I’m throwing around the idea of creating a hard back book of car features whenever I have enough of them built up to fill a book and make it a good value for YOU. I will continue to create the occasional new books like the 2013 Squared book I just put out. Hopefully I’ll continue with the Artist Feature series as long as they keep filling out the questionnaires and agreeing to be on the site.
Stay tuned folks 2014 is about to get loud in more ways than one. Next Monday and Tuesday as we wind down 2013 I will feature some of the most popular posts and photos that I shared with you this year.
Sometimes you have to practice for years to get good at something, other times you get it right on your first effort. Brandon McCullough from Tulsa, OK got this 1931 Model A right on his first effort. As a kid he attended “every car show that we could find” with his dad who was always talking about wanting a hot rod coupe. After a few well detailed beautiful bike builds McCullough decided it was time to build a coupe for himself just like Dad had always wanted.
My friend John Wells of Vintage Torque is a man on a mission. Both his hugely successful Vintage Torque Fest and Iron Invasion shows raise money for HelpingHannahsHeart.org and he’s not stopping there. Also available as a fund raiser are 2 coloring books, I just ordered a couple of the new Asphalt Fiends Coloring Books for gifts for my nephews for Christmas (they are 3 and 5 and I don’t think they read this blog so I am not ruining their surprise). HelpingHannahsHeart.org is a foundation to help families who are dealing with the financial burden that comes from having a child with Critical Aortic Stenosis or related Congenital Heart Defects. The Wells family knows all too well what this financial burden looks like, this is their way of helping others going through the same thing.
The coloring books are a veritable who’s who of the hot rod art world. Page after page of heavy hitter artists lending their art in a coloring book line art form. The 2014 edition features art from Zombie, John Detich, Eric Foust, Grant Cushman, Ryan Curtis, Dustin Weisgerber, Kris Chisholm, Shawn Spiwak, Max Grundy, Andrew Wright, Paul Kester, Nate Greco, Shawn Dickinson, ZAKKA, Mike Learn, BigToe, Chad Lambert, Joey Finz, Mark Thompson, Bruce Gossett, Chad Scheres, Scott Fisk, Jeff Gaither, Johnny Jalopy, Corrie Erickson, Jim Hively, Ben DragDaddys Mitchell, BOMONSTER, Del Swanson, Sara Ray, Sinclair, Arlo Dillman, and GerPeters.
The 2013 edition boasts this line up: Ryan Curtis, Nate Greco, John Detrich, Eric Foust, Mark Thompson, Ruben Montes, Shawn Spiwak, Chainsaw Chuck, Johnny Jalopy, Dane Brown, Bradie O’Neal, Darren Menzies, John Hoogeveen, Chris Hamer, Del Swanson, Thomas Metcalf, Nik Scarlett, Dustin Weisgerber, Grant Cushman, Joey Finz, Chad Scheres, Jeff Schwerdtfeger, Ben DragDaddys Mitchell, Britt Madding, Ryan Curtis, Kurt Wright, Thomas Metcalf, Tom Krohne, Bruce Gossett, Ger Peters and Lil Nick.
I’ve been going over the books for a couple of days now and I’m really impressed. There are some fantastic artists featured with a whole truck load of incredible art just waiting for your (or your child’s) coloring touch. So get on over to Asphalt Fiends Coloring Books and get yourself some ordered. Get an extra to keep because these could easily be a great collector’s item.
See you at a show,
Royboy
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Valentine’s Day is for lovers, in 2014 Valentine’s Day weekend is for car lovers with 2 big indoor shows in the region. The one that I’m going to talk about here is Darryl Starbird’s show in Tulsa, OK. The show has for years included a monster truck show and the price tag seems to go up and up but I go back every year. Why? Because they continue to draw some great cars and with the 2014 edition being the 50th annual event, I’m sure there will be a ton of great rides on display. Go here for the show flyer for more info.
It’s time for a new book! I’ve gone through and picked out my 120 favorite Instagram photos from the Royboy Productions Instagram feed and I’ve put them in this new book called “2013 Squared” The book is available as a hardback, softback or as a pdf version for your tablet or smartphone. Here’s a 15 page preview!
It may seem odd to some to already be looking forward to the start of the 2014 show season but the truth is, it’s literally 1 month away here in the Midwest! On January 11th in the Five Flags Arena in Dubuque Iowa the Retro Rewind goes down in conjunction with the Fuel Injected Film Festival.
A while back we were presented with a chance to coordinate a car show in Dubuque. But we didn’t want to do just another cookie cutter event that shows off the local Camaro club or some tricked out 2012 Mustang….
Our proposal was to bring back a distinct time.
A time before muscle cars dominated.
In effect, take the basic concept of a traditional hot rod show and throw it indoors.
This has been done with great success with Jalopyrama in MD, Grand National Roadster Show, and the World of Wheels extreme areas in Indy, KC, Chicago, and the best one – Detroit.
But even some of those events tend to let beaters in….(like mine)
What we are trying to create is a show that would bring the standard up a bit.
A show that celebrates those that take the time to get a display together the way they did back in the 50′s and 60′s.
A show that combines two of the most iconic symbols of America. Cars and Guitars. The Retro Rewind is not really anything new, but what is different about the event is going to be the sheer volume of
things to do AT the event.
We hope this event will be successful because we can team up with several players in the community that would be able to make the
Retro Rewind special. Many out of town kustom car owners will display their cars. We already have commitments from cars in IN, MI, WI, KS, IL, and IA.
Many will want to
come out to break up the winter monotony.
Example:This past Super Bowl Sunday there were 100 gearheads meeting in a parking lot in 14 degree weather while snow was flying.
This meeting was a Facebook event…..no ads. Bare Bones have positive word of mouth on their events they have done in the past, and we think Torque Fest and Iron Invasion do as well.
It is this dedication to the hot rod lifestyle that we will capture at Retro Rewind.
Our message will be spread around the midwest at car shows, antique shows, and CD, vinyl, and guitar shows with the help of several dealers that attend shows from Ohio to Kansas City.
Currently there are NO guitar shows in Iowa! This is an obvious hole that needs to be filled.
Guitar and hot rod fans will want to stay around to see the talent of JB (a big name that we are in current contract negotiations with.)
The proposal is that there would be a discounted price for going to both events – but people could go to either event by
purchasing tickets for the concert that night or just pay for the event the day of the show.
In order to get maximum exposure for the event, ads will be placed in Vintage Guitar, Guitar Player, Ol Skool Rodz,
Rod & Kulture, as well as the usual blitz of propaganda we give out to all the fans around the midwest.
Art Auction – There will be a smaller version of the Vintage Torque Fest art auction held at the Retro Rewind. The thing
that will distinguish this auction from others is the fact that half the proceeds from the auction will go directly to the artist and the other half will
go to Hannah Wells Medical Trust. Invited artists will have the ability to set up and sell their wares. This
will give the public a chance to see their items for sale as well as what the artists may be working on at the show.
7 Sins Section – Performing different feats throughout the day, 7 Sins Sideshow Circus act will amaze the crowd with their
daring stage act. Do NOT try these things at home!
Pin Up Contest – Ten girls will be chosen to get onstage and give the crowd a taste of vintage cheesecake. Get your cameras ready for the poses!
Mileage for invited cars – Retro Rewind invites any historic, kustom, cover car, or vintage show rod to take a part of the festivities. We are trying
to keep the quality of the cars higher since this is exactly what was done at indoor shows in the late 50s and early 60s.
Peoples Choice Award – $500 to the winner! The public will pick the car they think is best. If we can get a sponsor, we will try to make the
second and third place winners happy as well.
Model Display Area – Scott Baldauf will round up the usual suspects to bring out some miniature rods and customs! If you have something you would like displayed – go ahead and bring it!
Motor Matinee – Step inside the Five Flags Theater – adjoined on the east side of the building. This is an 1800′s
opera house that has been updated in the 1980′s to bring in choice acts to the stage. We will be using this theater throughout the day
showing documentaries, vintage racing, and perhaps some highlights from past years Torque Fests.
Bands 3 on the Tree will wow the crowd with their mix of original and swingin favorites Rumble Seat Riot will hit the stage going 90MPH and won’t stop
til everyone has danced their feet off!
Indoor Swap – 8 foot tables will be available for approximately 40 dealers that would like to come to the show to sell their old vinyl, vintage motorcyle or car parts, or used music instruments.
Admission will be $10 and this gets you into BOTH the film festival and the car/cycle show.
Show hours are 9-7
Return to Five Flags Theater at 8pm
opening band open at 830pm
JB at 930pm
We are trying to keep a price point of $18-$20 for the headliner.
AND
we are going to give a discount of $5 for those that come to both events.
We have other announcements we will make later on to make this event even better, but know that this is going to be a
good time, and those looking for a good time in the winter will want to attend.
Scheduled to Appear:
Chuck the Barber
National Motorcycle Museum
Ed Tillrock
Rock N Roll Land
V8 Custom Guitars
Dubuque Tattoo Co.
Flying Weasel Garage
Retro Relics
Todd Jones
Wrenchin’ Wendy Walker
Retro A Go-Go
Hot Rod Honeys
Hetz
Nate Ullrich – Lyfebehindbars.com
Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio
Broken Cherry
Relic
P’Gosh
John Berry
Ol Skool Rodz
Scott Takes – Underground Art Studios
Kansas Demilitarized Zone
Jimmy Flintstone Studios
Here’s another post stuffed with 40 photos from the Rocky Mountain Auto Show. The show featured all kinds of cars and like I said in post 1, most of them were new to me so I’m sharing them even if they don’t fit in the more traditional/old school style. There is a post coming that is chock full of vintage hot rods that were at the Hot Rod Hill Climb so stay tuned, to make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe by entering your email address in the top right hand corner of this page. Again thanks to Dan Greenberg for allowing me to borrow this lens, go check out his photography and buy something!
Enough of my gabbing let’s get to the photos!
Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.
Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.Click any photo to go to the entire gallery.
More to come tomorrow, don’t forget to subscribe in the top right hand corner of royboyproductions.com to get this blog delivered in your email inbox every time it goes live. 1 lucky subscriber at the end of each month will win a prize package, you have to be on the list to be eligible.
See you at a show,
Royboy
CALENDAR UPDATE!!!!
As of right now only 20 copies remain of the Trucks Edition, all others are sold out!
For a couple of years I’ve been hearing about the Rock Mountain Auto Show in Denver, CO over Thanksgiving weekend, 2013 was finally the time to make it up and check the show out. One of the voices telling me of the show was my friend photographer Dan Greenberg, and once I saw that my friends from the Hot Rod Hill Climb were going to do a display featuring a bunch of the cars that ran the hill climb this year, I was all in.
Waking up at 5:30 am I rolled out for the 6 hour drive west on I-70 for the Colorado Convention Center on the south west side of Denver’s downtown. As soon as I arrived I ran into a bunch of friends from across the midwest, including Dan who had a lens for me to experiment with. I’ve been considering buying a certain lens and he had an older version of it and was kind enough to let me test his out. Thanks Dan! Here’s the first batch of photos from the event, click on any of them to go to the entire gallery. This show had a lot of quality cars that aren’t of the traditional or old school flavor but they were new to me and hopefully new to you so I’m including them in the coverage.
To see the daily Monday through Saturday blog posts in your email inbox as soon as they go live go to the top right hand corner of royboyproductions.com and enter your email address. On the last day of each month 1 subscriber will be randomly picked to win a prize, November’s prize was a rb Embroidered Hat. For December I’m working on getting a big bunch of prizes from different websites, including shirts, discounts and whatever else I can round up!
On my way to the Hot Rod Revolution (which was being cancelled as I shot these photos) I stopped by my friends’ Chaotic Customs in Mulvane, KS to see what they were up to. The shop was full of projects and folks working on them. Drew Carlson was nice enough to take a few minutes off of working on a project to show me around the shop and explain what they’d been up to recently since finishing the SEMA build on Mike’s 40 Ford Pickup. The photos below should all be captioned and explain what you’re seeing. I will try to stop in a couple of more times over the next few months for more updates on these projects.
Jack’s 39 Ford Body, Drew Carlson hand fabbed the rear section and replaced all the rusty sections towards the bottom of the body all around.The factory antenna holes were patched up as well as some other holes in the body and of course some rusty spots.Rear shot of the 39, new floors installed. Drew was working on the car as I got there, later in the day I stopped by Jack’s home shop where he was working on getting the frame painted so it could be reassembled and reunited with the body.About an inch was taken out of the meat above the window area of the roof on this pickup. More on it in a few weeks, lots of mods going on here.1940 Chevy Convertible with new floor pans, new suspension and new 4 bar setup in the back.The new floor pans in the 1940 Chevy ConvertibleThe 1940 Chevy’s new front suspension.A new roll pan for the 40 Chevy ConvertibleThe owner of this Vette wanted to update the car a bit. Chaotic is exaggerating some of the factory lines a bit more like what a factory dream car might have been like. Vette purists will hate it but, I dig it big time.The rear bumpers were sucked in to the body and reshaped to fit.Here you can see the peak of the passenger side fender has been raised about an inch. The more aggressive big block hood will be added as well.Here you can see the difference in the front fenders. The raised peak adds style and aggressiveness that should have been there from the factory.A recently completed project at Chaotic, back in for a checkup.Chaotic just finished up Mike’s 40 Ford pickup for SEMA and is now prepping it for the show circuit, starting next week!A Mustang fastback in the shop for some major upgrades. EFI 302, 6 speed Tremec, Mustang II style front suspension, removed shock towers, smoothed and flamed inner fenders, are just some of the mods on this car. More photos in a couple of weeks.
See you at a show,
Royboy
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Next up for the Artist Feature part of the site is Ed Tillrock! Ed’s talent with any artistic medium is staggering to someone like me that struggles with stick figures but when he has a pencil in his hand he’s just downright amazing. Ed produces pencil drawings that you will swear are some sort of Photoshop manipulation of a black and white photo, but I’ve sat and watched the man create these amazing images on blank paper. It’s nothing short of amazing.
Without any further ado…
Q: Do you remember an “ah-ha” moment that made you know that art was going to be an integral part of your life? A: As a kid I wanted to be an architect, but loved to draw! The “ah-ha” moment came in High School in an architecture class. I discovered Architectural Rendering! Art and architecture… A perfect fit for me…. I became a renderer! Did that for over 30 years, until the wheels came off the economy… It turned out to be a good thing for me… About 6 years ago I merged my passions for art and hot rods. I work more now than I ever have, but it’s not work! It’s a labor of love… Drawing with a regular #2 pencil is what I have done my whole life. It was a natural progression for me to scribble hot rods with graphite on illustration board. I love the depth and richness I get with it. I treat my art as if it’s oil on canvas, but it’s all pencil!
Q: If you could pick 1 piece of your work that would represent the entire body of your work, which one would you choose? A: Bus Stop
Q:Who or what most inspires your work? A: Tom Fritz’s oil paintings really inspire me. He’s got that passion, hard working effort and he’s a great guy to hang around with. (I hate him!)
Max (World-Wide) Grundy is such an energizing force. He never stops! His passion for his art is unbelievable.
I could also add, Kenny Youngblood, Steve Stanford, Chip, Frank Lloyd Wright, and of course Norman Rockwell….
Q: What’s 1 piece of advice you’d give an artist that’s just starting out today?
A: Learn to draw by hand! Computers are fantastic, but before you can run you need to walk. The basics are important…. And draw every day!!!
Thanks Ed for taking the time to answer the questions and for sharing some of your art with all of us! Folks, go to Ed’s site, buy his art, it’s that simple and makes amazing Christmas gifts.
See you at a show,
Royboy
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Just because this year is almost over doesn’t mean that we can’t be looking forward to the start of next year! In these parts January has but one major event. The Starbird-Devlin Rod & Customs Charities Car Show. The show goes down this January 17-19th at the Century II in Wichita, KS. Last year’s show was the first time that I displayed my car for an indoor show and I really had a good time, this year I will again be a part of the Kustom City display featuring Wichita area kustoms. I’m honored to get to have my Galaxie with these beautiful cars!
Here’s a slide show of the photos from this year’s event.
This is the 4th time I’ve put together the Mid Decembrrrr Run and the 4th variation on the theme. The first run was about 130 miles with stops to tour the McPherson College Auto Restoration program, the very impressive Kansas Motorcycle Museum and a stop at my friend Calvin’s Customs shop in Salina, KS before heading to the Stiefel Theatre to watch that year’s KKOA Leadsled Spectacular DVD from Vintage Torque. Year 2 we did about 150 miles and took the group on a great drive through some scenic country that most had never seen before, and we stopped at the Kansas Auto Racing Museum in Chapman, KS before hitting Calvin’s shop. Year 3 was a long long drive, we left from Calvin’s and headed west on old highway 40 all of the way out to Big Creek Restoration in Ellis, KS where we were treated to some BBQ and a shop tour before turning around and rolling back to Salina. All of these included stops at the Paramount Bar in Salina for drinks and usually some food that we put together to feed the weary travelers.
So the 4th year I’m taking you on a new adventure and adding the movie experience back in. We’ll leave my small home town of Gypsum, KS shortly after 10am, heading east on K4 Highway and then ducking off onto some paved roads that connect some of the smaller towns of the area. The road part of the trip is shorter than past years at about 65 miles but the stop in the middle is a good one! President Dwight D. Eisenhower grew up in Abilene, KS and that’s where his Presidential Library is. We will stop for lunch in Abilene and head to the museum, for about a 2.5 hour stop. This will provide some great indoor time to not only see some great historical pieces but to hang out with folks also on the Run. Please note that the admission to the museum is $10 a head for anyone 6 years old and older, we may get a slight discount as a group but plan for $10 just in case. From there we will head out of Abilene and catch old 40 again and head for Salina. A quick stop to see what Calvin’s Customs is up to then on to the Paramount for some food, drinks and a special screening of the new Atomic Hot Rods Film “This is Long Beach.” We may show the new KKOA DVD while we’re eating as well, I’ve not decided and asked for permission on that part yet. The movie does cost me money to screen, so some donations to that cause would be awesome. In the past couple of years I’ve made arrangements for some food to be served, I’m not sure what I’m doing to that end this year. We may have some snacks at the Paramount and just all go to a brand new Pizzeria after the screening. As we closer to the day we’ll get that figured out. PLEASE NOTE: If you are waiting until that day to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity, DON’T! They are going fast and only 39 remain of the 250 that were produced!
So come along with us and enjoy the ride, drive your cool classic hot rod, kustom, cruiser or whatever if you’d like, drive your daily driver if you must, just join the rod/kustom family on yet another adventure that we call the Mid Decembrrrr Run.
Here is Atomic Hot Rods site, where you can purchase “This is Long Beach” or any of the Atomic Hot Rods Films. I will have some copies of “This Is Long Beach” on hand for you to purchase at the event if you’d like them.
Keep your head warm on the cold winter days! Pre-order a new RB Beanie for just $10 plus shipping. After the pre-order the price returns to $12 plus shipping so get one now!
New shirts, books and more are on the way, just in time for Christmas! Subscribe to this blog in the top right hand corner of royboyproductions.com to keep up to date on what’s available and when it’s available.
A while back we were presented with a chance to coordinate a car show in Dubuque.
But we didn’t want to do just another cookie cutter event that shows off the local Camaro club or some tricked out
2012 Mustang….
Our proposal was to bring back a distinct time.
A time before muscle cars dominated.
In effect, take the basic concept of a traditional hot rod show and throw it indoors.
This has been done with great success with Jalopyrama in MD, Grand National Roadster Show, and the World of Wheels extreme areas in Indy, KC, Chicago, and the best one – Detroit.
But even some of those events tend to let beaters in….(like mine)
What we are trying to create is a show that would bring the standard up a bit.
A show that celebrates those that take the time to get a display together the way they did back in the 50’s and 60’s.
A show that combines two of the most iconic symbols of America. Cars and Guitars. The Retro Rewind is not really anything new, but what is different about the event is going to be the sheer volume of
things to do AT the event.
We hope this event will be successful because we can team up with several players in the community that would be able to make the
Retro Rewind special. Many out of town kustom car owners will display their cars. We already have commitments from cars in IN, MI, WI, KS, IL, and IA.
Many will want to
come out to break up the winter monotony.
Example:This past Super Bowl Sunday there were 100 gearheads meeting in a parking lot in 14 degree weather while snow was flying.
This meeting was a Facebook event…..no ads. Bare Bones have positive word of mouth on their events they have done in the past, and we think Torque Fest and Iron Invasion do as well.
It is this dedication to the hot rod lifestyle that we will capture at Retro Rewind.
Our message will be spread around the midwest at car shows, antique shows, and CD, vinyl, and guitar shows with the help of several dealers that attend shows from Ohio to Kansas City.
Currently there are NO guitar shows in Iowa! This is an obvious hole that needs to be filled.
Guitar and hot rod fans will want to stay around to see the talent of JB (a big name that we are in current contract negotiations with.)
The proposal is that there would be a discounted price for going to both events – but people could go to either event by
purchasing tickets for the concert that night or just pay for the event the day of the show.
In order to get maximum exposure for the event, ads will be placed in Vintage Guitar, Guitar Player, Ol Skool Rodz,
Rod & Kulture, as well as the usual blitz of propaganda we give out to all the fans around the midwest.
Art Auction – There will be a smaller version of the Vintage Torque Fest art auction held at the Retro Rewind. The thing
that will distinguish this auction from others is the fact that half the proceeds from the auction will go directly to the artist and the other half will
go to Hannah Wells Medical Trust. Invited artists will have the ability to set up and sell their wares. This
will give the public a chance to see their items for sale as well as what the artists may be working on at the show.
7 Sins Section – Performing different feats throughout the day, 7 Sins Sideshow Circus act will amaze the crowd with their
daring stage act. Do NOT try these things at home!
Pin Up Contest – Ten girls will be chosen to get onstage and give the crowd a taste of vintage cheesecake. Get your cameras ready for the poses!
Mileage for invited cars – Retro Rewind invites any historic, kustom, cover car, or vintage show rod to take a part of the festivities. We are trying
to keep the quality of the cars higher since this is exactly what was done at indoor shows in the late 50s and early 60s.
Peoples Choice Award – $500 to the winner! The public will pick the car they think is best. If we can get a sponsor, we will try to make the
second and third place winners happy as well.
Model Display Area – Scott Baldauf will round up the usual suspects to bring out some miniature rods and customs! If you have something you would like displayed – go ahead and bring it!
Motor Matinee – Step inside the Five Flags Theater – adjoined on the east side of the building. This is an 1800’s
opera house that has been updated in the 1980’s to bring in choice acts to the stage. We will be using this theater throughout the day
showing documentaries, vintage racing, and perhaps some highlights from past years Torque Fests.
Bands 3 on the Tree will wow the crowd with their mix of original and swingin favorites Rumble Seat Riot will hit the stage going 90MPH and won’t stop
til everyone has danced their feet off!
Indoor Swap – 8 foot tables will be available for approximately 40 dealers that would like to come to the show to sell their old vinyl, vintage motorcyle or car parts, or used music instruments.
Admission will be $10 and this gets you into BOTH the film festival and the car/cycle show.
Show hours are 9-7
Return to Five Flags Theater at 8pm
opening band open at 830pm
JB at 930pm
We are trying to keep a price point of $18-$20 for the headliner.
AND
we are going to give a discount of $5 for those that come to both events.
We have other announcements we will make later on to make this event even better, but know that this is going to be a
good time, and those looking for a good time in the winter will want to attend.
Scheduled to Appear:
Chuck the Barber
National Motorcycle Museum
Ed Tillrock
Rock N Roll Land
V8 Custom Guitars
Dubuque Tattoo Co.
Flying Weasel Garage
Retro Relics
Todd Jones
Wrenchin’ Wendy Walker
Retro A Go-Go
Hot Rod Honeys
Hetz
Nate Ullrich – Lyfebehindbars.com
Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio
Broken Cherry
Relic
P’Gosh
John Berry
Ol Skool Rodz
Scott Takes – Underground Art Studios
Kansas Demilitarized Zone
Jimmy Flintstone Studios
So there you have it. More info in a month but for now make your plans to be there!
Please Note: For the month of December and maybe January I will be backing the blog posts up to 5 days a week. There just is not enough going on in my schedule to fill up 7 days a week and I want to focus on creating a new t shirt, book and a couple of other items. Subscribe at the top right hand corner of the site to get the blog delivered every time it goes live!
“Welcome back ! This week I’ve gotten into the Hall Of Fame Legends Archives to pull out a story you’ve probably missed: It’s Fritz Schenck with his tale of a very cool, custom-built, show car…”The Roswell Rod” !
FRITZ SCHENCK (Spritz By Fritz), is in the vanguard of the new breed of builders/customizers. You’ve probably seen THE ROSWELL ROD, and some of his other cars, clones, restorations, bikes, or, paint jobs, featured in Rod & Custom, Street Rodder, Custom Rodder, etc.
2011 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular Saturday
Well, a few years ago, Fritz and I sat down, relaxed, and talked about his cars, then-current & future, plus his views on “creating art” through Rolling Sculpture.
Fritz is a cool guy with lots of talent. To “hear all about it” just CLICK-ON-HERE , listen, and…Enjoy !
BTW: Have a GREAT weekend, and Cruise Travis’ super-cool Site while you’re here…check-out the available Merch, there’s bound to be something you need ! Or, hey, pick-up something to give to one of your buddies !!
5th and final post of my 2013 Pistons and Paint coverage. I’ve saved a few images back and I’ll write up a piece to accompany them for an article for a magazine, stay tuned for that. Click on any of the photos to purchase it as a print and help put more gas in the Royboy-mobile to get me to another car show!
Part 4, only 1 left after this one! Quite a few of these cars I get to see in Austin at the Roundup but this show is about 1/3 the size. I’ll be completely honest here, I like the smaller shows. When you start to get over 1000 cars you really loose the intimacy of the show, there’s just too much to see, too little time to spend with friends because you’re always pulled to go visit other friends. This show had officially 494 cars, enough to fill out your day but not so much that it felt overwhelming. The cars, the people, the bands, all added up to a very enjoyable day.
Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!
Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!
Remaining stock: 2 Stray Kat Kustoms, 2 Hot Rod, 5 Kustoms, 16 Greaserama, and 28 Trucks
Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!Like this photo? Click it to go to the page where you can order a print. Every print helps get my cameras to another show!
Continuing the coverage of the 2013 Pistons and Paint. I’m going to save my brain a bit and not type too much here for story as I am trying to see if I can get an article on the show published. If you see any photo that you like, buy a print, it’ll put a little gas in my tank to get me down the road to the next show (literally) so I can bring more coverage to you!
Before any of the car stuff, the day this post goes live is Veteran’s Day 2013. Thank you to all current and former Veterans for your hard work and sacrifice. Early this year one of you that was close to me passed, on an extremely cold day in a snow packed cemetery, 2 incredible young men came out and sent him off in a way that still makes me tear up to today. He flew in WWII and was a flight instructor, in a war that was well into the history books decades before these soldiers were born but the respect and dedication that they had to see that he was honored properly was inspiring. The cold, the snow, the fact that they never met the man who’s service was over almost 70 years ago, none of these meant that they would give any less than their all. Thank you to all of you that have served and God bless you and your families.
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My first Pistons & Paint weekend is about over. 🙁 Well, as I type this it’s 11:35pm on Sunday night, so the weekend is over in just a few minutes. I hope you enjoy the Pistons and Paint coverage as much as I enjoyed the weekend! Click on any of these photos to go to the full gallery and purchase a print! Help get the Royboy cameras to another event by getting some prints for your walls!
More to come throughout the week, subscribe at the top right corner of the page to get the daily Royboy blog posts delivered to your email as soon as they hit the site!
See you at a show,
Royboy
Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!
