Folks Of Interest R.I.P. Dave "Big" Deal

[Del Swanson]

I was paging through a magazine when I was about 9 and saw his AC Cobra cartoon. That was it! He had me. I've been drawing ever since. Unfortunately I never met the man, but he's in every one of my drawings. I'm going to miss him!
Del

[35mastr]

This year has taken quite a few of the good ones.RIP Dave.

[shpotty]

I grew up seeing evidence of his tremendous talent in magazines and on the model shelves of my local hobby store.

Rest In Peace.

[50Fraud]

In my opinion Dave was the best automotive cartoonist ever -- although he didn't like the label. He considered himself an artist foremost, incidentally with a sense of humor.

I was fortunate to talk to him at a car show in August. He had clearly lost a lot of weight and mentioned that he had cancer, but thought he had a few years left. Here's a great illustration from his business card, which represents many of us pretty well. It's titled "The new 20 = 60":



RIP, Dave. You will be missed.

[BigNick1959]

WOW, sorry to hear that, he was a big influence on me, always loved his style. He will be missed.

[Weaverville Studios]

Like many here, I too was influenced by his great work from Models to Road and Track to Armour All and everything in between.

Thank you Dave for all of the great witty, comical and brilliant artwork through the years...You will be missed but thankfully your work will live on forever.

Thanks again.

[G. Hacker]

Dave Deal was a good friend of mine - but recent friend. I encountered him two years ago when I was researching the history of my "Cheetah Transporter" also known as the Dean "Moon Transporter". Dave Deal was working with Norm Holtkamp - a midget boards racer from the 1940's who in the late 1950's and 1960's owned a Porsche Repair shop in Inglewood. Dave was at the beginning of his career and modeled a clay model of the transporter for Norm - and then later drawings.

I'm posting a picture this summer of my visit with Dave and his holding a picture of the "Cheetah Transporter" that he designed for Norm, and that was finished by Troutman and Barnes. I'm also posting a picture of the transporter (below) too.

I'll also post (below) a recent article about Dave concerning the man and his work. Although I knew him only 2 years, some of my best conversations about all things "automotive" were with Dave on the phone.

Finally...I've posted a couple of pictures of his "Hollywood Graham" Rod. i think I have it right, but may have the 'marque' wrong. My apologizes if that's the case.

Dave was one of the "Good Guys..."

Geoff Hacker
Tampa, Florida

[Royalshifter]

Great artist...RIP.

[Von Franco]

R.I.P. to a great artiest and his cars with big tires and mean attitude...................
he was the real Deal.........................

[Rice n Beans Garage]

R.I.P. The Real Deal !!!!!!!!

[Rich Wright]

He was (still is and will always be) a great source of inspiration to me. Just as important to my "education" as an artist as Roth, Miller, etc. His caricatures were just perfect.

Sorry to hear the news

Rich

[Conder]

So long...

[Peter Pan of Chicago]

No doubt a huge automotive and artistic influence!

May God bless...

Joel

[surf monkey]

wow what a loss...my sister bought me these 3 kits for christmas back in the 70`s....







a great artist indeed

[zzford]

Dave Deal, another man that should have lived forever.

[Tuck]

man... I wish we all lived forever.
God Speed Dave-

Tuck

[PDQ VW]

From the book "The Art of Cars"--featuring the artwork of the Pixar movie CARS:
"Big Deal not only contributed his fair share of conceptual artwork to the film but also held a workshop at the studio to teach the storyboard artists how best to draw an automobile.
'I had a large room filled with very talented people watching me at the drawing board', says Dave. 'Most people who wants to draw a car in perspective start by drawing a box and then sliding the car in so they end up with a rigid drawing. I don't approach it that way, but I had them start by drawing a Ford and a Porsche in boxes.'
The resulting Fords looked like bars of soap or shoe boxes, and the Porsches certainly didn't look right. Then Dave had the artists draw the same cars inside circles. Now the Porsches appeared rounded, like mangos.
'So I drew a mango,' explains Dave,'and I put in some shadow and added a couple fenders and a windshield and made the tires hang down like they were grabbing the road. It was a wacky little Porsche, but it had gesture and correct detail. At that point everyone in that room stood up and applauded. It was an epiphany. They saw it was a new way to draw.' "

How would you like to have been in that room!!!!!

A talent that will be missed but a talent we see reflected back in alot of you artists here.
RIP

[G. Hacker]

Tribute from my good friend Raffi Minasian:

Sad passing. He was more than an artist for hot rodding. He was in a larger sense a political cartoonist for the deeper roots of the hot rodding hobby. His work didn't legitimize hot rodding or give it more than it was, rather he made it exactly what the subject was about, an honest look at the way cars were built, driven, and to a certain extent worshipped. He engaged many kids to learn to draw and to excite creative thinking beyond the confines of traditional education. Who didn't have a cartoon sketchbook of a Big Deal car doodled on his brown paper book cover or PeeChee folder?
*
There are no more like him because hot rodding is no more like that. Now it is a vast commercial canvas with product endorsements and perfectionist ideals against the backdrop of money.
*
Enjoy your final ride home Dave.
*

[Ranunculous]

This is sad news.I grieve for him and his family.
He was one of the artists I revered and his talent was sky-high to me.
Peace to his family,friends and fans.

The examples of his art that I clipped and saved mean so much more now.

[Casey]

sad news what a great artist .
R.I.P