Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Von Randy

I've known of Randy Smith since about 1970 and that he sometimes did pin striping and art like on Doc Holiday's Witch which was first featured in Choppers magazine. (Click the Randy Smith label to find it). What I didn't know was how much he was influenced by Von Dutch.

 Randy's pin stripe caddy could easily be mistaken for a Von Dutch and even includes the slogan "World's Best Striper".

 His photo album not only features some Von Dutch inspired art but also has some German.

Randy striping at a car show in 1959. Note the beatnik look he's sporting.

Even his cartoons remind me of Von Dutch's. I think these were done for Cycletoons.

Now looking back I can see the Dutch in the way Randy built bikes. 

All photos are from the Randy Smith Memorial Facebook page.

2 comments:

Noot said...

I've noticed "original art" even when it's been influenced, still carries more weight than copied and polished art. Does that make sense?

Chris K said...

Copied and polished? I'm guessing you mean a highly polished copy of someone else's original art.