Mustangs Illustrated: Interview With Automotive Artist Danny Whitfield

Art is subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These and other clichés are excuses people use to justify their version of what should be considered great imagery. But stunning art is like a beautiful woman, you’ll know it when you see it. You don’t need someone standing over your shoulder in a gallery trying to convince you that the artist’s use of circles and phlegm is the next great thing. Great art doesn’t need to be explained or justified. It needs to be seen. It needs to be taken in and appreciated. And then the artist needs his rightful credit.

Danny Whitfield has been creating stunning masterpieces of Mustangs and Corvettes and just about every other beautiful form on wheels that you can think of for well over 40 years now. Danny was kind enough to do an interview with Mustang Evolution and share with our readers just who Danny Whitfield is and what he offers to the automotive community. So please take a minute and get to know a legend in the automotive art field.

ME (Mustang Evolution): So where is Danny Whitfield “the business” located?

Danny: The name of my business is The Automotive Art of Danny Whitfield and I am located in Oro Valley, Arizona

ME: What is the easiest way for people to contact you and see your work?

Danny: The easiest is my website, www.dannywhitfield.com

ME: How long have you been illustrating cars, Mustangs in particular?

Danny: Since 1968

ME: Do you specialize in any specific range of years for Mustangs?

Danny: No, I illustrate Mustangs from the very beginning. From the first 1962 Concept to 2011 and beyond

ME: Do you work exclusively on paper? Do you use any digital media for your work?

Danny: My media consists of crescent 5112 illustration boards, watercolor paint, Painters Classic Digital Media, and Metal.

ME: What sets your artwork apart from other artists?

Danny: The fact that a customer can get his car print tailor made! You don’t have to settle for the usual, “what you see is what you get” print. With my art, a customer gets his car to look like what he wants! It’s the same feeling you get when buying a car at a dealership; you don’t have to take what’s in stock. You order the car with the options you like. It works the same way with a genuine Danny Whitfield print! You don’t have to settle for what’s on the canvas. You can even get the color of your car matched. Every option the car came with for its respective year can be painted right in. You could add wheels, tires, hood scoops and many other parts to be exactly like your car.

ME: What methods do you use to create your illustrations?

Danny: Winsor & Newton Designers’ Gouache water color paint, Painters-Classic digital software to handle the customizing of the original art.

ME: What kind of turnaround time can you usually produce something in?

Danny: Usually 2 weeks

ME: Who inspires you and your art?

Danny: Jesus Christ, My Dad – Dan Whitfield the 2^nd, General Motors designer Bill Mitchell, American Motors designer Richard A. “Dick” Teague, Ford designer John Oros, Chrysler designer Virgil Exner, Automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, Automotive designer Raymond Loewy, Automotive designer Pininfarina, the great automotive artist Sid Mead.

ME: How big would you like your name to be in the art community?

Danny: As large as life – not in an egotistical way – just where people could be educated and enjoy automotive art on a grand scale. I would like my art to be recognized in the “fine arts” category instead of being labeled commercial art.

ME: Do you have your work available as prints? T-Shirts? Any other products?

Danny: My art is available as original art on illustration boards, high quality art prints, T-Shirts, coffee mugs, art plaques, custom license plates and more.

ME: What wins / trophies / accolades / celebrity clients / high profile users / magazine articles has your artwork garnered?

Danny: Clients have included;

• Comedian Bill Cosby
• Talk Show Host Jay Leno
• Automotive leaders like former Ford Motor Co. Chairman Alex Trotman
• General Motors “Jack Smith”
• General Motors Leader Bob Lutz

Various articles, honorable mentions and life stories in;

• Hemmings Motor News – Hemmings Muscle machines
• Detroit News /Detroit free press
• Motor Trend
• Classic Car magazine and more.

Art recognitions and autograph sessions with;

• “Legends of Nascar” Linda Vaughan and the late Dale Earnhard.
• Best in show award in Saint Ignace car show in Saint Ignace Michigan
• First place award in “Corvettes in Windsor” car show in Windsor Ontario.

ME: What future projects do you have planned or ongoing that you can share with us?

Danny: In the future my plans are to house the biggest gallery / museum of automotive art in the United States. It would include my art and all the other great automotive artist currently working to date.

ME: Is there any artists that you would like to work with?
Danny: Robert Kotan

ME: Can you share with us your contact information once again?

Danny Whitfield (Automotive Artist and Designer)
http://www.dannywhitfield.com/index.html
Phone: 520-297-9104
Email to: Info@dannywhitfield.com

Thank you so very much Danny for taking the time to share your story and your art with Mustang Evolution.

Now dear readers, please take some time and view Danny’s illustrations in our gallery. Then, head on over to his website and spend some quality time browsing through the unbelievable amount of art Danny has produced through the years, including a fresh take on the President’s Limo. Are those gold 22s on the POTUS-mobile? And if you think his Ford Mustangs are awesome, check out his Camaros, Corvettes, Mopars, Javelins, Ferraris – the list goes on. Just check it out. You won’t regret it.