Darrell D. Mayabb, the award winning fine artist, illustrator and automotive designer hails from Arvada, Colorado. Originally from Dayton Ohio, his artistic pursuits have taken him to southern California, south Florida and finally to the outskirts of Denver where he’s worked for the past 35 years or so.

Darrell Mayabb

Although Darrell says that his artistic interests cover the breadth of art history, he counts Von Dutch ( who was himself influenced by Dali) as being instrumental in getting his creative and hot rod juices flowing. From Dutch’s early inspiration, Darrell began a monthly pilgrimage to his favorite magazine stand, gleaning over all the exciting art and photos contained within the pages of those little rod and custom books. As Darrell puts it, “ I began to connect to this wondrous new adventure – the modified automobile. To this day, the HOT ROD and my enthusiasm for the lifestyle fills a major portion of my real and creative life”.

In 1962 he graduated from art school. He’d been greatly influenced during his formal education by instruction in life drawing as well as by the renowned illustrator, Robert Fawsett. It is Darrell’s understanding of the human form and his “life drawing” in general, that sets his automotive artwork apart to this day. After graduation, his talent landed him in southern California as a staff illustrator for North American Aviation, working on the Apollo project. As if his day job wasn’t exciting enough, cruisin’ the southern California streets in the 1960’s and meeting some of his rod & custom heroes was a dream come true for the young artist. “It was a ‘heady’ time”, as Darrell recalls.

Back home in Ohio in the latter half of the ‘60’s, he met his future wife Sharon. While on their honeymoon in Miami in 1967, he was offered and accepted a position as Art Director at a large agency. In true Mayabb fashion he now jokes, “I was always looking for just the right atmosphere in my paintings… always trying to find a way to mix – hot rods and palm trees”. Florida seemed like the perfect backdrop at the time, and the young newlyweds cruised the Miami streets and “burger joints” in their ‘40 Ford Sedan Delivery.

In 1968, an opportunity to relocate to the Denver area offered Darrell a completely new environment to absorb himself in. The beauty of the Colorado mountains was inspirational to his work. As they began to raise a family (the two children, Jonas and Chelsey are grown now) Darrell began to freelance… and by 1970 Darrell was an independent artist and on his way to artistic nirvana.

He’s been working from his hand crafted studio barn since 1980, observing daily a beautiful view of the “Rockies” with Pike’s Peak in the atmospheric distance. Though his current work covers a large scope of interest, his love of the automobile is still the major theme in his paintings and illustrations. He continues to travel to car shows throughout the country in his ‘39 Chevy sedan delivery or ‘32 Ford Hiboy roadster.

We asked the quiet spoken Darrell for some parting thoughts and he responded, “Life has been good, the very magazines that influenced me all those years ago, I now do work for. Some of the very people I once idolized, I now count as my friends. I’m truly living my dream, drawing and painting the automobile almost everyday of my life. I only hope that I may be as inspirational, as those who did and still inspire me.”

You’re more than inspiring Darrell… you’re a Hot Rod treasure.

–C.S.

You can browse Darrell’s Motorburg Shop in the Mall HERE.

Some samples of Darrell’s work: