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Craig
Judd was born and raised in the little town of Chowchilla,
in the center of California’s beautiful San Joaquin
Valley.
While attending high school, he took an art class because
he thought it would be an easy way to get some credits,
and was very surprised to find out that not only did
he really like art, but seemed to have a natural ability
for it. With much encouragement from his teacher, he
began to seriously pursue learning all he could about
it.
In 1967 Judd began working in a local body shop under
a manager who had a lot of knowledge about custom painting.
He was taught the basics of bodywork and paint, and
also attended a GM Training School. He soon started
to paint Custom Motorcycles on the side, and found that
he was pretty good at it.
In 1974 Judd opened his own body shop, but it very quickly
became apparent that custom painting was where his true
talent was. So, in 1976 Judd went to strictly custom
work. He was taking his work to Bob Kovac and Neil Averill
for the finishing touch. They both encouraged him to
learn how to stripe, and took the time to show him how
to get started. He spent many nights in his garage striping
anything he could get his hands on. Soon he had it down
and started doing complete jobs on his own. Judd had
never considered his self an artist, but all that changed
when he picked up a striping brush and started making
''automotive art.'' Striping has been an exciting outlet
for Judd, as well as a fantastic job. He is glad that
it is finally being recognized as an art form.
His work has been featured in numerous magazines over
the years, including Hotrod, SignCraft, AutoArt and
many others. He also designed the gold leaf and striping
on the 1940 yellow Ford that was in the cult classic
movie ''The Hollywood Knights'' starring Tony Danza,
and his artwork was on a Dragster that was in ''American
Graffiti Two''.
In the last few years, Judd has branched out in some
new directions. He started holding Pinstriping Workshops
where the students get hands-on training, and also produced
two instructional videos ''Pinstriping Made Easy'' and
''Flames Made Easy.'' At present he is in the process
of designing a line of collectible toys fashioned after
his ''Pimp Daddy'' logo. He believes that if you help
a guy that is just getting started in the business,
he will remember that you helped him, and he will in
turn help someone else. It is important to Judd that
the ''Art Form'', his chosen profession, continues on.
Several years ago, Judd met Steve Metz who is the founder
of Muscle Machine diecast cars. Metz saw some of his
work at the L.A. Roadster Show and asked him to design
some paint schemes, posters and trading cards for the
model cars. |
They
struck up a great friendship and Judd has done a lot
of work for him including the flames and striping on
the now famous 1950 Studebaker named the ''Panic Parrot.''
He also designed and painted a series of ''Pin Head''
miniature bowling pins for Metz?s ''Hotrod Underground''
collectibles.
Last year Judd had the opportunity to do some work for
Disney. He painted full sized car hoods to replicate
the ones that were featured in the Disney animated film
''CARS''. They are now on display at Disneyland in Paris,
France.
Judd thinks it is important to see and study what other
stripers are doing, and believes that it is the greatest
form of flattery to have someone like your work enough
to copy it.
So, 35 years later, Judd is still in beautiful Chowchilla,
CA doing what he loves the most. His shop is located
next to his home, and has been in the same location
since 1977. He has been married to his wife Sally for
forty three years. They have raised four sons and have
five grandchildren. Judd's wife has also been active
in the business, with a keen eye for color combinations
and sign layouts. Judd said ''she is my best critic,
and puts up with my ''artistic'' mood swings.'' ''No
one ever said it would be easy, but if I had it to do
over again, ''I WOULD''. |
