Sterling Heights man puts the ‘car’ in cartoonist

STERLING HEIGHTS — David Chesnutt never got in trouble for drawing on his bedroom walls as a child.

Maybe that explains why he’s still a hustling artist today, grinding out playful pieces centered around car culture and seeking the holy grail of cartooning — syndication.

Chesnutt, 71, a Sterling Heights resident, exists in the midst of portfolios and painting supplies, the walls of his modest condominium adorned with artwork and flat surfaces filled with hot-rod-inspired prints. Excuse the mess, he says, but it’s been harder to tidy up since a heart attack knocked him down a couple of months ago.

Despite the health scare — and the portable defibrillator he now wears that zaps him with electricity when needed — Chesnutt is busy as ever and working ahead on summer pieces to submit even though snow covers the ground outside and the air is thick with a frigid bite.

With a knack for art since early on — he recalls his kindergarten drawings of fully clothed subjects compared to classmates’ stick figures — he pushes back on being labeled a born artist because it doesn’t capture the hard work he’s put into his craft.

Largely self-taught and encouraged by his mother, Chesnutt shunned traditional still lifes and landscapes in favor of more fantastical scenes. Inspired by a childhood of model cars and trading cards that featured monsters paired with souped-up cruisers, Chesnutt’s cartoon creations pop with towering engine blocks, smiling caricatures and splashy coupes and roadsters.

It’s flashy, frenetic and fun-filled art in the tradition of works by Bill Campbell, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, B.K. Taylor, Dave Deal and others.

This weekend, Cruis’n Media will feature a custom poster of Chesnutt’s at the 73rd Detroit Autorama. Billed as “America’s Greatest Hot Rod Show,” the event runs Friday, Feb. 27, to Sunday, March 1, at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit.

Mickey York, owner and publisher of Cruis’n Media, which caters to car enthusiasts in print and online, says Chesnutt’s art is popular with his audience.

“I came across Dave’s artwork over four years ago, shortly after I started the publication, and I just thought, you know, this would be a great addition to our magazine,” he says. “And he provides us with a lot of extra things as well. He’s done posters every year for the Woodward Dream Cruise and those have become collector items. I know some people really look forward to getting their hands on that Woodward poster he does.”

Cruis’n Media also uses Chesnutt’s cartoons on Facebook and sells his posters on its website. His Autorama piece features a smiling-faced Renaissance Center rolling out a red carpet along with six colorful hot rods.

“If anybody subscribes or renews at the show, we will include the poster,” York says. “If somebody just wants to come by and pick up the poster, I’m sure they’ll become a collector’s item as well. We’re happy to be able to offer that to our followers and fans of Dave’s work.”

As conveyed in thousands of car-themed pieces over the years, Chesnutt’s automotive oeuvre was driven home early.

“My dad worked for Ford for 45 years,” he said, “So I’m always playing around the auto industry.”

Although an art teacher at Utica High School once dismissed Chesnutt’s style, he’s gotten a lot of mileage from it, nonetheless.

“She didn’t like cartoons, and she told me no one will ever buy your cartoons,” he said. “So I pretty much quit drawing after high school for four or five years.”

But he “kept getting a bug to draw again” and eventually enrolled in a Center for Creative Studies class taught by Dick Mayer, a longtime staff artist at the Detroit Free Press. That experience led Chesnutt into the world of editorial cartoons, and he sold hundreds of pieces to the now-defunct Royal Oak Tribune, as well as other local newspapers. One of his more notable cartoons depicted longtime Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley battling an electricity rate increase. The piece caught the AG’s eye, and he requested the original drawing.

“I had him in a boxing match against this huge guy about four times the size of him,” Chesnutt recalls. “I had two guys in his corner and on their backs it said ‘public support’ and underneath it said, ‘We’re on your side, Frank.’ … So that was in his office in Lansing for a long time.”

Other artistic highlights include more than 50 drawings for a city of Warren recycling educational campaign and posters and related artwork for a U.S. Postal Service career awareness conference.

In addition to his longtime artistic endeavors, Chesnutt was a mail carrier for 33 years before retiring in 2010. He walked routes in Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Madison Heights.

Since departing his day job, Chesnutt has accelerated his art career. He said two of his post-retirement goals were improving his anatomy skills and learning how to paint. Today he works in gouache, a pricey watercolor that’s ideal for illustrations and posters.

Asked if he regrets not being able to pursue art as his career, Chesnutt pauses, and a pensive look washes over him.

“Well, that runs through my mind occasionally,” he says. “If I had the choice, or if I could do it again, I wish I could have gone to school full time.”

Unlike his unsupportive high school teacher, Chesnutt encourages young artists and has shared his talent in elementary classrooms. His advice to beginners is to know the basics before branching out.

“If you want to be a good cartoonist, you need to be a good artist first,” he says. “You need to learn anatomy. You need to learn color. You need to learn basic drawing. … You don’t have to go to a top art school. You can go to a local school.”

Chesnutt’s son, Brandon, says art has always been part of his father’s identity.

“His art is kind of inseparable from his personality and is a thing that I think he takes great pride in,” the younger Chesnutt says. “It was there long before I was in the picture. He probably shared stories of my grandmother putting paper on the walls and letting him draw. … It’s truly a self-taught skill, which I think takes a lot of patience and repetition.”

Brandon Chesnutt says his father’s fondness for automobiles fuels his creativity.

“He always had this very particular connection to cars, and I think being able to enjoy a fun hobby like liking cars and being around them but also having your own unique way of expressing that appreciation, which is through art, is pretty cool. Even to this day we go to car shows and events and he’s showing his art.”

These days, Chesnutt is busy chasing every cartoonist’s dream: syndication. It’s a long shot, he admits, but he believes his subject matter has broad appeal.

“Most everyone has a car and most people like old classic cars,” he says. “That is why I think the strip will work if done the right way. I can draw something that is very interesting to look at. I have been doing this for a long time.”

Despite the odds, Chesnutt isn’t likely to give up.

“If I do not make it at least I gave it my best shot,” he says. “I have had people tell me my whole life that I could not do things. But I have been lucky and have proved them wrong most of the time. … I will be very lucky if I succeed.”

Lucky perhaps, but also deserving due to dedication, drive and striving for improvement.

“He’s always tweaking, always trying things. Reading or watching something and getting inspired,” Brandon Chesnutt says, noting how even the recent heart attack didn’t stall his dad for long. (And yes, David Chesnutt has already completed a cartoon he plans to give to the Sterling Heights first responders who rescued him.)

Frankly, Brandon Chesnutt doubts his dad will ever depart from his art.

“When inspiration strikes and you just want to draw and create, you kind of do it,” he says. “

So I don’t see him putting the pen or marker down anytime soon.”

For a closer look at Chesnutt’s work, go to chesnuttartstudio.bigcartel.com.