Dick Daniels turned his childhood doodles into a thriving brand
Dick Daniels loved drawing as a little kid, usually clowns and funny faces. “In grade school, sometimes our teacher would give us the option of going outside to recess or staying inside to draw and make art. I always stayed inside to draw. In sixth grade, I came up with a cartoon character named Pudgy Mash and it was kind of a hit. Kids would come up to my desk and ask for a drawing of him. I’m still doing the same thing today with shows and exhibits,” Daniels says.
Born and raised in Leawood, Kansas, Daniels attended Shawnee Mission South High School then studied at The Kansas City Art Institute. A child of the 50s who “blossomed in the full glare of the 60s, influenced by the underground comix movement, American folk, and cheap commercial packaging,” he first majored in ceramics then switched to the design studio. This is where he completed an intensive study on illustration and design solving. In a pre-computer industry, graphic design was different than what it is today. All the designs were drawn by hand and were not created or manipulated digitally.
After graduating from KCAI, Daniels landed a job as an animation artist for McGraw-Hill, designing graphic educational films. “All my animation was created using the old style: hand drawn on acetate cells and back painted then filmed with 16 millimeter at 24 frames per second and laying down electro set type on acetate cels. It was very tedious,” Daniels says. “I did that for 8 years until they closed it down. We were making instructional videos for computer programmers but the technology was changing so fast, we could not keep up with the technology they were trying to teach about!”
Next, he was hired at The Kansas City Star as an illustrator, where he learned to “work fast under tight deadlines.” In the early 80s, feature pages would have an illustration on the weekly sections and charts and maps were illustrated by hand, whereas now-a-days they are created on computers. “A lot of my illustrations for the paper had a whimsical, cartoon-y look,” Daniels says.
He eventually settled at Kansas City’s own Hallmark and worked exclusively in the Humor Department for Shoebox Greetings for the next 25 years. “Hallmark really opened me up, offering so many opportunities to spread my creative wings. The environment encouraged exploring, experimenting, stretching the imagination,” Daniels says. He started his career drawing the cards by hand, which would then be copied on copying machines and mass produced. When the greeting card company exploded in popularity, they ventured into making more than just cards, like calendars, ornaments, etc. Daniels says Hallmark was filled with incredible artists who became his friends. One of those friends eventually became his wife. He met Renee, a master writer for Hallmark Cards, on the job in 1990 and they have been married for 11 years.
While working at Hallmark, he was also creating his own personal pieces during his free time in his ramshackle basement studio and at Hammerspace Community Workshop, surrounded by a sprawling mass of artifacts from his past, present and future. Revisiting his sixth grade Pudgy Mash friend, he began taking characters, graphics, symbols and icons and intertwining them to produce works of fine art. Calling his small business Funhouse 57, he started with prints then moved on to transferring his images tirelessly by hand to wood. His signature pop culture works are infused with 1930s style posters, typography and advertising with original and sophisticated characters and graphics onto the distressed surface. The resulting work possesses a nostalgic feel but also seem completely modern. His style, inspired by vintage comics and advertising art, is re-purposed with the goal of communicating the ironies and comical essence of pop-culture.
He started participating in art shows in the 90s, like Westport Art Fair, Plaza Art Fair, Brookside Art Fair, Art in the Park in Lawrence. As technology progressed, he was able to reproduce his designs onto t-shirts, pint glasses, and he collaborates with local woodworker Romany House to create record and comic boxes. What inspires him these days are old, animated cartoons from the 30s and 40s and artists like Leon Edler, Till Hafenbrak, Tammy Smith, Mogu Takahashi, Joakim Ojanen, and Maja Andersen, to name a few. Or just flipping through Instagram where there are hundreds of amazing artists,” Daniels says.
He no longer works for Hallmark and is concentrating full-time on his Funhouse 57 brand, creating new designs and even a new medium, Waterlogue prints. He still draws his originals with pen, but scans them and uses the computer to add color. His Macbook helps him turn photos or prints he’s taken into what look like watercolor paintings via Waterlogue. Technology, which was once his foe, is now his friend. “The Kansas City maker movement has completely blown up over the last decade. I love the fact that people can start a small business, making original creations in their garage or basement and can explore and grow their ideas over time. Learning from what goes right or wrong and fine tuning their craft. There’s such pride in making something that others get excited about and want to take home. It’s very satisfying to see someone smile as a result of looking at what you’ve created,” Daniels says.
Being part of the art show scene for over 20 years, Daniels has a lot of advice for up-and-coming makers. “Go to as many craft and art shows as you can. Talk to vendors and ask questions like how long have they been doing shows and ask them for some advice. Find booths that impress you in the way they are set up. It might sound obvious but come up with a product that’s original and unique; a product that will stand out,” Daniels says.
Daniels currently has 28 wood pieces up at the Oak Park Library in Overland Park, Kansas until January 3rd. You can find Funhouse 57 products in brick and mortars like Essential Goods in Lawrence, Kansas, The Foundry in Lee’s Summit, Flock Salon & Gallery, Urban Mining and you can meet him and shop in person at The 9th Annual Holiday Swing at Union Station November 30th & December 1st.