Arnold David Clapman  

In the Northwest section of Baltimore at 3410 Parkington Avenue there is a little bungalow with a California redwood facade. It was here that Arnold grew up with his sisters, Nannette, Faith and Francine. This was also the place where, inspired by the little drawings of household objects his father Abe drew for him while teaching his son to read, Arnold began to draw.  He later created art at the  Talmudical Academy  and later  at  Baltimore City College  high  school,  Arnold  became known  for his illustrations  and poster designs.

 

As a boy, he was influenced by the comic book art of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant in the Sunday funnies as well as the artwork of Jesse Marsh in the early Tarzan comics published by Dell. He loved the singing cowboys of the silver screen like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry as well as movies like " The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Ivanhoe", "The Three Musketeers", " The Mark of Zorro" and DeMille's" The Greatest Show On Earth", "Quo Vadis", "The Ten Commandments" , "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus" further inspired the young artist who played reenactrments of his favorite movie characters with cut out fiigures made from inside cardboard cereal boxes. 

Arnold's mother Terri was very supportive of his art. She paid a neighborhood artist to privately instruct him in the use of charcoal and was later instrumental in his acquiring a 4 year scholarship to the Maryland Institute, College of Art. To cover the cost of books and art supplies, Terri got him a job playing bongos at a downtown cocktail lounge that eventually led to a drumming gig at the Gayety Burlesque Theater on Baltimore street.

 

Arnold's art flourished in artschool and he avidly learned the basics of drawing, painting and graphic arts.  The class he took in art chemistry has proven to be invaluable over the years.  Experimenting with styles and techniques he observed during his studies of Art History, Arnold was also deeply effected by the fiery colors and masterly brushstrokes of the Spanish bullfight painters of the 50's.