The Art of Howard Zeller (Part I)

By Spun Counterguy on March 27, 2023

In the golden era of the 50’s, Howard Zeller began his adventure into the weird wonderful world of Southern California custom car culture, pinstriping, hand lettered signs and airbrushed murals.

As a teenager Zeller worked under the mentorship of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, producing airbrushed tee shirts in Roth’s legendary shop.

Zeller was influenced & inspired by the classic pinstriping designs of the greats such as Shaky Jake, Von Dutch, Dean Jeffries and the outrageous monster art of Roth. Howard’s work has been featured in countless car art magazines, car shows and newspaper articles.

Zeller has been commissioned by thousands of show car, boat, truck and van owners including Merle Haggard and Gene Winfield. Here is a photo sampling retrospective of Mr. Zeller’s variety of pinstriping, signage and logging truck lettering spanning a seventy year career. Zeller finally hung up his mack striping brush and retired at age 76 in Redding California, his home since 1975. He paints acrylic landscapes and classic cars regularly as a hobby. Zeller’s three sons, Jeff, Todd and Steve have also worked in the sign trade at one time or another under the guidance and steady hand of their dad.