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9 4 P E R S P E C T I V E | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 M I L E S T O N E S David J. Negrón Sr. 1935-2021 B Y FA I T H N E G R Ó N , G R A N D D A U G H T H E R A N D A D G R I C H A R D S T I L E S S C H O L A R S H I P R E C I P I E N T 2 0 2 0 Conceptual painter, Illustrator and storyboard artist David J. Negrón Sr. passed away peacefully on October 12, 2021, at the age of 85. Born on Christmas Eve of 1935 in Laredo, Texas, David Negrón spent his youth enthralled in art. After graduating from Baylor University with a degree in mathematics, Negrón picked his family up and moved to Southern California to attend the Art Center College of Design of Los Angeles. Throughout his studies, egrn worked for architectural firms painting and illustrating conceptual designs. After being awarded a degree of professional arts with distinction at the Art Center, he was quickly signed on with Twentieth Century Fox Film Studios as a storyboard artist and production illustrator. Negrón's talent did not go unnoticed with his fantastical production illustrations on Dr. Doolittle (1967) and Hello, Dolly! (1969), as well as striking storyboard work with Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). While also working with WED Enterprises on Disney amusement park illustrations such as Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Space Mountain and pcot avid egrn created dynamic film posters for Kidnapped (1971), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), King Kong (1978) and Last Action Hero (1993). His poster work scaled larger and larger to the imaginative concept illustrations, including Blade Runner's cityscapes, Star Trek's voids of outer space, Jurassic Park's exciting design and a notable mural of charging Native Americans in Back to the Future Part III. Negrón's eye for detail and golden age artistry highlighted the hearts of films in preproduction. Guiding the way for cinematic shots to fulfill and even exceed the producer and director's visions, Negrón became a favored storyboard artist. avid collected the essence of reective lights in the universe of Star Trek (1979) in which the use of brightly colored pencils on black mat board featured the darkness and deepness of space to its full eect. toryboards became one of egrn's most popular requests, each carefully placed panel and meticulously drawn lines furthered the director's concepts through Negrón's sketches. David's action-packed panels of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark brought not only life to the script and Spielberg's imagination, but depicted some of today's most iconic scenes from the film, including the infamous boulder A. DAVID J. NEGRÓN SR. AT A GALLERY SHOW OF HIS ARTWORK. B. CHARGING INDIANS PAINTING FOR SCENIC BACKING OF DRIVE-IN FOR BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (1990). A B