Someone should've told Fred Clarke that if he'd just back up further away from the wall, he wouldn't have had to choke up so much on the bat!

;)

Steve

Beautiful works Graig. It's hard to take my eyes off of them. I especially like the WaJo and Musial, but several others are tied for second place. :)

In all of your works, the attention to and recreation of the details is nothing short of amazing. Like the sweater on Chief Bender...the wrinkles in the Elephant, the "fuzziness" of the fabric, and the way the light bounces off the sweater in different ways. Awesome.

Congratulations on the most recent addition to your family. Seems like the kids both exhaust and inspire you!

Thanks again for all the kind words, everybody!

Jack, those details are the kind of things that make the image for me. It just becomes so important for the viewer to feel that cold air, and for the sweater to feel like a sweater. That stuff also happens to drive me pretty bonkers, but ya know, there are worse things to be obsessed over, right?

Mark, the image is from Ruth's first spring training (1915) in Hot Springs, AR - I think the field was known as Majestic Park? Pretty spartan for sure, but it feels like most stuff was back then. But yeah, the image is from the client's own RPPC.

And regarding the ballpark depicted in the Clarke image, you're actually right: they ARE the same. It's the Polo Grounds in 1902, a time in which the walls to the stands were a lot higher than they were when Cobby had that photo taken of him by Bain. The reason Cobby was at the Polo Grounds was because the Yankees were playing there at the time - they left Hilltop in 1913 and stayed there until the new ballpark opened in '23. So I guess the ballpark was considered to be an American and National League one (though I doubt that distinction made John McGraw happy).

Graig,
As usual some spectacular work.
I love the Johnson and a few others, but perhaps my favorite painting of all is that Ken Williams. Along with your first Matty, the Jackie Robinson walking in the shadows, and my Gehrig painting it is among my favorite paintings of yours period.

In my mind, it is the "perfect" baseball photo from that Era. I just can't get it out of my mind. I am soooooo jealous of the owner.
Keep up the great work.

One of these days I will get another Kreindler masterpiece. I have to start saving my pennies.
Mark

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Damn, you are talented! Continued good fortune!

Mark, I know how much you love that Williams photograph. In the end, I have no idea who it went to after Henry's auction. Somehow I was able to land a nice enough scan of it to work from, and as you can imagine, was excited as all hell to do so. The client wasn't even super picky about what he wanted for his commission - just something that really screamed 'baseball'. As soon as I showed him the photograph, he knew it was the one right away. I'm just really glad that the painting came out well and he was happy!

Anywho, here are two more I got back from the photographers today:

https://i.imgur.com/h7FZBNs.jpg?2
Eppa Rixey, 1912, 16" x 12"

https://i.imgur.com/zFJPwkf.jpg?1
Ted Williams, April 20, 1939, 18" x 24"

The Rixey was such a breath of fresh air - I LOVE painting these more obscure guys. I wasn't able to find any definitive reference as to the colors of the font/trim of the Phillies jersey, but I took an educated guess knowing what they had worn years prior and a couple after 1912. I also made the client promise that if I finally did find a smoking gun that rendered my choice to be wrong, he'd send it back and allow me to make the change on the painting. Ya know, because I have issues.

For what it's worth, I'd done a few studies of the Williams, including a larger one many years back - I was excited to finally tackle the full-sized image. And though my photographers do a great job, I think in person, it's a lot better.

Anywho, hope y'all enjoy these two. And as per usual, feel free to share any thoughts/comments/questions or otherwise!

Graig

That Teddy Ballgame is awesome!

Mike

Thanks a lot, Mike!!! I appreciate the comment, especially from a Yankee collector! :)

Hey all,

Hope the weather's starting to warm up for y'all - we just can't seem to catch much of a break yet in the northeast.

I just got this guy back from the photographers and thought I'd share:

https://i.imgur.com/rz7IYFZ.jpg?1
Ty Cobb, 1907, 16" x 22"

Another entry, albeit a very important one, into the Horner portrait series that's gonna take me a lifetime to complete. This particular one was an older commission, but I'm still trying to work on others whenever I have some free time. Which is never, but a guy can dream, right? Things are supposed to get better when they go to school, I think. Right? RIGHT?

Argh.

Anywho, I hope y'all dig Tyrus. If you have any comments, critiques, questions or the like, feel free to share!

Thanks again,

Graig

That is awesome, Graig.
Yes, the kids get a little easier over time, depending on how you look at it. :)