I hear ya Steve. I, too, appreciate watching the progress of true craftsmanship. One of my favorite things over at the Acoustic Guitar Forum is the custom guitar build threads. I've harbored a desire for a long time for a custom built guitar because of those threads. But I tell you what, my Kreindler envy is stronger!

Graig, Thanks for the thread and the ride along doing the painting.

I cannot wait for the next Rougnod Odor Bobblehead Night at Arlington Park, also featuring Jose Bautista. :)

Love the step-by-step in Graig's paintings. Eager to see this project as it progresses.

Thought that the board might enjoy the irony - General Mills and JB recently partnered to put the bat flip on boxes of Golden Graham's Crunch (emphasis mine).

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/...psucjwfrsp.png

I am sure, this will be a big seller in Texas.

Actually, I think they have been reading this thread.

jose bautista
 

I hear a lot of talk about how great Jose Bautista is but I just don't get it. His stats are really horrible, and that's considering he plays in an extremely hitter friendly park.

He's no Mike Trout but for a team lacking a star for most of the '90's-2008 he'll do:

-6 x All Star
- 2 x Home Run Champ
- 3 x Silver Slugger
- Top 8 in MVP Voting 4 x
- 298 HR
- 34.5 career WAR - top 30 active
- .8640 career OPS - top 17 active

Look at his stats playing with the Blue Jays (2009-present)

He has batted 262 with a 536 SLG. He lead the league in HRs twice with 252 HRs in that time. His 2011 WAR was in the top 10 at 8.1. His WAR total since 2009 is 37.4, this is higher than his career WAR. He has been a star with the Jays and the fans needed a star. His stats prior to his time with the Blue Jays skew his career stats, but the Jays fans aren't looking at what he did with other teams, just what he has done for them.

Etsmith is a windup merchant. Move along.

What in the heck is a windup merchant? I was just curious about his popularity as compared to stats. No reason to get your panties in a twist.

Hey all,

So, I was finally able to get Jose down on canvas yesterday, in all of his squiggly glory:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...psw1ttt3en.jpg

As I might have mentioned before, all of the markings on the canvas mean something to me. In a way, they kind of work together to act like a contour map, delineating changes in color, value, temperature, or any other weird notes I might make to myself. I know that it probably just seems like a cacophony of weirdness, but trust me, it all makes sense in my head. I think.

After spray fixing the drawing, I added a colored ground to work off of:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...psddtocpzz.jpg

I use this ground for a few reasons. For one, it kills the stark whiteness of the gesso, so I'm able to work on a medium valued color that doesn't completely drive me crazy when I'm trying to pay attention to a proper value scale. Also, I can create certain atmospheric effects with it, letting it show through more transparent areas, or keeping an overall tonality to the piece. In this case, I went with a warmish brown mixture, which will be nice to work from while trying to create the impression of a night game.

Anywho, from here, it's gotta dry for a few days and then I can start blocking the sucker in.

Stay tuned!! And of course, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to share 'em.

Graig

That is awesome, thank you for sharing the process.

X2! Looking forward to watching it come together step by step! :D

Very cool. Almost topographic in nature.

One word..........................WOW!

Thanks, guys. I'm hoping the ride will be somewhat enjoyable for everyone following!

Hey all,

I started to block in Jose this morning, and here are the results:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...pstnjk3duq.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ps0rtuxqmu.jpg

As you can probably tell, the first layers of oil paint tend to be a bit transparent, so the drawing is still pretty visible under most of it. In his face, however, I've made 2 or 3 passes, so it had a bit more meat and form to it. In other words, it's a bit closer to being finished. Closer, but still not close.

So during these first stages, I'm just concentrating on getting down some basic color and value relationships, and filling up the entire canvas with a block-in. Detail isn't really concerning me at this point - that stuff all comes later.

Still MUCH to do. But in the meantime, if you have questions or comments, fire away!

Graig

Beard
 

Bautista's beard IS painted on...I KNEW it! ;)

Thanks for taking us through the process again. It is very cool to see the painting take shape.

Loving the progress thus far Graig! Really pleased to see you turning your talents to they real beasts in the East! ;)

The sign in the back says "A...Bat" Never noticed that. How perfect. :D

I think that is cool as well.

Looking good, Graig! :)

Love watching your work progress through these steps!

Awesome!

Remarkable likeness of Bautista, even in the early stages!

This one is going to be sweet! Good choice of images, especially with the personal connection!

How's about an update?

Funny how some think alike or at the same time! I was just wondering about this myself. :)

Hey all,

Sorry I'm only responding to this now - I just saw the replies for the first time this afternoon.

Anywho, I've been working a bit on Jose lately...well, moreso the crowd around him. At this point, I'm still just blocking in big shapes of color and value.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...pslhisvjum.jpg

The goal is to cover as much of the canvas with that stuff as possible, and then I can focus on getting into more detail on the main subject. So right now, though he's taking shape, it's slow goings.

I'll keep y'all posted as more progress is made. And I'm finally subscribed to this thread, so I'm assuming I'll get emails when somebody posts. With that in mind, feel free to leave comments or questions and I should be able to get to them in a more timely fashion.

Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all are diggin' what you see!

Graig

That looks amazing!!! Thanks for the update picture.

It's looking great Greg!

I'm always amazed how much impact highlighting and shadowing add to the overall picture.

Thanks,
Raymond

Thanks a lot, Ben and Raymond! I'll keep 'em coming, and hopefully it'll blossom into something awesome.

Very cool! Thanks Graig!

Great seeing in progress, Graig. The stillness of the suspended bat contrasted with the celebrations behind it make for exciting tension and framing of the bat. Sweet looking piece!

Just wondering how the painting is coming???

Really curious about that too! :)

Hey Graig,

A little off topic from this post but, you might want to save a couple of these uniform pics in your files for future reference in case you ever need color info for the 1909 Pirates. I never would have guessed that these were their uniform colors (with some possible fading).

Go to the top of this thread:http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...99#post1570399

Rob M.

Hey all,

So, I'm alive. Officially. For now.

I'm sorry it's taken me a bit to respond to this thing. With the National and a lot of stuff around the house, it's been incredibly hard to get much of anything on the easel taken care of.

With that in mind, I'm starting to get back into Jose, even if it's just in spurts. It seems like right now, that's all my year old will allow.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...pshel3xug2.jpg

As you can probably see, outside of the pants, there hasn't been much that I've done. Right now, I'm starting to get used to the fact that I'm going to be taking smaller frequent sips of painting, rather than big full gulps - which is what I was very much used to before Bennett came along.

Man, being a parent is hard.

Anywho, just know that it's all happening, even if it's slow-going right now. I'll try to keep everyone updated with comings and goings as they happen (and become noticeable).

Stay tuned, and please don't hate me.

Graig

PS: Rob, that is TOP NOTCH. I've always wondered if I'd ever see one of those Pirates coats in real life. It's super nice to finally do so.

Looking good Graig! Now if JB could stay healthy! Just off the DL from a turf toe incident and last night he sprains his knee tripping on the turf. Right field at Rogers Centre is a dangerous place!

Looking awesome Graig. The thing I love the most about your paintings is the amazing way you get facial expressions perfect. It is why I like your Studies the best.

I am not going to speak for, Chris and tell you to take your time, but enjoy your child now while he is young!
My son turned 15 this past June and in all honesty it feels more like 15 months has passed, not 15 yrs!:eek:

Ditto!
 

What "Irv" said. Enjoy the time with your son Graig! I've had the summer at home with my daughter and it has been great....a different challenge from the corporate gig for sure, and more memorable and rewarding. :)

How's about an update?

This is cool!
 

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/...psz6aymjm1.jpg

A Bautista bat flip corn maze!

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/08/31/...bpr=5768707450

Bautista
 

that IS very cool!

crop circles? :D

DS

Hey all,

Sorry for the delayed response.

Just as a short note, the madness continues into tonight:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...psyp5fyktp.jpg

I'm hoping to post more over the next few days when the changes are a bit more evident. But as of now, I've been picking away at the crowd and trying to tighten up Jose in some areas. Admittedly, it's slow-going at the moment with some other life stuff going on. However, next week should see a change for the better, methinks.

Thanks for being so patient, everyone. It's much appreciated.

G

Looking good, Graig!

Love it! Thanks Graig!

...
 

wow, Graig ...

your stuff really sucks :D

love/big fan of your talents/paintings...

looking forward to seeing the finished product, and appreciate
your in-progress updates.

DS