Wow! What a beautiful painting of a seminal player in our national pastime. Thanks for doing what you do. It's really amazing to see your work.
kevin

Thank you so much for all of the super kind words, everybody!! I really appreciate all of you taking the time the make them.

Hope you're all having a nice Memorial Day weekend. I'm doing my best to get some work done while the kids are home, but since it's going to be pretty nice out here in Brooklyn, I imagine it's going to be a losing effort on my part. So I guess the main objective seems to be to not beat myself up over it!

Anywho, I thought I'd post a painting I finished a little while back, one with subject matter that I guess is a bit less common to see on the boards:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/9940...080&fit=bounds
Dorothy Kamenshek, 1947, 24" x 18"

I've always had a fascination with the AAGPBL, and like so many of us, it was sparked by Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own. For those who don't know, the depicted subject matter, "Kammie", was pretty much the face of the Rockford Peaches. She was a seven-time All-Star and a two-time batting champion. I believe she is still the all-time leader in hits and total bases for the league, too. In other words, she kicked @$$.

The main issue I had with this painting was all in its beginning stages--just finding the imagery to work off of to make it happen was the biggest challenge. The AAGPBL, though obviously popular in the midwest, wasn't as well documented visually as their male counterparts. Finding un-posed shots, be it during a game or during practice, is still to this day no easy feat. I luckily have a few friends in the space who mainly collect stuff from those leagues (as well as other women's teams), and they were more than willing to share some of their pieces with me. This candid snapshot of her was probably my favorite of the entire batch. I've always loved the motif of ballplayers with children, and when you add the fact that here it's a young girl getting the autograph, it makes it even more powerful (in my eyes). And then that red of her hat and the AAGPBL jacket draped over her arm--it's a winning combination.

They're outside of the visiting team's dressing room at Beyer Stadium in Rockford, and if you look closely, you can even catch some graffiti on the gray bricks. 1947 wasn't necessarily a great year for Rockford, as they finished in 6th place, but they bounced back to win the League Championship for three straight years from '48 to '50.

As always, if y'all have any questions, comments are critiques, fire away!!

Thanks for reading and enjoy yourselves today!

Graig

Breathtaking spectacular as always!!!:eek:

A graphite autograph - interesting

Graig,

As a collector of women in baseball items and the father of three girls, this image quite literally captures the very essence of why I collect what I do. Have to admit that I teared up a bit seeing this. Indescribably wonderful.

Thanks so much for the kind words, everybody!! I really appreciate them as always, especially for the women's baseball stuff. It's subject matter that I enjoy tackling, whether it's from the AAGPBL or other teams that sported women in the early 1900s.

I figured I'd show a few more of these badasses:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/9940...080&fit=bounds
Jean Faut, 1949, 18" x 18"

https://hosting.photobucket.com/9940...080&fit=bounds
Dorothy Maguire Chapman, 1946, 9" x 12"

The Jean Faut image was an absolute blast to paint, especially since the original photography was of such high quality. Plus, it had that great angle from below of her looking into the distance, giving it a heroic feel. For those unfamiliar with Jean, she was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the league. Some of her more impressive stats are pitching four no-hitters (two of which were perfect games), winning two pitching Triple Crowns; winning two Player of the Year awards; winning twenty games three times; winning two championships; and is the league's all-time leader in ERA. And believe me, there are a lot more. This painting ended up going to Jean's son.

Dorothy Maguire Chapman was no slouch either, as she was an all-star catcher on two championship teams (1943 Racine Belles, 1944 Milwaukee Chicks). Known for being tough as nails, part of her story inspired a scene in A League of Their Own, but less so anything play-related. The scene where Betty Spaghetti receives a telegram bringing news of her husband's death was partially based on Dorothy's experience--she had received a phone call before a game, informing her of the death of her husband Tom in Italy. Unlike Betty Spaghetti, she actually DID play that day. Oddly enough, he was discovered to be alive months later after a dog-tag mix-up. Like the Faut painting, this was commissioned by the ballplayer's family.

The images of both players came from a large scrapbook at the Louis Pettus Archives at Winthrop University. They have a bunch of great images in their archives that I've licensed recently in the hopes of making future paintings of these great ballplayers.

Anywho, hope y'all enjoy these!! Any comments, critiques, questions and rotten tomatos are always welcome.

Oh!! And the Satchel Paige giclée officially goes live and becomes available for purchase on Monday, July 7th! If you'd like to be added to the mailing list for more updates, fill in your info here.

Thanks, as always!!

Graig

Those are phenomenal, Graig! So lifelike...Thanks for sharing
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I wish that I could claim this one as my own, but it belongs to a good friend who recently had it commissioned by Graig Kreindler. It is amazing how Graig is able to keep outdoing himself.

What I think is so amazing about Graig's paintings is his attention to detail. Look at all the creases and wrinkles on Ruth's jersey and the creases in his shoes. I cant imagine how many hours that took. Truly AMAZING

That Ruth looks like a color photo
Amazing job Graig