1933 Goudey #144 Ruth Background Question

[robw1959]

Does anyone know anything about how the background of the #144 card was originally created? A close examination looks, to me, like there is blue sky on the right and left sides of the bleacher wall beyond the crude pavillions, but oddly features steps built right into the sky. There is, unexplainably, a huge yellow background in the center connecting both skies.

I'm mainly interested in what the artist may have had in mind, along with what the original artwork may have looked like in that background. I think there may be a cool backstory related to that. Thanks for any insight.

[CardPadre]

Yeah, it’s quite a departure from the background of the photo. Don’t know where that design might have come from.

[robw1959]

Thank you; it's a start.

[ASF123]

While we’re at it, why does he appear to be standing on a blanket or a random diamond of dirt in the middle of the outfield…and why doesn’t his shadow extend onto the grass?

[jingram058]

All I know is, my Ruth 144 and Gehrig 92 are probably my 2 favorite cards in my entire collection. They are both gorgeous cards. Whoever the artist(s) was/were that converted the photos to paintings did a superb job.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by robw1959

Does anyone know anything about how the background of the #144 card was originally created? A close examination looks, to me, like there is blue sky on the right and left sides of the bleacher wall beyond the crude pavillions, but oddly features steps built right into the sky. There is, unexplainably, a huge yellow background in the center connecting both skies.

I'm mainly interested in what the artist may have had in mind, along with what the original artwork may have looked like in that background. I think there may be a cool backstory related to that. Thanks for any insight.

Thanks for asking about this. I’ve always wondered the same thing.

[Beercan collector]

I believe them steps into the sky are large buildings Beyond the fence ,
Appears the artist was going to faithfully reproduce the shadow onto the brown dirt but decided green grass would make Ruth’s image pop better,
Same with the sunshiny yellow sky .
It sure turned out good

[robw1959]

Originally Posted by ASF123

While we’re at it, why does he appear to be standing on a blanket or a random diamond of dirt in the middle of the outfield…and why doesn’t his shadow extend onto the grass?

I personally think he's supposed to be standing on some kind of on-deck platform.

[robw1959]

This just came to me. What if the blue steps along the pavilion on the right side are supposed to be the left edge limits of the bleachers under the shade, and the blue background on the left side is supposed to be real sky with some barely defined buildings in the far background?

I'm going somewhere with this - trying to conceptualize a decent background for an acrylic painting. I don't think I can do it as is because I have to notice it every day on my wall, and the whole thing doesn't make enough sense to me as it is. So I'm thinking of just going with the pavilion on the right, beyond the fence, and adding some grayish bleachers underneath. But the roof doesn't have the right perspective. Based on the distance from Ruth, it shouldn't be angled so severely, and neither should the bleachers underneath it (if that's what they are). I'm also thinking about doing away with the yellow sky and just painting it sky blue with possible traces of clouds. And then perhaps I will completely eliminate the pavilion on the far left beyond the fence, but retain some of the tall buildings that are barely noticeable because of being so far from the stadium.

[Leon]

I don't know the answer but I haven't shown this one in a while. Certainly one of my favorite poses in the hobby.

[JollyElm]

I found the original photograph, so I guess the final image was just a crude attempt to try to 'baseball' it up...


baberuthjunkyard.jpg

[robw1959]

Wow! I knew that the Babe could cause a lot of damage with his bat, but that's some serious devastation!

[hank_jp]

Golfers have their driving range and Babe Ruth had his.

[robw1959]

Just finished working on this. Settled for a simplistic, realistic background.

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by robw1959

Just finished working on this. Settled for a simplistic, realistic background.

Looks great Rob!

[jethrod3]

Originally Posted by Leon

I don't know the answer but I haven't shown this one in a while. Certainly one of my favorite poses in the hobby.

I never get tired of looking at that Ruth card!

[RayBShotz]

That junkyard photo is incredible.
First time I've seen it.
Thanks for sharing.

[robw1959]

Originally Posted by SyrNy1960

Looks great Rob!

Thanks, Tony.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

I never get tired of looking at that Ruth card!

Same here. I’ve always considered it to the greatest baseball card of all time. Just everything about it is fantastic.

[robw1959]

Finalized it today. Had a couple of issues to fix, and here it is finalized. The biggest challenge for this project is that the canvas is just 20" X 16", so the size of his head isn't much larger than a poker chip. It's quite a bit of detail to fit into that size.

[joshuanip]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I found the original photograph, so I guess the final image was just a crude attempt to try to 'baseball' it up...


Attachment 667097

Man, been stressed out lately from (over)work and here for a diversion - I needed this! LOL Thank you.

[robw1959]

I just decided to add some fence advertising to this painting. A bit of artistic license here, of course, but those fences weren't too plain back then.

[ValKehl]

Very cool, Rob! Did you consider also adding a fence ad for the 1928 George H. Ruth Candy Co. cards of the Babe?

[robw1959]

Not really. I like color in my work, and it's always better to have it present in the subject at hand. Come to think of it, the same applies to my personal collection - no black & white cards.

In July, I did paintings of a few other iconic cards in the Post-War era, including one each of Musial, Mantle, Ted Williams, and Jackie Robinson.