They are all incredible. The Cal really speaks to me. You are second to non Graig.

truly fantastic stuff, and what a great showcase for your work!

Thanks you guys. So very much appreciated. :)

paintings
 

I have make a confession... I've pilfered your art. One of your paintings is now my phone home page.

It's most likely the only way I'll possess one if your master works.

I know what it takes as I used to do commercial art. (I no longer do any)

Thanks for doing these lovely dead ball era players.

Great stuff as always, and hearing the backstory on the whys and hows each piece is produced is always an added treat as well. Congrats especially on breaking into the card market, and I hope that it is noted by the folks at Topps that the lone Kreindler card issued thus far demanded a print run higher than most of its predecessors in the series. It would be great to see that trend continue as the series progresses!

WOW! Great stuff

Hey Craig. Where can I get one of these?

Attachment 439301

I want one as well

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I was just thinking the other day, "I wonder what Graig has been up to?" Can't believe it's been nearly 2 years since the last post in this thread :eek:

I was able to scoop up one of the Negro Leagues Centennial card sets that came out last year, which was a nice highlight:
https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...aig-kreindler/

Seeing that Topps Mantle card though has me hopeful there are more collaborations to come!

Graig

Are you any relation to Doris Barsky Kreindler? I know some of her paintings are in the collection of MOMA and the MMA in New York.

I think we all wonder how Graig has been doing. We always exchange Xmas greetings and wishes still, but not much else. I know he has been busy being a father and artist, probably more the former these days. Perhaps we should keep this thread going in hopes he sees it and gives us any updates on his work. I think we all miss that.

Just met up with Graig yesterday in Brooklyn and picked up a commission! So thrilled to add this to the collection. It's my 2nd big Kreindler piece now. This has always been my favorite image of The Babe and Graig did not disappoint, to say the least!

This painting is absolutely stunning! It was such a pleasure watching the iconic early Yankees Paul Thompson image come to life with the progression updates pictures Graig emailed me!

Some additional progress pics on my Flickr site. https://www.flickr.com/photos/302366...57718495970241

Graig also posted some other progress shots of it on his Instagram.

:D Very excited!

Amazing! Graig is the master.

Maybe a better shot with less glare here from Graig.

Most Definitely! The colors are incredible!

Congrats. That is awesome.

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Congrats Eric, that's a beauty!
Graig, if you're reading these posts, awesome job!
I hope things are well with you and the family

Thanks Scott and Mark!

Graig should consider painting this one

That would look awesome.

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Stunning work. I would have been happy with any one of the progression paintings.

Absolutely!! :)

Hello friends!

Looks like I randomly came back here at the right time.

It’s been a while!! Since I’ve posted here last, we’ve had a whole pandemic (which we still find ourselves in), my kids have been growing, and I’ve managed to keep really busy with painting. Thankfully, we’re all (physically) healthy, and with the weather becoming a bit nicer, are starting to feel more positive about things.

Mike, I loooooooooooove that image of Hank. I’ve wanted to paint it ever since I saw the negative offered by Legendary ten years ago (or so). I actually posted a thread on here a long while back asking if anybody scored that one, or any other interesting shots from that ginormous auction. In fact, the scan you posted I think came from that post.

Regardless, if somebody has that negative or a nice scan of it, definitely get in touch!

Will try to catch up here tonight or tomorrow with some images of what I’ve been painting.

Graig

I bid on it and unfortunately was the under bidder. I normally save the scans of photos I bid on. I think it would be an incredible painting. I’ve saved many such scans over the years.

I just scrolled through my scans and came across these. I believe they were all in the same auction as the Greenberg I posted earlier. Unfortunately I failed to land any of these as well. I think the Goslin and Hafey were also in that auction.

Same! I was able to land a few of them, thankfully. But missed out on SO many that I thought would make great paintings. And what sucks extra is that so few of them have surfaced since the auction—like they’ve almost vanished into thin air.

That's a beauty. Congrats!

Hey all,

So, here's something y'all might not have seen before (unless you follow me on any social media platforms):

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
Groucho Marx, Lou Gehrig, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, August 2, 1936, 28” x 20”

This was maybe the most fun I've had on a painting in a long time, and was completed a few months ago. In my eyes, it just might not get any better than a smiling Lou Gehrig with Groucho, Chico and Harpo. The image was one that I had had in my files for a long time, and though a few people toyed with the notion of commissioning it, it wasn't until a year or so ago that somebody pulled the trigger on the commission. And I’m super happy they did.

There were two major issues I had while painting this thing. The first was that I could never find much background information about the scene. On a few websites here and there, the image is dated to 1933, which was about as much as I had to go on. I could tell that it was taken in Cleveland because of the ballpark architecture, but I had my doubts about that year, as I thought Gehrig looked a little older than he did that year. I ended up comparing Lou's jersey to some existing exemplars I had access to images of, be it the jersey itself or just decent photography. I was able to date it to the 1936 season. After a ton of newspaper diving, it was apparent that the Indians only played at Cleveland Municipal on one occasion that year, as they used League Park for all of their other home games. It turns out, that date was August 2nd, in front of over 65,000 fans. The clubs fought to a 4-4 tie that ended after the 15th due to darkness. It turns out, the Marx Brothers were in the middle of a five-city tour of "A Night at the Opera" stage performances, and that afternoon made it onto the field before game time to laugh it up with the teams. There weren’t too many tidbits about the Marx-side of things, other than that they were in costume, and that they were clowning around with George Selkirk specifically. It’s a shame that there are no other photos from that day in circulation.

The second, and probably more important issue, was the fact that I had never seen a copy of the photo in stellar quality--all of the versions I had seen were pretty blown out, thereby eliminating a lot of crucial painting information for the painting. It's a semi-common problem with photos showing bright sunlight unfortunately, and that's doubly-so when you're combining black and white photography with the fact that the image was taken 80 years ago. It took a while to find something I could work off of, and even then, it wasn't crystal clear, but in the end, I think it turned out to be a really nice piece. And let's face it, the subject matter carries it.

One thing the light DID lend itself nicely too was all of the reflected light coming back into those shadows. You can see that especially in the Lou whether it’s the hints of the green from Chico’s coat reflecting back into the jersey, or the lit fabric coming back into Gehrig’s chin and jaw.

Hope you guys dig this as much as I did making it. Please feel 100% free to critique, comment or ask questions. Always.

Thanks for reading!

Graig

OMG Graig, that is such a cool painting!!
I grew up a HUGE fan of the Marx Bros & you captured them perfectly. Lou looks awesome.
Love it. I hope you are well.

Totally blown away. What a great painting.

The pure joy beaming off of Lou's face as he's 'lucky enough' to meet the Marx Brothers, is probably the exact same wonderful look of elation that he saw in the faces of kids who felt lucky meeting him. Pretty frickin' cool!!!!!!!

More great stuff Graig.

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Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing job on the Gehrig, Graig! Congrats.

WOW!

Lou with the Marx Brothers is INCREDIBLE!


And . . . Congratulations on the cover of the REA catalog!

Thank you so much for all of the kind words, everybody!!

It really was a joy to paint that one, especially because of the subject matter. And obviously, the light was also a big selling point.

Here's one that I thought had some similar kind of vibes to it:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
<b>Babe Ruth, November 29, 1924, 38" x 28"</b>

In terms of the scene, well, I don't know a ton about it. What I could gather is that it's part of the barnstorming tour that Babe was on in the fall of 1924. I know that at least some of it took place in northern California, but I'm not sure how much, or for how long. I wasn't able to find much information in the papers, but I also might not be looking in the right place. The slug on the back of the original photo listed the date as November 29, though I think that that might be too late, as I have proof that he was touring in late October, but am not sure when the gigs actually stopped.

It's worth noting that the uniform he's wearing might not be specific to that barnstorming tour, as it reminds me a LOT of the jersey worn by the players during the 1913-14 world tour. I wonder if it's actually from then?

Anywho, if you know the original photo, it's hard to think of anybody other than Norman Rockwell when looking at it. In that regard, I think one needn't look any further than the subject matter: a ballplayer interacting with kids. It's a motif that's often a winning combination, and something that Rockwell utilized often in his work. It may not have always been a relationship between a sports figure and a child, but it always seemed to be somebody older--maybe a mentor or authority-type figure and some neophyte-sort. Many people think that it's those illustrated interactions and insinuated relationships that make Norman's work so sentimental and sweet. I feel like those are the same qualities that I tried to imbue into this painting (though considering the photo is so great, I didn't have to do much). And let's be honest, that sense of saccharine is only heightened by the fact that the depicted ballplayer is none other than Babe Ruth.

If it's not obvious, Norman was-and still is-a huge influence on me. As a painter, I was first attracted to his technical abilities--the way he rendered form and handled the medium was just truly exquisite. And in my opinion, his design of the picture plane was equaled by very few artists or illustrators during that time period. He was a throwback to Howard Pyle, who treated his paintings as perfectly orchestrated stage performances where every single subject and its placement was incredibly important to the telling of the story, and creating drama in the picture. Still to this day, I can thumb through books of his work and sit there in awe of the kind of emotion he was able to elicit. I feel like if by the end of my time here, I can even touch the hem of his garment as far as that sort of thing is concerned, I would die a happy man. Maybe doing paintings like these is a step in a good direction for that. Ya know, dying.

Hope y'all dig it, and as always, feel free to comment, critique, question or throw things.

G

Another one that is just amazing.
I think Rockwell would be proud if he knew you were using his style as your inspiration.


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I've had a lot of favorites but this "Graig Rockwell" might be the best of them.

Rob M

Wow, these paintings are just wonderful!

Agreed!

Apparently there are other photos of The Babe with those same kids.

Maybe Graig will do a series!

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=30656

Just came across this photo and thought, “That could be a Kreindler”

I was thinking it would be a great post if Graig did a progression post of the process he goes through when painting a subject with pictures at each point.


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He has definitely already done that. Not sure if it's buried within this thread or another one. I want to say it was for the contest winner (effe) who chose Hank Aaron as his subject.

I must find this!!!


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David,
I ran three raffles for Graig and he showed progressive pics on all three. I tried to find the first one which he described his progressive steps the best. T20Brew won the second and I did find that post, here is a link.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...hlight=T20brew

I will try to find the other two.

Here is a video Graig shared of one of his paintings as it progressed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzzj2r6vB2U

Third raffle was won by Baseball Tourist and he chose the Batista bat flip.

Here is the third progressive process.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...=222334&page=2

Got lucky and found the first one, Aaron, won by Effe, excellant painting. He does not start the process till page 2, on page one at the bottom, he builds the frame.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...highlight=effe

Hope these help.

Moved to main board.

Maybe this was already posted in this thread but thought for those that hadn't seen it, they might enjoy it.

Certainly one of the all time greatest artists.
Just incredible work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fih3vaEPwlA