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Thanks, Chris! I can’t say I’m a braver man...perhaps more insane? I’m soooo tired.
icollectDCsports, thank you so much!! I’m still really mad at myself though, as I discovered only after the poster went to the printers that Josh had a short stint with the Cuban Stars, and even a photograph I could have worked from. Le sigh... |
Congrats Graig!
Hi Graig,
Congrats on the birth of your second child. So cool!! :) |
Thanks so much, Scott!! It's definitely cool. And insane. And all the feelings!!
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Hey all,
Has it really been this long since I've posted anything here? Jeez, the great Photobucket fiasco from a few months back really curtailed things - I can't tell you how depressing it was to see every single image on this thread vanish. Well, I'm back for now (at least for the year), and I'm hoping that in that time I'll be able to switch everything over to a server I don't have to pay for. In the meantime though, I'll also try to get back to posting here with some regularity. That is, if y'all still want to see what's been going on. On the personal note, I'm now a father of two, a two-and-a-half year old and an almost six-month old. Both boys. They're amazing. And insane. Becoming a father has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, especially coming from somebody who works in a pretty insular field. With that said, getting into yet another routine to try and paint has been challenging to say the least. But, in the words of Mayo, I got nowhere else to go. So, here are some examples of what's been coming out of the studio these past couple of months: https://i.imgur.com/4u0xAeL.jpg?1 Walter Johnson, 1907, 22" x 28" https://i.imgur.com/yB2eJLW.jpg?1 Chief Bender, October 24, 1911, 12" x 16" https://i.imgur.com/zbDNMAf.jpg?1 Babe Ruth, 1915, 20" x 22" https://i.imgur.com/2gSsG24.jpg?1 Ty Cobb, 1916, 18" x 18" https://i.imgur.com/WWQLlhu.jpg?1 Hank Greenberg, Goose Goslin, Charlie Gehringer and Pete Fox, 1935, 29" x 35" https://i.imgur.com/5l1g58f.jpg?1 Arky Vaughan, 1935, 16" x 20" https://i.imgur.com/1Mm5LQc.jpg?1 Stan Musial, May 21, 1946, 30" x 44" https://i.imgur.com/TiuHikK.jpg?1 Ernie Banks, 1953, 18" x 24" I think there might be some more that I've missed, but I'll update this thread (finally) as I remember them. Also, I was given some great press by the nice people at the National Review a few weeks back, which can be seen here: https://www.nationalreview.com/magaz...seball-history Anywho, I hope you're all doing well, keeping happy and healthy, and excited for Cleveland (which I should be going to). Also, hopefully you dig some of these! If you have any comments, questions, criticisms or musings you'd like to share, please feel free to do so! Thanks, Graig |
Man, they are off the charts, its like looking at color photo
As always Graig, great job! |
Thanks a ton, Jay!! It feels good to be back. I hope I can keep it up.
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WOW Graig.... just phenomenal.
Especially love the spectacular Musial and the Walter Johnson. The rich colors are just incredible, and I can almost read the Patch on WaJo's wrist-strap. Have narrowed it down to either Reach or D&M! So gorgeous... thanks for revisiting this great thread! |
Wow Graig, all great, being from Detroit I really like the four Tigers painting.
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WOW- What a post Graig!
Awesome stuff, Graig! I can't believe the WaJo. Soooo cool!
Congrats to whoever will own that!! |
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Love the colors and the background! Amazing as always, keep it up man! |
Absolutely love the Musial!!!
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Absolutely amazing work Graig!
I like them all, but that Walter Johnson and the Bill Barilko piece (for some reason, I don't remember seeing it before) are absolutely off the charts!! Thank You!!!!! Steve |
Me reading the latest Kreindler post: Oh man, that's sick....oh MAN, that's sick...oh man, THAT's sick...OH MAN...repeat.
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Graig - my graphics card has gone bye-bye and it will be a little while before I can get it replaced, so I'm only seeing your new work in Black and White, but I do love that Walter Johnson...incredible!
Congrats on becoming a parent...again! |
Just fantastic, as always. They all have cool aspects that I notice when looking at them. For instance, the sense of depth conveyed is really something else. For instance, I'm amazed by the slightly raised letters on Vaughan's jersey. That's got to be very difficult to do. Looks like the actual jersey is right in front of you.
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That Wajo is insane. Love your work Graig as always. You are gifted.
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Thanks for posting again Graig. It’s my favorite thread. Your work is always awesome to see. Especially for someone like me that can barely draw a stickman.
I’m always proud to show my Ruth painting of yours to anyone who visits. All the new works look great. That WoJo is crazy. Wow. Enjoy your boys. I have 3 pre-teenage kids and they grow up fast, just like our parents always told us. |
paintings
Very nice work :)
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Thank you so much for all of your kind words, everybody!! They're very much appreciated.
That Johnson painting seems to be a pretty big hit with a lot of people - I guess it's because it's a little bit different from the kind of stuff I normally do. Or maybe it isn't. I don't know. But it was definitely a challenge combining the backdrop with the carpet and then the jersey. They all had to look and feel different, which I'm hoping they do. But seriously, thank you so much for sticking with me on this thing. And thanks for the kudos about parenthood. I don't know how you guys do it - most days I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. And the amount of money everything costs now...oh man, it was tough with one kid, but two? And we haven't even gotten close to the college years yet. Thank god we've started 529s. Hopefully I'll make it without my head exploding. |
Amazing as always!!!
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Wow! Great paintings Greg!
Mike |
Thanks a lot, Mike and Scott!
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Wow, so, looking through this thread, it seems like there are a lot of paintings I never got around to posting. Here were four glaring omissions (in my eyes):
https://i.imgur.com/Vr8WSwZ.jpg?1 Fred Clarke, 1902, 20" x 28" https://i.imgur.com/RPunaTc.jpg?1 Babe Ruth, 1915, 22" x 28" https://i.imgur.com/5Cezwyq.jpg?1 Ken Williams, 1922, 20" x 28" https://i.imgur.com/33BXt3T.jpg?1 Joe DiMaggio, 1938, 20" x 16" Granted, I think that they were missed...if not, I apologize for the repeats! Hope you enjoy 'em. G |
Love that DiMaggio!
Mike |
Thanks a lot, Mike! I LOVED the original photograph, so I was thrilled to paint it.
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WOW! Just incredible work, Graig! :cool:
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Thank you so much, Dale!!
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Thanks, Brett! If nothing else, they’ve guaranteed my spot in a white-walled rubber room. Weeeee!
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Amazing Graig...
Couple questions... The background of that early Babe Ruth is so intriguing. Looks like he is on a sandlot, more so than a professional grounds. Any idea where that image emanates from? The Fred Clarke is gorgeous as well. I should know this, but which stadium is depicted in that one? The high screen looks identical to the one behind Ty Cobb, in the famous Bain image where Ty is covertly flipping the bird. But that would likely be an American League Field, and Clarke played for Pittsburgh. Is it possible that one image or the other was captured at the 1909 World Series? |
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!
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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! :)
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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 |
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Yes, the kids get a little easier over time, depending on how you look at it. :) |
Stunning Graig.... absolutely stunning!
.... I hope all is well with you. Brent |
The most amazing artist ever. The details are incredible! I can look at the same image over and over and still be amazed at how someone can be that good.
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Maaaan, thank you so much, everybody!!! I'm thrilled you dig ol' Cobby. :)
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At risk of sounding like a fan boy.....this Cobb may be the best work you have ever done...or perhaps the Mathewson....or perhaps... Crap I cannot decide!
Your work is truly always a masterpiece. |
Hey all,
Hope this message finds everyone doing well and stoked for Cleveland. I'm happy to say that I'll be there for a few days, which is a welcome break from life here in Brooklyn. In other words, I'm very much looking forward to the break. I won't be exhibiting, but am looking forward to seeing some friends, clients and fellow passionate folk. Anywho, in addition to all of the color studies I've been doing for the Negro Leagues project, I've finished these few in the past month or so: https://i.imgur.com/0fZLJQf.jpg?4 Doc Powers, 1902, 8" x 14" https://i.imgur.com/qT1AA1U.jpg?2 Babe Ruth, May 23, 1926, 28" x 44" https://i.imgur.com/FwOq57Z.jpg?1 Mickey Mantle, March 1951, 22" x 28" The Powers painting actually was commissioned by his great granddaughter, and I was SUPER stoked to tackle it, especially because it was another Horner portrait (which I can't seem to pull myself away from). For those of you who don't know about Doc's untimely demise, it's worth a read, for sure. His injury happened during the opening game at Shibe Park in 1909, no less. Absolutely crazy. The fella who commissioned the Ruth painting had been a fan of the image for quite some time, and had been threatening to have me paint it for years. I think the result was really strong too, especially with all of the subtle stuff going on in his jersey and face. Obviously, Ruth is never a dull person to paint, and having him in a sort of state of repose told an interesting story. In the end, the fella received the painting this past weekend, and he seemed pretty darn happy. Considering the other artwork he has in his collection, I take that as a strong compliment. The Mantle painting was a rough one to get through. Obviously the image is pretty instantly recognizable from the Topps card, but it was important to make sure that it didn't look like that treasure. I've always found that set to be a bit too pastel-like and unrealistic, so I wanted to make sure the artwork was as close to real-life as possible. As a result, I've made a few color studies of the thing over the years, and it was only semi-recently that I "figured it out". The issue is that the photograph was taken with flash. So, you have that Phoenix sun shining down on Mickey, and then a cool flash bulb lighting him from below. That combination created some tough problems to sort out, as everything that as lit from the flash had to be less warm than the stuff being lit from the sun, and the photograph kind of exaggerates how bright those shadow planes get (especially in his face). I had to make sure that although he was being lit from two sources, one of them would win out. In this case, what was lit artificially stayed a bit deeper in value than I might have originally planned it to, making that part of it less obvious. As a result, I think his features (as well as those of the bat and jersey) really pop where they should, and at the same time, sit in the space well enough. This bad-boy is going out to another board member tomorrow, and hopefully he'll love it when it's in hand. Anywho, enough babbling. Hope y'all enjoy these pieces. And as usual, if you have any questions, comments, problems or whatever, feel free to post or message me. Also, feel free to do the same if you want to meet up this week - I'll be at the IX Center Thursday morning through Sunday morning. See you in Cleveland! Graig |
All three are great, but the Ruth is a masterpiece...it's beyond words.
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The Ruth looks like he's about 2 seconds away from noticing your presence, jumping off the wall and slapping you on the back while saying "Attaboy!, Kid!"
Great work as always! |
The Ty Cobb portrait painting is absolute PERFECTION! The colors, clarity, and image are stunning:)
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Can somebody say photorealism?? Holy moley!!!
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