On the easel...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

It's been a while!! I hope everybody is doing well and keeping sane in this crazy world.

Things on my end have been BUSY. Both with life and work. And I'm eternally grateful that that's the case with both of them. I know that I had always promised that if I ever started offering reproductions of my artwork, I would shout it from the rooftops. So, I guess that time has finally come--I'm officially offering my first giclée!



The painting depicts a game between the Kalamazoo Kazoos and the Wheeling Green Stockings on May 19, 1887. It's based on a photograph by W.C. Brown, which is currently owned by the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling, WV.

Now, starting off, for those of you who don't know, a giclée is a very high-quality art print, typically known for its longevity and value compared to a standard print that somebody could make on their home computer.

I know that I had always claimed that I wasn’t able to make reproductions of my work because of various IPs depicted therein, and that IS still the case, but this painting was an exception. The photograph itself is in the public domain, so there are no licensing issues there. The teams and ballpark are loooooooong gone, and with no ties to the current MLB organization, I’m not beholden to any of their IP. And the players, well, though we know who most of them are, none of them have estates that would be in a position to actually grant a license for something like this. So that being said, I feel pretty comfortable putting this out there like this.

The specs: The original painting measures 63” x 40” x 2”, which is pretty large. I thought it was the perfect size for something like this, considering all of the visual information within the original photograph. These giclées will be a little bit smaller, specifically 3’ x 2’ (36” x 24”). Reason being, it’s a common size that can be framed easily without making a custom order. The image itself will be 34.6” x 22” within that 36” x 24” paper. Please note, the original painting is sold.

The paper upon which it will be printed is Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350 gsm. This particular brand is of extremely high quality, and amazingly enough has been in business since 1584. And "yes," you read that right. They'll be printed and shipped by a local Brooklyn company called Skink Ink Fine Art Printing, who also happen to handle my photography as well. Each giclée will be signed and numbered by me.

The catch? It's a time-limited edition. It will be available for one week, starting at 8:00 AM ET on Tuesday, October 3 and ending at 7:59 AM ET on Tuesday, October 10. The edition is limited by the number of prints sold during that period and will never be reprinted.

Phew!!

So, if this interests you, you can purchase it here:

https://store.graigkreindler.com/

If anybody has any questions, feel free to reach out, either via PM or email (gkreindler@gmail.com).

Thanks for reading, as always.

Graig

[Scott Garner]

Hi Graig,
The photo didn't make it.
I hope you are well!

[GKreindler]

Hey Scott!! Great to see you a few months back.

The image seems to be working for me, but maybe I'm crazy. Anyone else have that problem?

And I guess if I can't figure it out, you can go to https://store.graigkreindler.com/!!

[ooo-ribay]

When I first looked, it wasn’t there. Now it is. Beautiful work, as always.

[GKreindler]

Phew!! Thank you so much, Rob!! Hope you and yours are doing well.

[MVSNYC]

Hi Graig, great seeing you post in this thread again! Hope you're well!

[Scott Garner]

Awesome, Graig! I love it!

[GKreindler]

Thanks so much, guys!!!

Sarno! Good to hear from you. I don’t know if he told you, but your buddy Chris literally lives a few buildings away from me—ran into him and his dog Iggy the other day.

[batsballsbases]

Beautiful work as always Graig... You never fail to impress. Been away from the hobby for awhile for personal matters. Trying my very best to get back in... one day at a time... Love your work as always...

[GKreindler]

I really appreciate the kind words, Al!! Hope you and yours are doing well.

[MVSNYC]

Hi Graig! He did tell me! That's awesome. He's a great guy, we go way back to the late 90's at Pratt. One of my closest friends. He was happy to meet you!

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

Hope you're all doing well and keeping sane in this increasingly crazy world. It's definitely been some time since I posted last, but I've been lurking in the shadows (that sounds creepier than I mean it to be) and checking out threads when I can.

With the new year, I'm going to try and post on Net54 more often. I remember catching Leon (hey Leon!) at the airport at the end of last year's National, and he was saying that I should get back on here. In my head, I said I was gonna do it, dammit. But yeah, as per usual, with all of the painting and life stuff, it's just been so hard to keep up. So I'm really hoping that I can at least come on by every now and again to post some work and chat with old friends.

I thought I'd start doing one image at a time, as it's less overwhelming for me to upload and post when I'm just talking about one image, as opposed to a batch of them (even though I'd rather put them all up there).

I'll start here, with Henry Louis Aaron:


Henry Aaron, May 1957, 34" x 22"

This commission was based on a George Silk photograph that's currently in the LIFE Magazine archives (soon to be back with Getty from what I understand). I always thought the image itself was pretty iconic, with Aaron looking huge against the background of Wrigley, and in my head, the viewer's eyes could go straight to that red #44. That being said, there's still a lot of interesting texture throughout, whether it's the grain in the bat, the dirt, the ivy, the grass, and even some fun color in the guys on the field...it's just chock full of fun stuff. In the end, hopefully I did the image, and Henry, justice.

Hope y'all dig it, and please, if you have any questions, comments, critiques, or curses to throw my way, feel free to do so!! You can also email me at gkreindler@gmail.com.

Thanks everyone, as always.

Graig

[nebboy]

Welcome back - your work looks better than ever!!!

[GKreindler]

Thanks so much for that, John!! I’m tryin’.

[Scott Garner]

Wow, Graig!
Super cool! Thanks for posting Henry!

[Mark17]

It is so amazing. You can block out the uniform and cap, and still recognize it's Aaron just from the facial profile.

[GKreindler]

Thanks so much for that, Scott!! Great to see you on here again.

Mark, all credit to Silk, the photographer. And I guess Henry for having such a distinctive body shape and profile!

[Jay Wolt]

Graig fantastic as always, great job

[GKreindler]

Thanks a ton for that, Jay!! Great seeing you here, too.

[bgar3]

Graig, after 44, I was drawn to the uniform material texture and detail. Great job.

[GKreindler]

Thank youuuuuuu!!! 🙏🙏🙏

[Leon]

Great to see you back, Graig. We did have a nice, fairly long chat at the airport. One of my best conversations of the week. Great painting as usual too.
.

[GKreindler]

Awww, man. Thanks, LL. It was great seeing you, too. And it was nice being able to talk to you and not have to shout over people breaking and screaming. Whuddathunk.

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

Here's one for a rainy, albeit warm, Sunday:


Mickey Mantle, October 4, 1953, 22" x 38"

This painting was both a challenge and a blast. The depicted scene shows our boy Mantle hitting a home run off of Russ Meyer during Game 5 of the '53 World Series. When I first saw the original Mark Kauffman photo, I was instantly drawn in by that patch of light in front of him. Since the shadows cast by the Ebbets Field stands were creeping across the infield, that bit of light on the bottom right must have come from one of the sky holes on the top of the upper deck. Interestingly enough, it must have vanished right after Mantle started his trek out of the box, as it can't be seen in this video after the fact:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jLqTK_hQI4

Either way, the possibilities of color in the painting were incredibly hard to pass up, what with the blue in Campy's hat and sleeves, the deep red and navy in the stands, and the warmth reflecting back into Mantle's front leg. Combine that with Mickey's bat being a shimmering beacon against the shadowed spectators, I felt like there was something really special happening in the photograph, which in turn I just needed to get out on canvas. Glad that this went to a good home, too.

Again, any comments, questions, and critiques are always welcome!!

Thanks again for reading.

Graig

[whitehse]

your use of light and shadows are literally mind boggling to me. I mean, I see the sunlight streaming down on Mantle's hands and bat but how you actually painted that is just incredible.

Graig, I missed your first Giclee....are you planning on another anytime soon? I need to start saving!

[icollectDCsports]

I always enjoy seeing your work. Just amazing.

[GKreindler]

Thank you so much, you two!!!

Andrew, I'll actually be releasing another one in a few months--still working on finishing the painting!

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Thank you so much, you two!!!

Andrew, I'll actually be releasing another one in a few months--still working on finishing the painting!

You’re welcome. And one of many great aspects of your paintings that I particularly admire is the detail and realism of the fabric of caps and uniforms. I can visually feel the textures. Just so well done.

[Scott Garner]

Greatest sports artist, ever!

[frankbmd]

Has one of the fans in the stands that you've painted ever recognized themselves in one of your paintings?


Disclaimer: I understand that the fans in this one would be 72 years older now. I was living on Long Island in the fall of 1953, but didn't go to this game.

[GKreindler]

I really appreciate it, DCsports!! The uniforms are undoubtedly a very fun part of the equation. When I have to second guess some of the color choices because we have no existing examples though, that's the beast.

Scott, let's not get crazy, now.

Frank! It's happened twice and in the same painting, no-less. The one I did of Bautista's home run bat toss, two separate folks have reached out and claimed they were there that night and even in the shot. It never happens with the paintings of the older guys, though.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Thank you so much, you two!!!

Andrew, I'll actually be releasing another one in a few months--still working on finishing the painting!

This is great news. Time to increase the saving.

[vintagesportscollector]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

This commission was based on a George Silk photograph that's currently in the LIFE Magazine archives (soon to be back with Getty from what I understand). I always thought the image itself was pretty iconic, with Aaron looking huge against the background of Wrigley, and in my head, the viewer's eyes could go straight to that red #44. That being said, there's still a lot of interesting texture throughout, whether it's the grain in the bat, the dirt, the ivy, the grass, and even some fun color in the guys on the field...it's just chock full of fun stuff. In the end, hopefully I did the image, and Henry, justice.

Speaking of George Silk photos, my favorite is the image of the 1960 World Series with Pitt students watching Forbes Field from atop the Cathedral of Learning. Would love to see Greg do that image.

[rjackson44]

put this in the met museum

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

Here's another one for ya:


Satchel Paige, 1935, 16" x 12"

I had never seen the original photograph before, until a collector shared it with me randomly. I pretty much dropped everything I was doing and got to painting it--clear portraits of Satchel during the beginning of his career (funny to think that in 1935, he's in his 10th season or so of professional ball, and it's still *early*) are virtually non-existent.

Anywho, not only was the portrait super clear, but I LOVED the narrative with the uniform and cap. Paige had come to the Monarchs (for the first time, no less) at some point in late 1935, after his stint with Bismarcks. It was with the latter club that Paige built on the legend he had started during the Denver Post Tournament in '34. Bismarck finished the season with a 60-19-3 record, and secured an invitation to the National Semi-Professional Baseball Championship Tournament. At that tournament the team went undefeated at 7-0, with Paige winning four games and striking out 60 batters, thus becoming the first fully-integrated club to win a national championship.

So, here we have Paige in his Kansas City duds wearing his Bismarcks hat, most likely because when he joined, the club probably didn't actually have an extra Monarchs one to give him! Knowing how MLB is now with whatever they give (and CAN give) to players and the such, it's amazing to think of how NOT uniform things could be in the Negro Leagues. Truly a different time.

Any comments, questions, and critiques are always welcome!!

Thanks again for reading.

Graig

[tiger8mush]

holy cow, so realistic. AMAZINGLY beautiful!

[GKreindler]

Joe! That Silk is one of the greatest sports photos of all time, in my opinion. What a sense of atmosphere in that.

Octavio, maybe somewhere in one of the Met’s many bathrooms? I’ve got no business hanging in those hallowed halls.

Rob, thank you so much for the kind words!!!

[Schlesinj]

Picked up these amazing frames on the BST made of seats from Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds.

Took a shot these would fit. Wow art with art.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Schlesinj

Picked up these amazing frames on the BST made of seats from Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds.

Took a shot these would fit. Wow art with art.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow! Crazie cool, Jamie!
Congrats!

[GKreindler]

Those frames look pretty darn rad, Jamie. Love seeing the original seat colors incorporated so well.

We're starting to get some nice weather in Brooklyn, so that's making my heart sing. And baseball is officially underway, so that doesn't hurt either. Annnnnnnndddd, we're that much closer to the National, which is still my favorite few days of the year.

Anywho, I thought I'd post another one that I finished semi-recently:


Donie Bush, 1912, 9" x 12"

I think if you've ever spoken to me or taken a thorough look at the stuff I've done in the last 15 years, you probably know that I love me some Conlon. The series that he did that focused on the eyes of the fellas from Murderer's Row has always been a favorite. What a lot of folks don't know if that it's a motif that he started to play around with in the early 1910s, the context of which has been studied thoroughly by our buddy Paul Reiferson.

While I did intend on painting the '27 Yankees portraits (preferably VERY large), I liked the idea of doing these older ones at a smaller scale, in kind of a less confrontational approach. It was a lot of fun to try and get Donie's freckled Irish skin just right (which I'm hoping I did?), as it really had work in concert with those ginormous eyes. Definitely excited to do more of these as time passes--I've already started one of Chief Meyer that I'm hoping will give off some similar vibes.

Oh, and also, the folks at FOX 5 NY came by the studio a week or two ago, and put together this cool little package which aired a few times today:

https://www.fox5ny.com/video/1629013

I was honored to have them there, and really happily surprised that the segment was as long as it was! I feel like they even make me sound somewhat sane.

Anywho, thanks so much for reading, and as always, shoot me an email/PM if you have any questions, comments or critiques!

Thanks again,

Graig

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Oh, and also, the folks at FOX 5 NY came by the studio a week or two ago, and put together this cool little package which aired a few times today:

https://www.fox5ny.com/video/1629013

Donie's eyes ... WOW so real!

Terrific video, congrats and thanks for sharing!

[Jay Wolt]

Graig that was an impressive Fox piece, thanks for the link

[Cooper1927]

If you haven’t done this one, I think this would be a fantastic painting…




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Leon]

This was moved from the memorabilia section to get more eyes on Graig's work. It's simply great.

[dbussell12]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Those frames look pretty darn rad, Jamie. Love seeing the original seat colors incorporated so well.

We're starting to get some nice weather in Brooklyn, so that's making my heart sing. And baseball is officially underway, so that doesn't hurt either. Annnnnnnndddd, we're that much closer to the National, which is still my favorite few days of the year.

Anywho, I thought I'd post another one that I finished semi-recently:


Donie Bush, 1912, 9" x 12"

I think if you've ever spoken to me or taken a thorough look at the stuff I've done in the last 15 years, you probably know that I love me some Conlon. The series that he did that focused on the eyes of the fellas from Murderer's Row has always been a favorite. What a lot of folks don't know if that it's a motif that he started to play around with in the early 1910s, the context of which has been studied thoroughly by our buddy Paul Reiferson.

While I did intend on painting the '27 Yankees portraits (preferably VERY large), I liked the idea of doing these older ones at a smaller scale, in kind of a less confrontational approach. It was a lot of fun to try and get Donie's freckled Irish skin just right (which I'm hoping I did?), as it really had work in concert with those ginormous eyes. Definitely excited to do more of these as time passes--I've already started one of Chief Meyer that I'm hoping will give off some similar vibes.

Oh, and also, the folks at FOX 5 NY came by the studio a week or two ago, and put together this cool little package which aired a few times today:

https://www.fox5ny.com/video/1629013

I was honored to have them there, and really happily surprised that the segment was as long as it was! I feel like they even make me sound somewhat sane.

Anywho, thanks so much for reading, and as always, shoot me an email/PM if you have any questions, comments or critiques!

Thanks again,

Graig

said it on messenger and i'll say it again graig -- the rendering of emotion here is on par with the masters. another, along with that cy, that is simply superb. you've tapped into drawing the life from these deadball era photos in a way that elevates the genre of photorealism in a way that no longer (if but rarely) exists in the modern world.

looking forward to the day where your work and some of the fantastic WPA era photography + early deadball darkroom artistry is known and understood as essential and fundamental parts of the greater American art historical canon. the day is coming soon; i hope with my essay work and critical lens to foster it as well....

[GKreindler]

Thank you so much for those kind words, David!!! I can't say that I agree on the master claim, but I do really appreciate the sentiment. I can only hope that at some point, sports-related artwork can be placed in the context of other, more "elevated" themes in the art world. After all, it's always been my contention that depicting sports dates back further than the ancient Greeks and their pottery depicting pankration and equestrian events. But at the same time, I'm probably also biased.

And thanks for moving this over here, Leon! It's a little weird to think that it's on this side, since I guess I've been on the memorabilia page since this thread started (2009?). I appreciate the nudge!!

Figured this might be a decent time to post one of my latest:


Satchel Paige, September 8, 1941, 36" x 46"

I really enjoyed painting this, even though it was a BIG challenge finding a decent quality image to work off of. The photo has been in circulation forever, and is one of my favorites of him with the Monarchs; however the quality was always a bit suspect in spots, as well as being heavily cropped. I was able to procure a reaaalllyy nice scan from the original Detroit News negative, and it made SUCH a difference in how I approached it. Especially since in the version most of us have seen, you're not getting much of that ballpark in the background--just the wall behind Paige and a bit of the dugout step.

So, pictured is the great Satchel Paige at Briggs Stadium in early September of 1941. Reason being, there was to be a big doubleheader between the Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants a week later, and the hope was to generate some interest in the event. Having ol' Satch pitch was bound to do that--they were expecting close to 50,000 for the games. This afternoon, there were a number of photographs taken of him, whether it was in sitting at rest, standing on the mound or even pantomiming his throw. Personally, I just loved the idea of showcasing those long and skinny legs, as well as presenting that colorful uniform in all of its glory.

The hope is always that I do the subject justice, but I feel like it's doubly so when I paint these Negro and Latin American League folks. It's become of profound importance to me that they're not relegated to the dustbin of history. Fingers crossed that that sentiment rings true with these paintings.

Oh, and I should probably mention, I'm making this available as a giclée (a very high quality fine art print) in a few months! It's to be the second time I've done a reproduction like this, and thankfully, a portion of the proceeds will be going to the Paige estate, as well as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. It's to be a timed release, meaning that I'll make it available for a week only, and after that, it's gone forever! If you're interested in keeping informed about the whole process, feel free to leave me with your email address here.

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

Thanks for reading.

Graig

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Figured this might be a decent time to post one of my latest:

Satchel Paige, September 8, 1941, 36" x 46"

I really enjoyed painting this, even though it was a BIG challenge finding a decent quality image to work off of. The photo has been in circulation forever, and is one of my favorites of him with the Monarchs; however the quality was always a bit suspect in spots, as well as being heavily cropped. I was able to procure a reaaalllyy nice scan from the original Detroit News negative, and it made SUCH a difference in how I approached it. Especially since in the version most of us have seen, you're not getting much of that ballpark in the background--just the wall behind Paige and a bit of the dugout step.

So, pictured is the great Satchel Paige at Briggs Stadium in early September of 1941. Reason being, there was to be a big doubleheader between the Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants a week later, and the hope was to generate some interest in the event. Having ol' Satch pitch was bound to do that--they were expecting close to 50,000 for the games. This afternoon, there were a number of photographs taken of him, whether it was in sitting at rest, standing on the mound or even pantomiming his throw. Personally, I just loved the idea of showcasing those long and skinny legs, as well as presenting that colorful uniform in all of its glory.

Fantastic! All of it is great but I continue to be amazed by how well you portray the textures and contours of the various fabrics.

[ruth-gehrig]

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports

Fantastic! All of it is great but I continue to be amazed by how well you portray the textures and contours of the various fabrics.

Amazing! I could look at this painting for days in amazement. Look at the detail of the end of the piece of wood above shoulder. The age rings are so real and detailed

[Jay Wolt]

Graig that Satch is amazing

[perezfan]

That Paige is so good, it's hypnotizing.

I am all out of adjectives worthy of describing it!