On the easel...

[Lordstan]

Bout Damn Time!

First off.... WOW. HFS.
Second... What crazy SOB commissioned the gigantic 1927 Yankees team? I need to know cause that is one I'd love to see in person.
Lastly.... WOW.

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[Jay Wolt]

Graig, Those are awesome
My favorite is Jackie sliding into Yogi

[Scott Garner]

Wow, Graig! You really have been busy lately.
That's a terrific group of paintings.

Love King Carl!!

[perezfan]

Love 'em all, and would kill to see either the huge Mantle or the giant Yankees Team Painting in person.

But like Scott, my favorite from this new crop is probably the Carl Hubbell, with the majestic Polo Grounds backdrop.

Any chance that any from this group will be present at The National?

[thecatspajamas]

Holy crap! And here I thought you were wasting all your time with that gettin' hitched and subsequent globe-trotting business. You have been busy!

The two that are standing out to me the most are the Ed Walsh hand shot, which just really stands out in the crowd and is taking your usual insane detail to a whole other level, and the Casey Stengel. That one comes off with a hint of Norman Rockwell to me, though that may just be Stengel's natural look? I mean, the rest are great too, and even the earlier works in progress show great potential (I can't wait to see the finished 1927 Yankees team shot either, Mark. It's big, but I bet if you broke the square inch cost down to cost-per-portrait, someone is still getting a bargain!) The Berra/Robinson stood out to me too, but for some reason my eye keeps being drawn to Berra's back side, and lest anyone should get the wrong idea (my wife included), I'd rather just not talk about it...

[GKreindler]

Thanks so much for your kind words, everyone. I'm glad y'all seem excited about this stuff!

The '27 team shot is for Phil Napolitano, a fellow board member. I'm super excited to be working on it for and with him, as he's definitely the biggest '27 team fan that I know of (and a damn good friend to boot). Anywho, he commissioned it a long time ago and now I'm FINALLY getting around to it. Needless to say, it's been quite the undertaking. He's always loved that particular photo, so he's definitely taken an interest into making the painting as wonderful as possible. Through the faces on the team compared to the active rosters throughout the year, we were able to narrow the date down to about a week - June 29 to July 8. At first, it was a little tough to believe, since it looks like everyone is wearing long sleeves, and in the case of Pennock, even a jacket. However, you can certainly have chillier days in that time-span (even if they are a little more on the rare side). What I'm probably gonna do is head to the ol' microfilm files and see what the weather was like in that time span - maybe I can narrow it down even further. Phil was also very helpful in tracking down a lot of Wingler questionnaires to help find the mundane details, like eye and hair color of many of these guys. Mundane for sure. But also AWESOME.

Mark V, if you want to come by here to see it before I get it to Phil, you're certainly more than welcome to.

The Hubbell is also one of my favorites. I'm just super happy to be able to do a painting of him, being one of my absolute favorite players. The client's father was a big Giants fan and used to tell him about Hubbell all of the time, so in a way, the painting is more of a tribute to his father than anything. Either way, I'm STOKED for him to see it in the end.

Mark S, I don't have any solid plans of bringing anything to Chicago, but there's always a chance that I can. If anything, it might be on the smaller end of the painting scale. It's probably going to be tough either way, since I'll be flying in.

Lance, I think in the case of Stengel, it was ALL Conlon. He just captured this absolutely perfect expression on the Ol' Perfessor's face. It's really fun knowing the image is from Opening Day at the Polo Grounds in '38, Casey's first managing stint with Boston. So, the expression to me is, "hey, why not?" Simply hilarious.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment, everyone - I really appreciate it.

Graig

[GKreindler]

...and ya know what, here are a few more. All of 'em are in-progress.


Christy Mathewson, 1912, 9" x 12"


Ed Delahanty, 1903, 22" x 34"


Rogers Hornsby, 1929, 30" x 32"


Rube Waddell, 1902, 26" x 30"


George Case, 1939, 9" x 12"


Ernie Banks, 1957, 11" x 14"


Jim Thorpe, 1917, 11" x 14"


Fred Merkle, 1909, 11" x 14"


Nolan Ryan, 1969, 11" x 14"

Alright, I'm done for today. I promise.

Graig

[thecatspajamas]

What do you mean you're done?! Look at all those unfinished paintings!!! [sounds of whip cracking]

[GKreindler]

Lance, have you been talking to Dean?

Graig

[perezfan]

I have a feeling that Hornsby will be one of my very favorites, once completed.... simply mesmerizing

[PhilNap]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Second... What crazy SOB commissioned the gigantic 1927 Yankees team? I need to know cause that is one I'd love to see in person.

Guilty!!!

[Lordstan]

Phil,
That is one Freakin' AWESOME Commission!!
Lemme see where I put your address again.. I have it here somewhere.
Cangrats,
Mark

[GKreindler]

Guilty like a fox!

Thanks again for the warm words, Mark. For serious.

Graig

[whitehse]

I just saw these recent postings....Although I am loving the Berra/Robinson I have reason to believe the Hubbell will be right up there on my favorites list next to your Mathewson. Spectacular as usual.

I am hoping to get a chance to meet you at the National this year. Keep up the great work!

[GKreindler]

Thank you so much, Andrew! Just let me know when you'll be around Chicago and hopefully we can meet up!

Graig

[GKreindler]

Hey everyone,

Hope you're all keeping cool.

With some cool timing by my photographers, I just got these guys back:


Carl Hubbell, July 10, 1934, 29" x 35"


Jackie Robinson & Yogi Berra, September 28, 1955, 30" x 36"

Today is actually the 79th anniversary for the Hubbell painting scene - warming up on the sidelines before he struck out Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin in succession during the '34 All-Star Game. Hubbell's always been one of my favorite players as a few of you know, so this painting was an absolute joy to create.

The second guy is hopefully a bit more obvious as to what it depicts - quite the photo finish!

Anywho, comments and crits are always appreciated. The color adjusting is almost there, but still might be a little off in some places.

Looking forward to seeing some of y'all in Chicago!

Graig