On the easel...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

It's been a busy couple of months, as I've been trying to move stuff out of the studio that's been sitting around for a bit. Unfortunately, there's still a lot left to go. Well, it's not unfortunate that I have work to do, but it's unfortunate that people have been waiting as long as they have. Le sigh.

Anywho, here's what I've completed recently, including John's raffle painting:


Samuel Winslow, 1885, 16" x 28"


Joe Jackson, 1911, 18" x 22"


Jim Thorpe. April 10, 1913, 20" x 28"


Hank Aaron, 1955-6, 16" x 24"

The Samuel Winslow was a lot of fun. First off, for those of you unfamiliar with him, he was best known as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts. However, Winslow also happened to be the team captain of the Harvard baseball club, and according to his good friend Ernest Thayer, the ORIGINAL inspiration for Casey at the Bat.

The image itself was a lot of fun to work with. Outside of the fact that I was thrilled to work on a painting of the actual inspiration for the great figure, I was also super stoked to have the image be from a studio shot. The biggest challenge for me was in the background of the piece, that landscape, which in this case, was just a background used in a studio setting. I imagined that it was just a fully painted screen of some sort. I wasn't even sure that it would have been in color, as an artist may have just created something like that using a grisaille (monochromatically). But I figured that the quality of that painting (or from what I could tell from the black and white cabinet) didn't seem to match what a grisaille traditionally looks like, so I opted for color. The challenge really laid in reminding myself that it was just a backdrop, and the color of it wouldn't be reflected in Sam himself, as it would normally if he was in the environment. Hopefully it manages to sit back enough in the final. And not for nothing, but Winslow looks like a bad@$$.

With Jackson, the thing that immediately attracted me to the image that the client picked was that shape of the grandstand. It's REALLY awkward, and almost seems like it's chopping Joe's head off. Pictorially, it's a no-no, and I should have nixed it. But there was something in the way some of the other shapes and angles in the image worked with it that I just couldn't get away from. And, something about his head behind clocked off by that shape held a nice metaphor in place, I thought. Granted, I could be completely wrong in all of this, but either way, I LOVED it.

The Thorpe was also a lot of fun, which again had a lot to do with the environment around him. The image came from 1913, and I'm pretty sure it was the first game of the season for the Giants. So, the weather that day was pretty frigid apparently, and though sunny in the morning, by the time the players took the field for BP and the crowd wandered into the ballpark, it had become terribly overcast. I kind of imagined the light being pretty silvery, which can be the case on a cold April day. So that had to reflect not only in the depiction of the stands, but also on Thorpe himself. The purple of his hat and 'NY' were cool touches that had to be adjusted for the occasion.

If anyone has any thoughts, questions, comments or critiques, I'd certainly love to hear them.

Hope ya dig these four!

Graig

[TimCarrollArt]

All are amazing, Graig. And that backdrop? Well done, sir......well done!

Tim

[whitehse]

Are you freaking kidding me?

The four paintings you posted today might be the best collective lot you have ever posted at one time. That Winslow is right up there with your Matty and the Aaron turned out far far greater than I ever expected it to.

I have said it before and will say it again.....you sir, have an incredible talent.

[GKreindler]

Thank you so much Tim. Coming from another great artist, it means a lot!

Andrew, I'm amazed you feel that way about the Winslow!! That is, amazed and really thrilled! I really hope that in the future, I can do more paintings of these 19th century guys and treat them similarly. I have a couple of great shots of Deacon White and Mike Kelly that have similar backdrops - they're BEGGING me to start them. But alas, not until I get myself caught up.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Graig

[Kawika]

Quite the array. You make stunning look commonplace. Ever done a shitty painting? I didn't think so. Mark my words, Young Kreindler: Someday Cooperstown will have an artists' wing akin to the Ford Frick winners and you will be enshrined therein. Hope I am still alive so we can share a root beer on the veranda at the Otesaga.

[howard38]

Great job on the Winslow. Those maroon socks are slammin' and nicely balanced by the red H. I never heard of him and the glasses, 'stache, and Harvard shirt had me thinking it was Teddy Roosevelt.

I think the Thorpe is the best of the new group though. Another amazing job with the colors. This one is pretty close to the Matty as my favorite of your paintings.

[perezfan]

Agree.... Thorpe is my favorite as well. Really love that Batting pose, and those subtle lavendar shades are just so enticing

[Scott Garner]

Absolutely stunning, Graig!

Joe Jackson's stare absolutely pierces your soul.
The Jim Thorpe, as other poster's have intimated, is a clear winner and is drop dead gorgeous.

You perfectly captured Hammerin' Hank in all of his glory. He literally jumps right off the canvas.

Congrats to all of the lucky people that are adding these beauties to your collections! Awesome!

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

It's been a busy couple of months since I posted last. I have a couple of larger pieces to get up on here, which I will do soon, but first I thought I'd start with all of these color studies:


Harry Wright, 1874


Christy Mathewson, 1900


Christy Mathewson, 1908


Ty Cobb, 1913


Honus Wagner, 1914


Babe Ruth, 1920


Babe Ruth, 1920


Lou Gehrig, 1927


Ted Williams, 1939


Jackie Robinson, 1948


Jackie Robinson, 1950


Mickey Mantle, 1956


Roberto Clemente, 1970


Derek Jeter, 2000

As I had mentioned before, all of the studies are 5" x 7" and act as preparatory work for the larger paintings. A couple of them had been commissions, and the rest were thrown up on eBay like the last batch. If any of you are interested in checking them out, here's my seller page.

I actually really like doing these little guys a lot, as it's a nice break from the larger stuff - it ends up being a different kind of thought process that goes into each one. What's also nice is the response I've been getting for them, as people seem to really dig the fact that they can add something they really like to their collection at a reasonable price. Or at least, that's what they've been saying.

Anywho, I hope you dig 'em.

Graig