BETWEEN THE LINES

Poster Treatments

2010-06-10T01:03:00.003-04:00

Grady Sizemore

2010-05-07T03:37:00.004-04:00

Russell Martin

2010-04-27T21:53:00.010-04:00

^Final Painting

^Detail from the final image

Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers:

The Dodger catcher grew up in many different cities, splitting time between his mother and father. For awhile he lived with his Mom and Stepfather in Paris. In Montreal, where a good deal of his youth was spent with his father, he played hockey and baseball. While staying there, he learned the importance of baseball and life. They played games of pepper and Russell learned about the fundamentals. When he went off to school for the day, his dad went to work in the Montreal Subway playing saxophone for the waiting train passengers.

The mural above Russell Martin's head is a reinterpretation of an actual painting in one of the Montreal subway stations. Within the new mural are snippets of the ballplayer's life, including from left to right: John Coltrane (his middle namesake and his father's favorite musician), Paris, Montreal (NDG) buildings / subway entrance, little league players, park & trees, logo (sun) for his AAA team (Jacksonville Suns), Dodger Stadium, and finally, his parents. I've put Martin on the tracks and literally in the path of the subway trains. He faces all that life can throw at him, head on. The positioning also alludes to the baseball role of a catcher, to block the plate when a runner is trying to score. This was referred to by the character Rube Baker in the Major League movie series this way, "You're standing on the tracks, and the train's coming through..."

^The figures above were drawn separately and then composed in Photoshop below.

^This image shows how I was thinking about alignments when composing the layout

^These are in-progress photos of the painting

^Final Comprehensive Line Drawing

^Mural Explorations

^Subway Perspective

^Final Line Drawing of the figure

CC Sabathia

2010-04-16T15:14:00.003-04:00

^Sabathia Final Image

^ Sabathia Painting Process & Step-by-step

CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees:

The image shows Sabathia joyfully catching a ball tossed back to him by an infielder with his pitching hand, as he does on occasion. His larger than life figure is surrounded by New York buildings. This is an exaggeration of both his physical size as well as his joyful personality. Along the tops of the buildings, water tanks can be seen occupying the positions of his teammates on the playing field. The NY pinstripes help identify the tanks as players. Grass patterns and the rich color of the baseball dirt are bounced around the rooftop, continuing the comparison of city/field.

Compositional variations to the figure and background:

Jimmy Rollins

2010-03-09T16:32:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies:

This image captures Rollins turning a double play. The concept plays on the fact that he owns a music label and has been involved in the music industry. The lighting effects and simplified color palette convey a club & concert like atmosphere. Eventually, I will have flashbulbs that are popping in the stands to lend weight to the moment as an event (like the Super Bowl) and to provide more sparkle to the scene. The viewer is positioned in a lower vantage point, conveying importance to the figure rising up and over them. The decision to angle the scene adds to this positive upward movement and creates more dynamic paths through the image.

^ Final line drawing & rough value application

^ Digital color study

^ Value Study

^ Compositional studies

Torii Hunter

2010-02-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels:

The image shows a strong and stable Hunter rising from a bad neighborhood with boarded up houses. Angel Stadium is seen flanking both sides of Hunter as if forming wings. Symbolically, the wings represent his ability to rise above the challenge of his childhood dealing with drugs, guns, and gangs. He is seen holding the ball and taking control of the situation by focusing on baseball and leading a good life. The baseball field diagram is seen as an additional layer of information weaving the image and color together. Home plate is located in the house from which Hunter springs. Second base is located on his nose and the baseball represents the pitcher's mound. First and Third base can be found on the facing of the stands where advertisements and info is displayed during the games.

Carl Crawford

2010-02-12T12:24:00.002-05:00

Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays:

The image depicts Crawford rounding the bases through the streets of Houston (his hometown). Symbolically, he is headed home. Part of the Houston skyline is visible in the background and the city features begin to blend into the Tropicana Field architecture. The domed stadium's catwalks are represented with the telephone/utility wires and the bridge delineates some features seen in the stands. Alluding to a common childhood activity, he is seen splashing through a puddle. Making these portraits fun for children is a goal of this project, so this part hopefully accomplishes that a little bit. It also creates activity and sparkle in the lower half of the image.

2010-02-11T22:56:00.000-05:00

This will be an ongoing documentation of the development process for my master's thesis.

Baseball has seen a dramatic decline in the number of African American players over the past few decades. Once numbering nearly 30% of the baseball population, the current black population in Major League Baseball is down to 10.4% as of April 2009. Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a program that works to keep inner city youth off the streets and introduce them to the excitement and virtues of baseball. What began as a program to develop a neglected resource of talent also sought to teach the children the value of an education. The appeal must be made to this next generation of players to make baseball relevant once again. I will be producing 8 portrait illustrations that strive to highlight the heroic and active qualities of baseball. These images will have the goal of fashioning stronger icons from current MLB stars like Torii Hunter, CC Sabathia, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard etc. The illustrations will be used as posters to promote baseball, little league, RBI, and the positive impact baseball can have on a child's everyday life. Rather than using a stock player photo that captures a split second of the action, these paintings can offer more dynamic attention to the sights, sounds and emotions of the game or conceptual ties to the player's life. These posters should excite, inspire awe and stir an emotion within the viewer. While not expecting these images to change the world, I hope for the youth audience to connect with them in some way. Whether or not they would want to hang the posters up in their room, I would consider it a success if they realized that there are other avenues to pursue and people like them who have blazed the trail. Baseball can become a cultural touchstone as it was in the past, but the marketing needs to make it relevant to today's easily distracted youth.