Probably the most difficult part of doing my stories and illustration is the write-up that goes on the back of the card. Despite what you might think, it’s really hard to tell a story in 185 words. I believe the thing that makes what I do different than anyone else is that I write […]
Over the years, many people have remarked about the backgrounds I have in my illustrations. I’m happy people notice them because I go out of my way to make sure they compliment the players. I want them to appear comfortable in the world they inhabit. Sometimes you can see a panoramic view of the […]
Because I’ve been doing my baseball card illustrations for over ten years, I have developed a system of sorts. Back in 2010 when I started, I had to not only do the player drawing themselves, but also come up with the whole design of the “card.” There’s many artists out there who repurpose […]
Back in art school I had a drawing professor that most students hated. It wasn’t because he was a bad teacher – on the contrary, he was terrific. At the time I had my first class with him, he was at the pinnacle of his own career, coming off a couple decades as one […]
With all the reference material assembled – images of Jake, uniform references, personal details – I’m ready to start drawing. Ninety-nine percent of the time I already have a good idea in my head of what I want the player’s pose to be. In Jake’s case, I liked the idea that he was both […]
When it comes time to begin the drawing process, I try to make sure I have all the elements in front of me that I will need to make the illustration as accurate as possible. Like I showed you in the previous installment, I begin with any actual facial images of the player that […]
Once I’ve dug up a good amount of research with which to write my story, I begin a parallel search for good visuals to use for my illustration. If I regularly worked on players like Babe Ruth and Stan Musial, this step would be a breeze, but I tend to gravitate towards the more […]
Armed with the knowledge that I was dealing with a guy playing under two different names, one of which being his given Jewish name, I went back to my library. Fortunately, there has been much written about the history of Jews and baseball. I went for my three go-to volumes: The Big Book of […]
In the course of my normal research and reading I will usually come across small tidbits about players that are in my “Card Ideas” manilla folders. I will make copies or notes and toss them in the appropriate file. When I get more than a handful of odds and ends, I create the player’s […]
THE QUESTION One question I’m always asked is, “what’s your process of coming up with your stories and drawings?” It’s a good question, and when it’s asked of me, I have to delve into my subconscious and come up with some kind of cohesive timeline and explanation. For an artist like myself, whose talents […]