If you've stopped by recently you could see I haven't been very active on here. It has nothing to do with running out of stories or a lack of desire to draw any more cards - on the contrary, that's all I've been doing for two months now. The reason I haven't had time to post here is that I've been consumed with a commission that I wanted to keep under wraps until it was close to completion. Now it's a mere two weeks from Opening Day and I'm ready to crack open the door to my studio and let you sneak a look at what I've been doing.
Just before Christmas I was asked by Ronnie Younts, owner of Younts Design in Maryland, if I would be interested in creating 15 five foot tall illustrations of the Chicago Cubs greats. Younts is the firm that is creating all the graphic elements of the new renovated parts of Wrigley Field. As you probably know, the Cubs are in year two of a multi year restoration of Wrigley Field, and 2016 will be the opening of the famed bleachers part of the project.
I'm very proud to say that my illustrations will installed in that new bleacher section of this beautiful old park.
I'll be writing more about the project and reveal some of the details of my work in the next week or so, but until then, I wanted to show you a section of my illustration of Cubs ace Ferguson Jenkins.
One of the best parts about this commission is that all the players (with the exception of four early Cubs) are depicted in Wrigley Field. Built in 1914, Wrigley is a monument to baseball history and in my opinion one of the most beautiful backdrops for a baseball illustration. As you can see in the Jenkins piece, the scoreboard is a star in its own right. And because the illustrations are so large, I was able to include some really fun details. Take the scores behind Fergie - I combed through scorecards from 1966 to accurately show pitchers that would have been pitching that season. Then I was able to show some of my personal favorites like Reds pitcher number 41 - Joe Nuxhall, and number 56 of the Yankees, Jim Bouton.
As it gets closer to the Cubs home opener on April 11 I'll show some more of the 15 players - but until then, I need to get back to work!
Your artistic treatment is defiantly among the best that I have ever seen. I love the Cubs with the Scoreboard as a backdrop. Sadly, the real backdrop now looks more like Times Square then the old beautiful Wrigley Field I have known since 1945. For 25 years I was the known as the Bleacher Preacher in and around the Friendly Confines. Cheers !
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