Writing on the Canvas

First, as promised, I wanted to post a quick picture of my freshly autographed Jason Heyward painting.  So, here you go:


Turned out pretty cool.  I will say, however, that I wasn't terribly pleased with TriStar's handling of the other items I mailed in for the signing.  I sent in an additional 3, 8"x10" glossy prints of the painting that customers pre-ordered, and TriStar proceeded to place stickers in two places on each print...which, surprise, left some residue behind when they were removed.  Luckily, the prints weren't damaged and the signatures turned out great.  Oh well, I guess everything can't go according to plan.

Second, I wanted to post a quick picture of something I'm doing rather quickly -- an original watercolor painting of former Ohio State standout RB and rookie for the Arizona Cardinals, Chris "Beanie" Wells.  I found out he is doing a signing nearby and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to have some items signed by Mr. Wells.  I may offer a short "pre-order" for the signing, but I'm not sure yet.  Here's the pic:

It's coming along pretty well so far, so I'm hoping to have it finished very soon.  Stay tuned on here for the latest!

And, lastly, just wanted to give everyone the head's up on my newsletter.  The new Newsletter should be going out sometime very soon!  There will be some GREAT deals on each newsletter, and I know you will not be disappointed with this month's special(s)!  If you're not signed up for my newsletter yet, then do that RIGHT NOW!  Just Click Here .  It's certainly not too late -- yet!

Well, that's all I got.  But, check back soon for more updates!

Later, peoples.

The Jason Heyward signing has been completed, but I'm still waiting to get all of the items back from the TriStar Houston show this past weekend, but I don't suspect it will take too long to get everything back...they're typically very good about getting things back in a timely manner.  I'll be sure to post a pic or two of the autographed original for everyone to check out.

Not sure if anyone else watched the MLB Network's Top 50 Prospects show tonight or not...but Jason Heyward was rated #1 on the list, followed very closely by Stephen Strasburg at #2 (also the subject of a painting...currently in-progress).  I thoroughly enjoyed the show, as it's sort of like "scouting" for me, prior to my fantasy baseball draft in the spring. 

Well, anyways, check back for the Heyward photos and I'll try and get back to work on the Strasburg painting very soon!

Later,
Jason

Well, I had my wisdom teeth extracted on Wednesday afternoon, and I gotta say, am still pretty sore today (Friday afternoon).  Still got some swelling and pain -- but luckily, I do have medication to help alleviate some of this pain.  And, perhaps aiding in this excessive pain, is the fact that I actually had an "extra" wisdom tooth.  Yep, I had 5.  Oh, lucky me.  Although, fortunately, the 5th wisdom tooth wasn't fully developed, so I don't believe it was too much trouble to take out.

Anyways, just thought I'd share my pain with everyone.  Fun times. 

On a more related to the website side of things, the Jason Heyward pre-order is over, and I have shipped all of the items to be signed by Mr. Heyward, out to Houston for the show.  If you did place an order, thank you, and I will be in touch when the items are returned to me from TriStar.  If you did not place an order, well, you truly missed out on a great opportunity to get a future superstar's autograph, at a reasonable price.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay classy Cincinnati.

 

I just wanted to pass along a quick update on the Jason Heyward painting.  It's coming along rather well so far, and I hope to "knock it out" in the next week or so -- ensuring it will be finished and scanned in time to send it, and some prints off for the signing in January.  Don't forget, I am offering a Pre-Order for Autographed Prints of this painting...just use the link below:

http://www.cincysportsart.com/heywardpreorder.html

Thanks for checking it out!

Jason

 

After work tomorrow, I will be attending RedsFest 2009 downtown here in the 'Nati. I'm working on printing up a self-promoting t-shirt today to wear at the event tomorrow...hopefully to drive some holiday sales, etc. We'll see how that works out.

As you probably know, I'm a life-long Cubs fan; however, I cheer on the Reds whenever they're not playing my Cubbies, so I'm going tomorrow, more to "network" that anything else. I'll just drop off some business cards to the players as they sign something, and hope that it works out.

Well, that's all the news I've got for now. Have a Happy Holidays everyone! I'll try to make sure I check in sometime soon...and maybe I'll actually have a new commission to share after RedsFest!

Later,
Jason

As promised, I just wanted to post a quick pic of the Jason Heyward painting. So, here you go:




I am also offering a pre-sale for autographed prints of this painting...if you'd like to see more about that, Click Here

Well, unfortunately with all the social networking out there, I've neglected my blog of late...so, sorry for that. I do have some updates to pass along -- just no photographic evidence to post yet though. I'll try and get on that in the next few days or so.

I just recently finished a commissioned piece where I actually added onto a lithograph. Something I had never done before, and in a completely different style than I typically work -- so it was a welcomed challenge for me, and it turned out rather nicely.

I haven't been working on the Strasburg painting of late, as there are still no dates for any signings with him in the near future that I've heard of. I finished the Matt Forte painting, which, actually, you know what, I can post a pic of that on here. So, I've got that going for me.



I've also started a very small watercolor painting of BA's #1 prospect, Jason Heyward. He is doing a signing with Tri-Star in '10, and wanted to knock something out for that signing. I will quite possibly be running some prints of this painting, and offering a pre-order on autographed prints, so stay tuned for that!

Well, I think that's all I've got for the time being. I'll try and stay a little more up to date next time!

Later,
Jason

Just wanted to post a new pic of the Strasburg painting.  Enjoy!

As promised, I wanted to upload some pics of the Carl Crawford & Stephen Strasburg paintings.  So, here you go.  The Crawford painting is nearing completion, and the Strasburg painting is obviously "on-hold" until the Crawford one is finished.

Sorry, I guess it's been quite a while since I've posted anything on here.

I do have 2 current projects going -- 1 in-progress right now, and the other one was pretty much on-hold, until Stephen Strasburg signed with the Nationals last night at the deadline.

The painting currently in-progress features Carl Crawford and his catch from the All-Star Game.  I will try and post some pics on here very soon, so you can see how it's shaping up.  It is set up as a replica to a 1956 Topps baseball card -- featuring his "catch" as the background element, and then a larger profile shot of Carl as the "foreground" element.  I'm nearly finished with all the background elements, and have already drawn in and started to add color to the "profile" portion of the painting.

In regards to the Strasburg painting, I started it, thinking that he almost certainly would NOT sign with the Nationals, so I took my time, first starting with only his face, hands, glove, etc., and left his uniform blank so that I could later fill that in with whomever team he signed with's uniform.  With that mystery solved, once the Crawford painting is finished, I will more than likely continue on with that project.  I will try and post a couple pics of this project very soon as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Later,
Jason

My girlfriend and I were invited to attend the DWF's charity event in New York City, and gladly accepted.  The event was held at Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport.  It was a beautiful location, and everything about the event was tremendous.  The food was outstanding, and who can complain about free drinks?!  I even tried a flavor of Vitamin Water that was previously undiscovered by my taste buds.

I was able to meet David very briefly, and take a quick photo with him towards the end of the night/event.  Tons of thanks to Cathy of making sure that happened.  She was amazing throughout the whole event making sure we were having a great time.

I also met Ron Darling as well, and took a quick photo with him too.  He was very gracious with everyone, taking photos and signing autographs.

Here are a few of the photos from the event.

Today, a friend and I headed down I-75, to take in a Lexington Legends game against the Bowling Green HotRods.  Much to our chagrin, the weather forcasts for Lexington weren't exactly accurate.  The last report I had read said it was going to be mostly cloudly, with a 30-40% chance of isolated thunderstorms.  So, going into it, we were prepared for rain, and not necessarily "ideal" baseball viewing conditions.  Well, we got there, and the weather wasn't friendly...but not in a rainy fashion.  It was now mostly sunny, and at game time a balmy 80 degrees.  By the time it reached the 8th inning, it was 88 degress.  Much thanks to the lady sitting next to us in the front row with the sunscreen, because I would have been Fu-Bared otherwise.  I did, however, to compensate by getting sunburnt on my arm and neck on the nearly 2 hr. drive home.  Always nice.

So, anyways, back to the reason we headed down there.  I wanted to see 2008 #1 overall pick, Tim Beckham, play in-person for the first time, to see what he had going on.  I also had hoped to arrange a photo opportunity with Tim, as he was the subject of one of my paintings this Spring.  He signed the painting, and I sent along some free prints for him to give to family and friends.  I was in contact with the HotRods to try and make something work, and they were great.  They asked more than once, just to be sure, so I appreciate their attempts to make it happen.  Unfortunately, he apparently he didn't like the prints as much as he had let on originally at the signing, as he was unwilling to partake in a "photo opp" with me.  It falls under that parental thing (although I'm thankfully not one, haha)...I'm not so much mad, as I am disappointed. 

So, with that in mind, I did take some shots at the game, and thought I'd post those on here.  We did see a no-hitter through nearly 7 innings of work from Rays prospect, Matt Moore.  He was fantastic.  Great changeup and fastball mix.  I will add another "famous" amateur scouting report on my "tool shed" portion of the site very soon...so check back for that!  Just a shame he got the no-decision in a great outing.  As a side note, Moore turns 20 tomorrow, so early b-day wishes for him!



You'll notice from here on out, all photos posted on my website and anything posted on the web will contain my distinct copyright marks, etc. -- thereby not leaving it up for others to use their judgement in not stealing anything of mine that's not rightfully obtained.  So, thanks for that vendor who stole from me...ruined it for everyone else.

I believe I'm ready to call the David Wright painting "finished" finally.  I've sent it off to have it scanned this time around, so hopefully everyone who contacted me about prints regarding the last one, will buy prints of this one when they're available!

I should get the painting back in a little over a week, and then it's off to NYC for the event -- to be followed by my arrival in the Big Apple...for the first time in over a decade!  Yes, I will be attending the event this time around, thanks to Cathy and the wonderful people of the David Wright Foundation!

Well, without further ado, here's the updated photo(s) of the painting:





There's a little bit of glare on the first one, and the second pic is kind of dark...but I took these at like 1:30am last night, so you'll have to forgive some lighting shortcomings I'm afraid.  Thanks for checking these out!

Later,
Jason

As a part-time sports artist, I was hoping I'd never have to deal with any sort of copyright issues -- but apparently that's not going to happen. 

About a year and a half ago, I worked with a photographer based out of the SF, CA, area, named Lizzy.  She had taken some really great shots of Tim Lincecum and his throwing motion.  I contacted her and obtained her persmission to use the images in creating a "collage"/composite photo of Lincecum.

Upon completion, I uploaded a copy of the image to my Flickr page, with all the necessary copyright marks, etc. on the photo.

I was contacted today, informing me that this image was being illegally sold outside of the Giants AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.  Not only do they not have my permission to use the image for any sort of use, but they definitely do not have my permission to sell the image.  The company that is illegally doing this is Sports Gallery Sports & Entertainment Collectibles.  Their website is: www.sportsgalleryweb.com/

I have sent an e-mail asking that they cease and desist immediately.  Feel free to e-mail them at:
info@sportsgalleryweb.com to voice your opinion on the matter.  I would certainly appreciate any support you could provide during this frustrating time.

I'm currently in the process of pursuing legal action, and if necessary, obtaining an injunction against this company to prevent any further sales of the photograph.

Thanks,

Jason

 

Well, I do have some exciting news to pass along -- I was able to have my Matt Wieters painting autographed last week...with the great help of Heather and the Norfolk Tides!!  I can't thank Heather enough...she was a great help.  And, looks like we did it just in time, as Matt is slated to make his Major League debut tomorrow (Friday) for the Orioles.

I'll try and take some shots of the painting, and get them uploaded sometime soon.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and finish up the David Wright painting very soon, and after that, don't actually have too many projects planned, so I'm open to suggestions.

Later all,
Jason

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update.  The David Wright painting is nearly finished.  I added some stronger shadows and more detail to his face and uniform patch yesterday.  Looking very good, if I say so myself.

The Wieters painting is also coming along very nicely, and I hope to have some cool updates regarding that painting as well very soon!

Later,
Jason

I just wanted to pass along a quick update on the Matt Wieters painting.  I've added most of the final shading to his catcher's glove and chest protecter, and hope to move on to finishing up his right arm and catcher's mask next.  Once that's finished, I'll add the final shading and detail to his pants.  And, from there, I'll return to the smaller image, hoping to "tidy" things up with that part of the painting.

Anyways, here's the updated photos.

Later,
Jason




P.S. - I know it sort of looks like he has a "uni-brow" currently...but I've already fixed the shadow...it's just a shading miscue I had to fix.  haha

I got a chance to work on the David Wright painting a bit today, and wanted to pass along the latest photo.  I finished adding all the initial background coloring and shading, and finished almost all of the detail and shading on his hand and arm.

I still have a lot of work to do on the shading and details to his face, and have to add the patch on his uniform as well.  In addition there are some final details and shading for his uniform, but not a great deal.  Still going pretty well, and I'm fairly happy with it so far.

Well, without further ado...the photo.

Later,
Jason

As promised, an updated photo of the Matt Wieters painting.  I'm still tinkering with the main image, getting the details and final shading in his face, and still have some shading on his uniform and chest protector.  I've started adding more details to the smaller image, adding the base color and shading to his cletes, socks and uniform.  Still quite a bit to do, but it's coming along.

Well, anyways, without further ado, here's the image.  Enjoy.

Later,
Jason

I have been making some progress on the Matt Wieters painting -- just not as much as I would have liked so far...but I'm still "pluggin along". 

I'll try and upload some new photos tomorrow, so stay tuned for those!

Later,
Jason