John Robertson Sports Art

Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Art

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:47:00 +0000

Aaron Rodgers Art in Client Stairway Green Bay Wisconsin

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers art was purchased by one of my clients for their stairway. They have a townhome in Green Bay, Wi and another home in another part of the country. As season ticket holders to Lambeau Field they try to make every home game and also travel to a lot of the away games. Obviously they are a big Green Bay Packer’s fans and purchased this painting of Aaron Rodgers.

My understanding is that they have a downstairs area of their townhouse for watching television. So the Aaron Rodgers art is in the stairway leading down to the viewing room.

NFL Green Bay Packers Art In Airport

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 20:47:00 +0000

Green Bay Packers Art

One of my clients was passing through Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay Wi. and came across a pair of my NFL football Green Bay Packers paintings in Terminal B (Delta) in the Air Host Inc Restaurant. I had not seen them up before.

As some of you may know I did a series of 8 paintings for the NFL Green Bay Packers football stadium, Lambeau Field. Some of those images are on this blog site. When the airport terminal did some remodeling they reached out to me for a couple of paintings. They were obviously familiar with my work from the stadium and wanted to compliment the restaurant in terminal B.

Rock Climbing Hand Hold Fist Jam

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 22:30:00 +0000

A Fist jam in rock climbing is jamming the hand into a crack with a clenched fist position, the expanded muscles securing the hand.

Five Rules of a Rock Climbing Fist Jam

Rule 1 You want to get as much of your fist, (turned sideways) and jammed into the crack as you possibly can.

Rule 2 Try to get even more body parts, like your wrist and arm into the crack if possible The more skin contact the more secure.

Rule 3 Keep body parallel to the crack. Think of it as climbing a ladder one rung at a time.

Rule 4 You are using your body parts to hold onto the rock . Not muscle.

Rule 5 Don’t look down.

Give Up Rock Climbing? Here's Why

If you are a rock climber and wonder if you should continue the sport these are the things you do that suggests you should give up the sport.

1. You've chopped the rope with your axe while ice climbing.

2. Your climbing partner uses you to "test" for rock stability.

3. You fell off the tailgate of your pick-up truck.

4. People ask if you're a park ranger.

5. You buy shoes a size too big.

6. You aerate your lawn with your crampon.

7. If you wear baggy shorts and no underwear

8. If you say "I think it might be this way"

Why Paint a Hand Hold in Rock Climbing?

My daughter and son-in-law are rock climbers and own an outdoor recreation store in Ventura. - Real Cheap Sports, Ventura’s Outdoor Store is located in the city of Ventura on the Southern California coast. The store was originally founded by Jeff and Yvon Chouinard and opened in 1981 as Patagonia’s original outlet store, just one block from Patagonia’s corporate headquarters just west of downtown Ventura. Today, Real Cheap Sports resides in its original location, but has an expanded store space. Operating independently since 1998 as an "Outlet Dealer," Real Cheap Sports is Southern California’s largest outlet store for Patagonia closeout merchandise and features discounts on clothing and equipment from a variety of reputable outdoor manufacturers for backpacking, climbing, hiking, sea kayaking, and international travel. Come and visit them sometime. They are always be happy to see you. Or visit their web site http://www.realcheapsports.com/

MLB Baseball Great Pitcher Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 16:54:00 +0000

MLB Baseball Greatness

I’m not sure what made me think of the outstanding baseball pitcher, Roy Halladay, today. It might have something to do with me thinking about greatness. And he certainly was one of the best baseball pitchers of all time. This is not a delusion about how good he was. The statistics and awards confirm.

The tragedy of his talent is that it was taken away in a terrible airplane accident which should not interfere with what he achieved.

Most Notable achievements of Pitcher Roy "Doc" Halladay

Roy Halladay earned the Cy Young Award in both the American and national baseball leagues. He played for Philadelphia Phillies in the National League and the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League. Roy was the second pitcher all-time to toss a perfect game and win a Cy Young Award in the same season.

The sports art by artist John Robertson is 8" x 10" on a 11" x 14" on drafting film painted in oil.

Sports Art Skateboarder on: Go Skateboarding Day

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 15:48:00 +0000

Go Skatboarding Day

It is National, Go Skateboarding Day. And here is a piece of skateboarder art that I did a few years ago. I live in a town of both surfers and skateboarders. Only a few blocks from me is a promenade along where a couple of good surfing spots are located. Sof, the surfers gather in the parking lot and in between trips to

the water some will break out their skateboards. Others are just skaters coming down to watch the surfers and skate. In the case of this skateboarder, she was standing on the promenade looking out at the surf at Ventura Point in Ventura, Ca.

Get Out and Skate

So, if you have ever skateboarded and may even still have your board, break it out of the closet and head down to your local skate park - or wherever is a good place to skateboard on the concrete.. Kick back and enjoy the exhilaration and spirit of one of a sport that is a one of our cultures iconic activities.

Basketball Art, Painting of Dunk Shot

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:16:00 +0000

Kobe Bryant Painting Interpretation of Dunk Shot

Sports Art Painting of basketball player dunking a basketball shot. I used a photo of Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers dunking a basketball as reference material for the painting. I did change it from the original by changing to position of the arms and also the coloring. The basketball player painting art is 4 feet by 8 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Good quote from Kobe Bryant:

“I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you.” Why I like the quote is because I paint five days a week and there are a lot of artists that do not understand that it is important to show up into their studio regularly to produce work. It is not about inspiration but about hard work. I work on the theory that if you paint a lot of paintings some are bound to be good. As they say about baseball, if you can hit three for ten you are a great player. I probably paint one good painting out of ten painted. But if I don’t paint the ten paintings I am not going to get the good one.

Baseball Sports Art Pitcher Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Wed, 26 May 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Very, Very Basic Info About Clayton Kershaw

For those of you who may not know, Clayton Kershaw is a (MLB) Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has been with the team for 13 seasons. He is also considered one of the great Dodgers pitchers of all time. Right now, (towards the end of May) he is having a great run striking out 19 hitters in the last few games.

The Art of Baseball

I don’t follow the statistics for the athletes I paint. I am interested in the art of sports. Although I do like sports I am not into the details of it. What I am more interested in is their look. I like the action positions they get themselves into. You can see in this image the perfect mechanics of throwing a baseball. Kershaw sets up the path that his arm should follow when he throws the ball. What determines the speed and accuracy of the pitch is to get the correct throwing circle of the arm and maintain that path the arm follows when throwing the baseball. Position is very important so if the pitcher’s arm is not in the correct position he can damage his arm.

I do not have answers to what those arm positions and the circle motion should be. I am an artist. I am not interested in the technical aspect of throwing the baseball. But there is beauty in the motion of throwing a baseball. And that is what I am interested in - to see those various moments in the action that captures the essence of the athlete. You can see in this painting/drawing that Kershaw is in a classic pose throwing a pitch.

The art is 48" x 48" ink on paper that is on canvas.

Online chat with a teacher about one of her student’s artwork

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 24 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

The sports art is of cricket players created by a 15 year old art student at Kingsley Academy, West London. Every now and again one gets an opportunity to have a nice exchange with someone else on LinkedIn. The in this case it was with a teacher, Gillian Turner, art subject lead at Kingsley Academy. The academy is located in Hounslow, a large suburban town in West London. My studio is in Ventura, Ca. and we have never met.·

Football Art San Francisco 49ers Patrick Willis Linebacker

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 May 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Patrick Willis Football Art

Patrick L. Willis is a retired linebacker who played for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, art is 11" x 14" oil on drafting film.

I did this painting recently for my cardiologist as a gift for his good care during after my surgery . His favorite team is the 49ers and his favorite player was Willis. So I gifted him the football art

When I was having stitches removed by him after my procedure the pain brought tears to my eyes. I asked him if he had a stick to bite down on and he, in his best bedside manner, said, "I'm not taking your leg off". That really gave me comfort but I still continued to whine and cry. The hospital nurse, who held me down as I squirmed with the pain, was very sympathetic to my agony. Pinning my shoulders onto the bed, and In a very soft and loving voice she whispered in my ear, "try child birth"

A Few Stats About Patrick Willis

Patrick Willis was a pretty spectacular football player. In 2007 Willis was drafted by the 49ers in the first round. He played college football for ("Ole Miss") the University of Mississippi and received All-American honors. As a senior at Ole Miss, he received the Butkus Award and the Jack Lambert Award as the nation’s top linebacker. A year later as a member of the 49ers, Willis led the NFL in tackles, earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors while being named the 2007 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Willis has earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors in all six years he has played in the NFL. He is the only player to receive the Butkus Award for best linebacker in more than one category. He won the college Butkus Award in 2006 while at Ole Miss and in 2009, he won the professional Butkus Award while with the San Francisco 49ers. (Info from Wikipedia)

My Football Art in 49er's Owner's Suite

As some of you know I was contracted to paint five paintings for the San Francisco 49ers Levi's Stadium art collection. I had hoped to have the opportunity to paint Patrick Willis for the stadium but they had me do some other paintings. This painting for my Doctor was a great opportunity to paint one of my favorite players playing in the NFL now. The photo at the left is of me in the owner's suite at Levi's Stadium with my pieces of football art on the wall.

Football Art Revisiting Tim Tebow at NFL Denver Broncos

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 13 May 2021 16:34:00 +0000

Maybe Tim Tebow at NFL Jacksonville Jaguars

As it looks like Tim Tebow is going to get another try in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars Football team I thought I would revisit a piece of football art I did of Tebow when he was playing with the Denver Broncos.

Although Tebow was playing quarterback then it looks like Jacksonville wants to put him in as a tight end. That’s a tough position but Tebow is big enough to handle the position and the hits – but certainly not the experience. And, as some of the other football players in the league he is getting to be “an old dude.”

Seen here in the painting of Tebow he is taking a hit from a New England Patriot on one of his scrambling attempts. I do wish him well in whatever he does, playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars or his growth into other areas of his life. He seems, by all accounts, a really good person who tries and has done a lot of special things in his life.

Sports Art Minnesota Vikings Football US Bank Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 10 May 2021 10:30:00 +0000

A few years ago I created a number of football art pieces for the NFL Minnesota Vikings, US Bank stadium in Minneapolis , Minnesota. Although I do paint large it was fun to see one of the paintings projected up onto the Jumbotron TV screens in the stadium. Now that is big.

The original painting of a wide receiver catching a football is displayed in the stairway leading down to a number of suites below. The art is four feet by eight feet and stretched canvas. More of my football art is in a variety of
locations of the US Bank Stadium.

My wife is originally from Minnesota and still has a couple of sisters in the state. We visit the state quite often. One place is in a small town about an hour north out of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul and the other is sister lives in a small town in the southwest corner and close to the border of South Dakota and Iowa.

Baseball Art Home Décor

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Sat, 08 May 2021 10:10:00 +0000

Interior Décor using Baseball Art

Too often sports art is discounted as an attractive piece of wall décor in designing the interior of a home. If your client is a sports fan, and in the case of baseball, you can see how the art makes a nice statement to the home décor. The design of the room is done professionally and perfectly composed. The interior decorator compliments the muted colors of the grey bedspread and headboard, along with the white interior of the walls and then adds the personal touch of the personal character of the homeowner. They are sports fans. And with its use it gives a nice, clean look to the room without overpowering the interior or drawing too much attention to the art. It provides a nice balance without the clutter of competing with other parts of the décor.

It is always of interest and enjoyment for me to see a photograph of how my sports art is used. And I like to see how an interior designer uses my sports art as home décor. I tend to think that my sports art ends up in a den or office space. But in this case the black and white baseball art is used in the bedroom. I think that it is a nice addition to the room.

Baseball Art Information

The baseball art is 24" x 48" acrylic and ink on newsprint and magazine pages mounted to canvas and gallery wrapped.

Chris Paul Phoenix Sun Basketball Art

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Wed, 05 May 2021 18:24:00 +0000

Chris Paul Going Strong

Chris Paul, point guard for the Phoenix Sun is still doing it. You would think he’d be slowing down just a little bit. But at thirty-six he is staying ahead of other players the other night by having 23 points and 16 assists with the Phoenix Suns. We have to remember as one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with major companies worldwide.

Chris Paul nickname

CP3Nicknamed CP3, he has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists four times and steals a record six times. He has also been selected to eleven NBA All-Star teams, nine All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive teams. I’d say he is holding up, just fine. You may be wondering how got his nickname CP3. Chris Paul's family gave him the nickname CP3 because he, his father, and his older brother all share the same initials

About the Basketball Art

The Basketball Art above is a painting of basketball player Chris Paul point guard for the. Phoenix Suns. Painting is 12” x 15” on 14” x 17” drafting film. Watercolor, acrylic and ink.

Wildling Museum Exhibition Impressionism

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:00:00 +0000

I know that this blog is suppose to be about my sports art but I do have other art pursuits which is what this particular post is about.

Wildling Museum Exhibition

Currently the Wildling Museum in Solvang, Ca. is showing 65 of my small landscapes and seascapes paintings in a group show called “Bio/Mass'” The museum is, “featuring an inspiring group of eleven contemporary artists who have transformed their fascination with deep observations of their individual environments into works that help us to see the beauty in the details of our world, celebrating both quiet and dramatic moments in nature” My wife, Lynn Hanson @indigopond on instagream is included in the show. Currently the museum only has public walk-In hours: Saturday - Sunday, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M but, hopefully they will soon be opened on weekdays too.

About the Impressionism Art

The nature of the art is plein air using the alla prima technique of wet on wet painting. Materials are oil on unstretched and treated canvas. The art ranges from 2 inches by 3 inches up to 12” x 12 inches by 16 inches. The painting in this post is “Distant Winds” 9” x 10” oil on unstretched and treated canvas.

Sports Art Baseball Venice Family Clinic Art Auction Benefit

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 07:35:00 +0000

About the Venice Family Clinic

This ink drawing on drafting film is this year’s donation to the Venice Family Clinic Art Walk that raises over $800,000 for affordable health care for those who live in poverty. Venice Family Clinic provides more than 115,000 primary care, specialty care, mental health, dental, and health education visits

annually. For more information about the Venice Family Clinic Annual Event To visit the on-line auction that features over 200 art works of art by nationally recognized contemporary artists hosted by Artsy.

This is an opportunity to get one of my sports drawings at a reasonable price. If you want you can bid my piece on Artsy (click here). As you may know I have created sports art for a variety of sports teams and stadiums, including Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and many more.

About the Sports Art

“Safe at Second” is an ink drawing on drafting film of MLB baseball players. The narrative of the drawing of a a base runner sliding into second with the ball being thrown late to the second baseman. Ink on drafting film 11 × 14 in. 27.9 × 35.6 cm.

Baseball Art Honus Wagner Pittsburgh Pirates Shortstop "The Flying Dutchman"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 15:56:00 +0000

Honus Wagner Baseball Great

The Pittsburgh Pirates' Honus Wagner, a dead-ball era baseball player who is widely considered to be one of the best players of all time. One of the Hall of Fame's five original inductees in 1936, Honus Wagner combined rare offensive and defensive excellence throughout a 21-year career from 1897 to 1917.

One of my favorite stories about Honus Wagner was told by Burleigh Grimes in The Quotable Baseball Fanatic (2004) "One day he was batting against a young pitcher who had just come into the league. The catcher was a kid, too. A rookie battery. The pitcher threw Honus a curveball, and he swung at it and missed and fell down on one knee. Looked helpless as a robin. I was kind of surprised, but the guy sitting next to me on the bench poked me in the ribs and said, 'Watch this next one.' Those kids figured they had the old man's weaknesses, you see, and served him up the same dish-as he knew they would. Well, Honus hit a line drive so hard the fence in left field went back and forth for five minutes."

Honus played shortstop and won eight batting titles, tied for the most in National League history, led

the league in slugging six times. He said, “I don't make speeches. I let my bat speak for me in the summertime.” He led in stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" because he could run the bases so fast – and that he was German.

Earth Day Environmental Impressionism Art

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 16:40:00 +0000

Earth Day Art

Today is Earth Day and a day to celebrate protection of the the earth. This year marks marks the 51^st. anniversary of Earth Day, As an artist I am constantly reminded how beautiful a place is to see, and
I try to capture, in some form, with oil and canvas. Every day is earth day. We strive for green living, protection of endangered species and appreciate what an amazing environment we live in.

It is spring again and I remember my first consciousness of nature. I was eight years old and my parents took us on a driving trip north from Los Angeles along route 1. We were gone for a couple of weeks up into Oregon and Washington. Our trip was during the summer more than seventy years ago.

Memory of Nature

What my most vivid memory is the drive through the redwoods of California. I don’t remember the towns or highway or the actual time we spent in the car. But I remember the mist in the forest, and the ferns, and the enormous size of the trees and the moisture from the dew dripping from the branches. And everything seemed to be green and red. And later, I am not sure if it was another day or just later in the day, I can remember fog lifting and the light changing and beams through the mist shined up the plants into an intense green. And then a soft breeze passed through the trees. It was enough to sway branches and bring a gentle feeling comfort.

Sports Art NBA Basketball player dunking the ball

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Basketball Art NBA

I painted a number of large-scale basketball art for a number of NBA teams; Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucs, and Golden State Warriors. All the sports art was over 5 feet by 6 feet and painted with acrylic on unstretched canvas. I sometimes do drawings or small paintings first to see if the image is going to work well. (You can see some of those paintings further down on the blog.) I was running out of paper so I drew this basketball image of a player dunking the ball on a map.

Art sport drawing Charcoal on paper map by sports artist John Robertson The dunking basketball art
drawing is 14" x 25" charcoal on paper

Play Pro Golf? Nope, Not Happening

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Didn’t Turn Pro

What did they tell me when I wanted to play pro golf? Nope. Not this year – or any. Who was I informed by? My old golfing boss who ran the golf driving range where I had worked. Twice I asked him why and the third time he told me: “Well, when you putt you are trying to putt straight, just like you are shooting arrows.” He said, “with all your practice you’d think you would be getting closer to the hole.” But I wasn’t. I still hadn’t learned to hook properly either on the greens or on the fairways. At least I don’t cry after my sixth putt to the flag.

The fairway – I don’t spend much time there. I’m usually off to looking for my golf ball on either the left or right side of all that nice green grass. And I walk the course, never using a caddy. I have enough people in a foursome to laugh at my play – I don’t want to be paying for one more person to join in on the laugh track. I lug that bag myself – with two ball retrievers – just in case I break one.

I’m not saying I don’t take my game seriously. I do – I do everything possible to lower my scores. I go to the driving range almost every day to hit a bucket of balls, bouncing them off of the golf picker out around a hundred and sixty yards - which is about as far as I can drive a ball. I take lessons from a golf pro. At least I think he is a pro because he does wear Bermuda shorts. And the best thing I do to lower my score is to cheat. Yeah, cheat. Some days you’d think I was playing soccer out there, the way I can kick a ball around. And I am good with a pencil too. I certainly know how to add. But I am much, much better at subtraction.

About the painting in the golf video

So where does all of this leave me? Painting. To relax I was told by my doctor take golf. It can be a relaxing hobby. Nope. Not relaxing. So I took up painting. The time lapse golf video you see here is a sample of what I do with paint. It’s short – the demonstration is about 35 seconds and the actual sports art is about seven feet. If you are on my blog you surely know that I am a sports artist, painting professionally for sports stadiums and arenas and other commercial projects. I take commissions and would be happy to do a sports selfie of you playing your favorite sport. You can reach me through my contact pages and I will be happy to discuss the possibilities with you.

A Sports Artist Days off Landscape Art Wildling Museum

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 19:02:00 +0000

Days off Hobby

On my days off from painting sports art I like to go out into the countryside and create these small impressionism paintings. It’s a true busman’s holiday to take tine away from painting to do other paintings. That is what an artist’s life can be like. What I do for a living is also what I like to do for fun. It is a good break away from the demanding large scale sports paintings that I created in my studio.

Wildling Museum Art Exhibition

My art is being installed at the Wildling Museum in Solvang, Ca. for an upcoming group show. I will have 65 small, expressive and impressionistic oil paintings for the upcoming exhibition. Quote from the Wildling Museum; “Our upcoming exhibition, 'Bio/Mass' will feature an inspiring group of eleven contemporary artists who have transformed their fascination with deep observations of their individual environments into works that help us to see the beauty in the details of our world, celebrating both quiet and dramatic moments in nature”. No date is set but they anticipate a mid to late April opening.

I live close to farm fields and rural countryside so I like to go out and create “en plein air paintings” and as others refer to my impressionistic painting, alla prima. Alla prima painting is described as technique in which the painting (usually painted from life) is completed in one sitting or while the paint is still wet. Painting in this manner is a break form the large-scale sports art created in the confines of my studio.

Baseball Art LA Dodgers Sports Art

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 10:30:00 +0000

LA Dodgers

Well, I guess us LA Dodgers fans can have a smile on their face as they started off at a 6-1 win loss. This does not mean their season will play at this percentage but it is a nice way to start. And considering the Dodgers, is one of the favorite teams this season, there is some satisfaction in knowing there are a lot of teams that would be thrilled to have the potential. . I know, I know, at this point in writing and showing the Dodgers art it is very, very early to make any kind of prediction to the season’s outcome. Let us hope they play to their ability.

So, why do I think the LA Dodgers might have a really good regular season? It is pretty simple for even a sports artist to figure out. Basically they have the same team that they had in 2020. Then they added Trevor Bauer, the National League Cy Young winner and also the strong arm of Corey Knebel backing up in the bull pen. I am sure that Clayton Kershaw is happy to have the company. I do expect the Los Angeles Dodgers expect to win their division championship. But what do I know. I just paint sports art Good luck.

About the LA Dodgers Baseball Art

In the meantime here is a piece of art celebrating the Los Angeles Dodgers – a player sliding into home plate with a Yankee catcher tagging him out. The LA Dodgers painting by sports artist John Robertson is ink and acrylic on a variety of maps of Los Angeles. The painting is 5 feet by 6 feet.

Gonzaga Bulldog Art

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 18:06:00 +0000

Gonzaga Bulldog Art

Why would I be posting one of my bulldog art on a sports art blog post? Well, the bulldog is the mascot of Gonzaga University and their Basketball team is in the finals of the NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament.

Gonzaga was the one that almost got bitten by the UCLA Bruins in the final four, semifinals on Saturday. Gonzaga was only two wins away from having an undefeated year. The Bruins gnawed on the bulldog's attempt to preserve their perfect season. During their 93 -90 win over the Bruins the score continually changed back and forth by just a couple of points and over a dozen times they were tied. Even as the game ended they were tied and had to go into overtime play.

Final Events Kept Gonzaga's Perfect Season Alive

No. 11 UCLA narrowly missed the winning shot with a foul called in overtime. Tied, with three seconds to go, and the whole basketball court to traverse they Bulldog’s threw in a pass and then Jalen Suggs threw up a “Hail Mary '' shot just a few steps in from mid-court. The shot beat the buzzer in the overtime avoiding the possibility of one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. The Gonzaga Bulldogs maintained their undefeated season and a chance for the perfect season.

Sports Art Basketball UCLA Bruins NCAA Tournament

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 10:30:00 +0000

NCAA March Madness UCLA Basketball Art

UCLA beats Michigan and for the Bruins it is a whole new series. They have a shot at finals and we LA fans can be rooting for nothing more than to see them in do it. UCLA certainly has the best history in the NCAA basketball tournaments. I thought about saving this basketball art piece for later when UCLA moves on to the finals. But I do have my doubts of them beating No. 1 Gonzaga when they face them on Saturday.

I know this has really has been a “March Madness” with there being 14 upsets in the NCAA tournament (13 being the previous record). And UCLA accounted for 3 of them. But the dream run is probably over.

UCLA Bruins Fan

As a native of Los Angeles and living on the Westside of LA, the UCLA Bruins has always been the college that I followed - even though I had to go to another in the area college (bad GPA) - which shall remain nameless. In my college years and after, UCLA was dominate in basketball under Coach Wooden. He is a tough act to follow - but, we fans always have hopes.

Sports Art Basketball Dunk Shot

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 07:10:00 +0000

March Madness

With the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament being played it seemed in keeping to post this photograph of my basketball art. Seeing a dunk shot is the one play everybody likes to watch particularly if the dunk is coming from a basketball player taking off in flight somewhere north of the free throw line. We love the aerobatics of the player flying through the air with his hand on the ball as he is about to drop the bomb through the net for a score. The beauty, the grace and the violence of the ball slamming through the net gives us great satisfaction

The Dunk Shot

The drama of the dunk shot is a perfect subject matter for a basketball painting. I have painted this image of a basketball dunk shot a number of times for a variety of clients. This is a new one painted pretty recently - probably because, at the time, of the upcoming interest in the NCAA March Madness . The client was aware that I am duplicating the painting from a previous painting and realize each version is unique. I am in the photo so you can get a sense of the size of the painting. The original dunk shot painting, or I should say paintings were painted for an NBA Basketball commercial for Fox Sports Net They own the originals and the art was painted in a different color scheme.

The painting is approximately 48” x 60” acrylic on unstretched canvas. And I do work on commissions if you have a specific sports selfie or photograph you would like painted

LA Lakers Basketball Elgin Baylor

noreply@blogger.com (What Art Did He Make Today) — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 07:02:00 +0000

LA Lakers Elgin Baylor

Before there was a three point line there was Elgin Baylor. Before there was Michael Jordan there was Elgin Baylor. Elgin was named after the Elgin Marbles because his parents knew he would be a classic.

He was a mythic player rising above talents that played with him so you went to the basketball games to see him play.

Basketball Small Forward

Baylor’s hang time on a jump shot was like watching a guy shoot from a balloon. And the basketball’s flight was so smooth it floated to the hoop. His running bank shot was another classic launching other balloons that would float over bigger defenders. Because of his height (6 feet 5 inches) he was considered an undersized rebounder. Undersized? That is like saying Magic Johnson is undersized, maybe standing next to "Shaq" O'Neal. As a “small forward” Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including 19.8 rebounds per game. during the 1960–61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history, all of whom were 6 ft 8 in or taller. (Thank you Wikipedia) Those are “giant” numbers.

As a boy the NBA was still just starting to get attention to the general sports fan. My dad took me to a lot of baseball games (Minor league as the Dodgers had not arrived in LA yet) and football. The Rams was the major sporting event to watch. It wasn’t until the 1960-61 season that the Lakers showed up in LA When Baylor set a new NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in the 1960–61season it was time for my dad and me to start paying attention to the NBA.