36” x 48”
Babe Ruth, painted on behalf of the Johnsons
SOLD
HELLO! Pictured above is a project I recently completed. Well what had happened was……I was contacted by my brother who told me an officer at his station was interested in having a custom painting done. He was already working with an artist but I guess that guy was just flaking on him?? Whatever it was for that other artist, that meant swoop for me. Swooped on it, emailed back and forth, work was more than do-able, verbal contract on the phone, and I’m drawing up the sketch that night. The only tough factor was the time limit: the painting was for his yet-to-be-born son, and the due date was approaching fast ( due to much time lost working with the first artist). I told him 6-8 weeks (super tight deadline!! considering full time work, oil painting, and just living life in between) but f it man, I aimed high.
the future father, Rodney, was great to keep in touch with and quick with the replies. Sent me pics of the baby’s baseball themed room, his thoughts, and many updates while I was working. It was a great honor to paint something for this very important place in his home. It was to hang above the bed of this child and I think that spoke volumes. I wanted to paint something grand, inspiring, and in a way watched over the little guy.
After reading up on my subject, I learned more about Babe Ruth as an American legend. Pretty much on his own since his parents were almost always working hard as bar owner/restauranteurs. He was kinda shuffled around, sent to boarding school, and inspired by a priest to pursue baseball. Long story short, he signed with the Balimore Orioles, then to the Boston Red Sox, got sold to the Yankees (which prompted the Curse of the Bambino, ha!), and kicked ass for the rest of his career. He was the most prolific homerun hitter and writers christened his greatness with nicknames such as “The Great Bambino” & ”The Sultan of Swat” (cue Sandlot, that movie was the bomb!).
So with that, I painted and painted and painted… stayed in most Friday and Saturday nights to work on this thing. Worked all day Sundays, literally allllllll day just to paint a pant leg. A lot of frustration on that friggin pant leg. Posted updates on Twitter. Went to LA, went to SF.. went back to the studio. Chugged coffee, couldn’t sleep, got blasted at work for not paying attention. Got everything alllllllmost done, very last was his face. it was really hard but I tried to at least capture that face, legendary and mythic. all in all, it was a great challenge. I love to paint, I love to have a reason to avoid the bar, I hate being stuck at work instead of painting!!!!
It took a total of 12 weeks to finish the piece. Rodney and his wife were very patient. Their baby boy was born healthy and beautiful in August. They named him Joseph and he was a teeny wee guy when they came to pick up their painting. He had on a cute Ohio Sooners onesie, booties and cap ;) They are perfectly doting parents and it was an honor to paint something for their firstborn son. It was so sweet to see them ask lil Jojo if he liked his painting, as they tipped up his little baby-ness to see….
