Some more artwork, and another request...
GraigK
Posts: 63
Hey all,
I thought I would share some of the artwork I have been working on over the past few months for my thesis project (which happens to be titled 'Baseball in the 1930s'). The photos aren't as crisp as I would have hoped and they do have a bit of glare - they are just taken from a digital camera. Hopefully I'll have better scans up in a few weeks, but I just wanted to show what I've been up to.
However, there is another purpose for my post. I was interested in knowing whether any of you had any rare or odd pictures of any of the historic MLB ballparks that you all grew up with - especially ones which clearly depict outfield advertisements. I am especially interested in images of the Harry M. Stevens panoramic stadium shots that were auctioned off by Lelands in 1996. These photographs were used to demonstrate to advertisers the state of their scoreboard ads for a given year. The image clarity of these photos is astonishing, as they were produced from glass plate negatives. The dates depicted ranged from 1934 to 1956 I believe, and many of the MLB ballparks were depicted, including: Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Fenway, and Braves Field.
Some of these panoramics made their way onto ebay at some point, and I managed to get my hands on shots of Yankee Stadium from 1936 and 1947. It was immediately after that I sold them back to collectors. Why did I do this you may ask?
As you can probably tell, I am an artist who specializes in painting vintage baseball scenes, most of which lie in the first half of the 20th century. Being a stickler for historical accuracy, these kinds photos are invaluable resources for my work - as they provide the exact look of stadium advertisement signs from each particular year. Though many photos exist of stadiums from these eras (especially to be found on Corbis and Getty Images), it's harder to find reliable resources in regards to the stadiums from the 1930s and 1940s - which incidentally is my favorite period to depict.
I am not into the collectibility aspect of them, as I make high quality photocopies of the images to keep for myself. What I ask of you fellows, is whether you own or have access to photographs such as these. I wouldn't necessarily be interested in buying any of them per se, but would most certainly love to arrange for high quality scans/photocopies of the panoramics to be made if anyone was willing to do so. I would certainly pay for the time spent, and if desired, would be happy to provide prints of my artwork for compensation.
I have enclosed a scan of one of the Harry M. Stevens photographs I speak of, as well as two examples of my artwork. If anyone can help out in anyway, please feel free to contact me via email/PM/phone/smoke signal.
Graig
http://www.graigkreindler.com
Harry Stevens panorama of Yankee Stadium, 1947
Carl Hubbell pitching on opening day at the Polo Grounds, 1937
The 1938 Yankees
Jimmie Foxx coming home after a homerun against the Yankees in 1933
I thought I would share some of the artwork I have been working on over the past few months for my thesis project (which happens to be titled 'Baseball in the 1930s'). The photos aren't as crisp as I would have hoped and they do have a bit of glare - they are just taken from a digital camera. Hopefully I'll have better scans up in a few weeks, but I just wanted to show what I've been up to.
However, there is another purpose for my post. I was interested in knowing whether any of you had any rare or odd pictures of any of the historic MLB ballparks that you all grew up with - especially ones which clearly depict outfield advertisements. I am especially interested in images of the Harry M. Stevens panoramic stadium shots that were auctioned off by Lelands in 1996. These photographs were used to demonstrate to advertisers the state of their scoreboard ads for a given year. The image clarity of these photos is astonishing, as they were produced from glass plate negatives. The dates depicted ranged from 1934 to 1956 I believe, and many of the MLB ballparks were depicted, including: Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Fenway, and Braves Field.
Some of these panoramics made their way onto ebay at some point, and I managed to get my hands on shots of Yankee Stadium from 1936 and 1947. It was immediately after that I sold them back to collectors. Why did I do this you may ask?
As you can probably tell, I am an artist who specializes in painting vintage baseball scenes, most of which lie in the first half of the 20th century. Being a stickler for historical accuracy, these kinds photos are invaluable resources for my work - as they provide the exact look of stadium advertisement signs from each particular year. Though many photos exist of stadiums from these eras (especially to be found on Corbis and Getty Images), it's harder to find reliable resources in regards to the stadiums from the 1930s and 1940s - which incidentally is my favorite period to depict.
I am not into the collectibility aspect of them, as I make high quality photocopies of the images to keep for myself. What I ask of you fellows, is whether you own or have access to photographs such as these. I wouldn't necessarily be interested in buying any of them per se, but would most certainly love to arrange for high quality scans/photocopies of the panoramics to be made if anyone was willing to do so. I would certainly pay for the time spent, and if desired, would be happy to provide prints of my artwork for compensation.
I have enclosed a scan of one of the Harry M. Stevens photographs I speak of, as well as two examples of my artwork. If anyone can help out in anyway, please feel free to contact me via email/PM/phone/smoke signal.
Graig
http://www.graigkreindler.com
Harry Stevens panorama of Yankee Stadium, 1947
Carl Hubbell pitching on opening day at the Polo Grounds, 1937
The 1938 Yankees
Jimmie Foxx coming home after a homerun against the Yankees in 1933
0
Comments
sagard - I've done a few, two of which I've had on this site previously, but I'll post them below, since the thread is lost somewhere I'll wager. I have a few more in the works as well, and hopefully, they'rell be done sooner than later.
Mickey Mantle facing Bob Feller at the stadium in his rookie season, 1951
Lou Gehrig's farewell at the stadium, 1939
Sorry I have no photos of the era you are looking for but I wanted to compliment you on your work. Stunning images, you have real talent. Thanks for sharing.
Collecting Tony Perez PSA and Rookie Baseball PSA
* C. PASCUAL BASIC #3
* T. PEREZ BASIC #4 100%
* L. TIANT BASIC #1
* DRYSDALE BASIC #4 100%
* MAGIC MASTER #4/BASIC #3
* PALMEIRO MASTER/BASIC #1
* '65 DISNEYLAND #2
* '78 ELVIS PRESLEY #6
* '78 THREE'S COMPANY #1
WaltDisneyBoards
Late Afternoon at Ebbets Field, 1953
Koufax's no-hitter against the Phils, 1964
And your artwork is great!!!
Graig -- Your work is just stunning. I'd be interested to know what the dimensions are of the paintings shown.
How do you select the color composition for your artwork? The photographic images show the specifics, but are still in black and white. I'm interested in locating color photographs of ballparks from the 50s. They should exist, although I haven't found color photos to be very easy to locate.
Elemenopeo - Thanks for your compliments! Here are the desired measurements:
Hubbell: 37" x 52", oil on linen
38 Yankees: 32" x 50", oil on linen
Jimmie Fixx: 32" x 48", oil on linen
Mickey Mantle: 32" x 62", oil on linen
Lou Gehrig: 38" x 50", oil on linen
Ebbets: 18" x 24", oil on canvas paper
Koufax: 18" x 24", oil on canvas paper
Knuckles - Thanks so much for your praise (especially since you're a fellow artist whose work I admire)! I actually have an old canvas of Gretzky from the early 80s that I have yet to finish...
tkd7 - They're actually many different ways I get my color reference, so I'm glad you asked. I don't really own many color shots of these stadiums from this era, with the exception of some postcards from the 50s and 60s. However, they're some great resources out there to get said info. The major stock photo sites being one of them - corbis, gettyimages, etc all have some excellent color shots from this era, though by no means a plethora. The 'When it Was a Game' series is also an invaluable resource - their footage comes from the late 30s into the late 60s and has been a tremendous help. Also on that side, I've received help from books (Okkonen's uniform book being wonderful), Cooperstown, baseball cards (53 Bowman and 57 Topps especially), ebay and plenty of other resources. There's a decent amount of color information that's mere guesswork - but certainly, the guesses are culled from painstaking research.
If you're looking for actual color photos, well, like you mentioned, there aren't a heck of a lot out there. It's not really until the mid 60s that you start seeing it regularly. Here's a link to a thread that might help you find some shots of Yankee Stadium: http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=22080
Have you ever seen the book that accompanies the PBS series "Baseball" by Ken burns?
There a few images that I hadnt seen before from that era.
Don't think this has been asked, so sorry if it has, but about how long does each one take you?
Again, great work!
I am not a Cubs fan but a fan of the history at Wrigley. I wos fortunate enough to work in the front office for the Cubs for 7 years and many times had the place to myself to explore! What a great place it was and to sit and hear the oldtimers talk and to find out the "little things" about that place made it all the more better.
I will quit babbling but one of the things I thought was so cool was that my 1st year I did some security work on game days and I found out the locker room we used was the former home clubhouse! to just think what happened in that clubhouse years ago was actually pretty cool.
OK I am done!! I am bored at work so I thought I would toss this in!!!
mccardguy1 - I would absolutely love to see that photo, but there's no rush whatsoever. I will certainly post any painting of the park I do on this site, so worry not!
<< <i>The amount of time it takes me to do a piece generally varies, but usually more than a month of solid painting. >>
I'm not surprised; your attention to detail is amazing.
Do you have them for sale, or prints of the paintings?
Mark
Thank you for the reference to photos of Yankee Stadium. It is quite a gallery. Keep up the great work, your stuff is stunning.
Tom
Those are absolutely incredible!
Great color - perspective - proportion - and likeness.
What medium? Acrylic?
How long have you been painting - you keep that up and you could give Ron Stark a run for his money!
I enjoyed those a lot!
thanx for sharing
mike
bbne1 - Thank you for your kind words! The originals are most certainly for sale, as are prints. Drop me an email if you're interested in any of them and I'll fill you in.
tkd7 - I'm glad you enjoyed that thread. It really is amazing to see all of those photos, some of which I KNOW I'll be using in my work!
tennesseebanker - Thank you so much for your compliment!
Stone193 - Thanks for your compliments! These paintings are all done in oil on linen. I have been painting for about 7 years or so, but only turned my attention towards baseball after I graduated from SVA (2002). I think it's what I'll be doing for a long time, and certainly, if I can give Stark a run for his money, that would be absolutely incredible!
rvc - Thank you for the compliments! I do have one finished BoSox item, a shot of Ortiz hitting the game winning homer off of Quantrill in the 2004 ALCS. The litho and original are currently on sale through Bill Goff and http://www.goodsportsart.com. However, I do have an unfinished Ted Williams piece that I hope to wrap up in the next month or so. Here's a really cruddy photo:
benderbroeth123@msn.com
looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2
Fabulous work! (I'm not surprised since you are a School of Visual Arts alum). You really have a skill for capturing light, form and shadow. And the detail and realism is stunning considering the economy of your brush strokes. Kind of reminds me of Wayne Thiebaud (especially the Ebbets Field canvas), except your subject matter is better!
Keep up the good work!
Nice!
Loves me some shiny!
carew4me - You are most CERTAINLY worthy!!
I got to say your talent is nothing short of incredible and your artwork is visually stunning. I would be proud to hang a piece done by you in my home. I am a big fan of Armand LaMontages' art and you are right up there with him in my eyes.
I most likely will never be able to afford a piece done by you, so I thank you for posting your work here where we can all enjoy your artwork.