Phoenix Sun Art Chris Paul Point Guard CP3

Chris Paul Still Going Strong

Chris Paul 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’s Nick name Cp3

Nicknamed 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 Basketball Art Chris Paul

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.

March Madness NCAA Tournament Art

NCAA March Madness Basketball

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 Dunk Shot   

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 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.

Jump Shot Basketball Art Painting artist John Robertson

Jump Shot NBA Golden State Warriors

Now, that is certainly not the problem I ever had when I played in pickup games at the gym.  I was not like one of those players on the Warriors that could meet the challenge at either end of the court.  I couldn’t even meet them half way.

The Basketball Jump Shot

ake for example my jump shot. As you can see from my sports art this player has a nice jump shot with a nice hand and arm extension above his head. It is suppose to be an easy shot to make from a distance but I could not do it very well from any distance. Frogs have a better jump shot. A Kangaroo Rat could jump higher than I could.

And, even if I could get off the ground I was easy to block – being short. And being short the only thing I can dunk is cookies into milk - and the only good move I had after that was dribbling – dribbling the milk out of my mouth.

This basketball art  painting of the jump shot made me think of the

Golden State Warriors

in the NBA Western Conference finals and there struggle a couple of times over the season and in the playoffs.  Even though a player might feel great and “in the groove” it can be very frustrating when your shots are not sinking through the net – or you become the bull’s eye for every other player on the other team because you are a great player like Curry. 

So, what are the Golden State Warriors suppose to do?

Back to basics to find a way to get him back in a groove - into different shifts and rotations and working them flawlessly and forgetting the physical discomfort.

Now, how is that for a bunch of platitudes with no real constructive thoughts?

I listen to the sports commentators and that is about all the obvious comments I ever hear.

"The Jump Shot" basketball sports art painting by artist John Robertson is 48" x 60" acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Basketball Magic Johnson Point Guard Why We Play Sports

WHY PLAY SPORTS

Magic Johnson Point Guard

Magic Johnson was the  “quarterback” on the Lakers basketball court -  the point guard - and the most important player on the team - and what most consider the best point guard ever,Some people have referred to Magic Johnson as the indisputable "Point God."   He was an absolutely great, all around player who probably sacrificed individual statistics for the greater good of the team - and in doing so, brought other teammates up to play at a higher level.  And, of course, won more games.  He is the one who led the team by trying to make the good decisions for the plays.  He generally handled the ball more than any other player on the court and passed the ball off to other players to lead them towards a goal. To have a great team is to have a leader who will work to have all contribute to it's success.  And without that great leadership in the "point guard" position few teams have had a high level of successful seasons.

Why Play Sports

 All of this leads me to the good reason of why it is important for people to play sports.  I did as a child and as an adult participated in sports into my sixties and still exercise regularly.  One of the things sports taught me was developing teamwork.  This is a way to learn how to help others, and thereby themselves, to work together towards a specific goal, (winning).  We see this problem of teamwork all the time in the major professional sports.  I think the best example of that is in the NBA where there are "star" players and "winning" teams.  I won’t point out the great players who played on losing teams but one of the downfalls of those teams was the fact that it really wasn’t a “team” but a bunch of individual players just “doing their thing.”   Most sports are a team effort.  And the same goes for life.  We are all in it together and participating in life as a joint venture with others makes for a more successful and fulfilling life.

Magic Johnson Highlights

Magic Johnson played in 12 All-Star games, won five NBA rings, three years the MVP awards and won most valuable player in three Finals.  His career Stats 19.5 points per game, 11.2 assists per game, 5.5 re-bounds per game and 1.9 steels per game.  Those 11.2 assists per game shows how much Magic was a team player.  At 6 feet 9 inches he dominated the point guard position.John Robertson Sports Artist image of a “Point Guard”  is 24” x 36” ink and acrylic on newsprint (Old Sporting News, magazines, books, etc) about the NBA and point guards.  Newsprint attached to ¾” stretched canvas.  To view sports paintings for sale please visit: John Robertson sports Paintings for sale and the sports prints available

Kobe Bryant LA Laker Basketball Image Art

Kobe Bryant and Inspiration

This is a basketball image of Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all times who played his whole basketball career with the LA Lakers.  He has been a great inspiration to me even though he is quite a bit younger than I am.  How has Kobe inspired me?  I remember a quote he said a few years ago when it was difficult for him to be playing.  He said,” I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.”

As I am getting older and there are days I just do not want to go into the studio, I think of how much harder it was for him to face the challenge of his daily playing.  Me?  All I have to do is go into the studio and slap some paint on some canvas.  It’s not like I have to go down into a coal mine and dig out the rock with a hand pick.  Kobe gives me some perspective on my life.  

No, I do Not Want to be Michael Jordan 

Another thing Kobe said that is very insightful - and in particular, to painting.  He said, “I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”  How does that relate to painting?  Well, one of the mistakes most artists make is that they want to paint like someone else.  They create similar work to others so it is the same thing.  What makes interesting art if for the artist to be different than others.  Be unique.  Don’t copy what others are doing but create your  own work that is unique to you. We already had a Picasso or Van Gogh.  And in Kobe’s case, there was already a Michael Jordan.  It was great to have a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron James.  And now we have a Stephen Curry.  It is much more exciting to have a variety of different kinds of talent.  So we do not want another Kobe Bryant (although we miss you) or a Michael Jordan because we now have a Stephen Curry.

Do I want to be the new LeRoy Neiman of sports art?  No  I want to be the best John Robertson.  I may not being the best sports artist or create great sports art but I will paint paintings and not LeRoy Neiman paintings.

This LA Lakers basketball image of Kobe Bryant is 13" x 19" acrylic on paper.

Abstract Basketball Painting with Hoop and Basketball

Basketball Painting In Abstract Style

A few years ago I was approached by a sports art agent to do some paintings for the (at the time) a new Amway sports arena in Orlando, Florida - where the NBA Orlando Magic plays basketball. The paintings were to be used on the walls and in spaces for the arena.  I don't recall how many paintings

I did for them but I do remember a couple of them were basketball related and this contemporary basketball hoop painting was among the different paintings.

This abstract painting of the basketball hoop is good size: sixty inches by seventy-two inches  (five feet by six feet) acrylic on unstretched canvas.  What I was asked to paint was something bright and colorful and represented basketball in an abstract way.  A couple of the other paintings I did for them were basketball paintings of Venice Beach street players I had photograph at Venice, Ca.  This is where the great basketball  movie "White Men Can't Jump" was filmed and in our neighborhood.  (These paintings are posted somewhere on this blog)

Basketball Idea from Alley

At the time I had not done many non-figurative paintings so it was a bit of a challenge for me.  I wasn't really sure where to start.  But one evening my wife and I were walking the alleys of Venice.  We always liked seeing the backs of the rundown properties and the deterioration of the neighborhood.  There is something very human seeing old garages and backs of old cottages.  My wife actually owned a small cottage that was held up by the wings of termites.   As we walked in the alleys I kept seeing old, rusted and unused basketball hoops attached to dilapidated garages.  And growing over some of the garages were vines and flowers.  One in particular captured my imagination - a garage with Nasturtiums (yellow orange flowers on long green vines) draped through the hoop and over the garage doors.  Perfect.

I took a bunch of photographs from a variety of angles for reference material.  Back in my studio I painted the scene in a realistic manner, recreating the alley and garages and trash cans and the hoop and the flowers.  And then I took a big brush and slashed paint all over the canvas.  And what you see is the result of my effort - a contemporary, modern sort of basketball hoop abstract painting.

Basketball art painting boy doing a lay-up

A friend of mine, Jo, took a photo of a boy playing basketball.  I thought the boy doing a layup was a great shot and got her permission to do a painting of the boy.  The basketball painting is 4 feet by 8 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas.

I like this quote about basketball by James Naismith. 'The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play "Drop the Handkerchief."

Basketball Painting Dunk Shot Image

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 last week. The clients are all aware that I am duplicating the painting for them.  I am in the photo so you can get a sense of the size of the painting.  The original paintings were done 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.

Basketball Art Image Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers

Basketball Painting of Kobe Bryant

Image of Kobe Bryant dribbling against a defensive player. I just heard the other day that Kobe has been playing for the Lakers here in Los Angeles for around 14 years. And the one fact I keep forgetting is that he came out of high school to play. The painting is 11"x x 14" ink, watercolor and acrylic on drafting film



Chris Paul image Basketball Art

Basketball Art.  Painting of basketball player Chris Paul point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers.  Painting is 12” x 15” on 14” x 17” drafting film.  Watercolor, acrylic and ink.

J J Barea Dallas Mavericks basketball image

I was watching the finals of the NBA play-offs between Dallas Mavericks and  the Miami Heat a few weeks ago and loved the play of J J Barea.  This sports art basketball painting of J J is 8 1/2" by 11" oil on vellum.
Sports Artist John Robertson

Art Basketball Image player dribbling the ball

I did a series of large-scale (5 ft by 6 ft) black and white paintings for the Amway Sports Arena in Orlando Florida a couple of months ago. (Home of the Orlando Magic) I sometimes do charcoal 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 dribbling the ball on a map.

Art basketball. Sport image on map by sports artist John Robertson

dribbling is 10" x 14" charcoal on paper.

Basketball Image Charcoal Drawing of Athlete Dribbling Basketball Sport Art

Sports Art - Charcoal Drawings of basketball players by artist John Robertson

Basketball art is 18" x 24" charcoal on paper



I was sitting around and thought I would do a couple of basketball images, drawings in charcoal. One is of a Los Angeles Laker dunking the ball and the other is of a basketball player dribbling down the court. I was working of the skill of trying to show action and movement in the basketball art. I may use them as a basis for a large-scale black and white painting. If you scroll down on this blog you will see some of the black and white sports art I have done. The most recent were four paintings for the Amway Sport Center in Orlando Florida - where the Orlando Magic play.

Basketball art sport image artist John Robertson

Dunk Shot Basketball art - sports artist John Robertson

48 x 84" acrylic on unstretched canvas

This basketball image of a dunk shot is one of a number of basketball images I painted for the new Amway Sports stadium in Orlando (opened the first part of Oct 2010) developed an art collection of sports images. This is where the NBA Orlando Magic plays. This basketball art of a dunk shot is part of the collection. If there is anyone that happens to be in the arena and sees some of my paintings please take a photograph of the paintings and send it to me. The painting is also up somewhere else on this blog as they bought it from existing paintings.