March Madness NCAA Tournament Art

NCAA March Madness Basketball

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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.

NFL Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers Art

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Football Art Aaron Rodgers

NFL Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers art was painted a bit ago but I never posted it.. Although I have painted a number of Green Bay Packers paintings for their Lambeau Field stadium for their remodel last year, this one I still own. This art of Rodgers is 4 feet by 6 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas. .

Why I paint Green Bay Packers Players

Since the sixties I have been a Green Bay Packers fan when I took a trip back to Green Bay. I spent a couple of weeks there with my best friend. Our afternoons always ended by going out to the Packers Lambeau practice field (which was just across from the old Lambeau Stadium) and watching them in their afternoon practice The field was open and anyone could stop by and watch. These were the days when Green Bay dominated under Vince Lombardi: Bart Starr, Paul Hornung. Jim Taylor, Fuzzy Thurston, and my favorite the great middle linebacker, number 66 Ray Nitschke who played his entire career at Green Bay. Now-a-days I lean towards the Vikings because my sweetheart is from Minnesota. It is a tough decision during Packers and Vikings games on whom to yell for.

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Football Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver Sports Art Miracle Image

Minnesota Vikings Miracle

You might remember this play from a couple of years ago so I thought you would like to see, probably, one of my favorite plays of all time was the Minnesota Miracle pass from the Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum to wide receiver Stefon Diggs last season that saved the Minnesota Vikings season and crushed the New Orleans Saints and moved the Vikings into the NFC Championship Game.

As some of you know I am a sports artist who has created artwork for a number of sports stadiums and arenas, including the Minnesota Vikings US Bank stadium.  Sometimes a sports play comes along that needs to be painted just for the joy of recreating a scene or action.  So here is my interpretation of the great "Seven Heaven" football catch.

Seven Heaven Play

The football play, "seven heaven" is a deep corner route and if the quarterback, in this case, Case Keenum hits the wide receiver, in this case it’s Stefon Diggs, then something heavenly happens.   And in this particular case, one of the greatest plays of all time.  The football play, if you would llike to watch it again, is  here:  

link to a video of the play

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Here’s a quick rundown of how the play went down.  There was 10 seconds showing on the clock and it was 3

rd

and 10 .  The Vikings were at their own 39 yard line.  Stefon Diggs runs the seven heaven route, catches the pass, the cornerback misses the tackle (I’m not giving his name as he has had enough hassle about his missed play) and Diggs scores.  It was the first  fourth-quarter, walk-off touchdown in NFL playoff history.  As an aside here is an interesting comment about the

walk-off touchdown.

The football image was painted by sports artist John Robertson and is 6 feet by 8 feet, 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

New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio Baseball Player Art

About Joe DiMaggio

 I image almost every baseball fan is familiar with the name Joe DiMaggio.  He is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time playing for at the time one of the greatest baseball teams, the New York Yankees.  There is nothing much I can add to all of his stats.  I have also painted DiMaggio a number of times but thought it would be fun to try and do a simple, small drawing of him.  This ink drawing of Joe DiMaggio by sports artist John Robertson  is 11 inches by 14 inches on
watercolor paper.  Actually the paper is a little bit bigger by one in high to 15 inches.  The watercolor paper I drew Joe on is in a spiral watercolor paper binder so when it is torn out it can be trimmed down to the standard frame size of a 11” x 14” size.

 Interesting Info about Joe DiMaggio

 It seems the only way one generation (who have not followed baseball) of people know Joe DiMaggio is that he was a spokesman for the brand Mr. Coffee.  The older baseball crowd knows him by his nickname “Joltin’ Joe” or “The Yankee Clipper.” He was called by his many fans “Joltin’ Joe“because he was such a strong, hard hitter.  And others called him “The Yankee Clipper” because he sailed so gracefully through the outfield when making a catch in the wide center field of Yankee stadium.   And one of the big reasons people knew him was that he was one time married to Marilyn Monroe.  He was immortalized in the Paul Simon song, ‘Mrs. Robinson” with the line, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio /  Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you” -  meaning where has our heroes gone, where has the innocence of our youth gone and where are the days of the past as times have changes dramatically (this song was written in the sixties) and they are not coming back.  That’s a bit sobering.

Joe DiMaggio retired from baseball just as I was getting interested in the game.  1951.  I was young and listened to the Yankees games on the radio – the LA Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and did not come to L A for another six years.  So I was a Yankees fan and saw DiMaggio as a hero.  Heroes diminish and I lost some of my interest in baseball until the Dodgers showed up in LA. 

 Final Thoughts about Joe DiMaggio

 He was always being quoted and there are plenty around to draw from but I think the most interesting one must have been from when DiMaggio spoke about his days of his own innocence when he first started playing baseball.  He said, "I can remember a reporter asking me for a quote, and I didn't know what a quote was. I thought it was some kind of soft drink."

America's Game of Basebal - Art

Why Baseball is The Game 

 As the great player and Hall of Fame manager, Earl Weaver said, “You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and five the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. “

 America’s Game

 “The Game” Baseball.  America’s great pastime.  The game most boys and some girls have played at some time in their lives.  It’s called America’s game because it was one of the first sports played seriously in the United State starting 1845.  I played in Little League and then in the Pony League.  After that, not much.  High school grades (bad ones) prevented me from playing in high school and there was no college in my future.

As long as I could play the game of baseball I felt I was still a kid, I forgot everything when I was playing.  The assaults of the world started on me early.  A bad day of playing the game was always better than any other day I had.  I didn’t have to worry about school, or my parents or friends.  All I thought about was hitting the ball and at other times catching the ball with waiting in-between.  And the waiting never bothered me.  I was lost in the dream of playing.  Even when there was no organized game to play, we played out in the streets, home plate a hub cap off a car and bases were curbs and lines in the street.  We’d play until dark and only quit because we could not see the baseball anymore.  And only occasionally did one of us get hit by a car – usually a light tap.

Walt Whitman on America's Pastime

 One of the great American poets, Walt Whitman lived at the time of the founding of baseball  1819 - 1892. He saw the beginning and the development of the game.  Horace L. Traubel who wrote about Whitman in , “Walt Whitman in Camden,” vol. 2 (stated by Whitman in September 1888): “Whitman spoke more about in glowing terms: Baseball is the hurrah game of the republic! That's beautiful: the hurrah game! well—it's our game: that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game: has the snap, go, fling, of the American atmosphere—belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitutions, laws: is just as important in the sum total of our historic life.

Sports Painting. About the Baseball Art

 “The Game” painting by sports artist John Robertson is an image of the batter, catcher and umpire that is almost life-size.  The size of the art piece is 6 feet by 10 feet, ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Jackie Robinson brooklyn Dodgers sports art painting

A

bout the Jackie Robinson Painting

 For those of you who follow John Robertson sports art either on Facebook, Instagram or all the other places work is posted you know that I have painted Jackie Robinson of the famed Brooklyn Dodgers a few times.  This time I did something a little bit unique.  The painting is 12" x 16" ink and acrylic
on old Sporting News magazines from the 1980's attached to canvas boards.  Two coats of a finish protects the surface.  In the background is N.L Box scores, where they play, pitching leaders, and a variety of other information.

Obviously Jackie Robinson was and is an inspiration to a lot of people.  Here is one of my favorite quotes from him.  "Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life."   Particularly in this day and age of the technology we tend to be watching small screens and not participating in life.  We are watching others and following what others may be doing and living vicariously through them. 

 Top ten things Jackie Robinson may have said about baseball

 (maybe he didn’t say all of these but he probably thought them. )

1. Anyone can win a game unless there is another team playing.
2. The biggest sin in baseball is being thrown out at home plate.
3. Make good plays - good enough to make the opposing team manager kick the water cooler.
4. I like a sport where stealing is not illegal
5. There is no sweeter word for a runner than "Safe"
5. The first thing a team physician checks on an injured catcher is for footprints.
7. It is better to steal than never.
8. Always run bases counter-clockwise.
9. Chewing bubble gum – don’t blow bubbles while wearing a catcher’s mask.
10. Chewing tobacco – spit, don’t swallow

Sports Baseball painting of Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer Old Catcher Now First Baseman


This painting of Joe Mauer first baseman and used to be catcher of the Minnesota Twins major league baseball team is approximately 8” x 10” on a 11” x 14” piece of drafting film. Ink and watercolor.

Joe Mauer's main position when he started playing was catcher and sometimes first baseman.  When asked to paint him for a relative he wanted a painting of Joe as a catcher.  As a catcher Joe took a few hits to the head causing some concussions.  On November 11, 2014 the Twins announced that Mauer would permanently move to first base in order to protect their star player from further concussions and the day-to-day physical wear of being a major league catcher.  Since then, like in the past he has performed nicely.

 Painting Inspiration

This painting was created for a  gift to my nephew-in-law.  He is my wife's sister's son who absolutely loves the Minnesota Twins and goes to as many games as he possibly can.   My wife's family is from Minnesota and her sister lives just about a hour north from the Twin Cities.  When my nephew left Minnesota to take a teaching job in Mexico he wanted something that would remind him of his home state.  His mother suggested a baseball player and we somehow found out his favorite player was Joe Mauer.

I did paint Joe as a surprise and it eventually the painting ended up in Mexico.  My nephew comes back to the states for all vacations and, of course back to Minnesota.  And one of the first things he does is go to a Twins game.  We get to see him every summer and a few times he has come to California to visit.   Also, he is moving on from Mexico after three years there he is not sure where his next job will be.  But he does like teaching in a foreign country except for missing the Twins

Nephew likes Minnesota Vikings



What is going to be fun this upcoming summer 2016 is the opening of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.  Both my wife and I have painted large-scale sports artwork for the new stadium and will be able to take her nephew to the opening in July.  He is excited about the whole process as football and the Vikings is his next big passion.  Don't tell him but I will probably get some prints of the images I painted for the Vikings and they will be a great gift for his return.

Hockey art painting of Hockey players crashing into the boards

My son-in-law plays in a hockey league so for his birthday I painted this hockey art for him. 18" x 24" ink and acrylic on newsprint mounted on board.  He loves hockey and in particular the LA Kings. 

  L.A. Kings coach, Darryl Sutter has had some great one-liners during his tenure with the L.A. Kings.  one of my favorites, “They can wear wigs and sunglasses. I don’t care, as long as they’re ready.” (January of 2012 on the L.A. Kings players and whether they should wear helmets in warmups.

To view paintings for sale please visit:
John Robertson sports Paintings for sale.

Football art USC Trojans running back image art


Sports image of football running back from USC Trojans carrying the football.  The football art is painted on a 10" x 10" archival board covered with newsprint about the Trojans football team from 1990.  Painted with ink and acrylic.  The painting was in the recent Santa Monica Museum "Incognito" show in Santa Monica, Ca.

To view paintings for sale please visit:

Footbal Art (US Soccer) Image Painting of Lionel Messi FC Barcelona


The great Argentine football player Lionel Messi. Commonly ranked as the best player in the world   Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. World Cup Football Art.  Painting of Messi kicking a football.  Painting is 24 1/2" by 23 1/4" acrylic and ink on football (soccer) pages and photographs mounted on wood.  (US Soccer painting) 

 One of my favorite quotes from Messi, " In football as in watch making, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision."

Baseball Art Painting of Pittsburgh Pirates Dave Parker


Baseball painting of Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Dave Parker(The Cobra) throwing a baseball painted by sports artist John Robertson. He was the 1979 National League MVP and two-time batting champion.  Parker was the first professional athlete to earn an average of one million dollars per year.  One of his great quotes is, "When the leaves turn brown, I'll be wearing the batting crown" - Dave Parker in mid-season 1978.

Football Art Walter Payton Chicago Bears

Running back Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears image.  Payton has a couple of quotes that represents what kind of guy he was.   The first one lives up to his nickname of “Sweetness”.  The quote is, “Most important thought, if you love someone, tell him or her, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store.”  And the second quote speaks of his about the way in which he played the game. “Running alone is the toughest. You get to the point where you have to keep pushing yourself.”  Payton is one of my grandson’s favorite player so I painted this as a gift to him for his 21st birthday.


The sports art image painting is 24’ x 36” acrylic and ink on canvas.

Football Art image Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson running back image



Sports Art football painting of Minnesota Vikings  Running back Adrian Peterson who is one of my favorite running backs.  I think I have painted him four times.  He has a strong work ethic and plays with an abandon that calls out for injuries.  As one of his teammates Toby Gerhart said, “It's not just his work ethic, it's his positivity. He's always at 100 miles per hour, pushing himself. But he never complains. You'll never hear him say, 'I'm sore. I'm tired. My legs feel heavy today.”  Adrian Peterson said, “I’ve been running like this since I was seven.”

Painting is 40” x 96 “ ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Sports Art David Wright NY Mets Baseball Painting



This is the third time I have painted David Wright Third Baseman for the New York Mets.  The painting is approximately 5 feet by 6 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas.  . He is captain of the Mets for 2013, the fourth captain in team history.  Wright is a member of the 30–30 club, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner six-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner and he holds the Mets record for most career RBIs, doubles, total bases, runs scored, and hits.  Sports Artist John Robertson  Thanks Wikipedia for the info.

Baseball Art David Wright NY Mets Sports Painting


Image art painting of Third Baseman David Wright of the New York Mets.  The painting is approximately 5 feet by 6 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas.   Wright is a six-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He also is a member of the 30–30 club. In addition, he holds the Mets record for most career RBIs, doubles, total bases,runs scored, and hits. He was named captain of the Mets in 2013, the fourth captain in team history.  Sports Artist John Robertson  Thanks Wikipedia for the info.

Jackie Robinson #42 image art sports painting

We have not had a chance to see the Jackie Robinson yet. Awhile back a client commissioned me to paint #42’s portrait. When she was a child her father took here to games so she could see him play. The sports painting is 4 ½ feet by 6 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas. The painting is displayed and hung like as a banner or tapestry