This piece was created to coincide with the opening of the Los Angeles Dodgers 2017 Major League Baseball season. Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw was chosen as the subject as he is 1. recognizable, 2. popular among fans, and 3. pretty dang good at what he does.
Reference: I started by gathering my photo reference and determining Kershaw's stance and facial expression. These four images had the elements I wanted.
Rough design: At first I planned to show the full body composition (left) but that showed more arms and legs in dead space and more background to deal with than I wanted. I also didn't really want to paint more pieces with clouds in the sky.
The face is always the main attraction and any other elements should be designed around it to complement. It can also make for some interesting compositions (thinking of Sebastian Krueger, for one) -- a very painterly approach but his design and composition are awesome.
So here (right) I went in tight upper body, with over-extended arms and the big knee jutting up from above (indicative of Kershaw's windup) and that was enough to give it the motion I was looking for.
The face is always the main attraction and any other elements should be designed around it to complement. It can also make for some interesting compositions (thinking of Sebastian Krueger, for one) -- a very painterly approach but his design and composition are awesome.
So here (right) I went in tight upper body, with over-extended arms and the big knee jutting up from above (indicative of Kershaw's windup) and that was enough to give it the motion I was looking for.
Blocking-in acrylic and establishing color and value. The ground was a nice burnt orange that I wanted to base the field's dirt and the flesh tones from, plus it would give a nice pop to the Dodger Blue.
Starting to lay in lighter tones, establishing contrasting edges and sculpting the forms. Always looking at the overall balance of lights to darks and where the contrast needs to be greatest. Often I'll use a muted purple oil wash for pushing back the shadows in some areas.
Yep, that's me picking at Clayton's nose. More acrylic lights and darks to sculpt the forms and colored pencils give a nice texture on the rough grit of the gesso. Then sharpening edges here and there with a dark pen for details.
And there you have it, the completed rendition. Check back later and I'll have another player for you. If you have any requests, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!
