Randy Johnson - Baseball Hall of Fame - Fine Art Print

Randy Johnson, by Illustrator Graham Smith. 

It was an honor to illustrate a portrait of Randy Johnson for the cover of The Phoenix New Times, the month Randy "Big Unit" Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Read the article here. 

To commemorate this great athlete, I'm releasing prints on premium, archival, fine art paper, hand signed, titled and printed by the artist, complete with a Certificate of Authenticity. Each Certificate is signed, stamped, and matched uniquely to each print.

Ink: Printed with archival UltraChrome ink

Paper: Moab Entrada Rag. 100% cotton paper, acid free, archival, bright white, smooth, and heavyweight 300gsm. 

Size: 13"x19" paper with a 1" border on the top and sides, 3.5" border on the bottom, where it's signed, titled and stamped. 

Price: $75 USD. Transaction through PayPal, credit cards accepted.

Shipping: within USA only. (I make a post office run every Friday)

 Randy Johnson - Fine Art Print - $75

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Detail photos:

Detail shot of print.

How to combine illustration and photography for a unique title sequence

BritneyDraftA from Chris Park on Vimeo.

Making this 3 second animated title sequence took a lot of steps, but was the funnest thing ever to collaborate on!

First, Tim Mantoani and I did a 2 set up photo and video shoot with America's hottest hammer thrower, Miss Britney Henry. One set up for a glamor studio shoot, indoors; and another action shoot, outside at the Olympic Training Center, where Britney throws her hammer.

Second, the photos were edited, and 24 action stills were selected.

Third, the stills were outsourced to India, to remove the backgrounds, and drop them out to white.

And fourth, one set was printed at a 1 hour photo processor.

I showed up at Tim's photo studio around lunch time. The plan was to draw something on the photos while filming the process, and then to make something with the footage we shot. I didn't really know much beyond that. We were going to wing it.

Tim set up a giant piece of foam core as a table, and I sat on an apple crate with my random selection of art supplies brought from my studio. I suggested Tim move his giant expensive looking softbox back a bit, because I felt the need to fling some ink coming on. He switched the light to a 500 watt halogen, diffused by a sheet of plastic, and he was ready to film. I still hadn't thought of an idea.

The Canon 5D fired a shot every second, and sounded like a clock ticking. I grabbed a brayer, some tracing paper, ink and acrylic paint and started to go for it. 6 hours, and thousands of frames later, I finished painting on the 24 photos for the title sequence, and film maker Chris Park's work had just begun.

Thousands of jpeg stills were imported into Adobe Motion, and saved out to a movie file, where Chris edited the assets into the dreamy interview, hammer throwing showcase above, using Final Cut Pro.

To get the arial shot of the hammer flying through the air, film maker Chris Park taped a Go-Pro camera to Britney's 8 pound steel hammer. She threw the whole rig 200 feet downrange three times - and the camera survived.

Here are some behind the scenes shots of the production. Peek at BHP photographer Teresa Heath's Behind the scenes photos, too.

Hand painted frame #18 of 24 of Britney Henry by Tim Mantoani and Graham Smith

Britney "the Hammer" Henry by Tim Mantoani

Britney "the Hammer" Henry on white, by Tim Mantoani

Chris Park tapes a Go-Pro camera to the hammer

Photographer Tim Mantoani at work inside the weight room at the Olympic Training Center

Getting the shot

Chimping for Britney

The assistant - Austin Sosa

Britney Henry from athlete to model in a day.

Britney Henry working the photoshoot

 At the hammer ring

The hand lettered credits were chucked in the bin still wet. We got a schedule to keep people!

24 hand painted photos drying in the photo bay.

Ok,  here is the set up - go ahead and make something!

Credits:

Athlete                                       - Britney "The Hammer" Henry

Photography primary                 - Tim Mantoani

Photography documentary 1      - Teresa Heath

Photography documentary 2      - Graham Smith

Video / editing                           - Chris Park

Illustration                                  - Graham Smith

Make Up                                    - Momi Gonzales

Grip                                            - Austin Sosa

Location                                     - The Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista , CA

Music                                          - Cracks - Freestylers feat. Belle Humble

Junior Seau - RIP

Junior Seau #55, Champion of the San Diego Chargers and hero to many, died today. He was only 43 years old.

Junior Seau was a client of mine back in the day. He took the time to chat and say hello, when one of his  "people" could have easily handled our business. That's the kind of guy he was, and everyone loved him around here.

Here is my tribute drawing of the man, RIP, big guy.

Junior Seau 1963 - 2012

Britney Henry Video - Mt SAC Relays 2010

MT SAC Relays 2010 from Andrei Booriakin on Vimeo.

The Britney Henry Project is excited to debut our new video of Olympic Hopeful, Britney Henry competing against the best hammer throwers in the world, at the 2010 Mt. San Antonio College Relays. Read More >>

In addition to my illustration and design work, I organize The Britney Henry Project - a creative collaboration at the intersection of art and athletics. I like to stay busy.   :)

The Britney Henry Project is a group of creative professionals dedicated to creating media assets used to promote Britney Henry, and her effort to earn a spot on the USA Olympic team. The Britney Henry Project team members are all volunteers who donate their time and craft in support of Britney's Olympic dream.

Video by: Andrei Booiakin. Music by: Mark Matcho.

See More >>

 American Woman Video by Andrei Booriakin and Graham Smith. A super rocking, hi def music video featuring Britney Henry throwing the hammer.

Behind the scenes photos by photographer Teresa Heath, she documents the competition and Mt. Sac Relay shoot in the most beautiful and unique way.

Mt. SAC Relays photos and portraits of the Elite Athletes by Graham Smith, can be seen here.

Read Britney's account of the day on her blog Olympian in Progress.

Links >>

Olympian in Progress

The Britney Henry Project

Vimeo Channel

Britney's Facebook Fan Page

Mt SAC Relays 2010. Copyright © 2010 The Britney Henry Project. All Rights Reserved.

Runner's World Portraits

The 2010 Runner's World Fall Shoe Guide is out, and I drew some little portraits of the folks that test and report the performance of different running shoes. Drawing these little portraits is fun and quick. One detail Art Director Marc Kauffman likes me to add, is to match the colors in the portraits to the full page feature illustration that opens the Fall Shoe Guide. The original inkings are about 5 -6 inches tall, and the background texture is guache.

Peter Vuong - Runner's World Wear Tester. Illustration: Graham Smith

John  - Runner's World Wear Tester. Illustration: Graham Smith

Karon Klipple - Runner's World Wear Tester. Illustration: Graham Smith

The trick is to NOT draw lots of detail in really small portraits, but to rely on the large, basic shapes to carry the likeness. The shape of the head, the hair, the shape of the mouth, and the relationship to the size of the eyes are key areas to scrutinize while trying to craft simple little portraits.

I draw quickly and try to resist the urge to go back into the drawings and "fix" things. The drawings always seem a bit stale when I do that. It's better to keep the drawings brisk and fresh, than to overwork them with correctness. Funner too!

Runner's World illustrations by Graham Smith

These portraits are inked with 513 nib using Black Cat india ink on Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook, 93 lb paper. The under drawing is done with a non -repro blue pencil. I don't erase the under drawing or try to hide it. I like to leave the process marks in each illustration. They seem more handmade that way.

Britney's Hammer

Britney Henry by Graham Smith

It was early in the morning, the bright yellow sun was barely over the mountains behind The ARCO Olympic Training Center, in Chula Vista, California. I was meeting Britney Henry for the first time. "Welcome to my office." she shouts and waves, "Follow me, I'll show you my hammers, first."

I ran to catch up with her across the dewy grass of the Hammer Fields, to a big green tool box. She opened it, lifted a metal object out and began to explain. "Ok, these are my practice hammers, the official ones weigh 8.8 pounds, but some weigh more, or less, depending one what you are training for."

The hammer itself, looks like a cannon ball hanging from a solid steel wire. The wire is attached to the hammer on one end, and bent into a triangular handle on the other end. The whole thing is 34" long. I had never seen one before, so I thought it was pretty neat. The hammer was heavier than I thought, when she dropped one into my hands. It was bare metal, heavy, it had remnants of chipped yellow paint on the front, and there were hundreds of tiny dings and dents etched into the steel. Impressed, I hefted it back to her.

"You have to straighten the wire out, so it flies further." Britney explains, as she bends the wire handle to get a kink out. She knew I thought it was heavy.

Britney grabbed 5 them in one hand and said, "Ok, I'm ready."

"You need help with those?" I offer.

"Nope." She smiles. "Let's go!"


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The Britney Henry Project Blog is the home for photography, video's, press releases, music and illustrations done in support of Britney Henry. Subscribe to the blog, become her fan on Facebook, follow her personal story on her blog Olympian in Progress, and maybe even get inspired, like me.

ESPN Fantasy Football illustration

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I love drawing sports hero's, so when Ed Mann of ESPN commissioned an illustration of Jason Witten, of the Dallas Cowboy's, I was thrilled.

When the package of ESPN Fantasy Football magazines showed up at the studio yesterday, I nodded my head and thought, hey, Ed remembered to send them. Upon discovering a handwritten thank you note inside, I decided Art Director Ed Mann was first class all the way.

Below is the magazine, the pencil sketch, color comp plus the original inking that lead up to the final illustration.

The printed illustration over the sketch and inking.

color comp
Art Director's note: Use Dallas Cowboy's colors
and make sure we see the Star on his helmet.

pencil sketch

Pencil portrait of Jason Witten

sketchbook - Jason Witten portrait sketches

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Jason Witten # 82. Dallas Cowboys.

Alternate sketches for a soon to be published illustration about football stars.

5 x 8. pencil. sketchbook.

We decided to go with a full body action pose for the final illustration, leaving these battered warrior sketches for another day. I'll post the final illustration, sketches and the published piece in June, when it hits the newsstands.

Recreational Multitasking

Katie Noble from The Improper Bostonian asked me to illustrate the Camped Out feature for this months Heath and Beauty issue of the magazine.

The article encourages us to "Go south this winter to learn a sport - from golf to surfing to yoga - at one of seven fitness camps. It's recreational multitasking. You'll put your hard-earned money to good use, coming home with a tan and a hobby."

Art Director George Restrepo allows me to experiment while illustrating, making things fun and easy. He designed a great layout for this feature. Here are a few shots of the illustrations and layout of the magazine.

Vince Young

Art Director Andi Beierman called from The Texas Monthly and asked me to illustrate Tennessee Titan's Quarterback Vince Young. I love drawing sports heroes, especially when there is a dark twist. Questions of Vince Young's mental ability to handle disappointment plus his physical injuries have sidelined his season.


I sketched a quick layout of Vince Young against the dark Tennessee skyline and Titans Stadium trying to create tension between the skyline and the figure. I refined his face as a colored pencil drawing, as a study for the final inking.

Runner's World

Joel Klock: Wear Tester for Runner's World

I illustrated these portrait's for the newly re-designed issue of Runner's World Magazine.

Art Director Marc Kauffman asked me if I had time to draw 3 portraits for The Fall Shoe Guide, the next day he called again, said there were now 4 portraits and asked if I wanted to "bat cleanup". I wasn't sure what it that meant, but I said yes anyways. I finished out the week illustrating 13 teensy spots of people's feet in different stages of running, in addition to the portraits.


When the issue came out I saw what "bat cleanup" meant. My teensy weensie illustrations on one page, right next to fellow illustrator Mark Matcho's full page spread, full pager and 2 quarter pagers.

My portraits printed at 1 5/8 " tall, it was a challenge to make the drawing read at that size.

Ms. Dye: Wear Tester for Runner's World

I sketched the portraits in my small 7 x 10 sketchbook with colored pencils. On these little portraits, I ink right over the top of the sketches, using a lightbox, making corrections as I go.

If you compare the sketches with the final illustrations, you can see how I'll move the eyes up and over, or change the line work, using the sketch as a rough guide.

Brian DeRath: Wear Tester for Runner's World

Erin Maloney: Wear Tester for Runner's World