Sharing some favorite basketball illustrations

Heya friends, I hope that your year is going well. The art process continues to get better. I can’t wait to show you some new work when I feel it’s ready. In the meantime I wanted to share some rare basketball illustration that I made. You might already know that I am a big fan of basketball, streetball, playground basketball, freestyle, and sneaker culture. I’d written extensively about all of that in the past. Every now and then I create some basketball art that I’m really happy with. This was the case for some sci-fi themed posters.

The Nike Air Mag were the self-lacing sneakers featured in Back to the Future II. I wondered what they would have looked like in other colors, and even how a futuristic Nike warm up suit might look like. The other famous sci-fi sneakers that I always wished I owned were made by Reebok. The (bug) Stomper boots were worn by Ripley in the movie Aliens 2. I made up an android basketball player from the future wearing the Stompers. In both illustrations I even created futuristic basketballs. 

The next illustration was made for the most exciting NBA rookie in a generation. Victor Wembanyama was a 7’ 3.5” Frenchman that was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs. He played unlike traditional centers, in that he had the ability to dribble, pass, and shoot like a guard. The closest player he could be compared to was 6’ 9” Kevin Durant. Kevin had been called a “unicorn” for his rare combination of height and talent. Victor was like a super unicorn, which made me extremely happy for the team. I had been a fan of the Spurs for decades. Former head coach Gregg Popovich knew how to build franchises around talented big men such as David Robinson, and Tim Duncan. He coached the team to five championships, and was a three-time coach of the year, and a four-time All-Star coach. If they kept to the Popovich template then there was a chance that Victor could be a franchise player for years to come, and multiple-time champion as well!

The last two featured players in my basketball art gallery were Cameron Brink, and Caitlin Clark. They were super talented rookies that took the WNBA by storm. Interestingly enough they wore the same numbers but had completely different styles of play. Cameron was injured early on in the season, and missed the rest of the year while Caitlin was a nightly highlight reel. Now Cam was getting back playing minutes, and looking like she never missed a step. Best of all both dynamic players were placed on the the Team USA lineup for international play. They would be going into the FIBA tournament, and hopefully win the World Championship. If the team performed exceptionally well then they might use the same lineup for the Olympics.

I was glad to follow the next generation of basketball superstars in every league. I’ll be sharing new basketball art in the future. I’d like to know if you’ve ever created fan art of any sports star? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

How the Sparks kept me going through 2024

Hello friends, I hope your summer is going well. Things are moving along on my side of the world. I just wanted to highlight a team that has been helping my mental state this year. I had been open these past few years about the effects that COVID-19 had with my work, professional, and personal relationships. Avoiding crowds, and trying to keep my family safe has been difficult. I discovered that going back, and emulating my artistic influences helped me reconnect with the things I loved. I was feeling a little creatively drained spring of this year. That was when I started writing about my love of basketball, and streetball art. I decided to give myself a creative challenge. I decided to draw the Los Angeles Sparks, our local WNBA team.

I knew that this challenge wouldn’t burn me out as the team had 12 members. It would be easy for me to illustrate the lineup. The last time I challenged myself in a similar fashion I went overboard. In the heart of the lockdown I discovered that drawing bikes helped my mental well being. When I wrote the blog I said I had drawn around 50 F1 BMX bikes. A few weeks later that number had grown to over 100 bikes. As much fun as I had drawing them all it also drained me creatively.

Granted there were over 140 players in the league, and I could probably crank them all out in the summer, but then I’d be back to square one. So this time around I set myself a cut off. Draw only one team of players, and leave it at that. I’ve been a fan of the league, and team since it was founded in 1997. I’d make sure to draw female basketball, and streetball characters in my sketchbook because the sport belonged to everyone. I didn’t want to be known as the guy that only drew guy players.

I might do more detailed illustrations in the future if the mood strikes me. For now I’m happy with how the team turned out. Are there any sport teams you follow? Or are there ways you can express your creativity that helps recharge your mental, and emotional batteries? I’d like to read about them in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!