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| Credit: Dave Choate |
I recently stumbled upon a new, unique sports artist and I wanted to share his work (with his permission). As you know from reading my blog, I’ve done a few Yankees paintings and several original trading cards – either painted or sketched. Links to my Derek Jeter and and Mariano Rivera painting can be found HERE and HERE.
On Twitter, someone I follow retweeted a Victor Cruz painting that artist Dave Choate did. I started following Dave, and he immediately posted a new painting, again with NY Giants players as the subject. Very topical indeed with NYC being swept away with Giants Fever. I then visited his website and found an amazing assortment of paintings, all in Dave’s incredibly unique style. I spent a good portion of my morning at work browsing the site and admiring Dave’s works. Essentially, his subjects are sports charactures (like 1938 Goudey baseball cards), but a bit abstract as well. I tend to paint/draw in photo realism and try to make my paintings look as life-like as possible. Dave’s are more from a fantasy world, as he describes them as "whimsical" on his website, which is a great word for his style. I really appreciate artistic styles outside of my own, and as much as I would like to step outside of my comfort zone, I don’t have the creative eye or mind to do something as free-thinking as Dave’s works. I am too literal and narrow-minded. I don’t say that as a personal jab at myself, but as a compliment to artists such as Dave who can really create a style that is truly their own.
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| Credit: Dave Choate |
Despite the whimsical nature of Dave’s works, he still manages to capture the facial expressions and traits of each of his subjects. You’ll know immediately who each portrait is of – there is no guess work involved. Just look at Nadal and Djokovic above.
Dave is certainly making a name for himself in the sports art industry. World Series winner Jason Motte is a client, and Carmelo Anthony is purchasing the Mike Tyson painting below. Not only is ‘Melo my favorite basketball player, but he went to Syracuse when I was there, so that made my day when Dave told me that. I can’t imagine ever getting to the point with my artwork where someone (especially an athlete!) would actually be interested in purchasing it. That must be incredibly gratifying for Dave.
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| Credit: Dave Choate |
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| Credit: Dave Choate |
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| Credit: Dave Choate |
I encourage everyone to go and check out Dave’s work at www.davechoate.com. You can also follow him on twitter @DaveChoate. You won’t be disappointed.
A special thanks goes out to Dave for his permission to feature his website and paintings on my blog.
