The Art of Juan Rosales

You may have seen me talk about the amazing talent of Juan Rosales on this blog before.

Amazing is Just one word to describe his style.  

I have gotten at least one sketch card of Cutch from Juan for the past 6 years.  

It was time to add another sketch card from Juan to the collection.  I thought about what image I wanted Juan to use as reference and ultimately chose for him to use the last HR Cutch hit as a member of the Phillies as inspiration. 

In typical fashion of Cutch's career he made a lasting impression with the Phillies fan base by hitting a home run in his final at bat with the club (it should be noted that he hit a HR in his first at bat with the club also). He also went on to celebrate in a very fun manner as he had done all year long, by wearing a straw hat with the Phillies logo under it.

Here is what Juan came up with

He added the lime green and neon pink to the background as a tribute to the Miami theme.

What is your favorite moment of your favorite player from the 2021 season you'd like to see turned into a sketch card? 

Commercial Break

I am interrupting this week of Bowman's Best cards to bring a card I have been patiently waiting to show off for many many months. 

 You have seen Juan Rosales draw plenty of images of Andrew McCutchen for me over the years, but this image of Cutch has become famous thanks to the photo variant found in Series 2 Topps 2020.

Juan began working on this commission for me back in December 2019 when he told me he would again be doing sketch cards in 2020 Museum.  Long before I knew about the photo variant happening I made arrangements for Juan to draw that image for me.  By early January he had started to work on getting it completed, but couldn't show it to me or ship until the product released. 

Due to COVID19 there were many delayed shipping releases later of 2020 Topps Museum. 

Since the product officially released today I  can finally show it off.

Thank you again Juan!

Time to get my swag and dance on and return to a week of Karate Kid inspired posts.

The Art Museum

I have shown off a bunch of sketch cards from Juan Rosales in the past. 

My latest one might be my favorite one he has done yet, from 2019 Topps Museum is this amazing Sketch of Cutch in his Phillies uniform with a bright vibrant red for the background.

Thanks as always Juan!

A New 1/1 Sketch

Wednesday is the day new comic books get released so I will try to save Wednesdays for art related cards whether it is a sketch card of Cutch or some nonsports comic release style card.

To kick things off, here is my latest sketch card of Cutch

2019 Series 2 sketch card by Juan Rosales

I also have a Series 1 sketch by Juan that pictures him in a Yankees uniform.

You can see the original post of That Yankees sketch here.

Did You Survive The Purge?

For those that aren't familar with the Purge movies, last night to this morning at 7am was the time slot that the Purge movies allow all crime.  I hope this country never does something like that as it completely contradicts my beliefs.

I would like to see our great country fall in love with baseball more.  It is clear that Football is the number one sport.  All the games are meaningful and have implications on the playoff picture.

Baseball is a long season and the games dont seem as meaningful.

That is why I absolutely love the World Baseball Classic every four years.  Meaningful games with a sense of pride for each team.

Andrew McCutchen participated in the 2017 WBC tournament.  He was second on the team with RBI batting predominantly out of the six hole for the tournament.

Juan Rosales has contributed a bunch of 1/1 sketch cards to this blog over the past few years.  The sketch of Cutch taking batting practice in his Team USA gear is one of my favorites, especially with the red and blue background.

Two years ago Team USA defeated Team Puerto Rico 8-0 to capture the Gold Medal.  It marked the first time that Team USA won the tournament.

Without Words Wednesday

When I was younger I used to get excited about heading to the comic book shop every Wednesday to pick up my latest stack of comics released that day.  I loved the art and the characters and of course the stories of my favorite super heroes.  Truth be told it was the art that kept me coming back more than anything else.  Over the course of 5 years I went to many comic conventions and met many of my favorite creators.  I was fortunate to get sketches of some of my favorite artists during that time also.  The ability to tell a story from these images created without using words is just mind blowing to me.  After all a picture is worth a 1000 words is a cliche saying for a reason.

I still enjoy getting sketches of my favorite super hero.  The only difference is that my favorite super hero is a real life superstar of a guy who brought fans back to enjoying baseball in what for the past two decades has been known as a football and hockey town.

I have a large collection of pack pulled Andrew McCutchen sketch cards.

I also have a large collection of Artist Proof commissions.  My favorite artist to get sketches from is Juan Rosales.  The detail he puts into all the commissioned sketch cards is mind blowing. To see other sketch cards I have gotten of this superstar artist click here. 

This Artist Proof is from a 2018 Museum Collection stock.  He perfectly captured Cutch waiting on deck and used the Pirates colors to create a stunning and simple background.  I could go on and on about the subtle details Juan put into this sketch, but I am out of words.

Looking good in pinstripes

The New York Yankees have a tradition and a sense of pride for anyone that puts on the timeless pinstripes.

When Cutch became a member of the team he kept calling the experience surreal.

Juan Rosales has been accepting my commission requests for a few years now and always knocks out the cards to capture Cutch perfectly.

Juan sent me an artist proof he created for me of Cutch a few days after the official release and I absolutely love this one.

Not only did he manage to capture the reference photo perfectly (pictured below), but he also included the logo of the most successful aports franchise in the United States.  Oh and he added those famous pinstripes to the background at my request.

The sketch card even has that "hockey stick" design being used this year in Topps flagship.

Fricking awesome as always Juan!!!

I have a few other Juan sketch cards that I need to post.

Juan More Sketch Card

If you have followed my blog for awhile you already know another of my hobby loves was comic book art and sketch cards.

Sketch card superstar Juan Rosales (click here for his official site) has done a handful of sketch cards for me in the past.  The others can be seen here.

This 2018 Series 2 artist proof was commissioned about a year ago and I have been holding off on showing it for too long.  Juan used this sketch card in his various social media platforms to discuss his work on the Topps sketch project.

Juan has been an absolute class act for all the sketch cards he has created for me (some of which I haven't shown off yet).  He is already at work creating another sketch for me of my main player collection wearung those pinstripes (Yankees and Phillies)

Thank you Juan for delivering such a unique sketch card to my collection.

Sketch Cards Collection

I have talked about my sketch card collection a few times on here before.

Back in February I begin to tinker with building my own site to show off all my Cutch cards broken down by year.  I also made tabs for relics, autographs, sketch cards, printing plates, etc.

I have not been very productive at getting the site up and running.  I barely have enough time to scan a few cards for this blog.

However I did get most of my sketch cards scanned in.  They consist of pack pulled cards in addition to artist proof commissions.

In time I will have the artist links working as well.
Click here to see the small but growing collection.  I do have a few more coming in over the next month or so.

I love the Juan Rosales card pictured above.  Juan captured the joy of Cutch's 1st career Grand Slam perfectly.  He is in the process of getting 3 more sketch cards made for me (Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Team USA) all for different series (Series 2 Topps, Museum Collection, Leaf Pastime).  Really looking forward to gettimg those in hand.

1/1 Sketch Card Interview: Juan Rosales

These type of posts always seem to be some of my favorites.  Before jumping back in to the sports card hobby, I used to collect a bunch of comic books.  I had nearly every issue of X-Men, Daredevil, and The Flash dating back to the 1960s.

Over the course of time I began to collect original artwork used in the production of the comics and would commission artists at comic book conventions to draw some of my favorite characters.

That fad eventually wore off for me as I began getting back into sports cards.  However the itch is still there per se so I have been picking up sketch cards of my favorite athlete, Andrew McCutchen.

Some are pack pulled cards.  Some are personal sketch cards (PSC) and some are artist proofs.

For those that don't know an artist proof is a blank sketch card not inserted into packs that the artist who worked on the series for the manufacturer (Topps, Leaf, etc) was given as a method of payment and contribution to the set.  Often times the artist proofs are sold as commissions by the artist.

I was fortunate enough to come across an eBay auction that Juan Rosales was doing for artist proofs of Leaf's Best of Baseball.

Through a few quick emails and some reference material, I was able to communicate to Juan what I was looking for.

This is the result.

Here is the reference image I gave him

As you can see Juan was able to add some of the Pirates home lettering to the card to make it even more special.

I chose the image above for Juan to use because all my other Cutch sketch cards have him with his trademark dreads during his MVP seasons.  I wanted to show some of his swagger that (I thought) he still had left in his approach at the plate.

As is customary when I get a new sketch card I reached out to the artist to try and get some questions answered.

CC: What got you into drawing?

JR: I always liked doodling when I was younger, and once I reached high school, I got serious about taking art classes and refining my skills. High school is really where I built my foundation. I stopped drawing once I reached college and didn't take it up again for another 12 years or so, but once I started drawing again, everything came back to me. Now it's something that I devote a lot of time to.

Where did you study at/grow your craft? 

The only formal training I have is through my high school. I took art classes each year, joined the Art Club and even lettered in Art.

Your deviant art site shows that sometimes you collaborate with your wife.  Did art bring you two together? 

Not initially, but once we realized that we both had some degree of talent, we started encouraging each other and working on projects together. 

Your art style is extremely realistic.  When you aren't doing commissions or working for card companies, do you have a more stylized comic book style that you like to dabble in? 

I don't. I've never been a comic book fan, and I've never had an interest in drawing in that style. Many of the artists I personally who DO create comic-style art are very talented, but it has never grabbed my interest.

I read that you are a Pantera fan.  What's the better album in your opinion, Vulgar Display of Power or Cowboys From Hell? 

First, Pantera is my all-time favorite band. Asking me to choose my favorite of these two albums is impossible. One day, I might be in the mood for one album, and the next day the other album will be on my playlist. I will say, though, that Cowboys From Hell does a great job of showcasing Phil's early vocal talents, when he was regularly using a higher voice in some of their songs. And Vulgar showcases their artful progression into a much heavier sound. Their 3 classic albums (these two and Far Beyond Driven) are three of my all-time favorite works from any artists in any genre.

You do a lot of athlete commissions. Do you have a favorite team/player? 

Baseball is my favorite sport, and I grew up a big Rangers fan in the Dallas area who idolized Nolan Ryan. After living in San Antonio for the past 20 years, however, I really don't follow the Rangers anymore, as the Spurs are pretty much my one and only team. I'm a die-hard Spurs fan who absolutely loves Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker (as do most people in SA). Baseball will always be my favorite sport, but I'm more of a fan of baseball history these days. Aside from reading summaries online, I don't follow the current game.

If someone was to make a movie about your life, what would it be called? I have no idea! I'd probably pay someone else to come up with a title, to behonest

Thank you so much Juan for taking the time to answer these questions and for drawing such a kick ass commission artist proof.

Juan can be found online at his deviant artsite http://jrosales1.deviantart.com and still has some Artist Proof commissions available through eBay.  If you decide to get a sketch from him let him know that Brian from Collecting Cutch sent you.