Painting Dolph Schayes for the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame

One of the most challenging commissions I painted was a life size (6'9") portrait of Dolph Schayes. Dolph played for the Syracuse Nationals in the 50's and went on to coach the Philly 76'ers. The Syracuse Nationals eventually became the 76'ers. The owners of the Nationals created the 20 second shot clock and to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of that event they had a call for proposals from artists. While my proposal was not accepted it did connect me with the director of the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame who asked if I would paint Dolph life size so kids could stand next to him to see what it would feel like to defend against him. I spent more time prepping for the project than the actual painting. I read several books about the Nationals, met with Dolph (who is in his 80's) and researched uniforms, shoes and even basketballs. Dolph laughed when I asked him if he had a pair of sneakers that he played in. They played in Converse high tops and he said they tore them apart in every game. It was not unusual for the soles to be pulled off in a game. Trying to determine if Converse high tops were any different in 1955 than today was very challenging. The biggest challenge was to take a small grainy photo (provided by the National Sports Hall of Fame) and convert every feature accurately to Dolph's young 6'9" frame. One of Dolph's favorite moves was to muscle into the net and take a hook shot. That is what I painted. It was painted on a 10' Masonite board so it can be moved (The Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame is in a temporary location). I hung "Dolph" so his feet were 20" off the ground. His height is impressive. In the jump I come to his waist when standing next to the painting. It was a memorable experience on a grand scale.