Lewis - The Painting of Nik Lewis - 2013

" Lewis "

This is a 24" x 48" Acrylic on Canvas painting of Nik Lewis

Calgary Stampeders Slotback by Joe Versikaitis

It started with a conversation with then marketing manager Chris Jurewicz. The Stamps knew that Nik was getting close his to his 9th, 1000 yard per season plateau. Throughout the game I was snapping action shots of Lewis out on the field. I got some nice action shots. Of course his 1000 yard catch was no where near me when it happened. Nik just got back to the sideline and was being congratulated by everyone there. It was there that I caught up with this pose. I loved the idea of actually painting the players face without the cage over top of it. Lewis, like so many other players flipped his helmet over his face so that the helmet rested on his head. I knew this was the pose I wanted to paint.

 In this pose it was a beautiful sunny day and I wanted to bring that out on his face and the big shining spot on his helmet.

I wanted show the Stampeders home field McMahon Stadium as part of this piece.  I put in the red fence, which in the bright sun is a little orange, on top of the field barrier. You can see this towards the bottom right hand side of the piece. With the crowd, I show the faces but not detailed. I drew out every head and position each side by side and made it look like the heads are getting smaller as they go up to the top of the painting...14 rows and 20 heads across- lots of eyes and mouths.  I then diluted the background with a cream wash. This helps bring out Lewis.

I believe the best part of this painting was experiencing the sideline action during the game. The behind the scene stuff that I got to witness. To hear what the players and coaches were saying to each other made me appreciate the game a whole lot more.

I hope you enjoy this piece!

All works are under the Canadian Copyrights Law. Any reproduction in part or whole without the written consent is strictly prohibited

Joe Versikaitis