Slammin' Sam Snead

Posted here is the view of a recent painting I completed of the late great Sam Snead... nicknamed "Slammin" Sam Snead" because of his booming drives off the tee. My painting is based on a 1949 photo of Mr. Snead by photographer Arthur E. Haug, from a golf instructional book by Snead and a handful of other pros of that era. What struck me was the perspective of seeing the player's swing from above looking down.... which nicely highlighted Mr. Snead's famous iconic straw hat he wore so frequently. 

You are going to see Sam Snead's name pop up in the golfing news a lot very soon, because in 2014 or 2015 Tiger Woods will probably secure his 82nd and 83rd PGA Tour tournament victories.... an amazing feat. 82 wins will tie Sam Snead's long time hold on the record of PGA Tour victories and Tiger's victory number 83 will surpass Snead's mark and set a new record which may then last forever in the golf record books.

Sam Snead (1912 - 2002), the smooth swinging, long hitting "country boy" from Virginia who became the winningest player in PGA Tour history with 82 official tournament victories (including 7 major championship wins). Wearing his signature straw hat and nicknamed "Slammin' Sammy", Snead's long, powerful swing endured, winning professional events over a six decade span. (At age 67 he shot a 67 and a 66 for two of the four rounds at the 1979 Quad Cities Open, a PGA Tour event) 

The original painting was created with oil crayon and gouache on raw paperboard. Visit my golf art web site sasgolf.com to view my limited edition golf art prints as well as some original golf art for sale, including this painting of Sam Snead.

Tiger By The Numbers

art by Steven Anthony Salerno  visit sasgolf.com

(author's note: since the original posting date on 3/27/13, Tiger won again on the PGA Tour, upping his tournament victory stat from 77 to 78.... so the art image will have to be modified yet again to indicate 01-14-78)

This weeks victory at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational Tournament by Tiger Woods marks the player's astounding 77th PGA Tour win, his recapturing of the World Golf Ranking's number 1 position... and has elicited renewed buzz that he may very well be firmly back on track to win more major championships again (he currently has 14 titles) and may either tie or surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championship victories.

Posted here is a painting I did a few years ago for the PGA Tour web site's "Player Spotlight" feature section... and at the time the numbers graphic within the art image (I think) was set at  1 -  14  -  71.  So, now I modified the numbers graphics within the art image to be:  1  -  14  -  77.

Of course, the 1 in the artwork is Tiger's world golf ranking, the 14 is how many major titles he owns, and the 77 is how many PGA Tour wins he has. Relative to his golf skills, the man in red has talent, experience far beyond but a few other players in history, a strong work ethic, and clear goals. I personally think Tiger will indeed either tie or surpass Nicklaus' record. And in so doing I think he will win a major at 50 years of age! 

When Tiger's life became a tabloid feast a handful of years ago, and his personal and public world was crumbling... it seemed his golden train in golf had been permanently derailed. No one can avoid catastrophic periods in their life, whether they come from illness, outside forces, or are even self created.... but sometimes one can truly heal, can learn, can become stronger than before. Second chances are available but must be earned. Maybe Tiger indeed is becoming better both on and off the course. And his new prowess on the course suddenly has everyone thinking his golden train is on a very fast track once again.

THE KING (Arnold Palmer) -a new golf art print from Steven Anthony Salerno

Arnold Palmer is nicknamed "The King" for his major role popularizing the game of golf with American middle class masses via the blossoming sports television coverage of the 1950's and 1960's... It captured his husky American good looks, steelworker shoulders, swashbuckling charges on the golf course, and charisma. (As well as his seven major championships and 62 PGA tournament victories won during an illustrious career.)

Along the way "Arnie's Army" was created: the legion of millions upon millions of devoted fans who see him as the greatest modern ambassador for the game of golf. I met Mr. Palmer when I was about 13 years old, at his golf academy in Stratton, Vermont (my older brother was attending). He was my favorite golfer then, and he still is 39 years later! I chose to depict Mr. Palmer in his distinctive hunched and knock-kneed putting posture... and purposely rendered the image roughly, using thick oil crayons and gouache on basic brown paper (with digitally added elements of wood grain texture) all to suggest his powerful stature and humble beginnings. The phrase "The King" can be seen written within the image.

This new golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com

Lord Byron

I recently completed a painting of one of my favorite golfers, Byron Nelson (1912 -2006), nicknamed Lord Byron. This gentlemanly champion from Texas holds what will probably be one professional golf record that will never be broken, not by Tiger Woods nor any other future golf superstar. Not only did Mr. Nelson win 52 PGA titles and 5 major championships in his amazing career, but in 1945 he won a mind-bending 11 PGA events in a row! (He won a total of 18 tournaments that season) His scoring average in that magical year was 68.33 per round... which was a record held until 2000 when broken by the man in red, Tiger Woods.

The painting was created by lightly penciling in the figure of the golfer onto a brown paper, as well as drawing the grid lines onto the paper. Then the image was painted using gouache paints (an opaque watercolor), and by purposely leaving the paper exposed (unpainted) in precise areas, this allowed the brown color of the paper to act as the shadow tones. You can see this best in the white hat, wherein the shadow portion of the hat is actually just the brown of the paper showing through. The design of the lettering within the image was done in Photoshop in separate layers and then merged into the final image of the scanned painting. The image shows Byron striking a long iron just after impact, which undoubtedly sent the ball right on target.

This new golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com