Hobby Musings: Dick Perez Sports Card Art – Sports card artist Dick Perez is one of the legendary figures in the trading card world. Whether you’re a young or older collector, chances are you’ve owned a card that he’s created. Courtesy of Robert Edward Auctions, I had the chance to catch up with him earlier this year at the National to find out how he got started in the industry.
Hobby Musings: Dick Perez Sports Card Art – Interview
Hobby Musings: Dick Perez Sports Card Art – Interview Transcript
Editor’s Note: Some text has been altered from original audio for clarity.
KS: Here at the 2023 National Sports Collectors Convention with legendary sports card artist Dick Perez. Thank you so much for joining us today. How did you get started in this career?
DP: It was serendipity. I mean it was knowing somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody. For example, I started off being a graphic designer, and one of my accounts was Villanova University, and I did work for the sports information director there. And he moved on to the Eagles, and eventually became general manager, and of course he and I were friends, so I started doing work for the Eagles and NFL. The Phillies, who were next door in the Vet Stadium. They saw my work. They had just given up their agency, and they wanted to hire, outsource a lot of the stuff, so, they contacted me. So that was my baseball induction. And then from there, I just kept meeting people through the industry, eventually meeting Frank Steele, who knew the president of the Baseball Hall of Fame. So we started having a relationship with them, and you know the rest is kind of history.
KS: All these years later, again, your work is legendary in the industry. Did you ever imagine it would get the following that it has?
DP: No. When we started doing work together, we did Hall of Fame work, and that has a special audience. It was national, but not capital N national. When Donruss entered the picture, it became an opportunity to offer something new to a new company to separate them from the rest of the people who were able to package baseball cards. My idea and Frank’s idea was to bring art back to the card industry, which wasn’t there since 1953 or so. It was Topps was the last art cards made.
So, that’s pretty much the story. We just hit it, and then when it became that kind of national, then I figured that there’s a better, you know, good exposure. But I didn’t realize that people who are now in their 40s and 50s, are contacting me with their children that they share the collecting of baseball cards, and the father, parent introducing the child to me via the cards. So, no, you can’t imagine any of that. It was serendipity as I said.
KS: I imagine this is akin to picking a favorite child, but out of everything you’ve done over the years, do you have a favorite piece that you’ve worked on?
DP: Yeah, I don’t own most of my art anymore, or hardly any of it. I managed to be lucky enough to sell it. But there’s one painting that my wife doesn’t want me to get rid of, and that’s a painting of Josh Gibson. So, I would think that that is probably my favorite painting because I invented it, so to speak. There was no such pose or anything. I made it all up. Beyond that, there are a lot of equals. There are a lot of second places, but I think Josh Gibson is my favorite
KS: Well, speaking of amazing work, we have one right here. What can you tell me about this?
DP: Yeah, this is the year that marks the induction of Roberto Clemente into the Hall of Fame. So, it’s being celebrated. I know the sons, and I know Vera, the wife, and I’ve always been sympathetic to the cause that Roberto had. So, I never met Roberto, but I kind of met him through his family because they’re all nice people. I offered to do a painting of him from which the proceeds would go to the Roberto Clemente Foundation. So, hoping it gets a lot.
KS: Looking at the detail and the artistry of this, how long does it typically take you to complete a work like this?
DP: Well fortunately not a lot of time. There are a lot of people who want to own art, and I try to make it as reasonable as I can, and one thing that allows me to do that is to work quickly. And I’ve done thousands of paintings. So I’ve gotten pretty adept from start to finish, from predicting how it’s going to end. Therefore, I have a catalog of paintings that have made me a better and faster painter.
KS: Alright, I’ll get you out of here on this question. Is there a subject you’ve never done yet that you want to do eventually?
DP: Oh, yeah. I wanted to get out of baseball for a while, because these are heroes, but there are other heroes in life. Heroes like Frederick Douglass, or Martin Luther King, or Franklin Roosevelt and celebrities like Hedy Lamarr, who I fell in love with when I first saw her. And just other heroes, other people that contributed to society in a way that you only know through reading, and I was going to do paintings of them and maybe have some sort of exhibit somewhere.
Hobby Musings: Dick Perez Sports Card Art
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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