The first painting I created for this "Boyhood Legends" collection was this one of Hank Aaron. I had not written down who to paint, and had no specific order, I still don't. I think I just paint who I am feeling the most deep down admiration and love for on that day. One of the first books I ever read was about The Hammer. I'm thinking I was age seven or so, grade two, maybe three on a school field-trip to the big City library. Basically, since I was old enough to read I've had nothing but love and admiration for Hank, and it's only grown even more in the 50 plus years since I read that book. When I think of an image of Hammerin' Hank in his prime, this one pretty much personifies it. In a classic Braves uniform, his Adirondack raised high, ready to lose yet another ball over the fence. The original photo reference is from Los Angeles in 1964 by Neil Leifer. There is no aspect of the game that Hank didn't excel, and many aspects he did better than anyone. It can be argued that he is THE Greatest all-around baseball player in the history of the game. I only got to see him play on television a couple of times that I remember. I do remember seeing him play in 1975 on WLBZ-TV against the Red Sox, on the Magnavox. I don't recall much about it, but I knew it was special, I knew I was lucky to see it, and I knew I was looking at a Legend, which is why I remember it I guess. I admire him, not only for his statistics and his influence on baseball, but mainly for his character. Aaron broke racial barriers during a time of significant social change in America. He faced immense pressure and adversity, particularly as he approached Babe Ruth's home run record, yet he handled it all with nothing but class, grace and dignity. So, in writing this I just realized, if I was wanting to paint possibly The Greatest ball player ever, as well as one of the Greatest humans ever, someone I would love to be like, Hank Aaron is a pretty good place to start.