I’ve been looking for an opportunity to do a homage to the Tasmania Jack Jumpers. The local basketball team went ballistic straight to the finals in their debut season at NBL. I looked at some basketball players' references, for the pose, and ended up creating one of my own. Same with the light. However, I used some shading concepts that I saw in some videos on Youtube. Shading the overall shape before going to the details. Defining areas of shadow and light. Those are concepts that, when experienced, we do automatically, but sometimes we oversee them, eager to tackle the details. I deliberately focused on the steps this time to solidify a process. I also used a paper texture created by me to make it look close to traditional art. Or at least to give it some visual interest. About the theme, when I was a teenager, open tv channels started broadcasting NBA games in my country. It was a fever! I did enjoy watching the games with my friends at the time. At the time, many iconic players were active. It was amazing to see them bounding the ball, running so fast, doing dribbles and feints like magic, floating in the air, and dunking in the ring like animals in fury! But something was missing. They were north American teams. It was different from having a local team to enjoy watching the games live, and feel the energy and the local enthusiasm with every win. Years later, I start reading Slam Dunk, a manga about basketball. People say that it helped the sport become popular in Japan, as NBA on TV did in Brazil. The manga author, Takehiko Inoue, became one of my influences as an artist. I simply adore his work. Fast-forwarding to 2022, Tasmania Jack Jumpers set the Australian Basketball League on fire shooting straight to the finals in its championship debut season. It is also my first year here in Hobart. This time, I could feel the energy and enthusiasm of the local supporters, cheering up for the team. This kind of feeling is contagious and inspiring. I didn’t have the honor to see them play live yet, but I’m looking forward to the next season and try going to watch a game. Go Jumpers! #jackjumpers #tasmaniajackjumpers #nbl #hobart #tasmania #basketball https://www.instagram.com/p/CfG_h81PSb-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
