Action Sports Art, a company commissioned by Auburn University to create an artwork that reflects the perfect football season, has a patented process to create unique artwork.
First, they take a photo and break down the image digitally. After the breakdown, the next step is to rebuild the image with a seven-step process.
The piece, named "All In," shows Wes Byrum kicking the winning field goal during the last second of the National Championship game. In the background is a compilation of different scenes from the game and the season.
Nick Fairley, Michael Dyer, Cameron Newton and Gene Chizik are the faces featured in some of the background images. Artist Chad Martin incorporated these faces since they all held pivotal roles in achieving an undefeated season.
The 54 by 72 inch piece took Martin close to two weeks to complete.
"I chose this scene because there was not one predominant player that stuck out in the championship game," Martin said. "The kick was the moment Auburn fans knew that they had sealed the deal."
Action Sports Art sent a photographer to Glendale, Ariz. who was able to capture different elements of the game that would contribute to the piece.
Action Sports Art, located in Birmingham, is a new company started almost a year ago.
Unfortunately, working with the athletics department to feature student athletes is not as easy as just painting on a canvas. There are many issues with licensing that the people at Action Sports Art and Auburn had to deal with.
The University has to ensure that the company they hire knows how to go about creating a piece while also going through the legalities to do everything correctly.
Susan Smith works for Auburn as director of Trademark Management and Licensing. Smith said her job was to find an artist, approve the product, and send the art to the Athletic Department to approve as well.
Jon Sirico, Auburn's director of athletic marketing, was in charge of approving the piece and ensuring that Auburn did not do anything to violate NCAA rules.
"We hired Action Sports Art because they have a good idea of what looks good and what sells," Sirico said. "Action Sports Art is officially licensed and has done this before and they know the legalities."
This company has designed six previous works for Auburn, so they were an easy choice, Sirico said.
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