A pitcher can be intimidating to a batter... in baseball.

In art, a picture can be intimidating to an artist.

Do your best!

[piano plays in bright rhythm & tone] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You know the reason I'm very excited about doing "Full Count" stage 2 with the oils is because I haven't done this painting before!

The little model on the easel next to me is not considered "Full Count" complete painting in my new mystic realism style!

So we've done the acrylics, which are dry.

Now we're going to put on a bath with walnut oil and Alizarin Crimson.

Now let me say this.

You say well, aren't you going to put the oil over the whole thing first?

I have already done that.

Now this Alizarin is going to be used a little bit sparingly, and at the same time when I first place it on, it might be a little heavy, but I'll wipe.

I want some of this just to be around the edges.

I don't want quite as much white showing as there was in stage one.

And the corners here, and then I want to come on the inside so that I have something to blend into when I put the light on.

It looks like a night baseball game, doesn't it?

Oh gosh, that's exciting!

I have to tell you something, because this show goes to Canada.

Doesn't it?

Love the Canadians, but let me tell you an experience while I'm doing this.

I was up in Canada 3 years as an immigrant, and I played baseball.

Vauxhall Jets!

Vauxhall, Alberta.

Now, I'm going to take and wipe this around.

We were in a tournament, and we got down to the finals.

We were home team for the finals.

It wasn't at our place, but they flipped coins and that, and we were in the finals.

We were behind 3 runs in the last of the 9th, but we had bases loaded, 2 outs.

This is not Hollywood, this is absolutely true.

And I come up to bat, and just as I'm ready to bat, this guy yells out "Draft dodger!

Draft Dodger!"

Well, I'd always been taught you don't respond to people in the stands, But oh, how I wished I would have!

I hit that ball a mile, but the fence was a mile and one inch away, and this center fielder leaned back against the snow fence and caught what should have been a grand slam home run.

But the point was, I could've turned to that guy and said I was in the United States Army for 2 years.

But I didn't, so I'm telling you now.

Of course, that is so long ago that he's passed on.

I was in the Army 2-1/2 years ago!

Or not 2-1/2 years ago-- for 2 years.

Anyway, I got that straight, but I love Canada!

I love the Canadians, and I love that guy, even though he made a mistake.

Okay I got that off my chest after all these years, Canada!

Okay so I've wiped a little bit on the middle, because I want to start the painting with putting some light right behind him.

So I have Turquoise Blue and White.

Wait till I tell my wife tonight I told the Canadian people the true story!

When I put this on, I want to blend a little bit with a paper towel so that I don't have too much quantity, and I'm always making use in this mystic realism, use of the underneath color.

What is the underneath color?

Well, it's this and this and this and this.

Now we'll come with more light, and when I say that, I'm going to come down with a little Yellow Ochre, There's still a little blue in the brush.

That's fine.

Here I have to be a little careful, because I want to come right close to his head.

If I were at home doing this, I would probably turn the painting upside-down so being right-handed when I come on this side, it'd be easier if I were upside-down coming there, but it worked all right.

And I want to have sort of an impact against that glove, because that glove is very important.

You know when you pitch, and you come up and sometimes if you kind of throw the glove at the batter, it... You don't throw the glove, but you throw your hand like that.

It kind of helps the deception of what you're throwing, whether a fastball or curve.

Oh nowadays, fastball, curve, slider, split finger, knuckleball.

Oh, they have so many different pitches.

Even one of our cameramen, he said he threw a knuckleball.

Well, I could say prove it, you know, but I don't want to be, get in bad with the cameramen, or you'll be seeing black-and-white.

Okay, now I'll blend that out just a little bit, and what I intend to do is to come back with a little palette knife work around too.

So we'll come on his shirt, his uniform, and let's see, he's a visitor, so it has to be in the blue family.

I just added a little Alizarin into it so we get this.

Oh gosh, that's a good-looking uniform; it must be brand new.

You watch these Major League players.

They go sliding into the dirt all messy, muddy, but the next day, oo, they're back in business.

Now back here, we have a distant arm.

So I'll put just a little bit like there, so there's just a little shading in between because he has the ball down there, and then right against the fingers.

I'll keep coming with this color.

It goes a long ways.

Now the stage one was done with just about 90% of palette knife, and I intend to use some palette knife on this as well.

Now I'll take more-- what are you?

You're what we've been using-- Turquoise Blue.

I don't want Turquoise Blue, yes, I want Turquoise Blue, and we'll come down and put this on the edge.

When I paint this style, and I've done a lot of sports figures.

I haven't done this one before, but I'll use a lot of the acrylic as part of the final color scheme.

We'll put just a little light on the edge of the foot there-- shoe.

You're a shoe, and a little bit down here, Then what is very nice, we'll take a small brush, and this is almost white.

It has just a little blue with it.

Oh, that's great.

You know, these days which is so different, most of the players will wear their pants almost down to their shoes.

You don't see the stockings.

It must make it pretty hard for the umpire to say "That was at your knees.

Strike one!"

Okay, now let's go with the lights on the uniform, and I'm looking at the same thing as blue and white.

I'm going to borrow a little bit of the sky color.

See, that's just a little off-white, a little off-blue, but it's got a little warmth in it because of the Yellow Ochre.

And down at the waist... on the leg.

Oh, I see something that needs to happen.

We need to show a fence and that will also make it dark there so that the leg will show out stronger.

So I'll take some green.

What kind of green?

You're Permanent Green Light.

You're pretty light.

What are you?

Viridian.

Viridian was the choice.

Now I'll start down low so that by the time I push up to the top, it'll lighten the green.

But this comes right up close to the glove.

But do you see this?

Look over in comparison at the painting I'm looking at, and you can see that I've chosen to go just a little lighter with the green in that area... which I think was a good choice.

We'll go right out to the left, sort of fades.

So your eye doesn't necessarily follow that to the edge.

You don't have a strong contrast there, and a little bit behind.

We'll separate the finger from the back of the pitcher.

Okay, now let's come over to the hands, the good hands people.

We already have Alizarin on that.

So I'm taking some-- what are you?

Yellow Ochre, and you are Alizarin Crimson.

That's a nice flesh color!

And as you can see, it comes out a little darker than what's there, so that when we put the little highlight in, they will pop out just right.

Oh, that's powerful.

Okay, let's put some more on this one, and you'll find before I finish this where we'll use some more knife work.

Okay, you have a finger there and just a little finger there and a finger here and a finger here and there.

I'll take some of the-- where did we-- oh, this was the gray that was on the shirt, and we're going to put this on just to represent little fingernails.

Do you need long fingernails to paint or to throw a baseball?

Well, some of the artists, not the artists, the pitchers, when they throw the knuckleball, they use their fingernails instead of the knuckle.

I'm not quite sure how my good friend Kelly did it, but we'll ask him.

This is Alizarin, it's giving me a little bit in between the fingers, a little bit there.

Separate the thumb from the bat, and we'll come down likewise to this one.

What are you doing?

Oh, right here... ...and right there.

Boy, I don't know if you're very authentic-looking.

Poor guy.

Let's fill this in just a little bit.

Okay, now I'm going to use the palette knife for a while, and then we'll come back and look at the hands.

What should we use?

Let's try some-- oh, you're Naples Yellow.

I love Naples Yellow and White.

It's probably the best highlight of them all.

I'll just splash this around.

See, this doesn't have to represent anything except vitality, and that's what it does.

Because I've done it there, then I feel let's put a little bit on here.

Doesn't that help?

And down here.

That's the way I paint these paintings.

You have a semblance of correctness, and then you take liberties.

I need to have a little dark.

I'm taking some Turquoise Blue just to-- no, I'm changing my mind, Ultramarine Blue.

I want to separate this leg from the lower leg, and then this one will have a little shading with it too.

Okay let's go up higher.

Let's take some, this is Red Light, and I have some White.

Oh I get so excited doing this.

I don't know if I get more excited playing the game or painting the picture, and you, you can get excited watching the picture being painted knowing that you too can do this.

Okay, now down below I want to put some green on early before we put knife work in there.

This is going to be the infield.

And you know, there's always going to be little times when maybe something isn't quite accurate like here.

It's got the dark on the bottom of the shoe.

I can just knock it off, and I'll push this back just a little bit with a finger and some blue so he has a heel on that shoe.

Whew!

That's much better!

You need to have a little longer toe.

Got it!

Isn't it nice to want something to happen and it quickly happens?

Okay, we come against that leg.

Come there.

Now I certainly don't mind when you have little spots left, that it's not all just a perfect cutout.

We just don't need that.

I'm cutting down that light slightly.

Okay, now let's go back to the knife, because you have a pretty good amount of highlight, well, gravel-looking light on the front here, on the mound.

I've stood on that mound a lot of times.

I was a pitcher, although that day in Canada I was playing second base.

Why didn't you just tell the guy you'd been in the army?

Oh, I wish I could have, but the manager I had, Danny Litwhiler, that was with the Fargo-Moorhead Twins, just 16 blocks from here is where we played.

I think they have a new field now.

That used to be Barnett Field, and he would say you don't respond to people in the stands otherwise, you're going to be known as a hamburger!

And I didn't want to be known as a hamburger.

Let's see, I need to have just a little bit.

This is, where are you Umber?

Oh, you're up here.

Need to have him just kind of stepping on what they call the rubber, and I'll put a little highlight on it.

This guy, no wonder you didn't have much of a heel there.

It's all on this foot!

So I'll kind of cut that down.

All right let's come to the hands, and I'll start with a brush, and I'm going to take, this is Yellow Ochre and White.

And we'll clean the brush so we'll have truly Yellow Ochre and White and a little Red.

Let's see.

Are you light enough?

No, let's put some more light in it, like that.

Okay, so I'm going to place first that, then this, this one, this one, and then you have the little knuckles.

And coming down, you have ligaments.

Are they ligaments or tendons?

I don't know.

Is that the same thing?

Could somebody please rush me the news, the answer?

Doesn't matter.

Those little connections.

And let's do some knife work.

First this is just flattening out with nothing on it.

Now we'll come with just a little bit of, this is Red and White.

[laughs] Red and White and Green!

How can you say a knife isn't clean?

Because you haven't cleaned it, that's why!

Okay, so I have a paper towel.

This is now clean!

Yellow Ochre and White, with a little bit of Red Light.

So you add the White to it.

That's about, about equal I'm using the knife to apply this.

I better take just a little bit of green, and I'll take the Permanent Green Light, to go behind here.

And I need to have that thumb just a little better established, and down here, just to clean up the edge slightly.

Okay, some almost yellow and white just for maybe a sparkle or two... and a slight bit down here, not much, but just a little bit.

See, it doesn't take much.

Okay, for the hand that's beneath the hand, this is Yellow Ochre and White.

And the thumb.

Thumb, thumb.

Some thumb you have there.

I'll go just a teeny little bit lighter.

This is a small brush, a little blue and white.

I don't want much.

I don't want that.

I want pink, pinkish!

Yeah, that works.

Where's your other fingernail?

Right in there.

And let's come down on his palm.

And we'll come down his forearm.

Sounds like a golfing term.

Give me the four iron.

And just rolling that a little bit.

I think a brush might work better.

Let's see.

Have you been used before?

You're going to get your letter, because you are being in the game!

Like that.

Okay, now let's see.

What should we do?

I want it just a little darker right in here.

That will separate the wall from the fingers.

Okay, now let's see if we can use some more knife work.

I'll squeeze out-- oh, I do have some more White here.

Okay, White and Red.

Nope that's not light enough.

Just more White.

[soft scraping] And what I often will do.

You kind of have a directional movement of light, so that's really coming down onto our focus on the main subject.

Doesn't it?

Notice how I let that red come right across the fence.

And from behind I'm going to take a little bit of this color, this Blue and White, and I'll come right across the body of the shirt.

See, so it kind of puts him in the background.

He's not too stated.

I'll use a little blue just to extend that, strengthen that shirt a little bit.

Let's just touch his hat a little bit so it isn't too open.

He's got a little insignia there.

I think it says Fargo-Moorhead.

And when I was playing, it was the Twins.

Now it's the Pheasants!

Oof!

Why would they change such a great name?

Just because I left.

A little light right on the face.

It doesn't take much.

Oh my gosh!

Oh, you know what?

We need to give him a number.

Here is just a suggestion of a number 77.

I like that, and you often will have just a little bit of a stripe going down on the leg.

Oh, there's so much to enjoy in art.

I'll take a little bit of a splash.

This is yellowish green.

[soft scraping] Put some up there.

We don't have much time.

You may have already said good-bye.

Are you still there?

So that is "Full Count," and we've made a winner out of the pitcher and out of the picture.

See you next time.

See you next game!

[piano plays] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (woman) Funding for "Painting With Paulson" is made possible by...