Sports Illustrator: The Evolution of Richard Sullivan

By Kevin Murphy Wilson • Photos Provided

Louisville native, artist, and former athlete Richard Sullivan was drawn to both the energy and emotion of playing sports and the expressive freedom that an art practice affords at a young age. This double-belonging eventually landed him at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where he actually received a full scholarship to play baseball and study illustration. Sullivan was subsequently drafted by the Atlanta Braves and spent six years playing ball professionally in the minor leagues before finishing his degree and emerging as an award-winning sports artist, working with big name clients such as Topps Trading Cards, Woodford Reserve, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame to name a few. Following a period of self-discovery and healing, and a return to his hometown, Sullivan developed his most recent body of work that showcases his evolution away from capturing primarily athletic moments and figures [including Thoroughbred horses] toward unfiltered expression designed to confront the raw truths and hidden aspects of himself, as well as the viewer. We recently caught up with the shape-shifting artist to discuss his unconventional journey, his BNK St. Gallery + Studio in the Portland neighborhood, where Sullivan regularly holds court and hosts a variety of community gatherings, and more. 

VOICE-TRIBUNE: What can you tell us about your early interests and the way they intersected? 

Richard Sullivan: “When I was young, throwing a baseball was the best feeling in the world. Anything negative I was dealing with just went away whenever I was on the field. But I also knew deep in my heart that I was an artist. I always had this innate drive to create. Drawing was kind of my secret little language that I didn’t have to share with anyone. It allowed me to process my feelings and emotions in a different way. And so I was lucky to have found SCAD [Savannah College of Art and Design] when I was in high school, because it was the only art college in the country that had a sports program. I was very fortunate to get to go to art school and play the sport I loved.” 

VT: Are there any specific artists that inspired you, or that you wanted to emulate, or alternatively were there any that you knew you didn’t want to be like? 

RS: “I loved impressionists like [Claude] Monet growing up. I would also stare at book and magazine illustrations for hours at a time. Frank Frazetta’s fantasy work inspired me. I liked [portraitist] John Singer Sargent. And I definitely emulated Charles Reid’s style at the beginning of my watercolor career.” 

VT: How would you describe your evolution as an artist? What are you up to at the moment? 

RS: “The moment I am in now is like a culmination of the last 5 years. Buying a building in Portland. Renovating it as my studio. Putting down roots in Louisville. I never was that committed here before I bought this building. Doing that made me feel safe in my studio to do something else besides my sports work. And I think my sports work was such a part of my identity that I didn’t want people to see me as something else. But now, I have had 5 years to develop, and kind of evolve, and alchemize all of my internal, subconscious feelings. The way I see it I was in a cocoon, going into the studio in the dark and having to take steps into the unknown when I didn’t really know what was going to happen. And it felt really scary. A lot of self-doubt and self-hatred came out…all of the negative aspects of being an artist that we hide from the public and, often, from ourselves. But I felt safe in my studio to be uncomfortable. That allowed me to give birth to my new creative style [which can be experienced in Sullivan’s large-scale murals and in an upcoming exhibition at KORE Gallery]. These days, I’m balancing my [standard style] commissioned sports work with the new [style of] work. I have learned to love it [the new work] unconditionally, take care of it, and keep it safe like it is my baby.”

For more information visit: www.richardsullivanart.com.