HOUSTON - Who can forget the final out of the 2017 World Series? No Astros fan, and certainly not sports artist Dan Duffy.
Duffy captured the moment in a drawing made entirely of words. In fact, the MLB-approved artist has been drawing major leaguers, stadiums and more for 10 years.
“It all started with a girl. I was trying to impress my girlfriend," said the 38-year-old former high school jock. "We were huge baseball fans.”
The then-graphic designer wrote out every game for his World Series Champion Phillies in 2008, using the words to draw the team logo. It was a gift to her.
She was impressed. Duffy started a new gig launching Art of Words, and the couple married.
Duffy is never at a loss for words from which to craft his work. The pieces can take 75 to 150 hours to complete.
Duffy chooses four or five photos of a subject, and from those, he crafts his word art drawing.
“I do a pencil drawing. Then what I do is write over the top of my pencil drawing with marker, pen, ink whatever I can get my hands on, erase the pencil, and if I’m lucky, it'll look super cool like the Minute Maid Park ended up," he said.
The Astros Foundation asked Duffy to do the Minute Maid Park piece and will soon auction off the original for its charity.