The Story

As a kid, I loved sports cards. I also loved Nick Van Exel. As an adult, I decided to revisit those joys by making a homemade sports card of him.

The project involved: (1) drawing the card design and image by pencil, (2) painting it with watercolors, (3) scanning the “painting” and printing it onto a full-page shipping label, (4) placing the label on cardboard, and (5) cutting the cards with a guillotine paper chopper.

I then wrote a letter to Nick Van Exel explaining that he had been my favorite player when I was growing up and that I had made this card, and asking if he would sign it and send it back. He did! (I also enclosed a card for him to keep, which I sincerely hope he did.)

As a follow-up, I created a card of Jose Canseco, another favorite player from my childhood.