Reindeer’s Games

BY KEVIN CZERWINSKI

The idea of starting his own YouTube channel had intrigued Scott Schulman for a while. The Ohio-based artist, who had been working at an advertising agency when this idea began to take shape, had watched other creative types on the aforementioned service and concluded that channeling his imaginative ideas and putting them on video was something he would like to try.

“I was watching wood makers on YouTube, working on things like that and I thought that I wanted to do that,” Schulman, 46, said. “I had more aptitude for art than wood working, though. The original idea, which was a little over five years ago, was to do a drawing every day. It didn’t have anything to do with sports; it just morphed into sports art.

“There is a card collecting community on YouTube and they latched onto me after I drew a player and sent it out requesting an autograph. That morphed into sports art and that was probably a year into it.”

Tack on another four years to journey and Schulman has become one of the most popular and sought-after sports/card artists in the business. He works under the banner of Reindeer Studios [more on that later] having gained a substantial enough following to walk away from his agency work earlier this year and take up sports art as a full-time gig.

Schulman’s Reindeer Studios page on YouTube has more than 1,500 subscribers who follow his every move as he creates Marker Doodles, which depict some of the greatest baseball players of the past and present. His sped-up videos chronicling the creation of these incredible caricatures generally last between three and five minutes and pack a great deal into that short period of time.

The Marker Doodle depictions are 5X7 and range in price between $65 and $100. He then creates original standard-sized cards featuring the Marker Doodle drawings. Most of his creations focus on baseball but he also does commission work for other sports. Schulman also does acrylic paintings [the creation of which can also be seen on YouTube] and those range in size with prices starting around $350. His work can be found on his Etsy page.

“It usually takes about two hours to make one [Marker Doodle],” said Schulman, whose own card collection numbers in the hundreds of thousands. “Sometimes clients ask me to come up with an idea or sometimes they have specific ideas, but I’m happy to work either way. I usually put the entire thing on YouTube and speed it way up so you can see the entire two hours in four or five minutes.

“It’s really been neat to see so many people interested in what I am doing and wanting a piece of it. I was a big card collector when I was a kid and like most kids, I stopped right around my second year of high school before picking it back up around 2018.”

Schulman got back into card collecting after visiting an art museum that had an entire set of T-206 baseball cards on display. While he was familiar with “the mythology” of the set’s famous Honus Wagner card, getting the chance to see the entire set lit a spark. He went home to check how much these cards actually sold for and wound up buying a few off eBay.

He grew up a big Cleveland Indians fan and remains a big follower of the franchise. So it wasn’t a surprise that he sought out cards of players depicted as Cleveland Naps, the moniker by which the team was known between 1903-11 when Hall-of-Famer Napoleon Lajoie was the manager. That was the original goal and ultimately, that goal changed into collecting every Cleveland card which he could find.

Eventually he started working on his art more and more in his free time outside of work and the YouTube channel came about.

“This is my full-time job now,” said Schulman, who also includes videos about card collecting on his channel. “I took the plunge in February and quit my job at the ad agency. I felt it was the right time to move and if I didn’t do it, I never would and always regret it. I’m producing more work now than I was [while working at the agency]. I have more time to do it.

“All the support I have gotten through social media is more than I could have imagined. I have a big commission list for my paintings and I couldn’t continue to do both. It may not pay as much as the ad agency but I am having a lot of fun with it.”

One of his more unique creations is what Schulman calls his parallax paintings. He uses a laser cutter that dates back to his time when he dabbled in woodworking. He cuts plywood into different layers mirroring pictures that he has already drawn, giving the whole piece an exciting 3-D effect.

Schulman’s creation of a T205 Cy Young is stunning and one that he says comes to mind when thinking about his favorite creations.

“The Cy Young is very realistic and came out really sharp,” he said. “I’m kind of proud of that one and reluctant to sell it.”

The exciting and creative Young piece is just one of the many creations that have come out of Reindeer Studios, whose genesis dates back to when Schulman was in high school or perhaps early in his college years, Schulman isn’t sure.

His first date with his wife of 22 years, Jennifer, was prom. She gave him an antique reindeer ornament during one of their first Christmases together and it made an impact.

“It was kind of wacky look and it’s been my namesake since,” said Schulman, whose wife is an art teacher. “I had a t-shirt business in college, Psycho Reindeer. I kind of kept the reindeer part and now it’s Reindeer Studios.

“This may not pay as much as the agency but I am having fun with it. Right now, I’m right now just concentrating on making a living and supporting my family. I feel blessed to be able to do that; hopefully, that continues.”