SBNation.com User Blog: Chris Sembower

Welcome to Kansas City, Eric!

Chris Sembower — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:28:51 -0000

I hope Mr. Fisher is fitting in well. I'm sure he's received a pretty warm welcome so far.

Posterized: Sky High, the latest Chris Sembower painting

Chris Sembower — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:20:11 -0000

I'm definitely excited about Dwayne Bowe re-signing. I suppose I was probably in the camp that didn't expect it to happen. For selfish reasons, however, I'm glad the guy is sticking around. He's a lot of fun to illustrate.

In fact, I would definitely say there is a growing list of guys on the roster that I am expecting to sneak into the series this year.

Dunta Robinson and Sean Smith come to mind immediately, and I cant want to see what the draft brings as well. John Dorsey and Andy Reid seem to be a good tandem so far. I'm looking forward to watching their Chiefs careers together. I'd love to feel some real synergy in the front office again.

More: These are meant to be seen large! Head over to my page to see them in HD!

It should be a busy year for me and you should see quite a bit more work. Hopefully some cool stuff for people to participate in as well.

Go Chiefs!

Wallpaper'd as always to "hang up" on your visual electronics!

Posterized: Greatness

Chris Sembower — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:20:11 -0000

These are meant to be viewed large. See it in HD!

The Chiefs' Jamaal Charles is one special guy. He's got a wiggle that flashes on film, and a vision that few can match. He also happens to be a very fun guy to paint.

He was a key player in what little offensive production the Chiefs had this year with a number of exceptional individual, and even record breaking days himself throughout the season.

The complete history of Posterized on AP

At times he looked like he was on another plane altogether. That's what I wanted to try and capture with this one.

What a guy to develop a quarterback around...

As always, these can be found on my site for all your wallpaper and cover photo needs: ChrisSembower.com

Follow me on Twitter - @ChrisSembower

Posterized: Rendezvous

Chris Sembower — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:38:28 -0000

One thing that did stand out to me last time the Chiefs played Peyton Manning was the pass rush the Chiefs were able to bring. Tamba Hali and Justin Houston had great games, with Houston nabbing two sacks himself. These two have been quite a pair this year, with 19 sacks between them at this point. If Hali is worthy of the Pro Bowl with nine sacks, Houston is certainly worthy with 10. (And he just might be ... as a Pro Bowl alternate.) I'm highly optimistic about what they will be able to do for this team in the future. That is where I want to begin as we transition into the offseason in three days.

{These are meant to be seen large! Click here to check out the details}

Posterized: The complete series

We did enough to get five players to the Pro Bowl this year, and for my series, that's quite a gift. I'm going to try and give you guys five fresh paintings before the game to kickstart the positive energy leading into 2013.

I've got some cool ideas for Jamaal Charles and Dustin Colquitt, but I'm curious what everyone wants to see. Feel free to drop me a comment if you have a thought.

Happy last Red-Friday of the year everybody. Hopefully everyone has a good weekend!

As always, these can be used as wallapers for your various digital devices. Those are found here.

Go Chiefs!

Follow me on Twitter: @ChrisSembower

With 1 word, Patriots’ no-huddle an NFL marvel

Chris Sembower — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:25:10 -0000

With 1 word, Patriots’ no-huddle an NFL marvel

I thought this was a pretty good read about the Patriots offense and how they run it. I also know there's a lot of Chip Kelly fans around here so I thought I'd post it. It talks about the Patriots' system that was influenced by Oregon's offense.

Also, I know there are some that are still a little confused about why Berry has been playing so close to the line of scrimmage in Dime formations. That is addressed a little here also.

Great read for anyone who loves reading about X's & O's.

"I think one of the biggest differences [between old-school no-huddle and what the Patriots are running today] is just the versatility of the players," Brady said. "How teams try to defend no-huddle is that you have big safeties that are like linebackers. And linebackers are like small safeties that can cover.

Then you have big tight ends that can run routes but also run block. And then you have fullbacks that can make a bunch of plays down the field, so it’s not like back then, it was like these two guys only do this. This guy, your fullback, only isolates on the middle linebackers and runs diagonals to the flat."

Posterized: Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith

Chris Sembower — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:49:43 -0000

{Check this out in full screen over at my page!}

Happy Red Friday everybody!

I've decided that instead of sitting around and waiting for cool moments in games (who knows how long I'll be waiting), I'm going to revisit (or rather, re-imagine) some cool moments from our past.

These two guys are mutually responsible for my fanhood, as I'm only 26. I didn't live far at all from the stadium when I was a kid, so when these two were on a roll I could hear the roar of the stadium from my backyard. Not a bad thing to grow up near.

Next week I'm going to re-capture something that we've all been yearning for since: The Franchise Quarterback. You're up, Lenny the Cool.

As always, these can be found large on my website.

Cheers!

Posterized: Souvenir cups hit Arrowhead

Chris Sembower — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:56:13 -0000

First of all, I just have to say thank you to everyone here. I'm not sure where this whole thing would have gone without Arrowhead Pride. It's one thing to talk about things going viral, but it's another one to actually see it happen.

Also, thank you to everyone who showed up at the giveaway on opening day! It was awesome to meet those of you who ID'd yourselves. Again, sorry to anyone who didn't receive one. I was honestly expecting to have leftovers, but instead the 350 I came with were gone in just over a half hour.

As I'm sure some of you know, the Chiefs did indeed get involved about a year ago and we have been working together sporadically ever since. It's a slow process, but finally some of my work is starting to show up around Arrowhead, beginning with the souvenir cup project. I wanted to share the work I've done with them so far, and answer some of the questions I've been receiving about where to get everything, and what will be happening moving forward.

The cup project is actually a part of my episode of The Chiefs Kingdom, which is a show that the Chiefs put out about the diversity of the fanbase. That is coming up very soon - around October 20th. The episode covers a lot of stuff about the work, and the backstory, which I haven't really talked about much.

There are four souvenir cups, which will be released one at a time, and an alcohol souvenir cup and a popcorn souvenir cup which are available all year long. There is also some stuff that could happen at the end of October, but I can't really say any more about it as of right now. It'll all just have to play itself out. This should mark the beginning of a lot of cool stuff that you guys will be able to get your hands on.

The first cup is a rendering of the Spiral Ramp (the HyVee Hot Zone, to be specific, which you can see above), and the popcorn bucket below has Municipal on the left, Arrowhead on the right, commemorating 50 years in Kansas City.

Enjoy! I should have a Derrick Thomas / Neil Smith painting done very soon.

{Head on over to my page to see these large}

Go Chiefs!

Meet Me On Gameday For Your Free Posterized Print

Chris Sembower — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:50:17 -0000

{This BBQ piece is one of my entries into the Hunt family call for artists. One of my favorite pieces of midwestern culture. To see all the juicy details in full-screen, head on over to my FB page}

Hello everyone! Happy Red Friday!

I'm pretty pumped up for this season as I'm sure that many of you are. I was even able to snag some tickets and an invite to a big tailgating party before the game. Should be fun!

I'm also bringing with me about 200 prints to give away before the game to give away...for free!

I have absolutely no idea how long it will take to get rid of these. I've already seen a significant amount of interest from the few people I've told, however. So my best advice is to come early if you have your heart set on one!

I'll be set up in Lot A near the median between the two stadiums, on the Kauffman side (Easy map with my location). I'm hoping to get there as early as possible (between 8-9 depending on traffic) and I'll probably try and shut it down around 11 so I have plenty of time to get into the stadium and soak in the opening day vibe.

On gameday, feel free to post on my Facebook page, or tweet @ me on Twitter using the hashtag #PosterizedAP if you are having trouble finding me or have questions. Joel will be stopping by for a little bit as well.

The prints that I will have to give away are: The BBQ piece above, Charles / Hillis, Lewis / Tebow fumble, and Crennel's Gatorade bath.

Everyone have a great day. I hope to meet and give some of you free prints on Sunday! Go Chiefs!

Posterized: TFL

Chris Sembower — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:00:29 -0000

{These are meant to be seen large! Head over to my Facebook page to check this out in full-screen!}

Boy it feels good to create content from an actual game again. Derrick Johnson wasn't in the game long but he sure made an impression. The entire linebacking corps did, to be honest.

There was one play in particular by #56 that caught my eye. I thought it was pretty "typical DJ", and figured it would be a good one to illustrate. He caught the Arizona RB at the legs behind the line of scrimmage when he was trying to skip through a hole and completely changed the guy's momentum in mid-air. I was hoping to capture that in this piece.

As usual, this is available for wallpaper usage on my site

I've posted Clay Wendler's encouraging gif of this play after the jump. (H/T!)

Follow me on Twitter - @ChrisSembower

Posterized: Speed & Bleed

Chris Sembower — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 23:36:11 -0000

{These are meant to be seen large. Check it out in full screen}

I hope everyone is enjoying the actual football news coming out lately. I know I am. I decided to do something with Charles & Hillis since I've seen a lot of requests for them. Of course a hat tip to KC-Murdock for spearheading the nickname committee.

This can be added to your wallpaper collections by making a quick visit to my website, as usual.

Everybody can use this as your open thread for the evening to talk about whatever you'd like.

Go Chiefs!

Follow me on Twitter! @ChrisSembower

Posterized: Head Rush

Chris Sembower — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:14:30 -0000

{ These are meant to be seen large! Head over to my Facebook Page to check out the details! }

This one was a lot of fun. I originally wanted to do something more Arrowhead / fans / ambiance-related like the last two I've done for the season opener, but I got a little too hyped thinking about the potential this defense has.

I present to you, the view from Matt Ryan's helmet on 9/9/12.

Get excited people!

As always, wallpapers and Facebook cover photos can be found here.

Twitter - @ChrisSembower

LaDainian Tomlinson, NFL’s fifth all-time leading rusher, will re-sign with San Diego and announce...

Chris Sembower — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:13:09 -0000

LaDainian Tomlinson, NFL’s fifth all-time leading rusher, will re-sign with San Diego and announce his retirement Monday.

Adam Schefter via Twitter

Posterized: Hali / Ali

Chris Sembower — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:44:28 -0000

This week I'm mixing it up and hitting you guys with a little non-fiction. As I said previously, This is a riff on Muhammad Ali's famous knockout of Sonny Liston { Photo1 | Photo 2 | Photo 3 }

This week, you guys actually get two wallpapers for the price of one. As I looked at this, as much as I am pleased with the original, it didn't seem to have enough of a connection to the old grainy, black & white photos. So I decided to do a "vintage" edition of this as well, Which I'll post after the jump.

Which do you guys like? I'm actually quite partial to the Vintage Ed. myself. Feels authentic.

Don't forget to hop over to my Facebook Page linked above to look at them large and see more details! Enjoy!

Note: I'm also releasing, for the first time, these paintings in Facebook Cover Photo format!

H/T to the infamous Mully!

Full version coming out soon, but I just wanted to give everyone a sneak peek of this thing so far....

Chris Sembower — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:24:20 -0000

Full version coming out soon, but I just wanted to give everyone a sneak peek of this thing so far. I had a lot of this done before I started the 3 for the BBBS event, so I get a little bit more time to work on it.

It is a riff on the great shots taken of Ali's famous KO of Liston

Get pumped for the draft. I have a feeling this will be a fun one to experience :)

Everyone can view this larger on my Facebook page

H/T Mully for the suggestion :)

Posterized: Gifts For Everyone!

Chris Sembower — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:44:47 -0000

Hop on over to my Facebook page to get a look at this large!

Boy this has been quite the last 24 hours. I've been painting non-stop for the most part since 11:00 a.m. yesterday morning. I know I promised that the next painting would be my Hali / Manning - Ali / Liston rip, but I sort of forgot this was coming down the pike a little bit sooner.

A few weeks ago I was approached by a friend who was heavily involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, with an opportunity to present not only Eric Berry, but also Eric Hosmer of the Royals and boxer Victor Ortiz with framed prints of my work. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity, despite having a pretty full plate at the moment.

On a slight side note, this sounds like quite the event. From BBBS website: "Men's only event, $300/ticket includes in depth interviews and meet and greets with Hosmer & Berry, open bar, scotch tastings, dinner, cigar emporium, locker room tours and a reverse raffle with a chance to win $5,000."

Back on topic...

Knowing that Eric Berry is a pretty humble guy, I was sort of worried that he wouldn't appreciate the work as much if I gave him one of my typical depictions of a play. I wanted to give him something he would be proud to put in his house, so I chose to do a piece around Inky Johnson / the Eric Berry salute. For those who have not heard about this, or still wonder why Eric salutes occasionally, check out this story.

I will admit I had some reservations about releasing this as a wallpaper, as it was actually a gift to the man himself, but I decided to do it anyways. I figured there were some hardcore fans (and Tennessee fans, perhaps?) that would get something out of it.

Enjoy! I'm hoping to have some pictures of the actual prints here in a little while.

Wallpapers, as per usual

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter :)

The KC Chiefs are giving a free personalized Nike jersey to all their season ticket holders. Nice...

Chris Sembower — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:28:28 -0000

The KC Chiefs are giving a free personalized Nike jersey to all their season ticket holders. Nice gesture.

Darren Rovell via Twitter

I just wanted to throw out a big thanks to you guys, once again. As of this month, my Posterized...

Chris Sembower — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:56:24 -0000

I just wanted to throw out a big thanks to you guys, once again. As of this month, my Posterized series has hit over a million and a half downloads and appears to be rising at a steady rate. I couldn't believe the number when I looked at it. That's truly awesome. I very much appreciate the support and all the pavement pounding you guys have done on my behalf in the last two years!

Look for some awesome stuff coming up soon not only from myself individually, but with the Chiefs officially as well.

And with that, I'll drop a teaser on the next painting. Think this, but with these guys :) (H/T Mully for the suggestion!)

Go Chiefs!

Posterized: Anticipation After Free Agency Electrifies Arrowhead Stadium

Chris Sembower — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:18:15 -0000

And as promised, the completed version!

I've been working on this, off & on, for about 5 weeks now in anticipation of the upcoming free agency signings. Luckily, Pioli gave me some pieces to work with and fill this baby out.

There is definitely a lot going on in this, so feel free to hop over to my site or Facebook page and get a closer look.

I'm going to try and figure something out after the draft is over with, as well. For now, enjoy!

As always, wallpapers can be downloaded here.

And don't forget to follow me on twitter! @ChrisSembower

I wanted to give everyone a sneak peek of what I've been working on for a few weeks now. I've still...

Chris Sembower — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:48:56 -0000

I wanted to give everyone a sneak peek of what I've been working on for a few weeks now. I've still got some painting to do on it and can't give an exact date of release, but I was a little too excited to contain this one. The real thing will include a lot of players (eleven more than you see here).

The sheer scale that this had to be to include our "playmakers" is impressive when I compare it to what this would have looked like when Pioli first took over. Yikes. That thing wouldn't have been a wide shot at all.

This will probably go through a series of revisions as the new players' numbers get sorted out and we add draft picks.

At any rate, enjoy! (the painting and the offseason!)

Chiefs have agreed to terms with QB Brady Quinn - more details soon on http://kcchiefs.com #chiefs

Chris Sembower — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:17:46 -0000

Chiefs have agreed to terms with QB Brady Quinn - more details soon on http://kcchiefs.com #chiefs

Chiefs via Twitter

Chiefs have signed T Eric Winston - More details soon on http://kcchiefs.com #Chiefs

Chris Sembower — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:13:52 -0000

Chiefs have signed T Eric Winston - More details soon on http://kcchiefs.com #Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs via Twitter

Elway says Peyton threw great, Duke student newspaper says he didn't throw at all?

Chris Sembower — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:07:11 -0000

Elway says Peyton threw great, Duke student newspaper says he didn't throw at all?

'Round and 'round we go.

Chiefs Owner Acknowledges Serious Interest In Peyton Manning

Chris Sembower — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:46:23 -0000

Chiefs Owner Acknowledges Serious Interest In Peyton Manning

"I don’t know how important money will be to him, but I’m sure it will be part of the equation. But he’s going to be looking for an environment that he’s comfortable in."

Interesting.

There were definitely moments of this press conference where I could swear that Peyton almost...

Chris Sembower — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:19:28 -0000

There were definitely moments of this press conference where I could swear that Peyton almost looked giddy. Irsay, on the other hand, looked sick almost the entire time.

Will Shields just named this year's entrant to #Chiefs Hall of Fame. Excellent choice

Chris Sembower — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 21:30:03 -0000

Will Shields just named this year's entrant to #Chiefs Hall of Fame. Excellent choice

The Star's Adam Teicher via Twitter

Report: Steelers to release Aaron Smith. Agent believes James Farrior could be on chop block as well

Chris Sembower — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:27:24 -0000

Report: Steelers to release Aaron Smith. Agent believes James Farrior could be on chop block as well

Apparently right now during these defensive back drills, there are 3 quarterbacks there to throw to...

Chris Sembower — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:15:36 -0000

Apparently right now during these defensive back drills, there are 3 quarterbacks there to throw to the DBs... and they all just got benched for Chiefs' coach Otis Smith. Priceless.

Let's play a game. We've all heard a lot this year about depth and how that's a primary concern...

Chris Sembower — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:01:43 -0000

Let's play a game.

We've all heard a lot this year about depth and how that's a primary concern moving forward (we've heard similar things in the past about team speed, leadership, etc).

The fact that we're finally at the point where we're able to address depth is an awesome thing.

With that in mind, the Chiefs have roughly been averaging 4 contributors / starters a year in the draft. If you had to pick 4 positions on the team to add depth to in the draft, which would you choose?

When I say depth, I mean he will come in and contribute off the bench behind someone like DJ or Berry.

Which positions, from an organizational standpoint, do you bolster?

(Remember - position, not player)

-Chris

Jamaal Charles gettin' his rehab on. Via @Heycameraman on Twitter

Chris Sembower — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:30:56 -0000

Jamaal Charles gettin' his rehab on.

Via @Heycameraman on Twitter

Brian Daboll: Another Perspective

Chris Sembower — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:35:13 -0000

I wanted to offer a different perspective on Brian Daboll that I've been pondering since I heard about the hire.

I have to admit, when I heard his name pop up in the beginning, I was just as skeptical as most. Afterall, Miami had a horrible offense statistically. How could this possibly be considered a "good hire"?

I think this hire makes sense from a variety of standpoints. He seems to run a hybrid / adaptable offense that doesn't limit itself by terminology, and forms it's identity around it's personelle. Is it west coast? Is it the EP system that we've been talking about for the last three years? I don't know. And if I had to guess that will change over the course of his coordination depending on what pieces we have to offer, and what our opponent is doing defensively (afterall, we are a game-plan team).

The Kansas City Chiefs have chosen the course of building their team almost exclusively through the draft. Free agent hires are almost strictly considered supplemental, and can rarely be "counted on." This approach is used by the team that our owner has chosen to model the organization after, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have possibly been the best drafting team of the last decade and have become the face of this approach in my opinion (not to take away from some of the better drafting teams like BAL & PHI)

Part of the reason this approach works for them is because of their stout coaching staff. Their staff is notorious for being able to find a balance between their draft picks, and their scheme. This is incredibly important for them because of another reason that Clark Hunt has chosen them as our standard: They are very efficient monetarily. They receive value from their players in the form of production, that production supplies wins, and ultimately renders fan excitement. The fans drop the money back into the organization and kick start the entire process all over again. Thee model.

The Chiefs are a smaller market team and have a considerably different way of operating than for instance the Raiders, Jets, or Redskins. They may not always have the luxury of going out and targeting a player, or competing in a bidding war for a free agent that "fits their system". Occasionally they will have to simply make due with what they have.

This brings me back to Brian Daboll. I believe that he may be just the type of coordinator that Scott Pioli is looking for to complete his 'type' of staff (I do realize he may not work out, and that Romeo does the hiring), and very possibly what he was looking for when he first began this process three years ago.

In order to successfully operate the way that we have chosen to operate and achieve the goals that we have set out to achieve (competing for entry to the Big Game every year), we have to strike that balance I was referring to earlier. We must find a coordinator that has the capability of achieving that balance, and making the proverbial "Chicken Salad Out Of Chicken Shit."

That balance was part of the reason why Daboll recorded high marks on the Phinsider poll regarding whether he should be kept. If he can offer us that kind of creativity, he may be able to offer the offense what Romeo did for the D. I believe we will, from an organizational standpoint, continue to acquire a team full of relative role players, like we're starting to see on D (and really, O if you think about it. We just don't have the QB to bring everything together). This helps to keep team morale high by getting everyone involved, helps keep contracts low due to the spread around workload, and maintains that team-first attitude that the Chiefs have installed.

Another reason I believe this is what Scott Pioli wants, organizationally, is what I recall about the reports that came out during Haley's first year. Supposedly Scott wanted to retain Chan Gailey, who is known for the same type of innovation and player-makes-the-system sort of coordination.

I think (personally) that aside from Haley's abrasive manner, his system may have cause more of his downfall than anything. The EP system we have been running is much more dependent on a quarterback that can quickly read the field and diagnose (like Brady or his previous QB Warner), than other systems like the West Coast O, which is much more about timing and chemistry between QB and receiver. I do think that Matt Cassel (Matt Moore?) possesses traits that may be able to transform him into an average / above average QB in the right system. I do not believe that system to be the one that Haley was so staunch about not changing for some reason. He seemed hellbent and sort of nostalgic about recreating the EP system that they used during his time with Parcells in NY, and I believe this is what Dick Haley meant when he allegedly told Todd that he "cant win with him."

Clearly, given the right circumstances, Matt Cassel is capable of a 11 win season, as he did in his first year starting QB for anyone since high school. But he needs to have a system tailor made to fit him, as well as obviously an OC who is capable of delivering that (Matt worked with the similarly offensively quirky Josh McDaniels in that eleven win season in NE). That type of attitude seems to be what adored Brian Daboll to Miami fans this past year.

Really, Matt Cassel can take the place of any player who is being underutilized in this example. I use him because he is probably the biggest example of it on the team.

I understand the hesitation about the hire. I still have some as well. But I am in the camp of people who believes that this offense has a hell of a lot of talent that is just waiting for someone to come in and do with it what we all think it's capable of. If Brian Daboll is able to achieve that, I think we will be very close to operating as an organization as Scott Pioli intended when he took the job. If we ever want to be the type of team that Clark Hunt wants, that matters.

I wanted to offer a different perspective on Brian Daboll that I've been pondering since I heard about the hire.

Really, Matt Cassel can take the place of any player who is being underutilized in this example. I use him because he is probably the biggest example of it on the team.