After spending 10 years playing Major League Baseball — including for the San Diego Padres — Gene Locklear left the sport to become a professional artist.
Locklear, 66, is now paying tribute to a player who came after him: Tony Gwynn.
Locklear, whose detailed paintings depict professional athletes, unveiled his latest work of Gwynn finishing a perfect swing.
"This is the best shot that I ever found of him," Locklear said. "If you look at the lighting, it's great. Lighting is very important when you're doing a piece in sports because it gives you that three-dimensional effect."
Locklear uses oils, acrylics and pencils to create his art — some of which have included Native American pieces to a painting of the White House.
Locklear, who was an outfielder for the Padres, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees, studied at the School of Fine Arts in New York.
