Street, Cards and Desire: Blake Jamieson and His Journey to Topps Project 2020

Growing up in the 1980s and coming of age in the ’90s, Blake Jamieson was all about the Bash Brothers — Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. From Marin County, just north of San Francisco, he watched them live at the Oakland Coliseum when he was young. At home, he and his father amassed a collection of around 70,000 baseball cards.

A lot has happened to Jamieson since then, something we all experience when youth gives way to adulthood. His journey has had plenty of stops but, in many ways, is coming full circle. Now an artist working out of New York, Jamieson’s work can be found in Topps Project 2020. In turn, it has helped bring him back to the hobby that was a major part of his earlier years.

Blake Jamieson

“It feels surreal. A lot of the cards in the 2020 series are fitting into that ’85 to ’95 window where I was collecting cards so I remember them,” Jamieson said. “The fact now that I’m going to create something that is art that is also an homage to one of my favorite icons of my childhood like Mark McGwire.”

A Path to the Journey

Besides baseball, art has always been a part of Jamieson’s life. When it came time to head off to college, it was his parents who were encouraging him to do something in art, whether that was on the production side or with art history.

However, it was business that he went with, studying economics at UC Davis. That led to a successful career in digital marketing, working for big companies like Zynga and smaller startups in a field that was just starting to emerge.

“It gave me a little bit of an outlet to have some creative freedom, whether it was writing blog content or shooting videos for those companies,” he said. “That was creatively stimulating for a while.”

But on his 30th birthday, Jamieson recognized it was time for a change.

“I was just dreading Monday and I didn’t want to go into the office,” he remembered. “I only get one shot so I want to do something that makes me truly happy.”

He resigned from his job, not knowing exactly what he wanted to do next.

Jamieson continued, “At that time I wasn’t necessarily thinking I was going to quit marketing and start painting full time. It was just about quitting marketing and doing something that made me happy.”

Although a huge change, Jamieson knew it was what he had to do.

“As a human being, I’m very risk tolerant. I’ve always been that way. I’m a gambler and I will gamble on myself 100 percent of the time, even if I keep losing,” he said.

A Street Art State of Mind

The next step was a five-week trip to Barcelona, Spain. Jamieson didn’t have any specific plans in mind but it was a part of the world he’d never seen.

Upon his arrival, he did a couple of walking tours, something there’s a lot of in Barcelona. One dove into the city’s history with street art and graffiti, a style that Jamieson has always been drawn to.

“The tour guide was walking us through the city and talking about how in the ’80s, Barcelona as a city kind of embraced street art and graffiti so they would allow people to paint wherever they want and whatever they want,” he explained. “And then there was a change of power and the new leader of the country decided they didn’t want paint all over the city.

“Artists from all over the world would come to Barcelona to paint there because it was allowed and embraced. So there’s this crazy history behind it that really spoke to me. I got super inspired and when I got home that night to my hostel, I looked across the street and there was an art store that sold art supplies. If there’s ever a sign, this was one.”

Jamieson immediately got to work. During the day, he’d plan and create stencils on his hostel’s rooftop. Late at night, he would go out and paint, doing street art and graffiti.

Being a foreigner in Barcelona helped Jamieson get noticed. More importantly as an artist, it brought feedback.

“They loved it and they would want to see what I was working on. They were encouraging of the art,” he said. “When the trip ended I decided that that was what I was going to do. I was excited to wake up every single day and do what I wanted.”

Fate Makes a Great Partner

That was about five years ago. Today, Jamieson is operating out of New York, creating art of athletes and more in the street style that he’s embraced. He’s done pieces for Drew Brees, Zion Williamson and Cam Newton among hundreds of others.

Blake Jamieson

Working in the sports world combined with his collecting background, Jamieson was actually looking to collaborate with Topps before Project 2020 came about. He’d seen some of the work that Graig Kreindler had done for them and it felt like a good fit.

“I’m a spiritual guy and I think that everything happens for a reason,” Jamieson said. “I started reaching out to some friends asking if they had any connections at Topps and if they could introduce me. All of those came up empty.

“It was that same week, in my email inbox, Jeff Heckman, who is taking charge and leading this Project 2020 collection, had emailed me saying, ‘Blake, I love your work. I’ve been following you for a long time and I’ve got a project I’d really like to talk to you about.'”

And with that, a partnership was born.

Creating for Topps Project 2020

With the nature of Topps Project 2020, Jamieson and the set’s other 19 artists have been given a lot of freedom to express themselves in their unique style.

“Topps actually came to my art studio in New York last month to film me creating my Nolan Ryan, which was my first card, Jamieson said. “Just like verbally or over email Topps said, ‘You can basically do whatever you want. We don’t want you to change the team logos and try to have some type of homage to the original card. But besides that, do you.’

“I interpreted that as it was at face value and did a traditional Nolan Ryan. It was very close to the original card but just painted in my style. ”

During that visit, Jamieson got a peek at what some of the other artists were creating for the project.

“I saw the Ermsy Trout, which, in my mind, in terms of the card’s timeline progression took the card and blew it out of the water by really flipping it on its head and doing something wild,” he recalled. “I thought that was so cool and inspiring.”

Topps Project 2020 Mike Trout by Ermsy

Following the visit, Jamieson went back and revisited his initial Nolan Ryan piece to push his own boundaries some more.

“You’ve seen so many different cards now that are all very different interpretations of the original card,” he said. “I’m still trying to make sure that my art retains some sort of consistency so that if someone collects all 20 of my cards, I want them to look really nice together. But I also want to keep individual cards that give a nod of the hat to the original.”

Topps Project 2020 Nolan Ryan by Blake Jamieson

The Art of Collaboration

Jamieson is a busy artist, creating about 200 pieces each year. However, he loves to be collaborative with his clients and even with his personal projects.

“My process is very fluid and I like the interactivity,” he said.

One such project came together with his publicist Tony Bianchini, who is a big Don Mattingly fan and collector. Bianchini went to Jamieson with an idea to create a piece that could act as a Hall of Fame plaque for the Yankee legend, sending along a copy of Mattingly’s 1984 Donruss Rookie Card and some text that could accompany it.

“It was like six hours later I was sending him back some work in progress photos,” Jamieson said.

He’s bringing that same collaborative spirit to Topps Project 2020, interacting with collectors and giving them a chance to offer up feedback and ideas into what he ultimately submits to the card maker.

While Jamieson knows that he’s doing 20 pieces for the project and he knows what they are, it’s all a process.

“From Topps, I essentially get a homework assignment. They say, here are your next six cards and here are the due dates. Then I get to work,” said Jamieson. “I don’t always do them in order because sometimes a card or a player just speaks to me and I’ll just go for it even though it’s not due for a long time.”

Since the public launch of the set, Jamieson has been active online. This includes streaming live on YouTube as he paints the cards.

Blake Jamieson

Looking Ahead

The cards may not be out yet, but Jamieson has been painting and planning some future pieces. And as Topps Project 2020 continues, he’s adding more layers to his cards. This includes some Easter eggs that may not be noticed by all. But for those that do, there’s some added meaning. And many of these are coming from Jamieson’s interaction with the card community.

For example, there’s a yet-to-be-released Rickey Henderson. On the card, be on the look out for a small doughnut, a nod to the speedster’s Hall of Fame induction speech.

And then there’s Mike Trout.

“I’ve got this lightning bolt that’s kind of built into the stencil that I made that will be in his bicep,” Jamieson said. “In terms of colors, I think I am going to play with some of the Millville colors, which are the blue and orange. This is very different from the original card.”

Blake Jamieson

Some of the Easter eggs are more personal. Growing up idolizing Mark McGwire, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Jamieson ranks the 1985 Topps card as his favorite of all-time. However, Topps Project 2020 is using his follow-up 1987 card. Jamieson is looking to do a sort of mash-up of the two.

“Because of the 1985 Team USA card, which to me is the most iconic and true Rookie Card,” the artist said. “I think that I am going to do a bit of a color swap where I’ll still be painting the ’87 card in the A’s jersey but I’m going to color it as if it was the ’85 Team USA jersey and probably switch the number to 42 so that it matches that as well.”

Blake Jamieson

Rickey Relics and Other Artistic Connections

Like several Topps Project 2020 artists, Jamieson is offering autographed versions of his cards. These are available through his website. And like the modern card world, they come with a variety of versions.

For each card, he’s offering a different ink colors and different amounts, all of which connect to the player he’s painted.

Some cards also come with added spins. To mimic modern inserts, with the Don Mattingly, those buying an autograph from Jamieson may have also received a Mattingly card or piece of memorabilia direct from his publicist’s personal collection including a PSA 8 1984 Topps Tiffany Mattingly or a 1982 TCMA minor league card.

Topps Project 2020 Don Mattingly by Blake Jamieson

Jamieson is also experimenting with the idea of game-used memorabilia. However, here it’s artist-worn pants. Because of how he approaches his paintings, Jamieson’s clothes don’t stay clean for long. They become canvases themselves, representing art in progress.

With that in mind, he’s doing some “Rickey Relics,” personal cards with swatches from the pants that he wore while painting his Rickey Henderson card.

For those looking for more than an autograph, collectors can also contact Jamieson to commission a piece of art.

“I will paint anything for anyone. If they’re not seeing the card that they want or the player that they want, they can reach out to me,” he said.

A Collecting Journey Comes Full Circle

Working with Topps on Project 2020 hasn’t been just business or even art. In some ways, it’s brought him full-circle, building a direct connection between his past and the present. And there are few things in the world that are more symbolic of this than baseball cards.

Collecting is something that Jamieson connects with his family. It was something he and his father did together.

“My dad is a collector at heart. He was a sports card collector with me as a kid,” Jamieson said. “He’s also an art collector and has an amazing art collection.

“Now that I’m working with Topps, it’s so cool to go back through those cards and look at all those childhood memories with my dad.”

As for his mom, Jamieson praises her for being patient with the two of them for all those years. She was even willing to store their massive collection for decades, giving them all a chance to reconnect with them today.

She’s also very excited to follow her son’s work, even getting a jump on him when his Project 2020 Jackie Robinson was released.

Topps Project 2020 Jackie Robinson by Blake Jamieson

“My mom texted me before it even happened. ‘Oh, my god, your Jackie Robinson card dropped early. And it’s card number 42!'” said Jamieson, “I can’t even put into words how cool that is. With all of my history of card collecting and the relationship with my parents as a kid around that, it’s resurfacing now that I’m 35-years old. It’s beyond words.”