KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City artist is on cloud nine after hearing his name and seeing his drawing on a popular podcast.
You may have heard of “New Heights” — hosted by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother center Jason of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Freelance Illustrator Drew Greiner couldn’t believe what the brothers had to say about his portrait.
Jason and Travis Kelce highlighted Greiner’s artwork on their podcast. Greiner said it’s taking his side-hustle and passion to “New Heights.”
“I’ve got a good yelling face,” Jason Kelce said on “New Heights presented by Wave Sports and Entertainment”.
“It’s a great facial expression,” Greiner said.
He found out the drawing was featured on the podcast while at work.
“I was like, uh, what?” Greiner said. “So, it was pretty cool.”
Greiner, using his account Drew Drew This, posted the portrait on Social Media. The brothers caught wind of it and put a spotlight on his artwork.
“That’s intense,” Travis said.
“Well done, Drew Drew,” Jason said.
“You don’t want to be the person on the opposite, on the receiving end of whatever you’re saying right there,” Travis said. “I’ve been there before.”
Greiner said getting emotion across through a still photo isn’t always easy but it’s the goal.
“I love how someone can feel what that image is feeling,” Greiner said.
He said the Jason Kelce portrait took six hours, over a three-day span.
“Next is El Travador,” Travis said.
It’s done and took four hours, according to Greiner, with most of the work going into the mustache.
“I kind of made his mustache a little bit bigger,” Greiner said.
Greiner has a couple of other Travis paintings and illustrations in his playbook, one of Travis’ striking his signature Archer celebration.
“It’s really exciting to see my work out there,” Greiner said. “I’ve been trying to get my work out there for a long time. and it’s finally starting to catch on.”
Greiner’s also tackled paintings of Andy Reid, Isiah Pacheco and Patrick Mahomes.
After receiving several requests, Greiner said he’s going to fill one Blank Space with a Taylor Swift drawing.
“Everybody’s been asking me that and I think it’s going to have to happen,” Greiner said.
If you were thinking of adding a Chiefs drawing to your wall, Greiner does sell prints. Here’s his website.
