Artist Bob Senske in front of one of his Long Beach-themed paintings. 

Tomorrow around 6:30PM, the celebrated Belmont Shore sports bar, Legends, will be unveiling a brand new painting by award winning artist Bob Senske. The painting, titled “Legends In Motion,” strives to capture the vibrancy and thrum of this year’s Super Bowl Sunday.

Senske is perhaps best known for his vivid depictions of local marine environments and cityscapes. His paintings of sail boats, the bridges of Naples Island and marinas have been reproduced in magazines, on Long Beach golf course score cards and, more recently, in the newly remodeled Long Beach Airport.

One of Legends’ owners, Eric Johnson, grew up on the Peninsula with Senske and, being familiar with his work, approached him last year with the idea of creating a new, iconic image to represent the spirit of the place on game day. Last Christmas, Senske found the inspiration he needed in Leroy Neiman’s famous painting of the Buena Vista bar in San Francisco.

“I told Eric of this fabulous painting I saw up in the Bay Area during my Berkeley years. The bar was really rocking, and Neiman was famous for depicting motion in a very impressionistic way. I think he often completed his paintings in a very short time,” Senske said. “My idea was to capture this motion by painting the entire crowd scene, along with the interior of the restaurant itself, and combine it with the very linear, realistic style that I’m known for. After all, I told Eric, Legends isn’t just about the brick and mortar. It’s about the people. He and co-owner David Copley loved the idea, and they graciously gave me carte blanche to produce the piece.

“So, as we approached Super Bowl Sunday of 2012, I told them to reserve me a table upstairs in their loft so I could have proper perspective to portray the entire crowd scene during the game, including the bar, the walls, the TV screens with imagery on them, and even the framed jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia that lined the walls all the way up to the rafters and vaulted ceiling!

“Believe you me, I’ve spent more time up in that loft sketching angles and staring at details than I care to remember. Little did I know at the time that this painting would end up taking over 6 months to complete, with literally thousands of hours invested. I would say it’s the most detailed and ambitious painting I’ve ever produced. If you’ve ever seen my panoramic cityscapes of downtown Long Beach and San Francisco (the latter of which was honored by the American Society of Mariine Artists back in 1998), then that’s really saying something!

“I was very cognizant of painting other framed pieces of memorabilia on the walls with the strictest attention to detail. I’m particularly proud of the row of NFL football helmets that line the top of the bar. You can make out the logo for each one clearly, and they are each smaller than a quarter in terms of actual size on the canvas!”

Despite his success and experience, Senske is still nervous about what the public will think.

“How will they interpret the juxtaposition of screaming, clapping and hence ‘blurry’ patrons right next to stoic fans who have been rendered with much more detail? I don’t want people to say, ‘Is that part finished? Why is that guy blurry and the guy next to him clear?’ What I’m hoping they say is, ‘Wow, the bar is really rocking! How did you do that?’ This is why I titled the piece, “Legends in Motion”. The title, as it is for many artists, is extremely important and should add to the experience of viewing the piece.”

The work has been under wraps for more than a month and nobody but Copely and Johnson have, so far, seen it. Even Legends founder and co-owner John Morris will see it for the first time tomorrow night.

Leroy Neiman’s famous painting of the Buena Vista bar that inspired his Legend’s piece.

“I haven’t had butterflies like this since my first show, 20 years ago! It’s kind of fun! I do know, at the very least, that Eric Johnson and David Copley are thrilled with the finished piece and, if the client is happy, then that’s all that matters, ultimately.”

According to Senske, a limited number of canvas prints will be available for purchase.

“I can tell you that long time Legends patrons, and especially New York Giant fans, will be lining up for reproductions when they witness the moment that was captured on canvas.”

Senske admits that the painting is a departure from the work he’s best known for.

“That is partly why this project pulled me out of retirement, so to speak. It’s an interior shot, a night scene with lots of people; dark, rich colors. I loved the idea of painting a scene at night, wherein the brightest spot on the canvas is artificial light emanating from light bulbs. If the viewer feels like my Titanium White Liquitex Acrylic paint is actually emitting light, then I’ve achieved ‘chiascurro.’ This was a fun challenge for me at this point in my career. Van Gogh did a hell of a job portraying night scenes, and Picasso’s earliest works were a study in chiascurro, the juxtaposition of light and dark.”

Senske is uncertain if this painting will be an anomaly in his career, or the start of a new phase in it.

“I don’t know what the future holds. Because of my 3 year old twins, I spend much less time in studio and only produce a couple of paintings a year. That said, I’m intrigued with full-on portraiture. I’ve had great success making clients happy by capturing their kids and grand-kids on canvas. With kids of my own, now, this is a natural progression.”

Along with ‘Legends in Motion,’ Senske will have two other paintings on display on Thursday night.

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The official unveiling will take place upstairs in the Loft Bar at halftime, during the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans. The painting will be on display until 9PM, after which it will be moved to its permanent home above the stairs.

Legends Sports Bar is located in Belmont Shore, at 5236 E. 2nd Street.

To learn more about Bob Senske’s work, visit SenskeArt.com.