Acrylic and spray on 24″ x 24″ wood
The ‘King of Old School’ Steve Corino has been wrestling for twenty years and is still going strong. Born 1973 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Corino debuted in the independent circuit in 1994, using an anti-hardcore gimmick to make him stand out during that time. In 1998 he debuted with Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager, deriding the promotion’s hardcore wrestlers and immorality in general. In 1999 he began feuding with Dusty Rhodes, leading to a notably bloody bullrope match between the two in 2000. Later that year he defeated Justin Credible, The Sandman and then-champion Jerry Lynn to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. He left the company early in 2001, dropping the title to Sandman on his last night with the company. In April of that year he defeated Mike Rapada to win the legendary NWA World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it to Shinya Hashimoto by the end of the year.
After a brief stay in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling feuding with Low-Ki, he debuted with Ring of Honor. He then began a four-year rivalry with Homicide, leading to numerous brutal matches between the pair. Corino during this time has also competed around the world, notably in Japan and Puerto Rico. In 2009 Corino returned to ROH, teaming with Kevin Steen to compete against El Generico and Colt Cabana. He also had a notable feud with Mike Bennett and began partnering with Jimmy Jacobs. In 2012 he formed the SCUM stable with Steen and Jacobs, attacking the ROH locker room at will. Corino and Jacobs turned on Steen after he lost the ROH World Title, and the stable was later disbanded.
Corino is a great example of how experience can only make someone more valuable. After twenty years and numerous titles, he’s still in the mix and contributing to the show.
About the piece: The use of black is pretty intrinsic to my approach to painting, so I thought I’d experiment a bit and not use it in the figure, but only to frame the face. I started with the background, laying down some black house paint and a swipe of red, then lightly drizzled some red and blue spray paint over it. Then the face itself was done all with acrylics, using what would normally be mid-tones to be my deepest shadows. This was a fun approach that I’ll likely experiment with more down the line!