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Card artist Tim Carroll uses common cards to create uncommon works

Carroll will create a piece live at the National in Cleveland next month

Cover Image for Card artist Tim Carroll uses common cards to create uncommon works
Tim Carroll has been creating card art, such as this 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax, since 2009. (Credit: Tim Carroll)

Tim Carroll is rifling through old baseball cards, trying to find the exact shade of green he needs.

Carroll is a card artist. He uses small pieces of baseball cards as his "paint" to create versions of cards that are eight times their size.

His commission at the time was a Walter Johnson 1908 Rose Postcard. Johnson's face is surrounding by a shade of green that isn't naturally seen in cards.

"Then I found the 1987 Topps Donnie Moore card and ordered 300 of them," Carroll said.

The Walter Johnson 1908 Rose Postcard, left, features a shade of green that can be found on the Donnie Moore 1987 Topps card.
The Walter Johnson 1908 Rose Postcard, left, features a shade of green that can be found on the Donnie Moore 1987 Topps card.

As the card and memorabilia business has grown, so, too, have the businesses of the unique few who make card art.

In 2009, Carroll was a third-grade teacher in Tupelo, Mississippi, when he picked up a magazine that talked about the 100th anniversary of the T206 Honus Wagner card.

Carroll is booked out through September 2027 with commissions. (Credit: Tim Carroll)
Carroll is booked out through September 2027 with commissions. (Credit: Tim Carroll)

Carroll had roughly 15,000 worthless cards from 1987-1993 that he had collected as a child.

"I turned to my wife and said, 'Wouldn't it be cool to trade all those commons in my closet for a Wagner?'" Carroll asked.

And that's exactly what he did.

He found a way to get rid of his commons by cutting them up to make his art.

Carroll is the latest vendor cllct is profiling on our "Road To The National" series.

Unlike everyone else, Carroll has little to sell next month in Cleveland.

Carroll's work is so popular he only works on a commission basis.

Want to commission something? His next availability is September 2027!

So, why is Carroll even coming to the National.

"I like to work on a piece at my booth and show people that I do this all by hand," he said.

In Cleveland, you will be able to see Carroll work on his latest commissioned piece, a 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout card.

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In 2009, Carroll's pieces, which included a Jerry Rice 1986 card, cost $400. Today, they start at $6,400.

"I work on a couple pieces at a time," said Carroll, who currently is also working on an 1998 SP Authentic Peyton Manning rookie and a 2012 Topps Tom Brady.

Carroll's Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck artwork was taken on tour by the company. (Credit: Tim Carroll)
Carroll's Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck artwork was taken on tour by the company. (Credit: Tim Carroll)

Carroll's pieces are really one of one. He doesn't do prints because that makes his art subject to more copyright issues.

Carroll's breakout year was 2014, when Major League Baseball commissioned a piece to give to Joe Torre. That same year, Upper Deck took the Ken Griffey Jr. card Carroll made for himself and took it on tour to commemorate the company's 25th anniversary.

Three athletes — Andre Dawson, Miguel Cabrera and Omar Vizquel — had pieces made by Carroll.

In 2019, Carroll's 1955 Topps card of Sandy Koufax landed in the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of baseball cards exhibit that is still in Cooperstown today.

Said Carroll of his 15-year rise: "It's so nuts!"

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.