From 007 to Dirty Dancing

Santa Clara, California. – Like her favorite NFL team, Rita Carvalho didn’t expect quarterback Jimmy Garopolo to survive the San Francisco 49ers this deep off-season. But for Carvalho, a long stay in Garapolo Bay turned the social media tribute into a labor of love.

Love for Garopolo. Love for Niners. Love her boyfriend. The most important thing is the love of art. With some inspiration from the Major League Baseball lockdown and the world of pop culture, Carvalho – a 25-year-old artist living in Porto, Portugal – began painting Garopolo every day until Niners became a business. Don’t.

When he made the decision on February 3, Carvalho, like most, believed it could mean a month or two of drawings. After right shoulder surgery, full free-agent period, NFL draft and off-season schedule for Garopolo, and Carvalho has become so accustomed to portraying Garopolo that she can now do it from muscle memory.

Saturday was Carvalho’s 150th day, although it is not yet clear when the end will come.

“I thought he was going to do business soon,” Carvalho said with a smile. “I started working on something until the end but then I stopped because I wanted to draw every day.”

With Garpolo’s position in the first round of the 2021 draft and Trey Lance’s early quarterbacks in constant discussion this season, Carvalho’s portrait has taken a fun break from speculation. The digital drawings, which Carvalho makes on his iPad with an Apple pencil and a program called “Procrete”, depict Garopolola in pop culture settings and usually show the presence of guests from teammate, coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. .

The response to those pictures has been so positive that Carvalho and her boyfriend, Philippe Sousa, set up a shop that allows customers to buy T-shirts, hoodies, prints and coffee mugs with their favorite pictures.

According to Carvalho, the most popular is the “Lion King” inspired drawing depicting Garopolo Lance as Simba in place of Rafique. Another favorite is a tribute to “Titanic” in which Garoppolo and tight end George Kittel replaced Rose and Jack in front of the wrecked ship. And finally, a song for “Dirty Dancing” in which Shanahan is seen holding a garopolo on her head also did well.

Garopolo has seen the pictures and given them a kick out.

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“Rita, I really appreciate it,” Garopolo told ABC7 television in San Francisco. “It’s really nice, just its uniqueness. We’ll see how much more you want to attract.”

Painting Garopolo every day can seem like a daunting task, especially when his condition has faded, making it an everyday staple for Carvalho and Sausa, natives of Portugal. In some ways, this strengthened their relationship, which is only right because Sosan introduced Carvalho to American football, the 49ers, and Garopolo.

The couple started dating two years ago. At the time, Susa had already become a fan of the 49ers after catching a random game in early 2010 and researching the team after the game ended. As a means of trying to get Carvalho involved in his ninjas ’hobbies, they took him to Garopolo.

“He was like, ‘I think you’ll like this player,'” Carvalho said. “And he introduced me to Jimmy because he was handsome. So, he thought I’d like him.”

Sousa was right and the couple started following the 49ers together. Although there is an eight-hour time difference between the Pacific time zone and Porto, Carvalho and Sosa get up late to watch the game. If this is a prime-time game, they will record and close all interactions with the outside world to watch spoiler-free the next day.

After Garopolo bid farewell to him through a post-season Zoom news conference in early February, Sousa told Carvalho that the Niners were preparing to trade Garopolo. Carvalho studied art in high school and graduated in 2021 from the ESAD College of Arts and Design in Matosinhos, Portugal. In an effort to peek further into her art, she calls it the “Distance Year”.

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As a devout reader and participant on the 49ers Reddit page, Sousa suggested Carvalho make a picture of Garoppolo and post it on Reddit. There was no special inspiration for that first drawing other than a tribute to what he did for Niners. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Inspired by a baseball fan who pulls out Mike Trout every day during the MLB lockout, Carvalho decides to remove Garopolo every day until his trade.

Soon, suggestions for more drawings began to emerge. Many fans have reached out to the United States, but requests are global. Carvalho has received notes of encouragement and ideas from France, Germany, Ireland and Australia, among others. Those suggestions are welcomed as creating ideas has become the most time consuming aspect of this journey.

Almost every night, Carvalho and Sosa, 28, would sit and brainstorm ideas, delving deeper into pop culture and current affairs. Most of those pop culture ideas are based on the American show and the movie is no coincidence. Sosa, who is a big fan of drawings inspired by “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Lethal Weapon”, said most shows, music, movies and even internet memes are equally popular in Portugal.

Once the pair came up with the idea, they would discuss various aspects of the drawing, where Garoppolo would sit and how to put their own spin on it, so that it could be recognized as their unique brand.

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“It really brings us even closer together because that’s what we talk about every day nowadays,” Sausa said. “It’s something we want to share. … I’m so proud of it. “

Most of the time, the pictures are made once a day, but sometimes Carvalho draws a handful and sends them through her phone every day. Depending on how complex the carvalho is, each rendering takes half to an hour. Like any artist, Carvalho has moments where things don’t click and may need to go away. However, she always comes back, and she tries to get them in the same meeting.

Carvalho has now drawn Garopolo so many times that she can basically do it blindfolded. This initiative has given him a lot of practice for the business of his dreams. She pays special attention to Garopolo’s famous chin line and brobones, of course, but she also says that a few other nuns, such as Kettle, receiver Debo Samuel and fullback Kyle Juzic, can be drawn from muscle memory.

“I really want to be an artist and I was really trying to show my art there this year,” Carvalho said. “And it was a great way to get feedback and build a portfolio. … Last year I never thought I was going to send a message to these wonderful people that they love my art. I am so grateful that I can do my art every day. “

It remains to be seen how long Carvalho will do this. Garopolo is expected to get approval to resume throwing in early July, and a move could come soon thereafter. Shanahan recently reiterated that Garopolo is expected to trade “most likely” when he returns from his shoulder surgery.

Which, of course, raises the question of what Carvalho has planned for the Grand Finale.

“People expect something big by the end,” Carvalho said. “I can’t be disappointed.”