The Physical Ball is a portrait of the millimeter thin spherical shell that is the modern football (soccer ball). The picture explores the physics of the intimate relationship between the ball and the air it travels through. It tells the story in words, diagrams, and images, of how the air pushes from the inside to make the ball round and predictable when kicked by a foot or bouncing on the ground, and of how the moving and spinning ball’s surface causes changes in the surrounding air that lets us control the flight of the ball in the most delicate of ways. It is a celebration of the physics that we players unknowingly learn to take advantage of as we spend countless hours with our favorite toy. The artwork is mixed-media on canvas and measures 127cm x 127cm (50” x 50”).