January 2016 – Page 3 – The Art of James Richardson

Jack in the Graveyard- Day 12- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" Ink, watercolor and ink paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ Ink, watercolor and ink paint on illustration board

Day 12 of the 30 paintings in 30 days.

Phew

I can admit that I’m starting to feel it. This process, even though this is my second time doing the 30 in 30 challenge, is starting to get to me. It’s not sitting down and doing the art that is hard but the process of deciding what subject matter is a huge struggle. Another thing that I am dealing with is that I think I need to start slowing down and taking more time with my work but that isn’t really an option with this challenge. Plus, doing all this while just starting the website and blog and Facebook account is hard too. And now with being able to look at stats on these pieces and taking note on reactions and more importantly, lack of reactions are making me rethink the work I’m doing. I think I am going to have to change and refocus on things after this month is over.

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For more on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge check out- http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Haunted Mansion Graveyard Queue-Day 11-30 Paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" acrylic ink, colored pencil and watercolor paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ acrylic ink, colored pencil and watercolor paint on illustration board

Day 11 out of 30 brings us to the outside of the line for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. We are standing inside of the pet cemetery that leads to do the front door of the mansion. This is not my first time doing paintings from this area. But, before we get into that here is a little behind the scenes drawing before the paint was splattered onto it.

HM Queue Cemetary B&W

And here is a video process of another Haunted Mansion Graveyard queue painting I did:

Lilac

And one more:

Haunted Mansion Queue

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For more on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge check out- http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Lady In Gray-Day 10 of 30 paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" ink and watercolor paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ ink and watercolor paint on illustration board

There is not much of a story behind this one. I have no idea who the woman is in this original photo. I found the photo when I was looking at photos of people from the 30’s and 40’s. I really enjoy the fashion and look of people from this time period. I.m also a fan of film noir and I love films and photos that have deep shadows or mysterious backgrounds. In all actuality, this photo was probably a little more bright then I would normally be drawn to. But, there is something about her face being completely in shadow that caught my interest.

This is Day 10’s entry into the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.

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For more on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge check out- http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Day 9- Haunted Mansion Bat Stanchion- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" oil paint on a panel — 6″x6″ oil paint on a panel

Day 9 brings us back to the Haunted Mansion. Specifically, the hallway that leads from the Stretching Portrait Elevator to the Doombuggy loading area. This little guy is the topper to the poles that are chained together to help lead the way to your vehicle. The thing I love about the Haunted Mansion and Disneyland itself are the details. There is always something to discover when you are there. Something like the bat stanchion could easily go unnoticed. But, it’s these things that help create the atmosphere perfect for a haunted mansion.

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For more on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge check out- http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Boris Karloff- Day 8- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" acrylic ink, colored pencil and oil paints on an illustration board — 6″x6″ acrylic ink, colored pencil and oil paints on an illustration board

One full week of paintings completed!! Now on to week two!

After doing a portrait of Bela Lugosi as Dracula on day 4, I knew I would have to include the actor who is probably the most well known of the classic monster characters, Boris Karloff. You can not mention or think about Frankenstein’s monster and not think of Karloff under the makeup. But as an actor, Karloff has a huge resume of great roles. And, I have drawn and painted several renditions of Karloff as The Monster, this made me decide to just do a portrait of the man, not one of his monster movie characters. As I did this painting I was listening to a great album that Karloff narrates about the classic Universal Horror movies. It’s called “An Evening With Boris Karloff And Friends”. Here is a link so you can listen to both sides of the record.

Beaker-Day 7 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

6"x6" acrylic ink, colored pencils and oil paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ acrylic ink, colored pencils and oil paint on illustration board

MEEP MEEP

How can you not love the craziness of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s assistant, Beaker? Muppet Labs skits on the Muppet Show are some of my favorites. As soon as you hear their little theme song and see them, you know Beaker is in for something bad.

Here is Day 7’s painting for the 30 in 30. Tomorrow will have us see a different kind of scientist, maybe like one who is known for science going wrong…

This painting is available for sale for $50.00

See more about the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge at-

http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

#themuppets #beaker #30paintingsin30days #muppetlabs

Madame Leota-Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge

6"x6" acrylic ink, colored pencil and gouache paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ acrylic ink, colored pencil and gouache paint on illustration board

Even though I started working on paintings ahead of time for this challenge, these last 2 day’s posts are of pieces that I finished just in time for the challenge. Today we make a trip back to Disneyland. More specifically the Haunted Mansion.

Madame Leota:

Horntoads and lizards, fiddle and strum. Please answer the role by beating a drum!

Ghost fiends and furies, old friends and new! Blow in a horn, so we’ll know whether it’s you!

Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they’re at.

Rap on a table; it’s time to respond. Send us a message from somewhere beyond.

Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween. Awaken the spirits with your tambourine.

Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond; let there be music, from regions beyond!

Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint, by ringing a bell!

Madame Leota is the dismembered head that speaks to the spirits to have them appear for all to see. One of many classic moments on this ride. This is actually a painting from the old version of the ride. Now the crystal ball containing her head floats around the room as she speaks to you. It’s a great effect but not as exciting for my painting. It would be the ball floating in the darkness. I like the visual of the ball on the table with candles flanking her along with playing cards on the table.

Still not sure what day 7 will bring yet but I think it will involve a Muppet.

This painting is available for sale for $50.00

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See more about the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge at-

http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Day 5- Nightmare Before Christmas- 30 Paintings in 3

5"x7" acrylic ink, colored pencil, gauche — 5″x7″ acrylic ink, colored pencil, gouache

Today threw me a bit of a curve ball. I had a few paintings that I had ready to go in for today and this was not one of them. The pencil work for this was finished yesterday and for some reason while I was at work I kept thinking about finishing it when I got home. And that’s what happened. But, because of the the quick turnaround I couldn’t use oil paint because I wouldn’t be able to scan it with the wet paint. So, I decided to use more ink washes which gives it a bit of a watercolor feel and then gouache to fill in the blacks with a nice solid pass.

I love the movie, Nightmare Before Christmas and have done and sold several pieces of art based on the film in the past. In fact I’m working on a series of big paintings from the movie that I hope to get back to after this month.

This painting is available for sale for $50.00

Follow me on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/jamesrichardsonart77/

See more about the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge at-

http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

Day 4- Bela Lugosi as Dracula-30 Paintings in 30 Days

6"x6" acrylic ink, colored pencil, and oil paint on illustration board — 6″x6″ acrylic ink, colored pencil, and oil paint on illustration board

“There are far worse things awaiting man than death.”

Day 4 has arrived of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and I’m already starting to feel the pressures, haha. One of the subject matters that I wanted to tackle during the challenge is to do some portrait painting. I am also a huge fan of old/classic horror and monster movies. So, for my first portrait I instantly went to the first talking horror movie character, Dracula. Bela Lugosi’s rendition of Dracula is the version most people think of when they visualize the character. It’s hard not to hear his Hungarian accent when I think of some of the classic quotes from the movie-

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.”

His performance made quite a reaction to audiences in 1931. And there are still very haunting moments from Bela in the film. I’m sure the movie comes off quite differently to current day audiences. But, for me it is still very enjoyable.

“To die, to be really dead, that must be glorious .”

There will be more horror stars coming this month. And, also some portraits of others during those golden days of Hollywood.

This painting is available for sale for $50.00

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And follow the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge at-http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog