portrait – Page 3 – The Art of James Richardson

Batman

8"x10" oil painting on a canvas panel — 8″x10″ oil painting on a canvas panel

March is upon us and at the end of the month Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is coming to the movie theaters. This is a film I’m very excited for and I figure this would be a good time to do some art based on the characters that will be in the movie for this month. Today features the Michael Keaton version of Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film. When this movie came out, it was a big deal to me. At that point I was a huge Marvel Comics fan and had not paid a lot of attention to the Dark Knight. To be honest, I did not pay much attention to DC’s characters. Like most kids I knew who the big players were. I watched the Super Powers cartoon and the Batman tv show. But that was about it. This movie was very eye opening for me.

I can still remember reading the movie novelization, playing with the action figures, I had a cool Batman shirt and then going straight to the music store to get the Prince soundtrack right after the movie.

This movie is not perfect but I do still enjoy it. Michael Keaton’s performance was great. He played Bruce Wayne perfectly. His Batman was intense. I also enjoyed Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale. But, I’m torn by Jack Nicholson as Joker. I think the make up they did on him was great and of course his acting was just as good. I always felt he was a bit too old and he does some pretty lame things, like pulling a 5 foot long hand gun out of his pants to shoot down the Batwing plane with one shot. Ugh. The mood of the film itself is perfect for Gotham City. Tim Burton’s vision of the film is excellent. And a completely different version of the setting and characters that we were previously used to from the Batman tv show of the 60’s.

The painting itself was something kind of new for me also. I usually do not paint on a canvas textured surface. I typically go for a smooth surface to paint on like the paintings I did in January. And, I haven’t played around with oil paints since I had my last art show. Technique was also a new thing for me on this painting. I have been recently studying a new painting instructional book and also watching some dvds about painting. So, this is a new way of thinking when I paint.

We will have to see how this painting technique pans out for me in the future.

Keaton's Batman Underpainting

Here is the under painting before I started laying on the oil paint.

Next up we shall see who challenges Batman in the new film, Superman.

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#batman #batmanvsuperman #dccomics #michaelkeaton #timburton #movieart #fanart #oilpainting #portrait

Vincent Price- Day 16- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

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

Today’s painting is of my favorite horror actor, Vincent Price. I think what I like most about him is that he can flip the switch from a normal, kind man to someone who is just out for blood and it is very believable. His career was long with tons of movies that he stared in. Some of my favorites are the Edgar Allan Poe films that he did with director Roger Corman. Another favorite of mine is, House on Haunted Hill.

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Edward Scissorhands- Day 14- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

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

Day 14 is brought to us by the wonderful film from director Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands. For this painting I went back to some of my favorite mediums, ink and watercolor paint. I feel most comfortable using ink in liquid form or markers/pens. I’ve been staying away from it for most of this challenge because I was thinking that people would rather see more “fine art” painting style. And ink, to me, is more of an illustration medium. This challenge might not be making me a noticeably better artist but it is seriously making me doubt my ideas about what and where I should be going with my art and technique.

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David Bowie Tribute- Day 13- 30 Paintings in 30 Day Challenge

9"x12" colored pencil, ink, acrylic ink and gesso on toned paper — 9″x12″ colored pencil, ink, acrylic ink and gesso on toned paper

The Hearts Filthy Lesson Falls Upon Deaf Ears

Today’s 30 in 30 painting is a portrait I wish I didn’t have to do under these conditions. With the passing of David Bowie yesterday, I didn’t really feel up to the challenge of doing artwork based on him. I’m actually surprised I got it done today. I am a fan of Bowie and I have been very much into his music since the mid 1990’s. Like most children of the 80’s, my first recollections of Bowie come from his videos for Let’s Dance, Modern Love, China Girl and of course, his duet with Bing Crosby on Little Drummer Boy. I really liked those songs of the Let’s Dance album but my first purchase of Bowie’s music was the Labyrinth soundtrack. I loved and still love that movie. And that soundtrack is fantastic. Within You is one of my favorite Bowie songs. It is haunting and a little creepy. I hear it and I can close my eyes and see that scene of him singing the song in the movie.

Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel

Just As I Can Be So Cruel

And that is where I stopped when it came to his music. At that point he was off my radar. It wasn’t until 1995 that Bowie’s music made it back to me. The Outside album came out that year. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. A jazz mixed with industrial musical concept album about a serial killer who is committing murders in the name of art and the detective who is trying to catch him. This album came out right as Nine Inch Nails was a huge band and Trent Reznor certainly had an influence on this album. The songs are strange and a bit random and the story is equally strange. But this album completely works for me. And I place it right towards the top of my all time favorite albums by any artist. This was also the time when I was able to see him in concert. The show was amazing and a great time.

We Had Such Wishful Beginnings

But We Live Unbearable Lives

This is my favorite era of Bowie’s career. The music is different and compelling and I thought his look was great. That’s why I chose to do this portrait of him during that time period. I feel like everyone thinks of him in the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane era and that is far from my favorite visual time of Bowie, for me. This also marks the first time I have done this style of artwork on toned paper. For some reason it felt like the right thing to do. But, like Bowie himself, I feel the need to change my style.

Thank you David for all you have given us.

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