Halloween Speed Painting
April 7th, 2011 by John WolfeFound this time-lapse vid of an awesome Halloween-themed watercolor being created. The finished painting takes me back to Halloweens as a kid. I remember tearing through any magazine or book I could get my hands on containing Halloween imagery during my youth, looking for a visual that encapsulated the feeling of October 31st. Once I felt satisfied I had found just the right one, I’d study every detail over and over again.
Maybe that’s a clue as to why I’m so anal retentive about detail work when building my props. 
Source: YT user, mckiggins
April 8th, 2011 at 4:21 am
I really enjoyed seeing this. It gave me a new perspective in painting and fired up some new ideas. Thanks.
April 8th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Very cool painting and that is why I’m a photographer.. I can see great images but I could rarely ever get what I see in my head to come out the brush attached to my hand…
April 8th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
This was very cool. I liked the music and the speed painting. But i have never seen any one use a hair dryer on painting. Very cool all in all. thanks for sharing.
April 8th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Awesome find, John! Thank you for sharing it!!
I still do what you talk about with Halloween images! lol! Especially Martha Stewart Halloween issues. There are lots of great images that make for a good jumping off place for ideas! When we first moved here, after our first Halloween and 200+ trick or treaters, I knew I was still in our neighbor’s good graces when she brought over some magazine pictures she thought I might like to use as Halloween decorating ideas!
April 9th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Ethan,
Glad to hear it! I found the finished piece to be super inspirational as well.
Jeff Foliage,
I hear that. I used to dabble in watercolor, but I think my “paintings” would have been better if I’d applied the paint with my fingers and toes, they certainly couldn’t have looked any worse!
Great to hear from you.
ssflipo13,
Thanks for checking out the vid and for commenting. Yeah, the dryer was a neat little trick. It gave the artist a faster dry time to jump in there and put that cool flicker of light in the jack-o-lanterns carved sockets.
Camile,
Ooh, yeah, there’s always so much great detail work to take in when it comes to Martha’s Halloween pics! My gosh you guys get swamped with t-o-t’s, don’t you? It’s a good thing Kieran’s such a great tour guide, because it keeps some of the kids occupied while you give the rest their candy. And it’s always good to know the neighbors aren’t too ticked off by our yard haunts. In your case, it actually sounds like she was happily encouraging you, which is totally rad!
April 10th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
We do get swamped. 200 the first year (2005) and a steady increase until 2009 when we had 900+ and that didn’t include adults. This last year was, if I recall correctly, a bit lover- 650 kids, which is much more manageable! Anything over 500 is such a flurry of activity, it’s almost hard to stop and just breathe and enjoy it and just be in the moment. Fortunately Kieran is a spectacular host and as he gets taller it’s easier for people to see and hear him and follow him. lol! And the neighbor who brought the pictures after that first year has started a tradition- whenever she and her husband run out of treats they shut off their porch light and come across the street and help us! That’s usually just about the point in the night when I’m starting to run out of steam big time and having another set of adults around to help steer crowds is a god-send!!!! Someday the Halloween gods will see fit to bestow on me a friend who not only loves Halloween and also knows his way around a fog machine and understands prop construction and lighting too and then it’ll all be gravy!!
April 11th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Wow, that was spectacular. Wish I was a better artist/painter. The final product is absolutely perfect in my book. Gives me a little inspiration for haiku and possible future web designs, though. Great find.
April 17th, 2011 at 8:25 am
Watercolors can be a lot of fun, But I think I’m more like you John. fingers and Toes.
April 17th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
This is a great find… Made me feel like it was a picture from a book from my childhood I loved.
April 17th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Camile,
Holy cow! 900 plus! That’s off the chart. And I thought we get a lot of trick-or-treaters. Even 650 is pretty intense. Thankfully you have Kieran and your neighbors help. When your neighbors show up, that sounds like it’s around the time you’re surviving on Snickers bars, about like me when I’m running around the haunt trying to keep up with everything and slamming down a mini Hershey’s on the run.
Keep that intention out there, my friend, as I’m sure one of these days you’ll either have a neighbor move in like that or else you’ll relocate to a place where just a friend happens to live. And if he or she ever need advice on fog machines, I’m here to help as I’ve messed around with every sort of fog setup under the sun.
Doug,
Awesome. Glad to hear it inspired you.
Matt C.,
LOL! Yup, though I had a couple watercolor classes, it’s still finger paints for me.
Ghost,
Really glad you enjoyed it! Interesting how it took us both back to our childhoods. Great to hear from you.