13 Nights

I really don't know what I was thinking 7 years ago when I came up with the 13 Nights of Halloween idea.
I stole 13 Nights of Halloween from ABC Family. I never claimed it to be original and the number 13 just seemed perfect.
I had just started sharing work with the Deviant Art Community in June of 2006. I really did not have the volume of work that everyone else did. I wanted to have more in my own personal gallery to show off, not only what my skills were at the time, but to show people the subject matter I liked to paint.
Looking back now it was a patchwork of free thought. It was simply controlled chaos. The premise was simple, I paint a new painting ever night for 13 nights, I tried to keep my time restricted to an hour.
I would pull it off or it would blow up colossally in my face.
I think at the time I thought it was my best work, it looks so very clumsy and slapdash now.That said I think I had some great ideas in that series and I have already revisited a few of the images

It was over the following summer during an August vacation that my oldest daughter came up with doing a theme of Scooby Doo Villains. I had expressed interest in doing a central theme and she immediately said, "Do Scooby Doo monsters!" 

It worked out great. Themes have since become the foundation of every 13 Nights of Halloween since.

It was also a great litmus test for how much my work had developed from the previous year.

The 2012 series was a tough decision, the 1st thought that hit me for theme was Giant Monsters. 

The Godzilla movies from my childhood were such an influence on me and how I drew and how I played.

I had always wanted to do a series of paintings based on Giant Japanese monsters.

I was not confident at 1st if I could pull it off.

So I did a test. I picked a monster and I said to myself, "Let's see how much work is needed to pull this off.

Turns out I just could not do them justice with just a speed paint. That changed the idea of 13 nights dramatically. I have not held true to a one hour limit in quite some time. I had, in the past, allowed up to 4 -5 hours of painting for some 13 Nights paintings. But this was way more than that. I wanted to get an early start just in case I had freelance work I had to do to pay the bills. So I started back in September and went to work on it. I think it is some of my best work and I am really glad I took the gamble. 

But just like ever iteration of this series, it ups the ante for next year.

I think I will be up to the challenge. Thanks again for allowing me to share this artistic journey. I hope everyone enjoys the new series

Cheers