Entering The House Of My Heroes, American Watercolor Artist John Randall York

 22 x 30 inches,  Chopsticks, # 2 Pencil, 3 Brushes, Watercolor on Arches paper.

   Let me tell you a little about this blue horseman and his steed. He moves with confidence from left to right like American carousel animals do (I've read that British carousel horses moved from right to left). I imagine that he is the real thing, a new kind of creature, like in a fairy story. A man's body with a horse's head and some tiny bat wings. Though, he might be an imposter, a man in elaborate armor with a fancy horse head helmet and a beautiful, magic sword. His blue horse is almost tangled in a border of designs and from the warm yellow and pink background those  mysterious eye-leaf creatures hover and swirl!                                                                                                   

 

  I really enjoyed working on this painting, sort of, "making friends" with the characters in it. Do you ever read a book and feel sad when you finish because you have to say goodbye to the characters you've grown close to? That's how I felt about the painting "Entering The House Of My Heroes". I wrote a note to myself while working on the painting, "If you ever want to see a creature like this you have to create him".

             Copyright 2020 by John Randall York, All rights reserved by the artist

Happy Friday The 13th!

Friday The 13th! What a gift! It's a little reminder of the fun and scary things I do love so much. Halloween is still far away but today we can enjoy some of the creepy thrill derived from the rich heritage of monsters, vampires, ghosts and evil space creatures.

I hope you get the chance to watch a scary flick or read, at least, a short horror story today.
To add enjoyment to this numerically wonderful day I am posting some of favorite ""scary" artworks.
Best wishes for a "Horrible" Friday The 13th! JRY

All images copyright by John Randall York, all rights reserved

Painting The Alamo In Watercolor, Happy Texas Independence Day!

Painting The Alamo In Watercolor and "Happy Texas Independence Day"!

Almost every time we go to  San Antonio I visit The Alamo and make a painting on the spot. There is usually a group of school kids who who notice what I am up to and suddenly swarm about me like a flock of birds with the teachers catching up to rein them in. The children are encouraging, loading me up with positive comments, amazed by how quickly the painting is done.One group cheered for me as I finished a painting of the San Fernando Cathedral, what a rush!

Usually I sit on a low wall across from The Alamo in whatever bit of shade is available and paint on a quarter sheet of watercolor paper (140 lb) taped to a piece of Masonite.
It gets hot very quickly in San Antonio and I am anxious to finish and move on!

I try not to think about the work but to enjoy it. The paint is applied quickly using my bottled water from Walgreen's Pharmacy. Usually three brushes are used, a 1 inch Flat, a #8 Round and a #4 Round, all synthetic. The paint I use is an eclectic mix of Daniel Smith, M. Graham, Winsor Newton, QOR (I like their Cobalt Teal), whatever works and looks good. Almost always I will use some Lukas Opaque White for highlights,  a black watercolor pencil for some shadows and texture and a fine point Sharpie (or some black, permanent pen) for line work.

As I sit and paint my mind wanders and it is hard to not imagine the lives sacrificed on that piece of land in 1836.  Usually, when I finish, I stroll the area and read the plaques on the lawn and am always touched by the stories of bravery. I am very proud to be a Texan.

Wait! Here's the best part... if it's really hot, and if I think I did a good job, I visit the Haagen-Daz ice cream shop for something wonderful!

Further Adventures With Watercolors

Last summer I began making plein air paintings. I really did not want to get out of the house! I didn't want to get too hot or get rained on or explain myself to curious people.
Two main purposes drove me to get started. One, I wanted to see "what I was made of" what would I produce? How would my on-the-spot paintings come out? And two, my town was changing. Big trees and buildings that were personally significant were going away.
So, I headed out each day like a fisherman, downtown and through the neighborhoods, and I snagged some really nice paintings.
I can look at each painting now and feel the sun on my neck or remember digging for parking meter change or think about the great people I met and know that each day something was accomplished.
It's a great experience every time I go out. I now have paintings of familiar old trees that are no longer there and houses and buildings that are gone or changed.
I set up a Shopify store to sell my watercolors, it's downtownpainter.com
Thanks for sharing the trip with me!

Halloween Drawing Videos!

I hope you get a little Halloween fun from these sped up ghostly drawings! Happy Halloween 2016!

An exciting journey in watercolor!

What an exciting journey! I was thrilled and pleased when I stacked all of these watercolor paintings I've been making of Tyler, Texas on the dining room table, about 70 so far. 
Each painting is a memory of people I've met as I painted, the hot weather, the beautiful sunrises, the little rain showers, all of it!
Thank you for enjoying them with me, I'll be making more!

Souvenirs of Tyler, Watercolors of Tyler, Texas by John Randall York, Su...

Lot's of Rain, Heat and Watercolors!

The Summer of 2016 has been a great season for watercolor painting of local landmarks and houses in Tyler, Texas. Tyler has about 15 miles of red brick streets constructed in the 1930s and 1940s and I get to enjoy them every day.
Many beautiful churches, houses and public buildings are framed by the brick streets which make a pleasing, colorful foundation for my sketches and paintings.
I've uploaded several images of my paintings, I hope you enjoy them.

Brick Street Village

First Presbyterian Church

Marvin Methodist Church

Marvin Methodist

Christ Episcopal Church

Crescent Laundry

Cotton Belt Depot

First Baptist Church

First Presbyterian

Old Smith County Jail

Chilton House

Charnwood District

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Rick's On The Square

All of these images are Copyright 2016 by John Randall York

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Portfolio of my ink and watercolor illustrations

I usually start a picture with a pencil drawing on water color paper or illustration board then paint a big, relaxed wash of watercolor over that, usually yellow. Next I begin painting on the characters and details. After bringing the water color work to a fairly finished state I begin the inking with either a very fine pen nib dipped in ink or a fine point artist pen with permanent ink, or even the beloved "Sharpie".

Markers and colored pencils are often used to finish. I hope you enjoy my pictures!

Childhood memories, myths and ghost stories are my inspiration. My favorite media are pen, watercolor,

 and colored pencil .

I have illustrated 5 books for author, Gregory Miller, a protege of Ray Bradbury.

 My art has sold all around the globe and collectors include my favorite author, RayBradbury. 

Lenox China, The Hamilton Collection, Fitz and Floyd, S&D Limoges and Faroy Candles are some of the

companies I have designed for. Creative heroes of mine are  Ray Bradbury, Joe Mugnaini, Jack Davis, Juan Gimenez, James Gurney, Charles Addams, Fred Banbury, Peter Spier,  Gregory Miller and Hayao Miyazaki.

John Randall York

809 South Chilton Avenue

Tyler, Texas 75701

jrandallyorkart@yahoo.com

Cover art for Gregory Miller's ON THE EDGE OF TWILIGHT

Urban Underground

Cover for Gregory Miller's SCARING THE CROWS

Cover for Gregory Miller's THE UNCANNY VALLEY

Cover art for Gregory Miller's DARKNESS IN THE VALLEY

Painting, CARNEGIE LIBRARY

Cover, Gregory Miller's CROWS AT TWILIGHT

Painting, THE OAKWOOD CEMETERY

All of these images are Copyrighted by John Randall York, 2016

I miss Ray Bradbury!

    Ray Bradbury's stories gave me an extra excitement for life, like that first dose of crisp Autumn weather that makes everybody a little more alert, a little more ready to believe in ghosts and fairies!
His words were like paint, right out of the tube. His ideas gave me ideas and it all seemed right!

    Several years ago I was compelled to make paintings and drawings inspired by his book THE HALLOWEEN TREE and the Hanna-Barbera "The Halloween Tree" production. I sold the paintings and prints of them online and eventually sent some of the prints to Ray after finding his address on a piece of stationery published in a book about him. Weeks later I happened to check the spam file of my mail and there was a peculiar email, it was from Ray! He thanked me for the prints, complimented my work and said it was good that I had sent them to him, that they helped him realize his ideas were moving in the world.

   The Halloween Trees and haunted houses I painted introduced me to other Ray Bradbury fans who became friends, most especially my dear friend Gregory Miller who was a close friend and disciple of Ray's. Since our meeting I have illustrated 5 books for Greg, the first, SCARING THE CROWS, is dedicated to Ray. Another friend I gained through the Halloween Tree paintings facilitated an exchange where I signed more of my prints to Ray and Ray signed some of my prints to me and also, over time, sent me signed books!

I never actually met Ray but sent him scans of hand made cards on his birthdays and Halloween
and friends through his website and his daughter would see that he received the images.

Greg called me on June 5th, 2012 and told me Ray had passed away... many of us stopped breathing and I still haven't found a replacement for the only person who was on my list of "People I'd Like To Meet". The wonderful thing that remains is the friends I made through Ray!

All images copyright 2016 by John Randall York

Feel free to leave a tip!