13 Baby Belly Paintings

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, Halloween fell around her 7th month. I had grand ideas of how my child would love Halloween as much as I do. (He does BTW) and wanted to paint her baby belly to commemorate the pregnancy. Also it would be something fun that we would always remember.

I decided I would paint something new on her baby bump the last 13 days of October leading up to the final painting which would be the Haunted Mansion as depicted on one of my favorite Halloween albums of all time, 'Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of The Haunted House - Disneyland.'

 I bought two sets of face paint from Michael's and using some of my own art brushes painted 13 images over 13 nights. 

It was a wonderful bonding experience for my wife and I. I loved the intimacy of it and I was getting to paint which I enjoyed.

 Some nights were rushed more than others, but I was pretty happy with the results. 

 At the start I was getting used to painting on skin and adjusting to the medium. I learned though that you could get some great results with simple face paint. 

That's my wife's hands which I painted to match the theme.

So my paintings started to show more details.

And I began to play with more color on some.

Mark Harvey's logo for 13th track.com

Again all this practice was leading up to the final image.

This one got a little rushed.

Taste No Garlic. See No Crosses. Feel No Stakes.

Some nights I had very little time! This one is funny but the weakest of the set.

On the second to last painting I wanted to paint my son inside the womb and have a pumpkin in there with him to symbolize that Halloween for me and my family is in our DNA and the love for it passes down to my children genetically.

On Night 13 the moment came to paint the final masterpiece. This was a 2hr effort. My wife, bless her heart was patient, but there were times I know she was uncomfortable during this one!

This was my favorite, obviously! My wife usually would wash her belly after I took pictures of the artwork, but on this one she left in on for an hour or so. It's nice to have these and look back at a wonderful time for us. 

Tonight's movie is Never Sleep Again- The Elm Street Legacy