The Million Dollar Theatre Painting

I was instantly drawn to The Million Dollar Theatre when I first laid eyes on its bronze horned long horns scull and buffalo head sculptures on the side of the building. The ornament is bulbous and faces hide everywhere in it making it a fun exterior to ponder. Distilling this composition down to only a handful of elements, while maintaining the over-the-top look of the location was very challenging. DO you see the buffalo head hidden in there? The Million Dollar in Los Angeles, was the first movie house built by entrepreneur Sid Grauman. Grauman was later responsible for Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, both on Hollywood Boulevard, and was partly responsible for the entertainment district shifting from downtown Los Angeles to Hollywood in the mid-1920s. Sculptor Joseph Mora did the elaborate and surprising exterior Spanish Colonial Revival ornament, including bursts of lavish Churrigueresque decoration, multiple statues, longhorn skulls and other odd features. Ink, bleach, acrylic, copper leaf, on linen. 48" x 36". This piece is painted in mixed media on a coarse linen ground, stretched over a wood panel. The variety of materials enhance and obscure the texture of the linen, much of which is left exposed, creating a unique, natural surface that shifts in changing light. The linen wraps the edges of the panel.