Day 31: It Ends! - 31 Days of HELL-o-Ween 2019

31 Days of HELL-o-Ween 2019

Day 31: It Ends!

Boo!  HAPPY HELL-O-WEEN!

Well, here it is: The End.  I actually was able to post every day and made it, somehow!  No one is more surprised than yours truly about this (mostly) working out.  There were several times as to when I just wasn't sure I would make it to the end without dropping the ball a few times, but I guess that's part of why it is called a challenge.

Originally, I had planned to do it much more as quick sketchbook drawings.  Y'know, 30 to 60 minute drawings and painting to post on the blog.  But, the amount of time I spent on the drawings and paintings kept incrementing upwards--expanding to fill the remaining time.  Also, some of the first few I did turned out better than expected, so it built more of a personal expectation of quality I felt I had to keep.  It almost bit me in the arse more than once.

THE GOOD:  Shockingly, I was able to do a posting every day.  So, just that amount of work so relatively quickly was great for learning what techniques worked for me.  I also really improved my inking style, IMHO.  And, I think it also taught me to stop being so precious with my drawings; it's better to just do a bunch of drawings, no worrying how they will turn out, rather than thinking each one must be perfectly crafted before posting it.  Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good, as some have said.  Now, I just have to learn to consistently follow that for myself, too.

Also, some of the drawings and paintings actually turned out far better than I would have expected: Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Metaluna Mutant, Reagan "Possession" cartoon, Christopher Lee, Pumpkinhead, Trick 'r Treat, and Pennywise all seemed to turn out all right.

Oh, and thanks to this dumb stunt, this will be the most I've posted in a year on this Blog.  So, there's that, I guess.

THE BAD:  Some of the postings are just OK.  Minor things about the drawing/painting bug me and I wish I had fixed them before they were posted:  The Wolfman just isn't quite up to snuff; the head on the Saucer Man should have been more bulbous and rounded like a light bulb; The Man From Planet X should be a little better; while I liked the scratchboard effect for the "Night of the Living Dead" is nice, the hair on the zombie girl could be better drawn; the nose on the Brain Gremlin bothers me--the bottom of the nose is a bit too rounded and I kinda want to fix it; and the Charlie Brown ghost seemed a lot better in my head than it turned out.  Sigh...

Also, this time around, I think I stuck a little too closely to references and to the movies, rather than recreating the monsters or inventing my own.  But, once I started down that path, it was difficult to change the direction.  Mayhaps next year...

THE UGLY:  A few of these didn't turn out nearly as well as I would have wished.  For example, I really didn't care much for a couple of the "Plan 9 From Outer Space" drawings: Vampira's face is a little messed up, and Eros just doesn't look quite right.  Also, I didn't care much for my Benning posting from "The Thing"--it's OK, but just not as good as I would have liked (I think I should have thrown some watercolor over top, rather than just left it as colored pencil).  Bleh.  But, since I needed a posting, it went up anyways.  Oh, well.

I also had several times in October when something came up and I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the drawing done, so there were some moments which went from light concern to mild panic.  Also, as mentioned above, many of the drawings took more time than I planned.

* * *

Sincerely, if I may take a moment, thank you to all who stopped by to gawk--even those of you who were hoping to see a metaphorical car wreck.  I think I'll try this again and may actually plan things a little more, rather than flying by the seat of my pants the entire time.  I'll burn that bridge when I get to it...

This was done digitally in Art Studio Pro on an iPad Pro over top the first posting for "31 Days of Hell-o-Ween".  So, we end back where we began: with a parody of "Young Frankenstein".  And, yeah, it captures pretty much how I feel at the end of this whole, dumb idea.  Here's to the dumb idea next year, too!

* * *

* * *

This was done digitally in Art Studio Pro on an iPad Pro.

.