Merry Sithmas - Darth Revan

 Merry Sithmas
Darth Revan

Hey, hey, it's another Sithmas Card of everyone's favorite Jedi that wore a Mandalorian helmet, that became a Sith that wore a Mandalorian helmet, and became a Jedi again that later merged with the Force.  Yeah, it's a long, convoluted story. 

Darth Revan and Darth Malak were best friends and Jedi, and Revan believed the Jedi should help the Mandalorians, and took up wearing a helmet from a fallen Madalorian in the war as a symbol of his solidarity with their cause.  After the war was won, Revan and Malak went to hunt down a Sith Emperor, only to be trapped and forcibly converted to the Sith...  Well, like I said, it's a long story and I won't bore everyone with the retelling here.  There are numerous sites and videos that have done a far superior job than I ever could.

Anyhoo, a Merry Sithmas to all and to all a good night.  Or Knight, I suppose...

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the digital scribbles done in Clip Studio Paint.  It is a 2,00px x 2,791px document at 300dpi.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the colors, done in a variety of layers under the inked layer before the animation lights were applied.  For the animation, two images were imported into Photoshop in the Timeline, and exported as an animated .GIF.

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint (with the animated .GIF produced in Photoshop).

.

Merry Sithmas - Darth Malak

Merry Sithmas
Darth Malak

Hey, it's another Merry Sithmas card done for the holidays!  This time it's Darth Malak, who along with Darth Revan (see tomorrow's post), was first introduced in the "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" video game (and have since appeared in comic books and novels).  They were best friends and Jedi before both being converted to the Dark Side, and were the model used by Darth Bane for the Rule of Two for the Sith.  Darth Malak sought to overthrow Darth Revan and lost his bottom jaw in the battle, resulting in having to wear the metal collar.

I will admit it is difficult to draw Darth Malak without thinking of the "Kilroy was here".

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, such as they are (I mean, it is really just shy of random scribbles), done in Clip Studio Paint.  It is a 2,00px x 2,791px document at 300dpi.  I used the Symmetry Tool to keep everything, well, symmetrical between the two sides, although I shifted Darth Malak over a little bit to make room for the lightsaber.  Also, I later decided to add a Santa hat, which I did at the inking stage.  Speaking of...

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the colors, done in a variety of layers under the inked layer before the animation lights were applied.  For the animation, two images were imported into Photoshop in the Timeline, and exported as an animated .GIF.

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint (with the animated .GIF produced in Photoshop).

.

Day 31: The Thing (1982) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
The Thing (1982)

Aw, did you actually think I wasn't going to have John Carpenter's "The Thing" in 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween for this year?  Tsk!  Of course I was--it's one of the best horror movies out there, IMHO, and coincidentally one of my favorite horror movies (or is it the other way around?).

Well, I made it.  I somehow managed to get 31 paintings (both traditional and digital) done in 31 days.  It's my dum-dum retort to Inktober, but with any media and more Halloween/Horror/Monster-based.

In my haste, while I was working on the drawing, I accidentally collapsed the pencil and first color pass layers and just kept working on those. so no Work in Progress for the last one.  Oh, well, bullet dodged for y'all!

I'll probably do a reflection on this year's "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" tomorrow or the next day.  Right now I've got other irons in the fire I need to work on.  See ya soon!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  (Well, for about 35 more minutes...) 👻

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 30: Simpsons Tree-House of Horror (1990) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

  31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Treehouse of Horror (1990)

Whew, plenty of time to spare!  This one took a little longer than I thought.  It would be kind of funny to trip and fall this close to the Finish Line!  Anyhoo, enough behind the scenes blather--On with the show!

It's Kang (or is it Kodos?) from The Simpson's "Treehouse of Horror".  Sure, it's a TV Series and not a movie, but Kang/"Treehouse of Horror" is great.  They were introduced in a great parody of "The Twilight Zone" episode "To Serve Man".  "Well, if you wanted to make Serak the Preparer cry, mission accomplished."

And, with elections coming up, I always bring up the line from "Citizen Kang" ("Treehouse of Horror: VII): "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"  A great episode involving Kang and Kodos replacing Bill Clinton and Bob Dole during their campaign... and Homer accidentally kills the real Clinton and Dole by jettisoning them into space when trying to free them from their confinement tubes.  Darkly hilarious!

Well, one more to go.  Will I be able to finish my dumb, self-punishing "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" challenge?  Tune in tomorrow and find out!  Same Bat-Time; Same Bat-Channel!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quickly scribbled digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px document in Clip Studio Paint.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the black-and-white finished drawing for the digital scratchboard.

* * *

STEP THREE: And the final image.

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 29: Rubber (2010) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Rubber (2010)

My pal and friend of the Blog, Joel, half-jokingly suggested "Rubber" for "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween".  But, y'know, after he suggested it the more I realized I had do it.  It seems like a fever dream cross between "Scanners" and "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" but with vulcanized rubber.

It is a strange movie, and one that I appreciate.  I mean, the entire concept of a murderous, telekinetic car tire (yes, car tire) is comedically absurd--and I am all for absurdism, but also includes: exploding heads galore, a romantic sub-plot of sorts (yes, really), and a metatextual Greek Chorus of the audience watching the movie slightly off to the side and commenting on the meaning of (as well as the lack thereof) what they are watching.  "Wait, you can't kill me, I'm a member of the audience."  BOOM!  Not to spoil the ending, but Vive la Révolution!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quickly scribbled digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 2,500px document in Clip Studio Paint.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's about the halfway point in the digital painting, give-or-take.

* * *

STEP THREE: And the final image.

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 28: Fright Night (1985) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Fright Night (1985)

It's the original "Fright Night", a fun little horror movie from the 80's.  The classic "There's something weird about my new neighbor", and has a TV Horror Host accidentally discover he really is a Vampire after all.  Mildly comedic horror hijinks ensue.  I saw this when I was a teenager and thought it was a fun watch.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 27: Dolls (1986) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Dolls (1986)

It's time for a Charles Band movie--the B-Movie Schlockmeister with plenty of movies involving puppets, rubber suits, minimal number of sets, cheesy acting and stories... y'know, everything that makes a certain kind of movie fun to watch.  In this case, it's killer dolls.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 26: Hatching (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Hatching (2022)

In the 2022 Finnish horror movie, "Hatching", a young girl finds a wounded bird in the woods and saves its egg by bringing it home and hiding it in her room.  The egg hatches out a large, bipedal bird-like creature, which transforms over the course of the movie.  I won't spoil the rest, but I generally thought it was an effective horror movie, if a little slow-moving at times.

Also, because I'm a little slow, I first misread the movie's title as "Hatchling" for the longest time, rather than the proper "Hatching".  Tsk!  Stupid John's brain!

Oh, I should probably give a warning: This movie is definitely not for emetophobes.  Lots of vomit and goopy "baby birding" in the movie, both literal and figurative.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 25: Studio 666 (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Studio 666 (2022)

Hey, a horror comedy with Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters?  Sure, seems like fun.  And it is--gory, over-the-top, silly, horrific fun.  The Foo Fighters are suffering from writer's block and go to a mansion to work on their new album.  Oh, wait, is the mansion is haunted and does Dave get possessed by The Caretaker, pictured above?  Wow, how long was he hiding under that bed with a chainsaw?  How hard do you have to throw a cymbal to go through someone's head?  All these questions and more will be answered!

The guest appearance by Lionel Richie in this horror movie is surprising and got a chuckle out of me.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 24: Matango (1963) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Matango (1963)

A Japanese horror/monster movie involving a shipwreck on an island of radioactively mutated mushrooms which transform those who have eaten them into walking mushrooms.  In many ways, it is a bleak movie, even with the somewhat goofy man-in-rubber-suit body horror/monsters, and it does have a certain charm which I like about many of the Japanese monster movies of the time.

The director, Ishiro Honda, is also known for directing another Japanese Kaiju movie known as "Godzilla".  I'm sure there's a connection between Mushrooms and Mushroom Clouds that I'm just not smart enough to make...

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 23: Hollow Man (2000) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Hollow Man (2000)

It's a Paul Verhoeven remake of "The Invisible Man", "Hollow Man" (2000).  Being Verhoeven, there is a lot of action, interesting visual effects, and blood, too.  I always thought it was strange to have characters go mad with power after becoming invisible, but then again Plato's "Ring of Gyges" was about that very thing (look at me, showing off).

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils done in Clip Studio Paint on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.  Alas, they are pretty dark and barely visible (appropriately enough, given the subject).

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the digital scratchboard.  It was a black canvas and using a pen brush with a transparent color--it acts like an eraser, but with the normal brush settings.  Every digital paint program should have this feature, IMHO.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished digital drawing.

* * *

Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 22: Event Horizon (1997) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Event Horizon (1997)

Hey, it's Dr. William Weir from "Event Horizon" gone "Beast" mode.  Sartre said Hell is other people; turns out Hell is other people in a spaceship which has a black hole warp core that takes them to a another dimension which is a literal Hell.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 21: Planet Terror (2007) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Planet Terror (2007)

An homage to the grindhouse/exploitation horror movies of the 70's (it was literally part of the double feature for the movie "Grindhouse" (2007), before being split apart to it's own movie), "Planet Terror" is an absurd and grisly take on an escaped bio-virus which transforms its victims into horrible, gooey, rage-filled monsters.  Intentionally over-the-top, it does have it's turn-off-your-brain, squeamishly fun moments.

It's obviously a crazy alternate world in which there is an outbreak and with global ramifications but people just don't pay enough attention to prevent the spread.  Can you imagine something so absurd?  Only in the fever-dreams of Hollyweird, I guess.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.

Day 20: Day of the Dead (1985) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022
Day of the Dead (1985)

Hey, it's Dr. Tongue from George Romero's sequel to the previous post, "Dawn of the Dead"!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Here's the first (and probably part of a second) pass with acrylic paint.

* * *

STEP THREE: And here's the finished painting.

* * *

Done with Acrylic Paint on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

.