31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022:
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Oh, hello there, I didn't see you. It's time again once again for "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" in which I try to do 31 pictures from various horror movies--posting daily--in celebration of HELL-O-Ween! We shall see if I prevail or I get to use the much-threatened blank page of "The Invisible Man" or "Slenderman" as a stick figure.
Well, OK, the first posting isn't even a movie, so you got me there. This is one of those books that if you read it as a kid in school, you know. But, as soon as the image popped into my head, I know it had to be the first posting for "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween", with the first and last posts most of the time being self-portraits of a kind. The artwork in the book by Stephen Gammell was exponentially more scary than the stories. As a young, wanna-be artist, I was amazed at the drawings and art style. They were terrifying and so well drawn that I couldn't look away. I pored over them. And the drawings are probably the thing that everyone remembers that read this series of books.
Apparently, the drawings were a bit too disturbing to some, so they attempted to release the book with an updated series of drawings by Brett Helquist (I will admit, the last name sounds more at home in the book). But, thankfully, due to the backlash from like-minded, demented fans that grew up in mild dread from seeing the Gammell drawings (myself among them), it was re-re-released with the original artwork. See? The good guys can win sometimes...
Every year, I always think to myself that "This time, I will be ready when "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" comes around..." and am immediately surprised to look up and see it is already October 1st. I have a few things cobbled into a half-baked start, but, darn it, I wanted to have a nice cushion of work ready to go to give myself a little breathing room. Sigh. No such luck this year, either!
Speaking of, this year will be a little different. I will admit that I am a bit bored of just painting frames from movies featuring various monsters. Sure, it's fun and a good way to build up skills in painting but, after over 220 such paintings (digital and traditional), I want to do something a bit different (go through the Archives, if you're interested in the previous postings). I think I will be doing more of a caricature of various movie monsters. We shall see how that goes.
Also, for the Work in Progress, I think I'll just wind up showing the digital pencils and the finished image. Alas, when using Rebelle, I will almost always forget to include a halfway pic. And, most of the time, I'm sure people aren't looking this far down in the post, anyways. 😉
Thanks for stopping by and wish me luck. I'm gonna need it! Hmmm... Y'know, I sure complain a lot for someone who has no one to blame but himself for all this...
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31 DAYS OF HELL-O-WEEN:
The Take-Home Game!
Once again, here are some logos for those of you who (for some dumb reason) want to play along at home! It doesn't have to be daily--heck, just do one or two for the entire month--that's just as valid. I'm just a dum-dum that does stuff the hard way. There's no glory, no fame, and no fortune (trust me, this is my eighth year and none of those are anywhere to be found in my case). It's just for fun. Sorry, I meant "fun", 'cuz a lot of it involves loads of self-doubt and existential wondering why I do this to myself every year. If you do wind up using them or posting anything, send me an e-mail of the link and I'd love to check it out!
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils
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STEP TWO: Here is the finished digital painting.
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Done Digitally with Rebelle 8 Pro.
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