Day 22: Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

OK, I've done "Invasion of the Saucer Men" (1957) a couple times in the past on this Blog, but it was one of those formative movies of my childhood.  I can't say it was in a good way, necessarily.  As a child, this movie scared the bejeesus outta me.  I watched the movie alone, in the dark, during an overnight show called "T.J. and the A.N.T. (All Night Theater)", which showed various Monster/Sci-Fi B-Movies and old TV Series that were cheap and in syndication (the classic "Andy Griffith Show", "Charlie Chan", and many others). 

The aliens had giant, bulbous heads, bug eyes (with an extra eye on the back of their hands), double mouths, and hypodermic needles coming out of their fingers.  And the squeaking and squealing they did was also terrifying to me as a kid.

Then, when I watched "Invasion of the Saucer Men" as an adult (well, let me put "Adult" in scare quotes), it was terrifying all over again.  Mostly because rather than a scary horror movie of a monstrous invasion, it is actually an attempted comedic parody of space alien movies.  In the end, the aliens are vanquished by a group of car headlights shining on them, which cause them to explode.  Just imagine what the modern car's LED beams at full intensity would do to them!

Anyhoo, this hits me right in the ol' nostalgia and is part of what lead me down the path of wanting to watch so many other B-Movies involving aliens/monsters/and robots.  I made my decision as a child and I guess I stick by it.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray andTitanium White.

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STEP ONE:  Here is a quick, color breakdown done to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

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STEP TWO:  And here's the next pass to put more paint on the cardstock.

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STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting.  Onward to the next one!

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 21: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Hey, hey!  Twenty-one down and ten to go!  Someone queue up "The Final Countdown" by Europe!  The end is slowly in sight (although, ironically, I have several out-of-town and extra-busy days and real-life distractions ahead during this last stretch, so we shall see how that goes)...

While not really a horror movie, per se, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958) is definitely a Monster Movie.  It includes many, cool monsters of mythology: a Cyclops, skeletons, Naga, Dragons, and two-headed Roc, and so many more bits of Ray Harryhausen goodness.  And there is something unearthly and slightly extra-creepy with Harryhausen's stop-motion animation, which makes the monsters all the more seemingly monstrous.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Primary Cyan.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick, color breakdown done to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the next pass to just try to tighten everything up for the painting.

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STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth.

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 20: Barbarian (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Barbarian (2022)

"Barbarian" (2022) is another one of those movies that is different than advertised and the less said discussing the plot, the better.  In fact, I debated even doing this one, but also wanted to point out a pretty good, recent horror movie.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Cadmium Red Deep, and Primary Cyan.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick, color breakdown done to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the next pass to just try to tighten everything up for the painting.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth.

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 19: What We Do in the Shadows (2014) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Whew, another one done!  This time it's a painting of Petyr, the apathetic, 8,000-year-old Nosferatu Vampire from Taika Waititi's 2014 Vampire comedy, "What We Do in the Shadows".  Think "The Office" format applied to a group of Vampires.  It's a fun movie dealing with some of the absurdities and ennui of being a living dead.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Primary Cyan.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a really quick breakdown to suggest the general layout on the page and to lay down a first layer of colors.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the second-and-third pass adding more layers of color.

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STEP THREE:  Here's the finished painting.  Onward to the next one! 

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 18: Invaders from Mars (1953) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Invaders from Mars (1953)

For some reason, any story involving the taking over of someone's mind really spooked me out as a kid, and "Invaders from Mars" (1953) fit that bill.  Also, it had weird aliens, a kid who saw the aliens land and at first the adults didn't believe him, a "it was just a dream ending"... or what it?, and did I mention weird aliens?  So, it was right in my wheelhouse as a kid.  And, unlike most of the monster B-Movies I watched as a kid, it was in color!

Speaking of color, this was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Sap Green, Cadmium Yellow, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a really quick breakdown to suggest the general layout on the page and to lay down a first layer of colors.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's a continuation and general tightening up of the painting.

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STEP THREE:  Here's the finished painting.  Once again, my scanner seems to not like blue-greens and it seems to blow out some of the color/tonal transitions.  Ah, well.  

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 17: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Speaking of movies that go from one genre into another in the previous post, how about 1996's "From Dusk Till Dawn"?  It starts as a grim, crime genre and then goes into an all out horror action.  A kidnapping turns into a fight with a strip club/saloon full of [SPOILERS for a nearly 30 year old movie] Vampires.  It's a pretty fun flick, with lots of practical effects and Kayo Syrup blood all over thanks to Tom Savini.  Of course, being the 90's, there are some rather not-so-great digital transformations.  And the movie sports a pretty impressive pedigree--from Rodriguez to Tarantino, Clooney, Keitel, Hayek, and Juliette Lewis.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown to suggest the general layout on the page and to lay down a first layer of colors.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's a continuation and general tightening up of the painting.

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STEP THREE:  Here's the finished painting.

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Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 16: Underwater (2020) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Underwater (2020)

In the near future, what starts as an underwater action thriller about a group of scientists trapped in a research facility at the bottom of the ocean takes a turn into a monster movie as they find out they woke up Sponge Bob Square Pants!  Er, I mean [SPOILERS] a Cthulhu.  I found it to be a fun, tense monster movie.  

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, this painting seemed to take forever to finish.  There was a long stretch in the middle where the painting was just ugly--having nothing to do with the subject matter-- and thought about jettisoning it; it just didn't seem to want to come together as a painting until near the end.  Oh, well, live and learn.  Here's to hoping the future ones take much less time so I can get back on (if not ahead of) schedule...

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Turquoise Deep, Cadmium Yellow Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown done in Paynes Gray and some Titanium White to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the first pass with a thin layer of various colors to just try to get paint on the page.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth and thinly painted layers.  I was hoping to do more underwater effects, but to be honest I just ran out of time and patience with this particular painting.  Perhaps I'll revisit it in the future.

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 15: Terrifier (2016) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Terrifier (2016)

Hey, hey!  It's about the halfway point and this time I'm running a little more behind schedule than I would like.  Oh, well.  This time it's Art the Clown from 2016's "Terrifier".  The story is relatively simple: Scary clown/mime runs around, well, terrifying and killing people in all manner of horrible, hack-and-slash, splattery ways.  Like Michael Meyers or Jason, he pops in and out of existence depending on where he is needed to be and can heal from all manner of injuries.  While the acting can be a bit stagy and stilted, it makes up for it in its grisly imagination.

I will say it had some very impressive special effects and make-up effects for such a low budget film, including one of the most gruesome deaths I've seen in quite some time.  Bleh!  Trust me, you'll know it when you see it.  Absolutely Medieval.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Turquoise Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  OK, I admit that I should have just taken the extra time to draw out more carefully and exactly, rather than just eyeballing it and going on.  It started to get away from me and would have saved me a lot of time painting and re-painting.  There's a lesson in there somewhere.  Will I learn it?  Doubtful.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here's the finished painting.  Of course, there was a lot of back-and-forth, and painting and re-painting.  It is always surprising how much of a difference a 1/4" (even 1/8") can make or break a likeness in a painting.  There were many times when I was thinking this was a loss, but it turned out OK in the end, I suppose.  On to the next one!

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 14: Kwaidan (1964) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Kwaidan (1964)

Well, here's another one done.  This time it's the 1964 "Kwaidan".  Essentially, an anthology of slow moving Japanese ghost stories, they are story focused than horror/ghost focused, but overall it was a really good movie for what it is.  While this is from story "The Woman of the Snow", the iconic image to me from the movie is the monk with a story painted on his face, "Hoichi the Earless".  I wanted to paint that image, but with the amount of Japanese text on his face, it would have taken me the better part of the month to finish it, I'm sure.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Turquoise Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the next pass with various colors to just try to get paint on the page and get the figure worked out.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with the usual lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth.

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 13: Friday the 13th - Part 10: Jason X (2001) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Jason X (2001)

Hey, it's Friday the Thirteenth for you Triskaidekaphobics out there.  Because I'm a little slow sometimes, I didn't even realize that I should do a "Friday the 13th" movie for 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween on Friday the 13th until last night, so here we are--just in time!  And here's my Hot Take: Jason X (A.K.A. "Jason on Space") is probably my favorite of the "Friday the 13th" franchise.  I found it relatively cleaver, er, I mean clever, self-referential, with a bit of satire sliced into the movie as well.

Sure, most of the movie is just yadda-yadda because we need it for the plot to go forward, but it amused me enough to say "I see what you did there".  Dumb or not, I was along for the ride.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Turquoise Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown done with some random colors to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the next pass with various colors to just try to get paint on the page and get the figure worked out.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth.

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 12: Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

OK, this one is a Brian De Palma/Paul Williams an ultra-campy retelling of "Phantom of the Opera" and "Faust".  The story is silly, the acting is hammy, but there is something fun about the over-the-top ridiculousness of the movie's setup, and the there are lots of flourishes in the directing that elevate it.

I will admit, I laughed at the logo design/stamp for "Swan" to sign contracts, which was done in such a way that the swoop of the "w" was obviously spelling "Satan" with the "t" slightly truncated.

Once again, my scanner seems to have scanned a bit more harshly than usual.  Strange how some pictures come through mostly normal and OK, while others don't scan for sour apples.  I'm sure it depends on colors and pigments in some of the paints, but still...  Oh, well.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Primary Cyan, Turquoise Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown done in Paynes Gray and some Titanium White to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the first pass with a thin layer of various colors to just try to get paint on the page.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth and thinly painted layers.

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 11: The Lost Boys (1987) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
The Lost Boys (1987)

The comedic horror movie, "The Lost Boys", really captured my attention when I was a late-teen.  It was a fun movie featuring a pack--almost a family--of vampires hanging out after dark at the beach and just getting into mischief of the living dead kind with a smiling menace.  It looked cool, had a lot of fun action-horror, and I found it amusing.  Also, back in the 80's, seeing comic book shops was novel--let alone on the Silver Screen--so that was an extra boost; it was a brief validation of my nerdery.  

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown done in Paynes Gray and Titanium White to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the first pass with a thin layer of various colors to just try and figure out what colors where going where.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth and thinly painted layers.  I also added the red collar in the corner to keep it from seeming like just a floating head.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's a different kind of vampire...

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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Day 10: Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

  31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)

Hey, Day 10--It's almost one-third of the way through this vainglorious, self-imposed challenge!  So far I am (barely) keeping on schedule.  Of course, I was hoping I would be able to actually get ahead a little bit more so I could give myself a bit more breathing room.  Here's to hoping!

Anyhoo, this time it's the Australian action zombie movie, "Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021).  It's mostly hammy and over-the-top, the story goes through all the tropes and is paint-by-numbers, but the special effects and make-up are generally pretty good.  This picture features a remote-controlled zombie used by the evil scientist to do his dirty work.  And, once again, it scanned much more harsh than the original painting.  Oh, well.

Although, I will give one bit of free advice to future Zombie/Horror directors: If you have the zombies breathing out some weird, green miasma, it's just gonna look like they have really bad halitosis and are doing a commercial for mouth wash.  So, you may wanna avoid that.

This was done with Acrylic Paint and a limited palette of: Paynes Gray, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Turquoise Deep, and Cadmium Red Deep.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is a quick breakdown done in Paynes Gray and Titanium White to suggest the general layout on the page.  It is painted on an 8-1/2" x 11" extra thick cardstock which was primed with a 50/50 mix of gesso and matte medium.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here's the first pass with a thin layer of various colors to just try to get paint on the page.

* * *

STEP THREE:  It's the finished painting done with lots and lots and lots of back-and-forth and thinly painted layers.

* * *

Done with Acrylic paint on 8-1/2" x 11" gessoed cardstock.

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