Day 31: John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

  31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)

It wouldn't be "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" without a reference to "John Carpenter's The Thing" (1982), and in this case, also a slight nod to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (1966).

Well, I made it to the end of "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween"...  Thanks to all of you for stopping back and the kind words of encouragement for this mad endeavor!

Every year it is a shocking amount of work that seems to increment up, taking more and more time; and every year when I am finished I swear I'm not going to do this again, and yet here we are.  On top of that, this year I had a few other things going on which I thought for sure would possibly spell me missing several of my self-imposed deadlines, but I managed to get through (barely).  For all my complaining, it is a good exercise, although I am beginning to wonder if I should change things up next year and move away from movie monsters and begin to consider broadening my horizons...

I guess we shall see.  That's a decision for future, non-tired John to make sometime next year!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the hastily scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,550px x 3,300px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the digital inks.

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

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 30: Smile (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Smile (2022)

"Smile" (2022) is mostly a psychological horror movie involving the transmission of trauma right up until the end when it is revealed to be a demonic entity which feeds upon the trauma of others.  The possession by the demon manifests in the people smiling unnaturally wide before performing some monstrous bit of violence--usually toward themselves.

Sure, I could have done the "Smile Demon/Trauma Monster" at the end, but I think the first person to infect Dr. Cotter with the with trauma contagion is probably scarier and more iconic.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 29: Night Flier (1997) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Night Flier (1997)

With "Night Flier" (1997), this Vampire flies, but with a Cessna.  An investigative reporter is tracking what he thinks is a serial killer that flies from city to city in a personal airplane (well, technically, he isn't wrong now that I think about it), only to discover--far too late--it is a Vampire.  I read and generally liked the Stephen King short story, "Night Flier", as well.

The design with one big fang in the middle of its jaw definitely different, but is kind of weird, too.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 28: Nope (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Nope (2022)

Look, up in the sky!  It's a balloon?  It's a... spaceship?  "Nope" (2022), it's a (SPOILERS) monster that will suck you into the sky and turn you into red mist.  I will admit it is one of the more originally designed creatures I've seen in a while, with it looking like some sort of fabric parachute which is caught in the wind, with a weird square in the lower-center of it.  When it was first revealed, it took a little bit for me to process what I was looking at, which I have to tip my hat to for the effort for designing something so alien and different.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 27: Abigail (2024) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Abigail (2024)

"Abigail" (2024) was a mildly comedic horror story of a kidnapped girl who isn't entirely who she seems to be.  Of course, the twist was spoiled in the trailer, so I guess I only feel a little guilty about sharing it in the painted picture.  (The titular Abigail, who appears to be a 12-year-old ballerina, is a centuries old vampire.)  Fun and horror ensue and I found it mildly entertaining.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 26: House (1985) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
House (1985)

I watched "House" (1985) when it first came out on VHS and, from the cover art, I had assumed it was going to be a straight up horror/haunted house movie.  I was delighted that it was actually a darkly fun mix of horror and humor--similar to "Evil Dead 2" and such.  I remember liking the movie quite a bit.

Thanks to the movie, I cannot hear the song "Dedicated to the One I Love" without first thinking of the movie "House".

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 25: Frankenhooker (1990) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Frankenhooker (1990)

For the final Franken-Friday of "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween", no, it's not Elvira with a lip twitch--it's "Frankenhooker" (1990).  Yes, I'm being somewhat cheeky, but I am also slightly embarrassed to admit that I watched this and enjoyed "Frankenhooker" when it first came out.  And, yes, I used to watch far more junk culture than I do now (only because I don't have as much free time as I used to when I was younger.  You're reading someone who, back in the day, stayed up until 2:30am just to watch a double feature of "Jesse James vs. Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) and "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" (1966)).  

The movie is far better than it should be, and is actually amusing.  The story is obvious, based on the title, but there is dark humor throughout which made me snicker at the time.  Although, I haven't watched it in a while, so I can imagine there are a number of things that will be... problematic to today's eyes--especially given the title and I imagine the sexual politics are a bit retrograde at times.  That said, I will have to watch it again sometime and see if it is as good as I remember for funzies.

Also, for the painting, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide between a "normal" portrait of her, or the duck-lipped spaz out she does as she short-circuits from time-to-time, which was perhaps more representative.  After looking at the painting, I'm sure many of you are wondering which way I decided to go with that...

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 24: Nightbreed (1990) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Nightbreed (1990)

"Nightbreed" (1990) is based on Clive Barker's book, "Cabal", which I read quite a long time ago.  It involves a guy who goes to his psychotherapist and begins to think he may be a serial killer.  While fleeing, he falls asleep in a graveyard and discovers a secret society of monsters.  Of course, the real monster is... MAN!  (Gasp!).  Actually, I did enjoy both the book and movie.

Also, it has film director, David Cronenberg, as the psychotherapist, Dr. Philip K. Decker and (Spoiler) serial killer, which I found mildly amusing.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 23: Puppet Master IV (1993) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Puppet Master IV (1993)

The "Puppet Master" franchise (if it can be called that) has a certain, low-budget charm to it (which is about every Charles Band/Full Moon Entertainment movie), and continues to the genre of murder puppets.  Except, this time, the murder puppets are going against the even more murdery demon, Sutekh, so they are the good guys, now.  Yeah, it's a long story...

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 22: Event Horizon (1997) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Event Horizon (1997)

It's "Hellraiser" in space: "Event Horizon" (1997).  (Well, that is until there was an actual "Hellraiser" in space, "Hellraiser IV: Bloodline" (1996)). A spaceship with a black hole at it's heart as the gravity drive, breaks dimensional barriers and travels through Hell.  It brings back visions and madness and all matter of horrors.  A Sci-Fi Grand Guignol.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 21: M3GAN (2022) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
M3GAN (2022)

10 days left--it's the Final Countdown!  (Queue the song of the same name by Europe.)  

While I half expected M3GAN to open her mouth and say "Hi, I'm Chucky.  Wanna play?", it was a mostly fun addition to the Robot-as-Best-Friend-Turned-Homicidal-Killer genre.  And the M3GAN dance became a sort of short-lived meme or sorts and rightly so: if I saw a robot with an uncanny valley face suddenly, randomly dancing like that, I do believe I would be wetting my pants--this time with terror.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the hastily scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,550px x 3,300px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the digital inks.  I decided to just silhouette the dancing for two reasons: First, that many tiny M3GAN's seemed a more graphical element and evoked the Apple iPod ads from back int he day (like the "Attack the Block" last week).  Second, and most obvious, I was running out of time.

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

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Day 20: Splice (2009) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Splice (2009)

Hey, hey!  Twenty days down, eleven more to go!

The creature, Dren ("Nerd" spelled backwards), from "Splice" (2009), is visually unsettling.  The eyes are too far apart, and some other bits of anatomy are off just enough to fall into that Uncanny Valley and hit every rock on the way down.  It's a story of genetic research gone horribly wrong.  There is also creepy sexual tension (and worse) as the creatures grows older and begins to go through puberty of a sort.  And then the killing begins...

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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Day 19: Basket Case (1982) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Basket Case (1982)

This time it's Belial, the titular and literal Basket Case of the movie.

I haven't watched the original "Basket Case" in quite a while, but have vaguely fond memories of it--a mixture of sub-optimal special effects, campy gore, and vague attempts at humor, but all with a sort of goofy charm.  Although, I'm sure if I watched it now, it was have a number of... problematic scenes no doubt.  Then again, there are a number of 80's movies which I enjoyed as a kid/teenager and if I looked at 'em now, would probably blanch at them now (what can I say, it was the 80's--a lot of the media was cringe-worthy when looked at today).

I do remember watching "Basket Case 3: The Progeny" (1991) and was mildly surprised that it was a fairly decent and humorous film which built upon the story, rather than just seeming to be a sort of franchise cash grab.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils done with colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" extra-heavy toned cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  Here's the first pass with Acrylic paint.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished painting. 

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

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