Day 13: The Breakfast Club: Carmella Creeper - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Carmella Creeper

Whew, got it done just in time and an hour-and-a-half to spare (well, about one hour by the time you factor in the scanning, clean-up, and whatnot).  Although, I did think it would be fun to set it to post at 11:59:59pm just to add a bit of suspense.

In my dotage, I do have to admit that Carmella Creeper somehow slipped past my Monster Cereal radar.  Well, that and my attempts to avoid sugary cereals, so I don't pay as much attention to that part of the food aisle as I did a years ago--aside from a brief notice that it is that time of year when the Monster Cereals are back out again (which I find reassuring, for some nostalgic reason). 

Anyhoo, here is "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) as Carmella Creeper.  Although, she seems to look a lot like the goth lady on NCIS, Abby Sciuto (played by Pauley Perrette... Yes, I had to Google it 'cuz I didn't know the answer to either of those questions).

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 12" x 16" canvas @ 300dpi. 

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STEP TWO:  I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.

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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.

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Day 11: The Breakfast Club: Yummy Mummy - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Yummy Mummy

It's Yummy Mummy, based on the original "The Mummy" (1932) with Boris Karloff (y'know, Frankenstein's Monster).  The colors were just getting too muddy when I tried to do a more realistic shading and I wanted those colors to pop, so I went with a completely different painting scheme.  Almost a sort of color solarized effect.  It... it definitely stands out.  I'm unsure if it was successful, but here it is nonetheless.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi.  I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.

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STEP TWO:  I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.

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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.

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Day 10: The Breakfast Club: Boo-Berry - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Boo-Berry

It's Boo-Berry, this time as the "Phantom of the Opera" (1925).  I'll be honest, I wanted to do "The Invisible Man" (1933), but with both "The Invisible Man" and "The Mummy" coming up for Yummy-Mummy seemed a little too close together.  Also, Phantom and Ghost seemed like enough of a connection to hang Boo-Berry's pork-pie hat upon.  And bow-tie.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi.  I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.

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STEP TWO:  I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.

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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.

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Day 09: The Breakfast Club: Count Chocula - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Count Chocula

Hey, hey, everybody!  Next up on the Universal Monster Cereal mash-up is Bela Lugosi's "Dracula" as Count Chocula.  Two down, four more to go.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi.  I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.

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STEP TWO:  I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.

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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.

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Day 08: The Breakfast Club: Frankenberry - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Frankenberry

This is an idea that I've had previously--using the Universal Monsters as the Monster Cereal characters--but this time I am doing all the Breakfast Club in a larger, painted format.  First out of the gate is Frankenstein's Monster as Frankenberry.

Like "The Horrors of Sesame Street", I'm just doing the digital pencils and finished painting.  Alas, for these larger ones, I'm just painting as fast as I can to stay on schedule. Sigh...

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi.  I printed it out on trimmed down 11" x 14" paper.

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STEP TWO:  I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.

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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.

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The Breakfast Club (Fruit Brute)

Fruit Brute

Well, I **FINALLY** got around to finishing the last of the Monster Cereals.  For Fruit Brute, I decided to go in an opposite direction.  Rather than a monstrous werewolf, I figured having him as an effete and cultured character would be more amusing.

I hope Limpey isn't too disappointed... :-)

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STEP ONE:  To try and keep everything somewhat consistent, I used a mixture of size and gesso on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent illustration board.  I drew everything out with vine charcoal, charcoal pencil, and carbon pencil, and used my kneaded eraser to lift out highlights and sharpen any areas which got a bit smudgey (one of the dangers of charcoal, after all).  When I was finished with the drawing, I scanned it into PhotoShop.

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I created a new layer set to "Multiply" and did a gradient from orange to purple.

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STEP THREE:  I added the flat colors on the same Layer, which was still set to "Multiply".

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STEP FOUR:  Within the flat colors, I pushed some highlights and shadows, flattened the layers, and called it "Done!". 

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent 215 illustration board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop.

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The Breakfast Club (Yummy Mummy)

Yummy Mummy

Well, time to get back to work on finishing up The Breakfast Club for the Monster Cereals.  Here's Yummy Mummy! 

Here's the process...

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STEP ONE:  As usual, I started with a piece of gessoed and sized (glue) Crescent Illustration Board.  I used vine charcoal to lay out the drawing and place some general shading.  Vine charcoal is very soft and can be blended easily, as well as lifted off for highlights.  Then I would darken areas using a soft carbon pencil.  When it was finished, I scanned it into PhotoShop and began the process of adding color the drawing.

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I added a Layer set to MULTIPLY and did a gradient from Orange on the bottom, to Purple on the top.  The previous drawings for The Breakfast Club were all monochromatic (one color), so coloring them was relatively simple.  Yummy Mummy, on the other hand, is a near-rainbow--so lots and LOTS of color on this one!

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STEP THREE:  I added more color to the background with orange, red, and purple, trying to keep in line with the multi-color design of Yummy Mummy.  I then laid out flat colors for Yummy Mummy's bandages.

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STEP FOUR:  Within the MULTIPLY Layer, I added the highlights and shadows.  I also added another layer for few, extra white highlights.

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent Illustration Board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop. 

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The Breakfast Club (Count Chocula)

Count Chocula 

Next up for the Monster Cereal characters, here's Count Chocula.  I had re-watched the 1922 classic, "Nosferatu", this past Halloween (IMHO, one of the creepiest versions of a vampire yet put on screen), so it was obvious for Count Chocula to be modeled after him, of course.  As the movie was relatively fresh in my mind, I didn't bother with any photo references this time around, either.

For those interested in the process, well, you know the drill... :-)

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STEP ONE:  I used a mixture of gesso and size (glue) on a 5" x 7-1/2" piece of Crescent 102 illustration board.  I then drew out the image with vine charcoal, charcoal pencil, and carbon pencil, using a kneaded eraser to lift out any highlights, or to lighten an area (although, many times, I use the kneaded eraser to draw almost as much as my pencils/charcoal).  Once finished, I imported it into PhotoShop.

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I created a new layer set to "Multiply" and did a linear gradient from a lighter brown on the bottom to a darker brown on the top.

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STEP THREE:  To keep everything monochromatic, on the gradient layer I did highlights with light browns and white, and shadows with darker browns.  I really tried to push the darks and lights, to give it more of a sense of forced drama--trying to give it a little bit of the movie "Nosferatu" feel to it.

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent 102 illustration board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop.

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The Breakfast Club (Booberry)

BooBerry

Continuing on with the re-imagining of the Monster Cereal characters, here's BooBerry.  I pictured him as more of an undead zombie/ghost in a rumpled fedora and bow tie.  Again, no real photo references and, again, it probably shows.

Here's the process for those who are interested... And, if you aren't, why are you still reading this?  :-)

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STEP ONE:  Once more, I used a mixture of gesso and size (glue) on a 5" x 7-1/2" piece of Crescent 102 illustration board (I have a bunch of 10" x 15" pieces that I cut into quarters).  I then used vine charcoal and carbon pencil to draw out BooBerry.  To give it more of a ghostly/ethereal look to it, I left a few more lost and softened edges, and also left many areas in low contrast.  Once it was done, I scanned it into my computer and imported it into PhotoShop. 

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I created a new layer set to "Multiply" and did a linear gradient from a lighter blue on the bottom to a darker blue on the top. 

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STEP THREE:  Next, I did some highlights with white and light blue on the gradient layer, along with some darker blue shadows.  Finally, I created a new layer on top set to "Normal" and used white to push some highlights on his face.

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent 102 illustration board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop.

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The Breakfast Club (Frankenberry)

Frankenberry

One of the ways I'm hoping to do more posts on this blog is to do little things between the bigger projects I'm currently working on.  While doodling, I thought it would be amusing to do a re-imagining of the Monster Cereal characters; in this case Frankenberry as a literal (literary?) Frankenstein's Monster.  

I didn't bother with a reference picture in this case (and it may show), but I think it has an almost Fritz Lang sort of feel to it.  

Here's the process for those who are interested....

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STEP ONE:  I used a mixture of gesso and size (glue) on a 5" x 7-1/2" piece of Crescent 102 illustration board.  Then I drew Frankenberry with charcoal and carbon pencil.  The gesso/glue mixture had a good tooth to it so the charcoal worked well.  Also, you could really lift off the charcoal if needed and erase almost back to the white underneath.  In this case, it was small enough to throw on my scanner and import it into PhotoShop.

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STEP TWO:  In PhotoShop, I created a new layer set to "Multiply", which will save the line work and shading while overlaying color over top.  I did a simple linear gradient from a light magenta on the bottom, to a darker magenta on the top to match the lighting from below.

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STEP THREE:  Next, I did some highlights with white and light magenta on the gradient layer, pushed a few shadows with a dark magenta on a separate "Multiply" layer, and a few little touch-ups and final highlights on the top layer set to "Normal".  I figured it was good enough and here it is.

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This was done with charcoal and carbon pencil on a 5" x 7-1/2" Crescent 102 illustration board, then colored digitally in PhotoShop.

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