Day 06: The Horrors of Sesame Street: The Count - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Horrors of Sesame Street - The Count

It's another "The Horrors of Sesame Street"!  This time it's The Count as Count Orlok/Nosferatu.  To paraphrase a joke I saw a while back:

The scariest vampire?  No contest--It's The Count from "Sesame Street"
- "What?  He doesn't count!"
Oh, I assure you he does!

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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.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to do a scan of the mid-point in the painting, so here's the finished painting.

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

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Day 02: Nosferatu (1922) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2024:
Nosferatu (1922)

It's the second day of "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" and so far, so OK!  I usually like to start with the classics, so this time it's the spookiest vampire out there: Rudy Giuliani.  A close second is Nosferatu--the silent era and creepiest of the vampires--even after 100 years, still not topped, IMHO.

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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.  I'm not sure if I like the pencils and first pass better or not.  They both have aspects that work better than the finished painting--a certain looseness that the finished, tightened one seems to be missing.  Ah, well, something to work on and keep in mind in the future.

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

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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.

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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 02: Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2023:
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

I figured I'd start with one of the scariest movie monsters out there: Klaus Kinski!  Oh, wait, I mean Nosferatu.  Well, maybe both.  I usually like to start out with some of the classic monsters and I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nosferatu is one of the creepiest vampires on film.  In this case it's Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of the classic 1922 silent movie.

While I did appreciate most of the remake, there is something about the silent, black-and-white original that adds an extra layer of creepiness.  That janky, jittery, olde tyme film stock contributes an unearthly and somewhat surreal feeling that the remake cannot capture.

I know there are lots of jokes about how could people in horror movies go in [insert creepy environment here], but if I'm invited to a gothic castle and a Count Orlock/Nosferatu lookin' dude answers the door, I'd be running out of there so fast I'd leave a me-shaped hole in the wall like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  I certainly wouldn't be carrying on normal conversations with him like people in the movie.

I did it as an Acrylic Painting and used a relatively limited palette of Titanium White, Paynes Gray, Quinacridone Magenta, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, and Primary Cyan.

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STEP ONE:  Here is a quick outline done in Paynes Gray to suggest the general outline to figure out where everything was going to go on the page.  I painted it 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 first pass with Paynes Gray and Titanium White to model the form as well as the lights and darks for the painting.

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STEP THREE:  And after lots and lots of noodling about, here's the final painting.  Unfortunately, my scanner isn't the best, artist quality one out there, so it loses a lot of the subtlety and is a lot more harsh than it is in person.

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

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Day 02: Nosferatu (1922) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2022:
Nosferatu (1922)

Hey, what's 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween without "Nosferatu" (1922)?  And on the 100th Anniversary of "Nosferatu", no less!  So, Happy Anniversary to Count Orlock--he doesn't look a day over 650 years of age.

"Nosferatu" is still one of the creepiest and most unsettling representations of Vampires on screen.  Lurking, skulking, and a shadowy presence (literally), and the fact it is a silent movie adds to the unease watching it.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the quick pencils on an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of heavy cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  And this is the first pass with acrylic paints, just to establish the general lights and darks and some modeling of the figure.

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STEP THREE:  And the final painting.  I used some black and white colored pencil to add some finishing touches and texture to the painting.  Oh, crud, I just realized that I forgot to re-add the buttons on Nosferatu's jacket which I had painted over.  Ah, well.  Maybe if I don't say anything, no one will notice?  Oops, once again it's me and my big mouth always getting me into trouble.

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Done traditionally with acrylic paint and colored pencil on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 02: Nosferatu (1922) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2021

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2021:
Nosferatu (1922)

Well, since it seems like I start every "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" with the creepiest vampire out there, Max Schreck as Count Orlok/Nosfertu--so, why break from tradition?  I mean, a tradition that is all of three years old.

Because I wasn't paying attention, I scribbled out the rough drawing in pencil and then started working on it with black-and-white gouache, with ink for the large, black areas, and forgot to scan in the progress until it was pretty much done.  So, for those of you interested in the process shots, sorry, better luck next time!

Two days down and... (counts on fingers) 29 more to go!

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This was done with ink and gouache on 8-1/2" x 11" toned cardstock.

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Day 02: Nosferatu (1922) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020

 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2020:
Nosferatu (1922)

It's day two--so far, so good!  I can't do a "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" and NOT include the 1922 "Nosferatu", Directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok/Nosferatu.  Nosferatu is absolutely one of the creepiest depictions of a Vampire.

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick sketch done with ballpoint pen on 11" x 17" gray cardstock.

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STEP TWO:  And here is the halfway point done with ink washes using watercolor brush.

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STEP THREE:  And this is the finished ink wash painting, with highlights done with white Gouache (opaque watercolor).  Some of the warping and buckling on the bottom half of the painting scanned in as lighter gray, almost looking like a slight fog effect.  I'll pretend I did something intentional for that effect.

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Done with Traditional Media of Ink Wash on toned Cardstock

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Day 02: Nosferatu - 31 Days of HELL-o-Ween 2019

31 Days of HELL-o-Ween 2019

Day 02: Nosferatu

Hey, two days in to "31 Days of HELL-o-Ween" 2019--so far, so good!  In this case, it's one of the creepiest vampires on celluloid: Nosferatu.

And, here's the pencils I did with a white charcoal pencil.  I painted over top the pencils with black and white gouache.

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Done with gouache on 8-1/2" x 11" black cardstock.

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Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu (1922)

To round out this Hat Trick of Halloween, here's a drawing of the silent movie classic, Nosferatu (1922).  Max Schreck portrays one of the creepiest and scariest vampires out there IMHO, and the movie is still disturbing.

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Here are the pencils on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock.

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And here are the inks, done with a No. 4 Round Brush and Speedball Super Black India Ink.

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And, finally, I scanned it into Photoshop and colorized it with a MULTIPLY Layer in the same general style as the previous two drawings for "The Invisible Man" and "The Bride of Frankenstein".  I decided to do a third drawing in that style and Monochrome so there was an ersatz RGB Color Scheme of sorts to the series.  (I like to think I'm clever, even when I'm not.  ;-)

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Done with pen-and-ink on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock, colorized in Photoshop.

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