Halloween SCAREblog- Day 31 (Halloween)

So this is it, the final drawing, 'Halloween'. I thought it made sense, despite the fact that 'Halloween' can't really be called the first slasher movie, it's probably the one film that's influenced the genre the most. Well, despite missing a couple of days, I'm reasonably happy with how the whole SCAREblog thing went. I do feel like I've improved a bit and learned a few things. It's definitely made me resolve to draw more on a daily basis and I've already got a few ideas for what I'm going to do next. In saying that, this has really taken it out of me at times, so I think I'll take a little break for a day or two. Happy Halloween and I'll catch you later!

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 30 (The Descent)

Awesome movie. Such a creepy moment.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 29 (Ghostbusters)

Decided to try something pretty minimal with this one... I started doing the linework and stuff for this after sketching out the roughs, but it was looking pretty similar to a lot of the other stuff that I'd already done. It occurred to me that it might be cool if I had each of the Ghostbusters represented just by their silhouettes and a few blocked in areas here and there. I think it worked ok for the most part, but it's definitely not perfect...

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 28 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

First of three posts today (hopefully). Doug Jones as one of the Gentlemen, from the Buffy episode 'Hush'. I actually had another idea for a Buffy-related drawing that I was gonna do, but I knew something like this would be much quicker, which is important since I need to catch up...

This episode won some awards and stuff, and even people who weren't that into the show will know about "that one where everyone loses their voice" and as such it tends to be regarded as being the best Buffy ever got, which I'd say is debatable... As a stand-alone episode, 'Hush' is pretty strong, which definitely works in it's favour, as opposed something like 'Passion', where you need to be more familiar with the characters to get the full impact.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 27 (Let the Right One In)

Only one more weekend to go, then it's the end of the SCAREblog... Nuts.

Today it's 'Let the Right One In', a really cool movie, as innumerable sources have pointed out at length. The image that really became synonymous with the film is when Eli steps into the apartment uninvited and starts bleeding all over the place. It's a nice take on that aspect of vampire lore, most of the time it's like there's a force-field or something physically preventing the vampire from entering.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 26 (28 Days Later)

Originally this post's title was going to ideally say "Day 28 (28 Days Later)", but I had to be a jerk and fall behind. It seemed more fitting to post it on October 28th, since I started this project 28 days ago... It really doesn't feel like a month's gone past at all! It's been so hectic.

Mostly taken from a photograph, the drawing's from the scene where Cillian Murphy gets chased by a dude on fire. It's such a great visual, but the reference I had wasn't great, so I mostly made up the guy in the background, apart from the basic pose. There's a lot about this I'm not happy with, but still, only 3 more days to go! Mental.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 25 (Shaun of the Dead)

Ok, the plan is to catch up with the days I've missed on Saturday, then finish up with the grand finale on Sunday. While not a great plan, it is certainly a plan...

Today it's Simon Pegg as Shaun from 'Shaun of the Dead'. He looks puzzled. Allegedly.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 24 (Braindead)

Ok, we're now two days behind... How did that happen? Actually, I know exactly how it happened. Things right now are super stressful, yesterday I just could not draw for the life of me. Over the next day or two, stress levels will either dramatically rise or drop, so that should be bags of fun, right? It would be awesome if it could just be Christmas right now and all these issues had already sorted themselves out.

Well, that's the first whiny post... Today the 'McD! Sketchblog' became a real man in the eyes of the blogging community.

So yeah, today's drawing is of the Kung Fu Priest from 'Braindead'. He has a name in the film, but I prefer to just call him Kung Fu Priest. I knew I wanted to include 'Braindead' as one of the drawings of the day, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I remembered this dude. This is a lot rougher than what I would usually post, but yeah... Stressing.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 23 (Hellraiser)

'Hellraiser' is another example of a movie where I knew very little about it as a kid, but was scared more by the idea of it than the actual film. I only ever saw the cover to the video when I was a kid and the image of Pinhead can't help but stick in your mind.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 22 (The Silence of the Lambs)

I first saw 'The Silence of the Lambs' as a teenager and was absolutely fascinated by Hannibal Lecter. He's just one of those characters. It's that mix of extreme intelligence and a strange kind of physicality that Anthony Hopkins brings to the part that makes it so memorable, every scene he's in glues you to the screen.

This drawing's from the moment when he finally escapes from his cell. It's a significant scene for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because up until this point we've only been told about how dangerous Lecter is, but all of a sudden he's out of his cage and you get to see what he's capable of. It's a scene that stays with you.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 21 (Hellboy)

Another sketchy looking offering today... Mike Mignola's signature character, Hellboy. I felt like doing something a little looser and more comic book-ish today and he's just a lot of fun to draw, so that's that.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 20 (Gremlins)

Just a quick one today... A bit of a cheat at that, since this is actually a sketch of Mohawk from the second movie. Not a lot to say here... 'Gremlins' is awesome.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 19 (The Thing)

Just a short entry today after yesterday's mammoth rant, 'The Thing' is not only one of my favourite horror movies, but one of my favourite movies period. I always remember the scene this drawing's based on, but there's so many memorable images and moments that it was hard to decide.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 18 (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

You can't have Jason without Freddy it seems...

Right before I started drawing this I had a quick read through the entry on Freddy Krueger on Wikipedia. In it you can read about how Wes Craven's original draft of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' painted Freddy as a child molester before he was burned to death by the enraged parents of the victims. Wes Craven re-wrote the screenplay after a number of high-profile child molestation cases in California, since he didn't want to be seen as being exploitative. So, Freddy was changed to a child murderer instead. I haven't seen it, but apparently the remake of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' goes with the child molester angle.

Man, I just don't know... Which one of those is worse? I remember that a while back I was talking to a friend of mine from university (hi, Gareth) and we got onto the subject of how people can feel affectionate towards characters in film and media that are completely reprehensible. I can't think of a better example of this than Freddy Krueger, the dude is either a paedophile or a child murderer, pick your poison. When you think about it, it's absurd that a character like this has become as well-known and well-loved as he is... The dude's a paedophile for Christ's sake! In the case of someone like Jason, you can see how you could feel sympathetic towards him, he wasn't always a crazy, super-powered, zombie, mass-murderer. Freddy, on the other hand, was always a sick bastard. If there was some doubt as to whether or not he'd actually done anything wrong, that would be one thing, but when it's as cut and dry as this... Man, I just don't know.

Obviously as the series wore on, he became a much more comical character, and as John Cleese once pointed out: it doesn't matter how much of a bastard a character is, if he makes the audience laugh, they'll think that somewhere deep down he's not such a bad guy. But Krueger IS a bad guy! He's maybe the worst guy ever! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't be allowed to make the villain of your horror film a vile, creepy, awful person; I just wonder what it says when a character like that becomes as well-loved as Freddy is.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 17 (Friday the 13th)

Speaking of slashers, today's drawing is Jason Voorhees of the 'Friday the 13th' series fame. I'm bending the rules on this one slightly, since (to my shame) the only one of these movies I've seen is 'Jason X'. Also, as anyone who knows anything about slasher movies knows, Jason wasn't the killer until the second movie and he didn't even start wearing the mask until the third, so this is dedicated more to the entire series, rather than one particular movie. I'll probably have a go at this dude again at some point, he was a lot of fun to draw.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 16 (Candyman)

A horror film you don't really hear people mention too much these days, but is actually a pretty damn good movie: 'Candyman'. I remember when I was a kid me and my friends would dare each other to say his name into the mirror... We'd always hear about little snippets of horror movies and kind of build up our own ideas about what the film was really like based on what we knew. Usually the film I imagined was much more frightening than the real thing. As a character, Candyman never really became an enduring horror icon like Freddy or Jason... I guess it's because he didn't really have something like Freddy's glove or Jason's mask... He just had that weird coat and a hook for a hand... Kinda lame, really.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 15 (Ring)

Second post today! Sadako from 'Ring'. It's a great concept and really unsettling, but the whole "creepy-little-girl" angle has become totally played out and it's tough not to just groan whenever you see it in a horror movie these days. Nevertheless, Sadako is still super-creepy... I learned recently that the strange jerky walk she does was a result of filming the actress walking backwards and then reversing the footage... I love hearing about simple, effective tricks like that.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 14 (Don't Look Now)

Yet another Friday proves to be my downfall... Curses. Well, this time I've actually managed to get two drawings done, so at least I'm still just one behind... First off, there's this sketch of 'Don't Look Now'. It's a weird film, but  it definitely deserves a watch, whatever your tastes are. It's quite slow and very much in the same vein as 'Rosemary's Baby' or 'Ring' in that it's strength is in it's atmosphere rather than outright shocks. Donald Sutherland's great in it and there's so many memorable scenes, but the opening really stuck with me and that's where this drawing comes from. I'm tentatively moving towards finally doing a full-on digital painting, which will probably be something I'll focus on more after this month's over.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 13 (Alien)

Another classic, vividly remember watching this for the first time on TV at midnight (incidentally, midnight's probably the best time to watch just about any film). Fantastic atmosphere and the best film in the series by a country mile, you can't praise 'Alien' enough. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for today's drawing...Really disappointed with how this one turned out... Tried to go for something quite stark, almost graphic, but it hasn't worked out at all. In the end I didn't put enough time or thought into it.

Never mind, better luck next time.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 12 (Rosemary's Baby)

One of my favourite horror films of all time and another excuse to draw Mia Farrow. I love this movie, and the impact from that final scene comes entirely from Mia's performance.

There's a lot of problems with this drawing, but it's a bit of a departure from what I usually do... Really enjoyable, though.