Halloween SCAREblog- Day 7 (The Mummy)

This drawing's based on the Mummy as played by Boris Karloff. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed with the film when I saw it, I was really hoping for more of a monster movie, with Karloff spending more time in the bandages. It's definitely better for him that it wasn't that sort of role, but after seeing some close-up pictures of him in the make-up, you wish there was more of it in the movie...

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 6 (The Exorcist)

For today's offering it's Regan from 'The Exorcist'. Again, super late with this one, but what can you really say about this movie? It's been a long time since I've seen it, but the way the movie slowly builds up the whole possession business, ratcheting up the tension and the creepy atmosphere is excellent. People focus so much on the shocking moments that they forget how the film gets to work at unsettling you right from the very first scene.

I can't remember exactly who, but I'm sure I've met at least a couple of people who claim this film never scared them the first time they saw it, generally this is backed up some stupid claim, like they were 9 years old at the time or that they actually found it quite funny. Another thing I've heard people say is something like "I'm not religious, so no film based around demons or the devil really scares me". It's probably due in part to the reputation it has as "scariest film of all time".

Here's the thing: if you say that 'The Exorcist' did not scare you, or at least unsettle you, then you are a fucking liar.


Fact.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 5 (Wolfman)

Super late with posting this, so no long-winded post today... Just that the original Lon Chaney Jr. 'Wolfman' is awesome, haven't seen the remake, but I'm pretty curious about it. Also, this was a lot of fun to draw.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 4 (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

The first time I saw this movie it absolutely scared the crap out of me. It's such an intense movie, part of that comes from the fact that it's got such a raw, low-budget look to it. Leatherface himself is a pretty creepy dude, you see just enough of his face underneath the mask that you know you don't really want to see the rest, plus that last shot him at the end of the movie is incredible.

This drawing's a little rougher than the others, I was going to clean it up, but I got attached to the way it looked and just kept adding detail to the original sketch.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 3 (Creature from the Black Lagoon)

Colour! We haven't seen you in ages, what a welcome surprise! Come in and stay a while. Today's drawing is Gill-man from 'Creature from the Black Lagoon', a really fun guy to draw as it turns out. As far as iconic monster designs go, old Gill-man's got to be up there and I've wanted to draw him for a while now. It would have been nice to work into the pose a little bit and get the perspective looking a little more dynamic, but I've got a schedule to keep...

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 2 (Bride Of Frankenstein)

Here's today's piece from 'Bride Of Frankenstein'! Definitely one of my favourites from what little I've seen of the Universal monster movies.

A little more of a comic book style on this one... Man, my inking really needs work... I've also included a couple of studies I did before I did the main piece. Elsa Lanchester has a pretty unique face, and I'm not convinced about how much the drawing looks like her, but it was a fun piece to do.

Halloween SCAREblog- Day 1 (Nosferatu)...

I know, I know, the name sucks, but come on, it's 2 am on a Friday night... SCAREblog was the best I could come up with. Ok, so here's the deal: back in 2007, James Rolfe over at Cinemassacre must have thought he didn't have enough projects on the go, so he decided that he would put a short series together chronicling the history of horror films, calling it "Monster Madness". He would post a new video every day in October, leading up to Halloween, with each one examining a film he considered important to the genre, making it like a really cool little advent calendar. I don't know how he finds the time, but he's done one every year since then. It's kind of become a tradition and something that I really look forward to each October.  

So, I figured I'd join in on the fun in my own way by doing a drawing every day in the month of October, themed around some of my favourite horror movies/monsters/characters/whatevers. If old Jimmy Rolfe can do a video for every day, I figure I can at LEAST do a drawing... They're not going to be in any particular order or anything, the only criteria is that I have to have SEEN the movie the character/scene/whatever is from. Let's see how it goes... If I manage this for the entire month, I'll be astounded. Day 1 is 'Nosferatu'!

It's off to a bit of a shaky start with this one... I have to admit it was a bit of a rushed job, but I totally forgot that it was October 1st already. I saw 'Nosferatu' years and years ago... I couldn't have been any older than 12 and it was showing on TV in the middle of the day. Despite the fact that I was watching it in broad daylight, it was still incredibly creepy, the movie feels like you're watching someone's nightmare. The scene this drawing's from is where Count Orlock appears in the distance and walks towards the camera, coming in through the arched bedroom door. As a kid, this kind of thing terrified me... Being alone and completely vulnerable with this creature slowly and inevitably coming to get you. The fact that the camera doesn't move only adds to the feeling of helplessness and dread, making you feel like you're rooted to the spot, but unable to look away. That scene really stuck with me, so I figured it'd be a fitting way to start the month. As the days go on, I'm hoping to use this as an excuse to experiment a little bit with different styles and get quicker at turning drawings around. This is quite similar to a lot of other drawings I've been doing lately, but at least it gets things started!