Drawtober has been an “art challenge” of sorts among the internet art community for a while now. I love seeing the different styles and takes on Halloween subjects throughout the month. I’ve personally never joined in because I don’t want to force myself to draw 31 sketches I’m not particularly proud of. I’d rather put in the time and effort on a few finished pieces I’d proudly stand behind. So that’s what I did this year.
I decided to draw one piece a week for the month of October (I ended up doing a couple more though). When deciding how I wanted to approach this, I just put pen to paper and see what came out first. My first drawing, a lady vampire eating her date, reminded me of some horror comics from the 1950s and 60s. To strike inspiration, I delved into some horror titles of the past such as House of Mysteries, Haunted Horror, and The Vault of Horror. These titles must have some of the most under appreciated artists in the comic medium. I assume the subject matter is what makes this niche already much more of one…but their use of color, emotion, and composition is way ahead of their time. Much like the art of Will Eisner but, you know, with corpses.
These were originally going to be in black and white, but studying the artwork of the above mentioned horror titles, I just needed to color them. They don’t quite have the emotion or “pop” of the original artwork I’m trying to reference, but I’m proud of them none the less. And it’s taught me another “style” to be comfortable with. So there’s a glimpse into my own little Artober challenge. Have a happy and safe Halloween, fellow ghouls!
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