What to draw this Halloween
Halloween. That time of the year when the dark and fiendish side of things becomes the norm and everyone revels in some light occultism and dress up. Pumpkins, fish net stockings, misty fog and cackles abound.
But if you’re anything like me the sight of orange and black everywhere doesn’t exactly scream ‘now that is sick’.
In searching for things to inspire our own Halloween activities, I thought I’d share some findings with you that could help spark (spook?) some of your own creative juices and maybe we can all get away with making some cool things this October that doesn’t feel too pumpkin patch.
Go creepy instead of spooky
Mood is such a big part of what makes great artworks great. If you’re trying to evoke something a little more complex, downplay the more typical conventions of the Halloween aesthetic and ramp up the mood with softer tones, darker bits and some grain.
Art by @BS_artsss (Twitter)
Try some unconventional creature design
Ghosts, ghouls and graveyard folk are super fun but also stock standard. Why not try conjuring up a different kind of creature and differentiating your #Spooktober with something unexpected.
Looking to draw a vampire in a fight? Try a harpy instead! A werewolf? What about a centaur! A witch? A necromancer could be cool!
Obviously these creature variants do bleed into each other and overlap quite a bit, and that’s good because nuanced characters should is all about pooling from different sources to create something cool, but going at them via a different angle can help you create something interesting from the jump.
Art by Sunshine Kim.
Get new colour palettes
Colour theory is daunting. Let’s be real. But if you can get the hang of sampling and switching things out to effect some variation and intrigue in your piece, you’re in good stead.
There is an excess of colour wheel tutorials available online that can help guide you in making intuitive choices as it pertains to shades, tones and hues, but sometimes you just want to select a set of things that look nice and try your hand at placing them into a scene.
Check out the sites below to get some colour inspo on the fly and try using them in your drawings to
https://www.schemecolor.com/halloween-themed-color-schemes.php
https://colorhunt.co/palettes/halloween
