Halloween From the Archives: Ghost in the Doorway

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

For this piece I wanted to create an uncomplicated image.  I wanted the image to be mostly darkness to focus on the ghostly glow.  I did not want any details to be lost in the darkness so I adopted a clean and simple style.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Three Sisters

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

Here we have three antebellum ghost sisters.  Are they merely ghosts or something more substantial and horrific?

{11.11x7.4,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Whisperers

Excerpted From Marge Hollander's Digest of Demons and Devils: 

"Whisperers are dire phantoms that will lead humans psychically and emotionally astray even unto death.  A Whisperer will seek out a victim that is already emotionally agitated or distraught and begin to misdirect their emotions towards the goals of the Whisperer.  It is unknown exactly how the phantoms control their victims, but those who have survived the persuasions of these demonic ghosts claim to have heard whispering voices and to have encountered vaporous apparitions.

From the Archives: Unused Ghost

Here's a rough graphite sketch that was being developed for the Night of the Cauldron stories from the 2013 Halloween Outbreak.  Everything about this one was a little too whimsical and not quite creepy enough for me so I went back to the drawing board and multiplied the ghosts.

{Graphite}

Zombie Bites New Abstract: Lake of the Dead

Its waters hold the secrets of beyond,
but the dead are greedy with their truths.
Knowledge comes from only a sip
but at a dreadful price.

Featured Creature: Spirit Path

"Between the mundane world and the land of shades there are many paths.  On these trails, the two realms collapse onto each other like stacks of magazines dropped and scattered.  Many a strange apparition exists on the twilight passages that lead beyond, but few have returned to share what they have seen."

From the Sketchbook Archives: Halloween Poster Pieces

Here are some unused sketches and color elements for a Halloween poster from several years ago.  Much of the imagery here is inspired by early twentieth century Halloween paraphernalia.

Featured Creature: Autumn Winds

With this week's creature, we're taking a brief respite from the Zombie outbreak and paying homage to the Halloween paraphernalia from the early twentieth century.  I've always enjoyed the rustic feel of those old Halloween decorations and cards.  They seem so odd to me.  I am fascinated by the jigsaw logic of putting a Jack-o-lantern head on a ghost body.  Fun stuff!

Haunted Asheville Tour on the Autumn Equinox

On the night of the Autumn Equinox, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Asheville, North Carolina and take the Haunted Asheville walking tour with a group of friends.  It was GREAT!  Our tour guide, Tad, was very friendly and shared many interesting and creepy facts about all the sites we visited.  I found out lots of new creepy information I never knew about Asheville.  If your in the area and looking for a good haunted tour, I give this one five stars!

Visitor

Space folds like draped cloth and light falls into the void created when the visitor arrives.

From the Sketchbook Archives: Purple Ghost

This image is similar to a previous piece with the same theme. I've wondered several times if I were picking up on some ghost or ambient presence in the house where I used to live.  Both drawings were done in that space.  There was a definite other sadness to my experience with the drawing of each of these images.  I rarely got anymore information each time I drew other than that strong feeling of sorrow.