Night of the Cauldron Extension

 

The last chapter of the Night of the Cauldron event has taken much longer to write than I originally thought.  As I was writing the final sequences, the scene tripled in size.  As a consequence, I'm adding one more chapter to accommodate the length of the finale.

Psyche Delectus: Bird Shaman

He knows the silence of air,
the mystery of wind.

Night of the Cauldron: Part VI, The Scarecrow's Lantern

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part V, Bone Chimes Spider

Night of the Cauldron

Part VI

The Scarecrow's Lantern

Henry watched the headlights of the cars blur as they passed in the firetruck.  He could already see the green glow of the Woodsboro subdivision from the highway.

"Where's this at again?"  He asked Seth, the driver.

"Near the corner of Elm and Myers."  They sped up the exit ramp.  Several cars before them moved quickly into the emergency lane.  Henry double checked his coat and helmet.

Henry wasn't sure what they were going to find at the site.  The dispatcher's relay of the emergency calls had been confusing.  Some people had called about a column of green fire and other calls reported animal attacks and dangerous Halloween pranks.  Animal control had already been alerted and paramedics were on their way as well.  His truck and the one following would arrive first.

Hallowscream 2013

Here's this year's issue of Hallowscream!  Go to the Hallowscream Page for a free download of the creepy goodness or check out their Facebook page to show your support!

Exhumed: Partial Skull

Following along with Halloween and All Saints Day, here's a skull I dug up for this weeks Exhumed.  This Partial Skull was one of the first pieces I began playing with when I began exhuming my older works.  As I played with the color and transparency in this piece, I began to realize that a lot more was possible and just let the Photoshop paintbrush guide me.  Once I added the yellow highlights on the right side, the lightbulb went off in my head and I knew I had to explore this style further!  In working on this piece, I also realized that I am a total geek for color effects.  :-)

{8.33x8.38  Sharpie and Ballpoint Pen with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

Night of the Cauldron Delays

The last two pieces for Night of the Cauldron are going to be delayed a couple of days.  These two pieces are taking a bit more time than I anticipated, but I'm plugging away at them and will hopefully have them both to you before the end of Day of the Dead.  In the meantime here's a teaser for the next piece.

Soon.

From the Archives: Winged Skull

Here's some recent sketch play from Adobe Illustrator.  I discovered a beautiful thing called the blob brush tool.  It allows for much more organic vector images.  It's a beautiful thing.

{Digital Images created in Adobe Illustrator}

 

Night of the Cauldron: Part V, The Bone Chimes

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part IV, The Pumpkin Bogey

Night of the Cauldron

Part V

The Bones Chimes

Theo walked along behind his brother and sister.  Martin and Stacey rushed up the sidewalk to the next house for another batch of candy.  They giggled as they ran.  Stacey was dressed as a bright sunflower and Martin was the Red Power Ranger.  They disappeared behind a large framework of orange lights in the shape of a Jack O Lantern.  He heard them yell "Trick or Treat!" followed by laughter.

Theo sighed.  He wore no costume of his own, embracing the designation of adult for the evening.  He had planned to dress as Batman, but he had also planned a different Halloween night altogether.  Just before sunset, his mother had thrown him the wrench.

"You've got to take Martin and Stacey Trick or treating Theo.  I'm sorry, I know it sucks, but they called me into work."

Night of the Cauldron: Part IV, The Pumpkin Bogey

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part III, Ghosts of the Tree

Night of the Cauldron

Part IV

The Pumpkin Bogey

Alicia paced back and forth through her room as she put on her costume.  Eric had been hiding beneath his sister's bed for at least fifteen minutes waiting for the right moment.  He'd snuck in when she'd gone to the bathroom and slid quietly underneath.  He had to stifle his giggles several times while he waited, holding his hand tightly over his mouth.  He'd put on part of his own costume for the scare, a pair of fur covered latex werewolf claws.  He'd be rinsing the taste out of his mouth all night, but it was worth it.  Finally, Alicia stopped pacing and stood in front of her chest of drawers.

Eric jutted his arm out from under the bed and grabbed Alicia's ankle.  He growled like an angry dog as he did so.  Alicia screamed and leapt onto the bed.  Eric laughed and pushed himself out the opposite side.  He flew out the door before Alicia could catch him.  He was in the kitchen is seconds, Alicia just steps behind him.

Psyche Delectus: The Robe of Mysteries

All our tomorrows emerge from within.

Night of the Cauldron: Part III, Ghosts of the Tree

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part II, The Turnip Lanterns

Night of the Cauldron

Part III

Ghosts of the Tree

Jimmy ran down the sidewalk to the next house.  His bag of candy sloshed at his side, knocking against his furry chaps.  As he ran, his cowboy hat flew off his head.

"James Wallace!"  His mother called, using the tone that meant he'd better stop whatever it was he was doing and wait for her instruction.  He ran back to pick up his cowboy hat.  He scooped it up and tried to get it evenly back on his head.  Soon his mother was beside him.  She leveled the hat and pushed it down firmly in place.

"Much obliged ma'am" he said in his best cowboy voice and grinned up at her.  His mother smiled and directed him back towards the next house.  He walked slowly in front of her with his legs bowed and his hands firmly on the toy guns at his sides.  They both laughed.  "Gotta go rustle up some candy!"

Night of the Cauldron: Part II, The Turnip Lanterns

Continued from Night of the Cauldron: Part I, The Cauldron

Night of the Cauldron

Part II

The Turnip Lanterns

Margaret pulled her skirt free as she slammed the car door closed. Chuck moved around to join her.

"I didn't get anything on my skirt, did I?"

"Nothing there." He said without really looking.  Margaret adjusted her bustier and secured her princess crown.  Chuck, her Prince Charming, lit a cigarette and took a long draw.

"Gimme some," she said.  He passed the cigarette to her and lit himself another, almost blowing his exhale in her face.  "Really?"  He turned away and examined the night sky.  They smoked in silence but for the occasional labored exhale.

"Why are we even here?"  He didn't look at her.

"We don't have to stay long.  Let's just get through this okay."  She pleaded.

Night of the Cauldron: Part I, The Cauldron

Night of the Cauldron
Part I

The Cauldron

Traci brought the freshly carved Jack o' lantern out of the house.  She set it upon the railing at the edge of the deck.  She moved the bowl of candy to the small table beside the steps.  Turning the Jack o' Lantern so that it fully faced the driveway, she paused to admire her handwork. She adjusted her witches hat and her black skirt, being careful not to knock off her fake fingernails.  She was ready for the trick-or-treaters.

Her father was preparing a fire bowl further back on the deck.  Suddenly there was cackling laughter behind her.  She started and sighed, glaring at the source.  Hanging from the fence at the deck's edge was a creepy mechanical grim reaper that cackled, lit up, and shook whenever there was movement nearby.  She hated it, but her father enjoyed how it scared the other kids when they came up the side stairs to get their treats.  She swiped at its tattered robe and stuck her tongue out at it.  The reaper shook its scythe in mock menace.

Exhumed: Autumn Winds

With the style of the original image for Autumn Winds I was alluding to antique Halloween images.  Keeping that impetus in mind for the color version, I used a muted color palette to make the final image look aged.

{8x6.05  Sharpie with tones and colors added in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Mummy Head and Spirit Crowd

Here are a couple of more recent sketches from some time spent waiting in a hospital.  I also got several excellent ideas for a zombie story during that same time.

{Ball Point Pen}

Featured Creature: Gentleman Death

Gentleman Death steals babies breath

and old men in their sorrows.

He takes our moments then and now

and all of our tomorrows.
He comes for those asleeping,

he comes for those awake,

he comes for all in their good time,

disruption is his wake.

His touch is sometimes sudden,

or gentle as falling snow
but never is the time of it
a thing that we can know.

When we hear his raspy voice
acalling on the wind

we know that he has come to take

an enemy or friend.

Sometimes his touch is a great gift

but many times a sorrow

when we see not the reason for

that taking of tomorrow.

{Digital Images created in Adobe Photoshop}

UPDATE 091014:  A permutation of this piece now available on a tshirt design and other cool paraphernalia at my Neatoshop!  Drop by and check it out! 

Psyche Delectus: The Manticore

If the forests of confusion he waits,
hungry for the flesh of men.

Exhumed: Reexamining the Dead

This week I'm beginning one of the new features I mentioned previously in the Featured Creature Last Bites for 2012-2013.  With Exhumed posts, I'll be digging up older pieces and exploring them with fresh color and tones.  I'll be pulling from the backlog of images I've posted on Zombie Bites, ranging from older From the Archives posts to older Featured Creature posts.  Exhumed posts will focus mainly on the process of taking a drawn image and bringing it to the next level with tones and color.  The posts will be generally infrequent, but I'll try to keep them as regular as possible.  Exhumed will be appearing on Fridays.

Coming Soon: Night of the Cauldron

Something is brewing at Zombie Bites.  There is a strange green glow beyond the falling autumn leaves and voices echo on the wind.  Last year, Zombie Bites was haunted by the Halloween Zombie Outbreak.  This year, strange magick is afoot.  something is bringing Halloween to life.  It's the Second Annual Halloween Outbreak: Night of the Cauldron!  Night of the Cauldron posts will be part of the regularly scheduled Featured Creature.  Come check it out the week before Halloween!

From the Archives: Moody Sketches

Here are a couple of moody developmental sketches from a zombie comic I was working on some time ago.  I was planning something grandiose at the time, but this one may still emerge as a single story.

{8x5.33 Sharpie}

Featured Creature Delay

I'm tied up this week putting the finishing touches on coloring for The Serpentine Cure for Skin Crawling Comics, so this weeks Featured Creature is postponed until next week.  Sorry for the delay.  See you soon.

Psyche Delectus: The Furnace of War

It seeks only to make more of itself.

From the Archives: Eagle of Vz Sketches

Here are some of my developmental sketches for my recent Featured Creature post, Eagle of Vz.  These were done several months before the finished image was completed.

{8x6.05  Sharpie}

Featured Creature: The Dirthag

In the forest dark and deep,
awaits the enemy of sleep.
In her hag hole far beneath,
under leafroot and earthen sheath,
the Dirthag lurks with baleful eyes
the toad and writhing snake her spies.
She waits with eager wringing hands
counting as each footfall lands.
With gnarled tree limb arms so fast
She makes that urgent gasp your last.
The Dirthag drags all to her cave
The fearful, ignorant, and brave.
When she has gnawed the bones all clean,
the Dirthag, she begins again.

{8x5.33  Digital Images created in Adobe Photoshop}

Psyche Delectus: Baël

Invisibility his gift,
his cup shreds the veil
and renders the astonishment of vision.