Eerie things and spooky stuff?

[Mary_mari]

I've been working on a character for my "For Something Unwelcome"...'series', I guess you would say, and I've encountered a tiny problem. Has anyone heard of Black Pete (or Black Peter)?? There are several myths behind him, but the most common one is that every Christmas when Santa Claus visits all the good childrens' houses, Black Pete embarks to visit all the bad children. Anyway, I've tried recreating him myself, but he seems to turn out not as scary as I'd like him to be. If anyone's seen my drawings on the Drawing Board, you know the style I'm working with(^^).

Down to the point, I would greatly appreciate your own opinions on what items/elements/articles/colours are spooky to you in order for me to portray a modern version of Black Pete successfully. For example, things that are scary to me:

Curls/Twirls
Pure white
Hoods
Spikes

Yeah, I'm quite the weirdo, I know* So, you see, I'm trying to compile and incorporate anything that gives a sense of "ooo, creepy!" and your suggestions will be appreciated so much! I really need to get a move on with this character (it's practically summer now, arg!!) and I'll post up a sketch of him once I get some input from you helpfuls! Thank you very, very much for your time. *I hope I've posted this question in the right place!*

[Outlander00]

First off... its a good question considering its asking in reference to a project you want to do. :)

Well, generally, the more generic things that are labled "creepy" are done so for a reason. But, again like you said, everyone has their own sense that creeps them out.

As far as me...

Generally the over excess of certain emotions of people whether it being over perkiness, overloyalty or loving someone too much to a certain point (like being possessive). Especially overperkiness... someone who is perpetually THAT happy makes me wonder if, deep down, they are psychotic and I should worry about my life being safe :p How to use that is up to you really in certain symbols or colors (a really vibrant red for overloyal or a rich, bright white for perkiness).

[Mary_mari]

Thank you so much, Outlander00. I love the idea of emphasizing an emotion (that was perfect!) and the colour metaphor is a definite way of doing so! Umm, I really like the overly perky/happy feel. Black Peter is one heck of a bad guy and I might be able to have him use it as a lure for the kiddies (you know, "I'm having so much fun and I'm so happy, I wouldn't hurt a fly" and then BAM! Punishment for being bad).

So...yay! I've got his persona down. The design is still kind of lacking, though. How can I incorporate a holiday scheme with an ultimately bad feeling...?

[MultiMEDEA]

Clowns. Clowns are creepy. Steven King hit the nail right on the head with It. Kinda goes back to what Outlander said; a supposedly happy, cheery façade that could be hiding who knows what. Clowns rank right up there with spiders and monsters under the bed in creep factor.:D

It also depends on what sort of creepy are you going for: charmingly creepy or shocking, gruesome creepy? Jill Thompson's version of Neil Gaiman's Death or her own Scary Godmother and any of Tim Burton's animation work are great examples of charming creepyness. I don't follow gruesome creepy work so I don't have any real examples. Tho I do consider Robert Crumb's stuff to be flesh-crawlingly creepy (in not a good way:ack: ).

[Bic]

This is a great topic all around, Mari. As illustrators our jobs is to show the story as clearly to our audience as possible. So we use emotional triggers or cyphers to convey these feelings. Eerie things and spooky stuff are esstentialy a state of mind, psychological triggers that reflect our own fears upon us.
"Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us." John Locke (An Essay Upon Human Understanding - 1690) This makes it hard for writers and artists and to some degree filmakers, because everyone's fear is different. That is why we have to use cyphers to the more common denominator in our works that appeals to the majority of the audiences own fears. Spiders and insects, strange sounds in a lonely forest under the pale moonlight, precarious hieghts, etc. are just some of these cyphers.

By using our own feelings of loss, love, fears, etc. as a springboard to tell these tales in essence allows our audience to share these feelings. They may not share the same sense of fears per se, but they can empathise with them because they understand them. If we can acheive that, then we have accomplished one of our goals as a storyteller.

For myself, I am deathly afraid of centipedes. The prickling sensation of their quick, sharp legs as it sinuously glides across the dancefloor of your skin, is one I will never, ever forget. Which is the feeling I used for the DKA story I did with the Scarecrow.

One thing as an artists we can do to help convey the psychological state of our characters is the old saying. 'the eyes are the windows of the soul'. For instance, if the character itself is using all the artistic elements of innocence (curls, twirls, white clothes, etc.) but the eyes are scary or evil, then the character's traits will shine through. This dichotomy can make our villian/antagonist more eerie or creepy than if we went with a singluar approach to them. A couple of examples might be:




The little girl with a British accent in a white dress with ribbons in her curly locks, who looks at you with eyes far too wise for her age and makes a simple forboding statement while her hands gently play with a doll.
Remember Don Knots? Remember how he made us laugh with his hilarious routines on film or stage. Even when he was protrayed as beening angry, flustered, or sad, we still loved him because through it all, he is a kind and good person. Would we think the same of him if his eyes were different, if he looked like this (http://www.bicworks.com/graphics/art/vm-dc1.jpg)?
items: centipedes... they know where I live, what I do. Thery're always watching, plotting and schemeing new ways to torment me. These vile, vindictive creatures had a taste of me and they want more.
elements: *See outie's cheerful people description
articles: haven't come across one of these yet, but I know the centipedes know of it and they only smile at me...
colours: Stark White. It indicates final judgement or a feeling of helplessness as the light penetrates you in the dentist's chair

[Mary_mari]

MultiMEDEA - Hah, yes, clowns. All that happiness cannot possibly be real. That is the exact 'aura' I want to portray with Black Pete. Maybe I can harnass the spookiness of spiders by movement...why does it seem like spiders have logic or reasoning with their travels?? It's horrifying!^^ Thanks for the insight! And I'm going for a "I'd-run-but-I'm-stuck-staring" creepy (if that makes sense*).


Bic - Priceless information, indeed. I totally agree with you (and beautiful quote, by the way*). The spectrum of emotion (fear in this case!) is wider than that of colour and, frankly, hard to comprehend at times. It's a commonly familiar yet unbiased approach that is essential to take in order to present the character that harbors these emotions accurately, not perfectly--that's impossible!

Anyway, the spider/centipide feel is the essense I'd like for the character's shape to be. I was thinking of giving him a cloak/cape that was tattered to pieces but still holding together...maybe (?). Since it's so flimsy, it can be moved by even the slightest wind thus giving it the look of millions of crawling appendages. In addition to the character's height/lankiness, it gives the overall appearance of (=tada!=) a centipide. Any mental imagery at work here??^^

And I'm sold on using pure white. That was the key element in his design the first time around and I think it was the one thing working for him overall. So...wow, I feel ready to commence work on Black Pete! If anyone has a few more suggestions, please, suggest away! And a heartfelt "thanks" goes out to those of you who have helped me this far! ~much appreciation~

[Mary_mari]

Okay, okay, *judgement day* Now, I know this is so far from being "scary" that it's...well, scary but, the centipide idea got me quite excited. This is simply an idea that immediatly sprung from Bic's wonderful insight aaand...I like how it turned out *shrugs* Although I've discovered that I have no natural talent for making things utterly eerie. Oh well...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Mary_mari/Gu_BPed1.jpg


*I apologize for the 'pixelation'. I have one heck of a crappy editing process and this thing scanned out HUGE (it still is but I shrunk it down over half the original size).*

Anyway, the pink-haired girl is in there for size-comparison (Gu isn't bad!-^^). Soo, let your thoughts run rampant, tell me what you really think of Black Pete. ~thanks!~

[Bic]

Wow! I love the design! I also love the contrast in the eyes of each character. Black Pete's eyes remind me of shark's eyes almost souless in nature. Great job, he would definately scare me!!

[MultiMEDEA]

Well, since you do seem sincere in asking for a true critique, Mary, I don't mind saying something. Do keep in mind that this is just one chick's opinion. And I tend to judge on the basis (for recurring characters) of what are the qualities that would make me care about them and bring me back to their story time and again.

I do like how you realized Bic's centipede concept; it wasn't what I was expecting and it's very intriguing.

In the overall eerie/creepiness factor of Black Pete: you've already mentioned yourself that he's not very scary and I can't disagree with you. He's not, and there are a number of reasons for that:

facial features - they're a bit too babyish/anime to be scary. They're almost a mirror image of the little girl's and she's about as kawaii as can be. Also with his eye, the placement of the 'sheen' makes him look more like he's giving the girl a heavy-lidded stare than a terrifyingly transfixing gaze.
body shape - the curvalinearness is very graceful and refined, which may be part of the problem. Not that sinuous isn't scary, ask any snake. But the whole design is more reminiscent of the art nouveau work of Erté or Lalique. Especially the cresent moon shaping of the cloak's hood (which I like a lot). Maybe if there was a sense that the cloak's tatters were appendages that can be manipulated, that would be quite creepy. I also have a question about the appendage holding up the girl; is it actually wrapped around her? From the positioning it looks more like she's sitting on a shelf.
coloring - I like your original idea of going with a white palette. But against a white background he appears too watercolor-delicate. Perhaps against the background of a subterranean depth he would have the palid whiteness of a creature utterly untouched by sunlight. Very eerie, that. The green leaching of color into the whiteness is good. Keep that. Also a background will give more of a sense of scale to him.
overall appeal - if this were an illustration for a work of fey fiction like Alice Through the Looking-Glass or the OZ books I'd say you succeeded greatly. But your stated goal of juxaposing the cheery against the horrific in a creepy way hasn't quite been realized (yet).
Please don't take what I've said as a downer and a slam against your work. I see so much potential in this character and your art style is refreshingly your own and not derivative. I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't like it and think it can be even better.:anime:

But like I said, just my opinion. You can say, 'what does she know?' and move on.

[Mary_mari]

Oh, thank you Bic!! I must than you again for giving me the idea for the eyes. When I saw your alternative to Don Knots, I immediatley thought, "Yes! Looking glass of the soul." This is as much my character as it is yours^^


And MultiMEDEA, thank you very much for the...well, exactly what I was thinking! Black Pete's face is as soft as (if not softer than) the little girl's! I wanted to give him an exhaustion of life kind of look through the eyes which totally killed any eerieness factor and made him look lazy instead (aww, just like his illustrator), so...you caught me* Another thing you busted me on was background. I too rarely do backgrounds...BUT with the next take on Black Pete, I promise to follow your advice--lots of black and black hues of other colours, indeed! And since it's winter, I'm thinking baron will play in well. Oh, the appendage holding her up--she's supposed to be seated with her back to us. Like...her legs are dangling off the other side (which I didn't draw ><"). Anyway, you're critique was much appreciated and, I have to be honest, I agreed with you on every flaw in my design! Black Pete is approachingly spooky*

[Outlander00]

Okay my turn :p

I personally like the design and overall drawing, however the smile on black Pete doesnt quite suit the needs you have for the character. MM also brought up a good point regarding putting on a white background. If anything, you may want to put it on a background where it'll contrast and bring Pete out. A real dark warm slate gray or a warm black may be a good way to go since itll bring out the feeling you want.

As a point of reference, you may want to check out A Nightmare Before Christmas to get some reference for this project. It has a lot of visuals that may help you. :)

[Salvor]

I really like this design. I'm not sure how closely it relates to your original idea, as it doesn't say "scary" to me (and MM probably point out the right reasons) but it looks very cool and stylish nevertheless. Great job.