“Friday the 13th” by JoseRealArt
Welcome to our ongoing series spotlighting original horror creations. The first piece we have is an illustration titled “Friday the 13th” by JoseRealArt on DeviantArt. Be sure to read out exclusive interview with the artist as well.
What was your inspiration for “Friday the 13th”?
I would say the Friday the 13th saga itself. I’ve been rediscovering the classic horror movies with a friend and always feel very attracted to the “killer with a mask” theme. There’s something on the inexpressive and mysterious about a mask that makes me feel terrified and seduced at the same time, and there isn’t more iconic mask than the Jason one.
What sort of tools did you use for the piece?
Photoshop and a Wacom Cintiq tablet. I used to be very “traditional,” I started with a small Bamboo tablet but felt digital was messy and I wasn’t happy drawing on the tablet and looking to the screen. But then I jumped to the Cintiq and it was great. It was a little hard at first drawing on the screen itself, but like a canvas its faster once you got the hang of it.
Do you have any projects you are working on?
Yeah, I’ve been working for a comic book publisher in Dubai and have a few small projects here and there. Keep an eye out for them.
Do you have any particular horror themes you like to explore in your art?
I’m a huge fan of H. P. Lovecraft stories for a long time and been working on a comic book anthology of short tales in my free time. Besides that, I’m very influenced by horror in general, the dark spaces of the world, and the human nature.
Do you have any particular horror films/books/movies you particularly love?
In my youth I was all over Stephen King (like all the edgy guys at my age) but nowadays I’ve been reading more science fiction. Regarding movies, it’s really difficult to choose just one, but would say Hellraiser, for me has all the elements: demons from other dimension and disgusting latex effects. Another personal favorites are Re-Animator and The Return of the Living Dead. More recently I loved the weird atmosphere of Hereditary, but It Follows blew my mind and its on my favorites list now.
Have you ever experienced something supernatural? Anything you would like to experience?
In my adolescence me and my friends used to mess around with Ouija, abandoned houses, and stepping into graveyards at night. We had a few strange and scary moments but probably those moments were just the results of hormones and nervousness of the moment. Today when I hear or feel something odd I always think it’s the mind playing tricks on me.
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For more of JoseRealArt’s work, you can follow them on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Behance, and DeviantArt.
If you have an original creation you would like us to spotlight here on Haunted MTL please let us know!
Continuing our AI journey from last time exploring Little Red Riding Hood herself as the Big Bad Wolf… All of these are based upon the AI generated art and prompts using NightCafe and then created as posters in Canva.
How very… Phantom of the Opera predatory… this is definitely not what I had in mind. Maybe something more cutesy?
Ugh. Maybe not.
Wow, that seems like such a cop out, cropping off the head so you don’t have to depict it. And I don’t want to lose the Little Red Riding Hood reference completely.
So no surprise there, I knew that was too many references to work.
And we continued to devolve, join us again next week for the final installment to see how this ended… And again, if you want to catch the last AI art journey, you can find it on Haunted MTL here. To see more such devolutions into AI generated art, check out the Will the Real Jennifer Weigel Please Stand Up? blog.
And as promised in Big Bad Poetry, we shall embark on our next AI journey, this time looking at Little Red Riding Hood. I had wanted to depict her as the Big Bad Wolf one and the same, although maybe not so big nor bad. But it just wasn’t happening quite as planned. All of these are based upon the AI generated art and prompts using NightCafe and then created as posters in Canva.
So I actually like this even better than my original vision, it is playful and even a bit serene (especially given the Sinister style). The wolf is just being a wolf. It’s quite lovely, really. But it wasn’t what I had in mind, so I revisited the idea later to see if I could get that result…
Well, that’s not quite right…
Yeah more of the same…
And as you can see this is starting to devolve quickly. Join us again next week to see how this continued to develop… And if you want to catch the last AI art journey, you can find it on Haunted MTL here. To see more such devolutions into AI generated art, check out the Will the Real Jennifer Weigel Please Stand Up? blog.
So considering my recent revival of a wolfwere and his Lucky Days and Nightmarish Nature’s hostile humanity, it seems we are due for a visit from Little Red Riding Hood, or perhaps even Big Bad himself… Here’s a poem on the subject by Jennifer Weigel.
Over the river and through the wood
flashed the fleet-footed Red Riding Hood
on her way to her “grandmother’s” house.
When running past, who should she see
but just one of the little pigs three
cowering like but a tiny mouse.
“But my dear piggy, what do you fear?”
Red Riding Hood asked as she slunk near,
teeth hidden under a sheepish smile.
The nervous small pig looked up in fright
and decided that Red was alright,
missing the subtle clues by a mile.
“The Big Bad Wolf, that horrible beast
upon the other wee pigs did feast!”
the last little pig said with a squeal.
Red Riding Hood laughed with a great growl
and threw back her heavy long-robed cowl,
in a vast terrifying reveal.
For she was really the wolf Big Bad
hidden beneath the cape that he had
stolen from Red Riding Hood at point.
“And now I’ve caught you too my pretty
and surely t’wouldn’t be a pity
if I gobbled you up in this joint.”
T’was then the wee pig leapt to his feet
And cried, “Big Bad Wolf, I shall defeat,
for I am no ordinary swine!”
The little pig also wore sheep’s clothes
spun in spells every woodland witch knows;
Old Granny herself was quite divine.
“Now give me back my granddaughter’s cape,
before I grab you by your ruffed nape
and send you pig-squealing down the road…”
The wolf dropped the cape and ran, that cur,
but Granny was swifter and hexed his fur
and the wolf she turned into a toad.
Thus the moral of this story goes,
when in the woods, no one really knows
what sheepish sheep’s clothing is a ruse
that big bad wolves and old witches use.
So this is actually an intro to my next AI art journey with NightCafe which developed from me not getting the results I wanted (Little Red Riding Hood herself as a wolf). Here’s a preview with Eric’s versions as he is much more literal in his prompting than I am, but where’s the fun in that? 😉
Prompts (from left to right) in Dark Fantasy style, executed Aug. 1, 2023:
Bipedal wolf in Red Riding Hood’s cloak
Bipedal wolf in Red Riding Hood’s cloak close up portrait
Bipedal wolf in red cloak close up portrait
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
