Welcome to our ongoing series spotlighting original horror creations. This time we have is an illustration titled “The Night Begins” by Director and Illustrator David Hartman, also known as SideshowMonkey on DeviantArt. Be sure to read out exclusive interview with the artist as well.
What was your inspiration for “The Night Begins”?
I really love doing groups of monsters reminiscent of the old horror magazine covers seen on “Witches Tales,” “VooDoo” and others like them. This piece also has a bit of influence from the old Hammer films with the seductive female vampire surrounded by her horde. I really like the classic monsters and tend to draw them frequently.
What sort of tools did you use for the piece?
This piece was done completely digital on the iPad Pro using the Procreate app. I also did a time-lapse video on the creation of this piece which can be seen on my youtube channel.
Do you have any projects you are working on?
I always have too many going on. I have a comic series called “the adventures of Rite” that is available on Amazon that is a mix of horror, comedy and adventure. I also have a project with Rob Zombie going on as well as currently directing for a Netflix animated series that really delves into horror and the supernatural.
Do you have any particular horror themes you like to explore in your art?
I tend to go to the malformed, the Frankenstein monster and other man-made creatures as well as humanoid monsters. I like the creatures that are considered evil and horrible but actually have a sympathetic side to them. I also do a lot of damsel in distress type art but where the damsel has a weapon or some other device to actually have a strong chance of fighting back.
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Do you have any particular horror films/books/movies you particularly love?
Tons and tons! As far as movies I love Jaws, The Shining, Hammer films and ALL 1980’s horror films good or bad. For books, I tend to read a lot of non-fiction cryptozoology books on creatures living among us as well as most of H.P. Lovecraft’s many stories. I also go back a lot to Clive Barker’s Books of Blood and King’s Night Shift collection. Two of my favorites.
Have you ever experienced something supernatural? Anything you would like to experience?
I’ve had the “shadow figure out of the corner of your eye” and the “strange object in the sky” that a lot of people have experienced but one memory really stands out. Not sure if this is considered supernatural or not but it definitely influenced my path into horror and the strange.
I was probably about 7 or 8 years old and my parents took me to the Ohio State fair. This was right before they got rid of all the freakshows and strange animal exhibits seen at fairs. We were walking through the midway surrounded by banners for two-faced goats and gorilla women when I saw a trailer with a painting on the side showing a bigfoot frozen in ice. I had to see this! I asked my parents for some quarters to go to the arcade while they watched a show. Instead, I snuck to the trailer to see the weirdness inside.
I paid my fifty-cents to get in and walked into the trailer. It was freezing, and I was standing before a block of ice with a bigfoot inside it. I later found out this was the “Minnesota ice-man” that traveled from fair to fair. ( if you are into bigfoot and weird stories you should definitely look this one up.) That day I was instantly hooked on the supernatural and finding out more about bigfoot and other creatures supposedly living amongst us.
I think this is one of the moments that hooked me onto drawing monsters. When I drew the story “Carnival Kill Ride” for the “Devil’s Rejects” comic book for Rob Zombie I put myself as a kid in the background seeing that trailer for the first time.
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Did you enjoy David’s illustration and our interview with him? Please check him out on the web. You can learn all about projects he has worked on on IMDB and you can also follow him on social media such as Twitter and DeviantArt. You can also watch Phantasm: Ravageron Amazon.
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 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…
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.
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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.”
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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.
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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
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.