You say, "This month will be a bit different than most other classes. As it's October, and Halloween is coming up, we shall be spending the classes up to October 31st concentrating on stuff dealing with horror and related themes."
You say, "Now the subject can be a bit graphic at times, so I'd like everyone to be aware of the fact that this month will be a bit more adult-themed than usual. While I didn't do anything I feel is offensive to children you'll have to decide for yourselves if this month's course is what you wish to view or not."
You say, "Now that everyone's been forwarned, we'll start by going over the class picture for today. It shows some examples of things we'll be going over in the next few weeks.
You say, "Now horror is a subject that has a lot of ways to express itself. The pictures up there all have something in common, in that they try to instill a sense of horror in a single 'dose'."
You say, "Each one tries to do it in a different way. Let's look at the upper-left image first."
You say, "trying to make the viewer feel shock or horror is more difficult today than it was in the past. Times have changed, and people are exposed to a lot more graphic stuff at a earlier age then they used to."
Bubbles agrees with that Picc... the classic horror has nearly no impact anymore. You need to add gallons of gore to get a scare nowerdays
You say, "This illustrates the first way one can try to imply horror - just raw shock value, showing something that signifies death and unnatural circumstances."
You say, "Shocking the viewer with something requires one keep a thing or two in mind. To shock someone, one must either surprise them with something new or unexpected. "
You say, "This could be done by changing the way one presents your art, or by showing something in a state that is not normal for it...such as a ghost."
Yasha-Myr subtitles... "Id say id agree with that, tho if horror is done right, you no need a lot of gore, just the tenseness and such.... I dont know if any of you seen the movie.. The Hitcher, with Rutger Howoll<>?.... now that.... was scasry.... but did have some gore.... "
You say, "Or you could try being very graphic, as Hollywood tends to shock people now."
You say, "Going the graphic style does have pitfalls associated with it, however."
You say, "As the shock of seeing something for the first time wears off, you have to keep trying to 'one-up' yourself to keep the viewer in a state of suspense."
You say, "Everyone has seen examples of this in movies that do a series. The movies get bigger, using more exotic stunts or graphics to draw a crowd's attention."
Wallaroo_Blacke churr, "Yeah... that IS true."
You say, "It makes for a odd type of race, where you have to keep the pressure on to keep shocking the audience."
Yasha-Myr subtitles... "Like Jerry Lewes movies? those will scare the stripes off anyone"
Yasha-Myr just HAD to say that
You say, "The next picture we will look at and discuss is in the upper right. This is similar to the first in that it's a 'shock' value picture, but less graphical and more suggestive. "
Rhan'lav says, "The second pic is more 'underlit' causing the face to be shrouded in shadows.... Combined with the lack of pupils... and you get a very scary looking face, yes?"
Yasha-Myr subtitles... "Well I draw my figures with the irises and no pupils... from Masamune Shirow, could that be considered more dramatic and not as scary? just different."
You say, "Yes, just different and not scary at all Yahsa - it's your style."
You say, "Now, Unnatural drawing means drawing something as it does not appear in normal everyday life to suggest horror. Such as a vampire of werewolf - each has some features exaggerated or changed from the norm."
You say, "The problem we have is that, as furry artists, this could easily be mistaken for 'just another furry'. "
You say, "So the problem is, how to draw attention to the parts of our picture that are 'unnatural' in our picture. As it was stated earlier, the use of highlighting in that picture draws attention to the eyes and mouth by making them stand out."
You say, "Yes Yasha, scare yes. But the object of this subject is to get a 'unnatural' feel into the pic, making something look like it *doesn't* belong in nature."
You say, "But now, let's get back to the main thrust of the discussion. Being aware that we have to make the unnatural in our pic stand out if we want to imply the proper horror - we either have to make sure we choose a subject that when seen people will *know* shouldn't be that way (such as fanged bunnies) or draw attention to the parts of the picture that are unnatural (such as highlighting eyes and fangs, ,or such)."
Bubbles was just going to say, horror and vibrant colors dont seem to work together? More muted tones seem to lend themselves to the genre better in my oppinion
You say, "It would depend on the type of picture done, Bubbles. You could use muted tones on everything but the main 'horror' subject as a way to make it stand out. Much like leaving everthing not important to the scene out of focus in a photo or a movie to draw more attention to the main subject."
You say, "It's all a matter of style."
You say, "That does, in fact, lead us into our third pic - dramatic use of contrast. The skull about halfway down the right side is an example of this. Using strong black and white contrasts makes a picture stand out more than muting it with a lot of shading. Much like using a loud noise or flash of light in real life to startle someone, it makes the viewer notice it more due to it's contrasts."
Yasha-Myr is reminded of the old Ghost Rider series...? is that right?
Piccillo nods to Yasha. "Good example. Now what can we say about Ghost Rider as it applies to our current subject? The comic was mostly dark...everyone dressed in drab clothing and the backgrounds were muted as well.
You say, "This made the Ghost Rider's appearance more of a shock to the viewer, as he was often the only *bright* thing in the picture, with all that flame and such."
You say, "Contrast with the rest of the picture helps draw attention to the subject - very important in a horror-themed pic that we might try to create."
You say, "Now, we could also go the *opposite* way and make the horror blend in...only apparent as a suggestion or innuendo."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "Whats the difference tween contrast and brightness? im often confused of the two, and how each would apply to sketches?"
You say, "Brightness is a way of making something stand out - a form of contrast actually. Contrast means making something stand out from the rest of the picture in some way. It could use bold colors, be bright while the rest of the picture is vauge and shadowy, be the only thing in (or out of) focus."
Yasha-Myr hmmms about that... and will try
You say, "That brings us to the fourth pic, the 'drow' pic. ;)"
You say, "Now the focus of the fourth picture is action. The subject wouldn't look horrific if it were standing about, or holding a bunch of flowers. What makes the subject feel scary is *what* it is doing in this case. It has a very threatening pose, and has a probably-not-ketchup substance dripping from it's claws."
You say, "Keeping in mind that we are trying to make a horror pic, the pose is important. Let's compare the first pic (upper left, skeleton) with the lower pic we are on now. While the upper pic is a scary subject, it doesn't look to threatening. The lower pic isn't a shocking subject, but the manner it is displayed *does* imply shock."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "Its kinda long but is it ok to use a not well used outfit?"
Wallaroo_Blacke has disconnected.
You say, "As long as it isn't adult level, Yasha."
Yasha-Myr changes from the gentle shy and caring female albino skunkette into an image of silent death walking on two furred feet... She has chosen to cover her finely featured femenine face with a wide black silken scarf, tied in the back of her head, then tying her hair back in a wide black bow. She sees you, between the hood and face scarf, her grey pupil-less eyes filled with utter determination, looking for the fur that wronged her and her clan.
As she stands slightly turned from your eyes, you see her normal white silken kimono is not worn, but what replaces it is her treasured kimono from her deceased brother, Kimono-skunk. The robe is colored in a bright, vivid Sapphire Blue with crimson red thin flames along the robe's hems and edges. Tied closed to keep her sensous form from view is a crimson red Obi, again tied into a bow in the back. Something silver and blue is worn around her neck, a simple collar of Blue Velvet with an inscription to her brother from his owner's.
Her prized weapons consist of a crystal five foot fighting staff and her katana, secured at her right hip since she is left-pawed.
Moving your gaze down her legs, you manage to catch a glimpse of her white furred thighs, disappearing into the tops of her black spandex leggings, ending in soft rubber soles and split toes for ease of climbing and kicking.
As she turns away, you see her tail flowing behind her, with the upper 1/3 of it with a black bow around it. She sees you looking at her, and wonders if you have a good reason to stare further, with your jaw hanging open... She growls softly at you, and all you can do is pray you aren't the one she's hunting for...
She obviously isn't wearing this outfit to seduce you.
Kamida lilts, "well, active drawings are more scary then passve ones, a firebreathing dragon is more scary then a sleeping one, unless you draw a few terefied looking adventures in it who try to sneak past it, well, then you also put a lot of activity in it./ :)"
DonQuixote, as his comment, holds up a fake-blood covered Monty Python 'vorpal bunny' plushie :, ...yes they sell these, no I don't actually have one. They also sell a non-blood-covered version...and they now also sell a plush 'dead parrot' :,
*end of class*
