Now for Something Different

For my next project, I'm trying something a little different, a horror piece. This painting is on a white cotton / synthetic fabric, stretched and glued on canvas board. I treated the fabric with a chemical ground to retard absorption.

The face was done first with a slight gray background. The ink settled nicely into the fabric without much splotching or running. The acrylic however was much more challenging. The first layer was heavily thinned with Createx illustration base. This is a chemical used to thin out paint for airbrush. The thinned acrylic was immediately absorbed into the fabric and fuzzed out like watercolor.

This effect is perfectly fine for a horror piece, but will not work for a detailed work. I thickened the acrylic paint and put on a second layer. This second layer worked fine, but hid the pattern in the fabric. I will have to work on the right consistency.

The ink did not get along at all with acrylic. The watery acrylic expanded the ink, turning the ink a purplish color. I will have to place the ink as the last layer or just use black acrylic and a thin brush.

The blood was the last part. I tried several different types of red to get an authentic color. For the most part it looks realistic, but in different parts has a wine color rather than a congealed blood effect.

Anyway, this is my first serious horror piece. Last year, I did do a fun horror illustration called, Monkey Zombies in Space. It sold fairly quickly on Ebay to a guy who runs a shop featuring astronaut and flight merchandise. What happened to the painting after that, remains a mystery.