Any Tips on Making Horror Art?

[Indigo]

I really want to get into making some horror art, finally. The thing is though, every time I try I am not good at making it though.  I love the genre so much for years, yet just attempting it feels like a challenge for me.

I did get some tips online researching on how to make some horror art from articles I have researched but to anyone out there that made some horror art in the past, please feel free to help me out with some tips of your own as well. I would liked to hear more horror artists and their experiences. Much appreciated.

[asahelix]

Draw him



Okay, but seriously. I've made a few "creepy" pieces in the past. Unfortunately, I'm not too great with art, but I think a good way to make your works look a lil spooky is if you use materials like charcoal (or at least imitate it) and limit your color schemes to mainly darker/gross colors. But if you drew that skeleton you'd be on the right track making some scary horror related art     

[Indigo]

Well bastard skellies were big in Army of Darkness so there's something there. hmm...

Lol. But thanks for the tips! I must remember that to help me with the drawings. I do love adding textures when drawing.

[orangecarnation]

obvs depends on what Kind of horror you're going for lol BUT if you're one to shade your art, i like giving My horror art some low moody lighting..  or sometimes kind of like flash photography in a dark place

but!!  the main thing.. is.. ..



..... to have fun and be yourself 

[Indigo]

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I have been hearing mainly that learning anatomy is key to distorting it. (I should probably look into the anatomy books to really study it.) That's also true too, I really need to think about more what kind of horror I am going for.(Gosh I have to self reflect and learn about what horror scared me a lot as a kid now.)

[ValyceNegative]

Horror is a huge umbrella term for so many aesthetics, and while it is always a good idea to learn basics if you want to draw anything (anatomy, color theory, proportions, 3d shaping, perspective, values, even storytelling and directing if you wanna do comics!) remember that you can make a creepy/scary/disorienting pic with very little.

It all depends what specific genre of horror do you want to represent. You mentioned Army Of Darkness, so I can imagine you like the gorey maximalism of classic slasher movies and games. Jason, Freddy, Splatterhouse, and all that! I'd say it's the genre that most requires anatomy knowledge but also full of referencing for you to study on. There's a lot of beautiful movie posters, game covers and going back to Army Of Darkness, even fantasticly drawn comics you can take inspiration from!

Talking about comics, bear in mind that horror can also be parodistic, funny and slapstick at the same time. There's no need to limit yourself with dark palettes! I did plenty of horror-esque art that was full of bright and contrasting colours, their clash together gave the feeling of confusion and aggressivity.

However! You can also go to the opposite direction and think of horror as moody, atmospheric and lonely. I've seen a lot of horror-coded modern art that feature empty environments, dark halls, liminal spaces with looming shadows or bright bulbs of light as the only creature inside. Let the viewer imagine the monster rather than drawing it directly! X3