c. 2022
Art Director: Sean McCabe
I had the opportunity to create three narrative illustrations of any subject and medium of my choice. So I opted to create three horror illustrations of Christmas monsters from around the world. As someone who's a huge fan of creature design and loves horror, this was an awesome project to work on. I initially sketched out the basic shapes and outline in graphite. Then I hand-inked all the shadows and shaded areas, which was challenging but also a lot of fun for me! Finally, I scanned the image and digitally colored the piece by laying out my base colors and adding highlights and shading.
Initial Research:
These terrifying illustrations are based on various creatures from Christmas folklore; The Yule Cat (Iceland), Krampus (German), and Kalikantzaros (Greek), separated by lines of rocks and a giant Christmas tree. The Yule Cat (real name Jólakötturinn) is a giant man-eating feline and the pet of the Icelandic witch known as Gryla. It's said to stalk and consume those who had not been given new clothes before Christmas Eve. Krampus is the demonic beast from Germanic folklore that takes children who gravely misbehave with their parents. Think of him as the anti-Santa Claus. Kalikantzaros are a species of grotesque underground dwelling goblins that spend the entire year sawing away at "the world's tree" (should they succeed, the world will be destroyed.) and only during Christmas time are they distracted. During that time, they are allowed free range of the surface world and wreak havoc. If they do not return to their underground lairs by that sunrise, they will be turned to stone.
Process:
For this piece, I got to lean into all the intricate details of the monsters and materials around them; from the thick shaggy fur and bony horns of Krampus to the needles of the Christmas tree, to the emaciated sickly skin of the Kalikantzaros. I initially sketched out the basic shapes and outline in graphite. Then I hand-inked all the shadows and shaded areas (with a series of hatch marks), which was challenging but also a lot of fun for me! Finally, I scanned the image and digitally colored the piece by first laying out my base colors, then adding highlights and additional shading. The only part of the piece that was done digitally was the colors and additional shading/highlights.
