Halloween Tricks for Artists

Release your inner ghoul with spooky artworks inspired by tricks from Sandeep Karunakaran and David DeFigueredo, whose darkly imaginative works capture the essence of fear and fascination. With insights into their eerie effects, otherworldly textures, and haunting compositions, let’s unleash the art tricks every creative soul needs this Halloween season. Get ready to haunt your canvas—let’s dive into the shadows!

As Halloween creeps up, it’s the perfect time for artists to dive into the eerie side of creativity. Whether you’re looking to create something spine-chillingly beautiful or just want to try some ghostly new techniques, Halloween is the ultimate season to experiment with macabre themes, shadowy palettes, and surreal atmospheres.

Amplify the Fear Factor - Tricks from Sandeep Karunakaran

Sandeep Karunakaran (Sanskarans) is a passionate artist from India specializing in horror, science fiction, and fantasy. His unique style blends realism and surrealism, creating dark, atmospheric pieces that captivate and unsettle viewers. With years of experience, Sandeep provides 9 tips and examples to amplify the fear factor in your painting.

Dark Color Palette

Use deep, dark shades like black, navy blue, greyish greens (sickly greens), and crimson, or just focus the painting with monochromic greyish-yellow tones. These color tones can intensify the eerie aspect of a painting, as they evoke feelings of mystery, danger, dread, and unease.

Contrast Lighting

Play with shadows and highlights. High contrast between light and dark areas can create a tense and eerie atmosphere. Add more shadows and dark tones to create a more mysterious atmosphere.

Textures and Patterns

Incorporate textures that are rough, cracked or show signs of decay to convey a feeling of antiquity and neglect. Examples include cobwebs, rust, and flaking paint. Employ textures reminiscent of cracked walls, aged wood, or deteriorating materials to enhance the tactile impression of aging and decay. This can be achieved through brush techniques that mimic these surfaces, or by incorporating various structures in Rebelle.

Distorted Features

In character illustrations, subtle distortions—like stretched limbs, exaggerated expressions, or unnatural poses—add a spooky, unsettling vibe. Twisted backdrops and contorted stances enhance this discomfort, heightening the fear factor.

References and Stories

It is good to use horror literature, films, and real-life ghost stories for inspiration. The narrative behind your artwork can add a deeper layer of fear.

Unexpected Elements

Include elements that are unexpected and out of place to create unease. For example, a child's toy in an abandoned building or someone standing inside the cemetery gate can be creepy.

Symbolic Elements

Incorporate common symbols of fear like spiders, ravens, or broken mirrors. These can subtly enhance the fear factor without overwhelming the main focus of your artwork.

Fog and Mist

Add layers of fog, mist, or smoke to create a sense of obscurity and mystery. It makes viewers feel like something is lurking just out of sight. Introduce elements like fog, mist, and eerie lighting. Use layers of translucent gray or blue to add an ethereal, otherworldly vibe to your scenes.

Narrative Elements

Think about the backstory of your artwork. What is the unseen story behind the scene? Including small hints and clues can make your art more engaging and frightening.

Where will you incorporate these tricks? To learn more about Sandeep, read an interview with this talented artist on our blog or visit his portfolio for more inspiration.

Layered Monsters in Rebelle - Tricks from David DeFigueredo

David DeFigueredo is an accomplished artist from the United States. His work is a unique blend of pulp, surrealism, and horror, reflecting his fascination with the darker and more mysterious aspects of life. David provides a layered approach to creating textured, atmospheric character art. Follow these steps for a detailed guide from underpainting to final highlights and exporting a high-quality image. All mentioned brushes are included in Rebelle 7.

Step 1: Establish Tone and Texture on Layer 1

Canvas Setup: Begin with a 9x13-inch canvas at 150 DPI.
This first layer, the underpainting, lays down foundational tones and textures, establishing the mood of your piece, which is especially crucial for mysterious paintings. Remember the tips from Sandeep to create a spooky mood from the get-go.

Tools: Flat Dry Watercolor Brush, Airbrush, and Shred Brush.

• Use the Flat Dry Watercolor Brush to create broad, flat tones that will serve as the atmospheric base.
• Lightly blend using the Airbrush for subtle transitions between colors, keeping it within your chosen palette.
• Add textural variety with the Shred Brush, creating areas of roughness to enhance the mystery and adding visual interest and complexity.

This layer serves as a soft, textured backdrop for later detailing.

Step 2: Floating Sketch Layer

Place the sketch on a separate layer above the underpainting. The sketch guides placement and proportions without being too prominent.

• Keep the sketch layer visible throughout to serve as a reference.
• Leave the sketch largely untouched during most of the painting process.
• As each section of the character is completed with elements that tell the overall story, carefully erase portions of the sketch to remove hard edges and refine details.

The sketch layer is gradually erased, becoming integrated with the final piece.

Step 3: Build Form and Add Highlights on Layer 3

Above the floating sketch, add a new layer for details and highlights. It will serve to build depth, and form, and add dimension to the character.

Tools: Flat Oily Brush 

• Blocking in Colors: Start by blocking in main colors with the Flat Oily Brush, blending them into the underpainting layer for added depth.
• Highlighting: Use a textured brush of your choice to add highlights and refine textures, focusing on areas where light naturally falls.
• Build volume with multiple passes, making the character feel three-dimensional, as lively or as deadly as you wish.

Highlights and subtle color variations make this layer crucial in bringing your mystery character to life.

Step 4: Final Touches and Export

After erasing any remaining sketch lines, merge all layers for a cohesive look. Resize the image to 13x19 inches at 300 DPI for a higher-resolution final output. If using Rebelle Pro edition, use Nanopixel to export the image in the highest quality possible. These final steps create a polished, detailed illustration ready for sharing or printing.

The layer-based approach allows for maximum flexibility and control, letting you develop atmosphere, form, and detail in a structured, step-by-step way. Enjoy refining each element and watching your character take shape! Watch more tutorials and timelapses from David DeFigueredo on his YouTube channel or visit his portfolio to get inspired by his mysterious paintings.

Halloween Treats for Rebelle Users

Elevate your spooky paintings with the enchanting "Treats" palettes inspired by the vibrant creativity of Sandeep and David. Explore a collection of mysterious color combinations that evoke the essence of the season, blending deep browns, ghostly greens, and fiery oranges with hints of midnight greys. These palettes not only capture the haunting beauty of Halloween but also invite you to experiment with shadow and light in your artwork.

Color palette inspired by Howling painting by David DeFigueredo:

Color palette inspired by Robert painting by Sandeep Karunakaran: