I’ve gotten a couple of requests about how I make my horror pieces and what programs I use. Well tonight, I’ll be explaining my process as best I can.
First I take photos of creepy locations. Just to keep a good library for future works. I like taking a flashlight with me and just walk around dark rooms, giving them a first person feeling.
Let’s use this one. I take it into Photoshop CS5 (yeah, she’s old, but she works like a charm) and I frame it accordingly.
Before I start, It’s good to have references opened up. I’m going to redraw Springtrap and try to make him look more grotesque than my last drawing; With more gaping wounds and the screaming corpse mouth.
Next, I lower the opacity to the background drawing and sketch out Springtrap on a new layer.
Lovely. I then add a color layer behind the sketch and merge the two together. After that, I add splotches of highlights to match the lighting.
At this point, I just keep working on Springtrap with a nicer brush. Adding shadow and detail.
I want to emphasize the flashlight even more by drawing a light on a new layer. Like this:
I then change the layer style from “normal,” to “overlay.” This makes the light affect the background and Springtrap.
And then I adjust the light, as though it’s coming from a slight angle.
I then finesse Springtrap a little more, with wires, viscera and color.
Next is texture. You can usually find some public domain textures online, but another solution is making your own, using photographs, brushes and watercolors. I keep my own library of self-made textures.
I’m gonna be using these two textures for the necessary grit to fit this scene. I put them both on “overlay” and lower the opacity a bit.
Next, I create a new adjustment layer of “color balance” and “selective color.” These two help refine the shadows and highlights of the piece.
For example, I usually like to give a little bit of blue to my shadows. You can play around with the colors to get the mood just right.
I then touch up Springtrap with more detail and a couple of dust effects around the light.
Here’s a neat trick. I usually like to give my drawings a V/H/S or home video glitch kind of look. To do this you merge all the layers together and duplicate the final image two times. Double click one of the layers to open up “Layer Style.” under “blending options” on “Channels,” make sure the “G” is the only one that’s checked. You’ll get a pink square on the preview.
On the second duplicate layer, do the same thing, but make “R” and “B” the only ones checked. This will give you a green box under preview.
Now select either one of the two layers and move them slightly in any direction using the keypad.
It’s very subtle, but here’s how it looks when you move either layer more:
But to be easy on the eyes, I only move it SLIGHTLY. Lastly, I overlay a noise layer on top of everything to give it that extra grit; Silent Hill style.
And that’s it! The rest is just finessing. Adding a little bit more detail and tweaking the color a bit.
To be clear, NONE of this is set in stone. you can experiment as much as you wish and the more experienced you are with painting, the more uncanny your art will seem. Just mess around and make glorious, terrifying pieces of work. ^-^
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