As an artist, sometimes an idea gets stuck in your head, and you have to see it through. This project was one of those ideas, I didn't so much decide what I wanted to do, the idea told me what to create. If you are any type of creative person (artist, writer, musician, etc.) I'm sure you've experienced this yourself. So, what wanted to be made?
What wanted to be made was the most ridiculous, over-the-top, custom VHS box for the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola film, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" of course! (what else??) I had recently rewatched the movie, as 2 friends and I were discussing horror costumes that would work for a trio we could wear for this year's Crypticon; and we landed on the brides of Dracula, as depicted in Coppola's film.
After that, I started looking into special edition and promo VHS boxes and came across this article on Bloody Disgusting which details out several different ones. (another favorite is the one with blood bag) For Dracula, I knew I wanted to use a coffin shape to house the VHS, which was inspired by Fright Night Part 2.
Fright Night coffin box
My first idea was to draw one of the brides in her coffin, but after digging into the film some more I fell in love with Ishioka's design for Lucy's wedding dress.
Lucy Westenra
I started sketching Lucy first, since I knew I wanted her to be the focus of the piece - and I still wasn't quite sure how I was going to craft the coffin itself.
Rough pencil sketches
Pencils & inks
At this point (as it often happens) I got into the swing of things and completely forgot to document the step in-between my rough pencil sketch and the final inks. For the rough pencil sketches, I use red Col-Erase pencils on basic 8.5x11 printer paper. For inking, I used NeoPiko Deleter inking pens, and this set of rulers off Amazon.
Supplies
After inking the full piece, I'll scan it into Photoshop and save it, so I have a record of this black and white version in case I mess something up in the coloring process. After that, the colors are always done with Copic Sketch markers.
Base colors
Going in and adding all the base color down first, I started with the roses.
Details
Finished piece
This post has become quite long already, so I'll split this up into a 2-parter. Designing the VHS coffin box comes next!