1999 Halloween Throw Back Thursday!

Hello everyone!  I hope all of you are having a fantastic evening.  I literally dug up a special treat for today's throwback Thursday. This drawing was created by me in 1999!  I was a Junior in High School back then and loved drawing gore. I was a very troubled youth at the time due to the unexpected passing of my father.  I wore all black, got my nose pierced, and had a pretty sick attitude back then.  Seeing as how Halloween is only a few weeks away, I thought I would share this gruesome drawing with all of you.  Warning: this image is not for the faint of heart!

This drawing was created on a lime green watercolor background using colored pencils, charcoal pencils, and a black pen.  I remember drawing this horror scene like it was yesterday!  The inspiration came from a fear I have of getting my fingers sliced off.  (Some people are afraid of spiders, I'm afraid of losing my phalanges). I used to have the worst nightmares based on this fear and still dislike the idea of this happening.  In elementary school I had an art teacher who cut his fingers off in an old school paper cutter.  I still get the creeps thinking about it. To this day I have a difficult time using power saws, meat slicers, food processors, and paper cutters. 

Besides my fear of being chopped up like a cobb salad, I incorporated a few other disturbing concepts into the drawing.  I purposely made the hand appear bloated so that it looked like my body had been there for a while.  I hate the feeling of abandonment or feeling forgotten, so I wanted to convey the idea that my body has been missing for some time.  Obviously no bloated dead hand is complete without an entourage of feasting maggots and flies. 

The reflection in the knife also conveys a personal fear.  I have been deathly afraid of fire my whole life. This fear runs much deeper than any other fear I possess.  I am not a fan of matches, lighters, unattended candles, or even cigarettes.  The idea of being trapped in a burning building  scares the crap out of me.  (I literally want to check all my fire alarms now.)  I still have haunting nightmares about burning alive.  Ironically, I was  named after my grandmother's younger sister who burned alive in a devastating fire.  (It wasn't until my brother's funeral last month that I found out my grandmother tried to save her and saw her die.) My grandmother named me as soon as she held me because she felt I was her reincarnated sister. I personally believe in reincarnation and know that my grandmother's intuition was right. 

I hope you enjoy tonight's throw back Thursday and are inspired to create a gruesome piece of art.  Please feel free to comment below, subscribe to the blog, and share this post on social media.  Thanks for stopping by and have a good night. ❤ Tia - Copper Blossom Paperie ❤