Behind The Scenes: Vampire Lair

As the spooky month comes slowly to a close, I wanted to create a more classic piece and pick a theme that's transcending the horror genre. And dating since 19th century, what classic horror story is bigger than Dracula? 

Today, vampires in their original depiction might come off as a gimmick, not able to scare even a little kid. But imagine yourself on the brink of 20th century, in a cold room lit by a candle, reading a book told in a form of letters and newsletter articles about an Eastern European ancient being, lurking through the night sucking the blood out of sleeping victims, transforming them into undead ghouls.

When reading the original book, I think the most harrowing part is the forced vacation of Mr. Harker on Dracula's estate. The unease, reality mixed with dreams (or are they?) and the initial discovery, all happening within the walls of an old castle. That's what I always imagine, when thinking about vampires.

Visit the full Pinboard here

Before I jump into a scene creation, I have to give myself a kickstart and synthesize ideas. I know I wrote about this process several times, but there are always new people reading, so please bear with me :)

When browsing through Pinterest and Google Images, I focused on vampire scenes situated in a castle-like environment. So I avoided a crypt and burial site settings (though I think Count Dracula and Lucy were using a London crypt as an Airbnb in the novel) and got as many various angles and styles as I could.

What surprised me, there is actually not much visual content when it comes to classic vampires and the ones that exist... Well let's say they vary in quality quite a lot.

But seeing these was enough the get me started and pick up some nice details along the way. I always sketch my ideas first, because even if you have a visual clue about what to do, the moment you scaffold your scene in 3d, you will find out that you don't really know what you're going to create :)

I didn't want a large scale room, so I stylized the proportions quite a bit to get an interesting corner with a coffin in the middle as a main piece of furniture. Accompanied by a door on one side and the window on the other. Now, the window was a tricky idea. I knew I would use it to create nice god-rays shining in, but at the same time, it could be mistaken for a sun (they are moon rays of course). I went with the window anyway, because it gave the composition a kick it needed and a great potential for lighting.

The closed off crypt with the empty walls and candles would be more straightforward, but I don't think it would be that much interesting. So sometimes, I make decisions in favor of aesthetics, even if it opens the artwork to criticism.

The main advantage of having a moodboard with reference images, is that the moment you have the composition ready, it's so easy to look through the board and pick details you need. Clock, shield with the swords, urns, floor candle stand and things like that. To make things a bit more cozy for the good ol' Vlad.

You can watch the process video on Youtube