There Ought To Be Clowns

Available for Birthdays and Bar MitzvahsI was trying to squeak out this Halloween Head for October 31st, but it wasn’t to be. I had a Halloween costume to finish, and I ended up chasing a few wild geese and wandering up a few blind alleys with ideas that didn’t work out. Rather than rush it, I let this design develop over the weekend. Here now is a scary clown vector illustration I produced in Affinity Designer as a belated trick-or-treat.

I thought I was out of creature candidates for a Halloween Head when I thought of doing a clown. The idea of a creepy clown was a milked dry cliche beaten like a dead horse, but why not? Nothing else was coming to mind so I pondered clowns. I thought of the background first. Instead of putting him in a circus setting, I would put him in some place incongruous like a dank basement. Even a beloved clown like Emmett Kelly or Red Skelton placed in a cellar would be unsettling to put it mildly. Slowly back out of the room and pray that the path is clear. So I worked on the setting first.

The wall and ceiling are all vector elements built up one by one. That’s where I hit my snag when I started putting together the boards that comprise the ceiling slat by slat in perspective. It was taking forever, and I was not thrilled with the results. Fortunately, I found this video on simplifying perspective, and it came together very nicely.

Then I built up my clown. I took a few passes with various shapes and looked at some clowns who hosted kids shows back in the ’50s which were much more frightening than I could ever illustrate. Eventually I arrived at this fellow as my latest Halloween Head.

I hope to continue this series of Halloween Heads whether it’s the season or not. They are a lot of fun to do. I just have to think of another monster to do.

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