I watched Hellraiser recently. Fun movie, but didn't have many thoughts on it beyond "wow i think pinhead is handsome." This resulted in me making a guy to d8 Pinhead, and then things got out of hand. So meet John Vasilyev! World's most mediocre bi aro man. He's 30 years old and figures he's not going to die any time soon, so he's trying to pull his life back together. 1. The first few sketches I did of him! You may notice that his hair got progressively less 80s-- I keep flipping out the long section in the back too much, it's supposed to be more rectangular. Sad! He's also gotten hairier. Win! 2. There was text here but as it was about his tragic backstory I removed it for Scratch. He's talking to Pinhead here about his decision to not go to college. 3. Now see him miserable 4. A necessity for being into Pinhead is being a little freaky. I'm not sure exactly when I settled on the secret neurodivergence I'm writing him with, but it certainly shapes a lot of his characterization. He messed himself up chasing adrenaline without much regard for the consequences because he figured he was going to die young. And then he didn't. 5. his crimes 6. Graduation was coming up, grades are bad, options for post-graduate stuff where you won't have to be around for long? Did not end up joining the army. 7. rlease ur inhibitions feel da rain on ur skin 8. Due to aforementioned tragic backstory he has Feelings about vampires. Considering yourself an innately evil person who steals and hurts others to live will do that. 9. His sister Angela! I'm stuck between liking that they look like siblings and wanting to change her so they don't look *too* similar. 10. Did a bunch of expression tests + John's tattoo. He regrets getting it so he usually covers it up with long sleeves. Stick-and-poke. Supposed to look a little like an alchemical symbol. At the time, he believed that the triangle was the strongest shape, so two triangles made it stronger, and the lines on the side worked to do... something magical. 11. oh yeah did i mention pinhead. i keep forgetting that men are tall sometimes 12. would u like a k-mart membership rewards card :) 13. I asked for clothes to put him in! One person suggested a wool coat (he would wear this) 14. Another suggested a Hello Kitty meme outfit (he would not and I probably can't show it on scratch). This is the pose for that one, but with his work uniform. 15. Of course, because he is a Hellraiser OC, I wanted to reference something by Robert Mappelthorpe. Mappelthorpe was a famous black-and-white photographer whose work involved celebrities (most famously Arnold Schwarzenegger), flowers, self-portraits (which this is modeled off), and gay subculture. The leather fits really well on John. I ought to practice shading more... 16. I was having a really bad time and needed to draw him with a stupid shirt (redacted for scratch) and paws. 17. Employee of the month. I liked working with purple around his eyes. 18. This is the face of a man whose brain is going a thousand miles a minute. 19. The year is 1978 and you, John, must choose a haircut. 20. Not that one though. 21. After making him in the style of an animator/character designer I really despise, I decided to draw him middle-aged, fat, and happy to make up for my crimes. 22. Alternate horror movies! Fright Night, Scream, Saw, and Alien. I thought it would be interesting to put him in different decades, but it wasn't really. :/ 23. Decided to review some OC shape language because I was frustrated with how my characters all had like. Non-specific body shapes. They varied in weight but not much in how that was shaped. So I redid Alaska to be fatter and more bunny/heart-shaped, Ziggy to be a bit like a coydog standing up, and John to be even and square throughout. 24. I also did some face studies recently and decided to channel my new powers into John. I think he looks cute, and more realistic than in 17. 25. Edit for Arcanary purposes (Psycho 1960 AU). The 50s were miserable in a multitude of ways but the most relevant here is that he is banned from having long hair or a beard. 26. 6'2" is closer than 6'5" but it's still quite silly. 27. da squinky 28. John was engaged at the age of 28 after deciding to pull his life together. While this meant many good things for him as he planned for a future for the first time, part of the expectation for a functional individual is... marriage. He cut his hair. 29. Design notes :3 30. Posing! Wanted to show off a little more of his body than is usually covered by his sweater and sleeves-- he's a hairy guy! Imagine it's summer. 31. The fiancee in question from 28. Referenced Vogue magazine covers from 1986 and settled on a face and hairstyle I liked for her. 32. More explorations with Nancy! Poses and clothing pulled from fashion magazines. I imagine she was in community theatre, but had a more middle-pay job on the side. 33. talkin about john with the girls +
34. Buncha poses mildly inspired by Company 2006, which is a major influence on John's character! Go watch it. 35. Realized I never finished the Vasilyev family's designs so here's my dev work for Cynthia (and also Alexander bc his debut image is. Not appropriate for scratch.) 36. John needs a break from the agonies. Smile :) 37. his teefies. I really like the lighting on this one! 38-39. Aforementioned Arcanary! Look at them. so cutes 40. The funniest thing about Arcanary is that all their parallels were completely accidental-- most of the traits I gave to John already were there before I knew Norman, except for his exact family situation, I think, which would have probably been applied anyway. Anyway the text says "touch averse" and "physically affectionate" 41. i love them so much ur honor 42-43. There was a poll going around a bit back asking how you would adapt your writing project into a more unconventional medium (eg ballet, rollercoaster, radio play). I thought that Arcanary would make a good museum photography exhibit— it’s a road trip, for one, so the landscapes would be neat. I thought photography, rather than a continuous medium like film, could capture the specific... fractured nature of the principal characters. Compositions made to cut off communication and emotion. 44. hes so mammal :3 an otter in specific 45. "I just feel like... this is a problem that could be fixed... if I compromised my morals." 46. Watched a video! Changed the way I think about fashion-- not only clothes and aesthetics but as communication. Art that needs to be understood as belonging to a group-- it is not as independent. John thankfully already slots fairly well into the group of "scruffy bisexual academic". His family and culture put emphasis on being scholarly, thoughtful, put-together, caring, and despite everything, he still wants to hold onto that. 47-48. There is a balance between ideals and what happens in practice, though. Mental illness can do a number on you. 49. This is based on a photo from an older production of Hadestown, of Eurydice sitting with her arms around Orpheus. (This is mostly reversed in the musical proper, for thematic purposes.) I thought it was a sweet pose. arcanary... 50. was having a bit of a head-over-heels day so projected all those feelings onto john 51. Nancy and him first met at a bowling meetup between his coworkers and her friend group. Again, that value of being well-dressed. He recently got a haircut after deciding to turn his life around at 27, reasoning it was pathetic to waste away in your late 20s. It. Doesn't exactly look good on him, hm. 52. boy whatre you looking so sad for. you're like a good year away from becoming a bear. 53. hes so tired :(
