Alphabeasts Week XVIby *SamWolk

Traditional Art / Drawings / Macabre & Horror

It's time for another weekly alphabetical project! Instead of living, breathing animals, we're now doing an A-to-Z of mythical creatures and fictional monsters called ALPHABEASTS!

As an artist I'm often frustrated that what I see in my mind is so difficult to make appear on paper. This week's Alphabeasts entry comes a little closer to that than I've been able to achieve. It's a dark piece for sure.

The Plakavac originates in the mythology of Slavic countries. It has different names depending on the country. In Serbia it's called Drekavac; it's named Plakavac by Herzegovina. The basic idea is that it's a supernatural manifestation of a dead infant or very young child. The Plakavac is said to be a vampire baby that, having been killed by its mother via strangulation, rises from its grave at night to come scream at the house in which it once lived.

That's it. It screams. It doesn't seek human blood, doesn't turn into a bat, doesn't wear a tuxedo or a cape. It does no harm, except to one's eardrums. It's just a dead baby. So I went more on a zombie thing. It made for a more gruesome and inventive dead baby thing.

Microns and Prismacolor markers on 11x14 drawing stock.