The Spooky Season is a Good Time to Get Creative!

After taking a long break from art, I always feel nervous to start a new peice. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the overwhelming feeling of what "Should I make?" or having the blank canvas stare at me. I decided to use the spooky Halloween season to just dive right in as a warm up! The perfect excuse to get my hands dirty 😜

Tommy and I love Halloween and scary things, so for Friday the 13th we decided to host a Slasher Movie night with some friends and we decorated appropriately. Disclaimer: Its going to get very bloody - all fake blood is made from Acrylic paint. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Blood Paintings and Wood Sign

I made some acrylic blood paintings on black canvases using watered down paint. The colors are a mixture of Alizarin Crimson, black, some umbers, a even little bit of Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Red Light. For the second painting, I wanted a dripping effect so I stood the canvas on an easel to dry overnight. 

Since we were going to watch the Friday the 13th Jason movies we decided to make a Camp Crystal Lake sign out of old cardboard we had lying around. The wood stick is just an empty gift wrapper tube. Mr. Gold helped with the decorating too, if you look closely you can see some little cat bites on the Condemned sign!

 After making all the fake blood for the paintings and walls my hands were very dirty!

So I wiped them on an old shirt to make an easy costume. This helped use up the rest of the red paint. No wasting art supplies here.

Bloody Sugar Cookies

Then I decided to bake some bloody sugar cookies to go along with the theme. Since I didn't have any red food coloring, I improvised by using powdered Hawaiian punch mix and cocoa powder for the red icing.  They were very tasty!

My homemade cookies in the middle with some store bought cookies below and pretzel bites on top.

The Final Unveiling! 

I had so much fun getting my hands dirty and making everything. I put together a video to show the end results. Sit back and Enjoy! 

Friday the 13th Murder Massacre from Andrea Benitez on Vimeo.