Michael Butkus - How to Draw Vampires

FANTASY UNDERGROUND

by Mike Butkus and Merrie Destefano
featuring a project by Davin Chea-Butkus

Introduction

The vampire is the rock star of monsters.

Beautiful, charming, and supernatural, he can make a woman swoon with a single glance. Today, his likeness can be found between the covers of best-selling books, on hit television series, and in record-breaking movies. Often impervious to sunlight and cast in the role of the romantic lead, hes a far cry from the other monsters in the pack.

But this wasnt always the case. He used to be a loathsome beast who lurked in the shadows, hu ngering for blood, seeking to welcome victims into his undead kingdom.

If youve ever hungered to know more about this immortal creature, youve come to the right place. Youve just entered the Fantasy Underground, a land where legends twist and turn like a medieval cobblestone street, a place where monster secrets are revealed in hushed whispers.

In this book, youll discover everything you ever wanted to know about the vampire and more. In between sections on folklore and history, youll learn how to capture these monsters on paper. With step-by-step instructions, youll find out how to tame this fanged predator through drawing, painting, and computer techniques.

And, if all else fails, youll also learn how to protect yourself from a vampire attack. After all, this beast may be handsome and suave, but never forget his true mission.

He wants to drink your blood.

Vampire History

The Vampire Controversy

A full moon hovers on the horizon and a crowd of villagers stand around an open grave. A heartbeat passes, and then the coffin lid is pried off. Someone swings a lantern closer, casting beams of light upon the familiar figure that rests inside. An unholy gasp sweeps through the small gathering. The person inside the casket looks like a monster. Skin ruddy and bloated, blood seeping from nose and mouth, even the hair and fingernails have grown longer than when the body was interred.

On top of this, the loss of fluida common occurrence after deathhas caused the gums to recede, and now the cadaver grins with long, ghoulish teeth.

In an age before embalming, these were all natural signs of decomposition.

But to the Eastern European villagers living in the 1700s, this was surely the mark of a vampire. To these people, this was one of the gruesome undead, a blood-sucking demon that needed to be destroyed.

Surprisingly, this is not the vampire we know today. Over the centuries, this creature has gone from a life-draining monster to a supernatural libertine to a high-school heartthrob. In contemporary literature protagonists now willingly invite vampires home for dinnereven though the tables could be turned at any moment and the hero/heroine devoured. TV shows like The Vampire Diaries, movies like Twilight, and books like Interview with the Vampire portray a modern, compassionate anti-hero who often struggles with guilt-ridden angst over dining on human blood, a pain reminiscent of the plight of the teenage vegan.

Where and when did this change take place?

Until recently, vampires were loathed and feared around the world, sometimes to the point of mass hysteria. People exhumed the bodies of loved ones; they cut off heads and drove iron needles into hearts. They dismembered dead bodies, burned the remains, and then combined the ashes with water. This foul drink was then given to family members in an attempt to halt a vampires reign. Throughout the 18th century, Eastern Europe suffered from vampire mania, with frequent sightings that caused a near panic. Government officials wrote books and case reports on the subject and, as a result, superstition raged even stronger, causing villagers to dig up more bodies and then stake them.

The 18th-Century Vampire Controversyas it was later calledgot so out of control that the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria finally passed a law against the practice of digging up graves and desecrating the dead. This finally put an end to the madness.

Despite all this, however, the vampire legends continued. Many superstitions were remembered and practiced, whispered tales and so-called sightings kept this mythical beast alivealthough the creature was always considered an undead monster. This was the beast of nightmares, not daydreams. Nearly another century would pass before the emergence of our modern vampirea creature beautiful in shape and form and speech, who now possessed the ability to both charm and seduce. Aptly born in the midst of a worldwide tempest, this new monster would be modeled after a wildly romantic literary figure of epic proportions.

Legends and Myths

In order to fully understand the terrible reign of this undead creature, we must go back thousands of years to discover its true heritage. Known as the mother of all vampires, Lilu or Lilith was born from a twisting series of dark legends. Some claim she was once Adams first wife; others say she was a Mesopotamian demon. And an early rendition of her with bird talons and wings can be seen on the Burney Relief, circa 1950 BC. Later, in the 9th century BC, she resurfaced in the pantheon of Babylonian demonology. Here, she became known as an evil creature who stalked and killed both pregnant women and newborn babes. With a variety of names from Lamia to Kisikil-lilla-ke, her mythical misdeeds were recorded in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hebrew. Modern authors C.S. Lewis and Neil Gaiman both drew inspiration from her ancient legends. Lewiss White Witch in