Hi there! I’m Jen, a horror art enthusiast and self-taught artist with a lifelong love of creepy creatures, unsettling imagery and anything with a darker edge.
Dreaded Designs is where that fascination meets drawing. It’s a place for artists who want to develop their skills without feeling as though every sketch needs to belong in a gallery.
I’m not approaching this as a flawless professional with all the answers. I’m an intermediate artist continuing to develop my own skills, and that’s an important part of what Dreaded Designs is about. I research, practise and break techniques down into clear explanations so that we can understand why something works rather than simply being told to draw it.
You don’t need to be an expert to create something worth being proud of. You just need somewhere to start.
Why I Started Dreaded Designs
Art has always been more than simply putting pencil to paper for me. It gives me somewhere to focus, experiment and turn whatever is rattling around in my head into something tangible.
My love of horror made that creative escape even more interesting. Why draw an ordinary face when it could be a ghoul? Why settle for a perfectly pleasant hallway when it could disappear ominously into darkness?
Dreaded Designs grew from that combination of creativity, curiosity and a slightly unhealthy appreciation for creepy things.
I wanted to create the kind of art resource I enjoy using myself: approachable, detailed and genuinely useful. Somewhere you can learn the fundamentals without feeling intimidated, then use those skills to create artwork with a little more darkness and personality.
Whether you’re drawing your first creepy creature or trying to strengthen skills you’ve been developing for years, there’s room here to learn at your own pace.
What You’ll Find on Dreaded Designs
Dreaded Designs focuses on helping you build strong drawing fundamentals and use them creatively, particularly if horror, gothic or darker artwork is your thing.
You’ll find guidance covering subjects such as:
- Drawing fundamentals – including proportion, perspective, lighting, shading and other core skills.
- Drawing materials and techniques – from graphite and charcoal to ink and different ways of creating texture and value.
- Step-by-step drawing tutorials – breaking drawings into manageable stages so you can follow the process from beginning to end.
- Horror and dark art – using fundamental drawing skills to create creepy characters, unsettling environments and atmospheric artwork.
- Artist inspiration – exploring influential artists and what we can learn from their techniques, ideas and visual styles.
The aim isn’t to teach you to copy one particular way of drawing. It’s to help you understand the foundations well enough to experiment and develop artwork that feels like your own.
Learning Alongside You
One thing I never want Dreaded Designs to become is a place that pretends art is effortless.
Sometimes a drawing works beautifully. Sometimes you spend far too long on something only to realise the proportions went horribly wrong about forty minutes ago.
Both are part of learning.
I’m still developing my own skills, testing techniques and discovering better ways of doing things. When I create a guide, I want to understand the subject properly and explain it in a way that actually makes sense – particularly for someone encountering it for the first time.
Think of Dreaded Designs as a place where we can learn, practise and experiment together, without the pressure to make everything perfect.
A Few Facts About Me
- Horror Film Enthusiast
Horror has always been one of my biggest creative influences, from classics such as Halloween and Child’s Play to films like Saw and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Give me creepy atmosphere, strange creatures or a generous amount of gore, and I’m probably interested. - Nature Lover
When I’m not drawing monsters, I’m usually fascinated by real creatures instead. Insects and animals are a huge interest of mine, and I’ve always had a particular fascination with dinosaurs and the prehistoric world. - Always Curious
I genuinely enjoy learning how things work, whether that means understanding a drawing technique, studying an artist’s approach or figuring out why something looks convincing on paper. That curiosity is a huge part of how Dreaded Designs has developed.
Let’s Create Something Horrifyingly Beautiful
Dreaded Designs isn’t about producing perfect artwork. It’s about learning how to draw with more confidence, understanding the techniques behind what you’re creating and having the freedom to experiment with them.
So explore the tutorials, try techniques you haven’t used before, make mistakes, fill sketchbooks and create something wonderfully strange.
I’ll bring the creepy ideas. You bring the pencils.
And if something you draw ends up looking considerably more cursed than you intended?
Well… you’re already in the right place.
