"Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul."
(From 'Hammer Horror' by Kate Bush 1978)
The expression 'Hammer Horror' might be taken to refer to the more violent aspects of crucifixion procedure. To the best of my knowledge Hammer Films never made a crux movie, which must be a great missed opportunity. Perhaps the nearest they came was 'Twins of Evil', in which the hapless victims are effectively crucified whilst burned at the stake.
'(b archive) Twins of Evil' is my only essay in the BATS genre. This was inspired by a still from the film's title sequence, in which Peter Cushing summarily immolates the woodsman's daughter. Needless to say, the crux pose was irresistible and the resulting A4 pencil drawing represents my only (virtually) fully dressed crux figure. As the clothing plays an important part in evoking the intense rising heat and the harsh light of the flames, I drew it in a stylised manner which gives the picture the feel of a woodcut from the witchcraze period.
Whilst the woodcut style is highly appropriate for the dry timbers being consumed, it would have been less effective for the flames themselves. Fire is a very elusive thing to portray, especially in lines drawn with a pencil. The picture relies on heavy chiaroscuro, the brightness accentuated by the darkness. Ultimately I dragged a pencil eraser through the dense background areas to create the flames. It was like drawing in reverse - the more I erased, the brighter the seat of the fire became. Flames, ashes, torn clothing and the girl's hair are all rising in the heat to contribute to the dramatic effect provided by the fiery light source. Despite her efforts to avoid the flames, her loose skirts are already alight, portending the inevitable.
Most of my drawings appear in sepiatone to provide a vintage quality consistent with scenes of times past. Putting the rather pale pencil drawing through Openoffice Draw provided the necessary increased contrast, and having given it the sepia treatment, I experimented with the colour balance. The colour version was produced by whacking the gamma setting right down from the sepia, and I was delighted to see the resulting fiery orange effect which emerged.
I did wonder if I had relied on exaggeration to produce the sensation of horror, especially in the wide open-mouthed scream of the victim. However, when I referred to the film still, it confirmed what I had drawn, and I was forced to conclude that this impassioned actress had actually dislocated her jaw during her desperate performance (but the show must go on!)
