Krampus

I was determined to get something done for ArtOrder, and now that school has subsided for a month or so I finally have my chance! So here's my take on Krampus. My inspiration was from the Christmases I spent at my grandmother's house in rural new hampshire. Unlike most of the people I know who grew up with disney movies and such, Fae and faeries have always scared the hell out of me. On the occasions where my mother would boot me outside to walk about in the woods or something, I would try to spot every ring of toadstools as quickly as possible lest I step into one and get trapped in some horrible nightmarish servitude to fickle, wicked and yet childish masters. TVTropes has a great list of it here.

Anyway.

The idea here is that the things that truly frighten us aren't necessarily big hulking musclebound figures brandishing crude implements o' hurt. Sometimes it is also the frailty of things that terrifies us, the fact that even as a somewhat dessicated, elderly looking figure is still more than we can handle. That those skeletal and fleshless arms, those claw like digits could so easily stick us in a crude, all-too-small sack made of a dead sheep and not only carry us about but restrain us and give several other of our peers the same treatment.

on a side note, I'm aware that most depictions of Krampus borrow heavily from the wild man fur costume thing. I felt that took away from the vulnerable quality too much, but tried to add it back in just a little via the sheepskin pack.